if you don't cook from scratch, or don't cook much...

[butterflymommy]

.... what does your family eat? I am so tired of cooking everything from scratch, and I'm starting to wonder how the other half lives.

 

The only people I know who don't cook buy takeout every night and eat packaged stuff or toast for breakfast and lunch. Takeout for our family costs at least ~$40-45 (there are 9 of us) so that's not doable.

 

The semi-homemade recipes I've seen just look so expensive, frozen prepared foods are likewise expensive.

 

Any advice??

[starwarsmomma]

I'm with you!

and no matter WHAT I make, half the kids will complain.

 

I feel beaten down.

 

I look at the packaged foods and usually can do my own version for so much cheaper.

 

Corn dogs for my entire family I can make for under $2. Why would I spend $15 on a box of frozen?

Hamburger helper would take me 3+ boxes for my family (since they changed how much they put in the boxes at least). I can make a huge batch from scratch for 1/3 of the price.

Fettuccini Alfredo in jars is nasty and here costs $4+ a jar. I can make a huge batch with the pasta for about $3 and it tastes like a restaurant not canned.

 

I could go on... Lately though, the amount of money in our bank really dictates how much from-scratch cooking I do. And lately it's dictating I cook ALOT.

 

 

 

There are a few things I buy.

I refuse to do fried chicken. It destroys my kitchen.

My son is obsessed with fried jalapeno poppers, and Aldi's makes a frozen one cheap. I havent figured out how to make it cheaper than they sell it, so we do buy those as treats.

Aldi's makes a decent generic Macaroni and cheese box we get...

[NotSoObvious]

We make double batches and freeze the second batch, as well as use a crockpot or rice cooker for those times when prep time is short. There are many meals you can do with under half an hour, if your family accepts the dishes. Egg drop soup using stock you've previously made, rice done in the rice cooker combined with stir fry for ex.

 

If you use frozen instead of fresh fruits and vegetables you can cut down on some prep.

 

Today we had oatmeal for breakfast...it went in the rice cooker last night, with chopped apples and cinnamon. The timer was set to the desired ready time and we added some sliced almonds (bought already sliced) on top. Much less of the cook's time than the on top of the stove version.

 

I didn't know you could do that in a rice cooker! But mine doesn't have a timer. Don't your apples get all nasty from sitting out all night??

[KungFuPanda]

Feed 'em salads.

[MissKNG]

The semi-homemade recipes I've seen just look so expensive,

Any advice??

 

 

Just some thoughts because I cook a lot. There are a few "staples" that I always have on hand to make stuff. When you get this stuff in large quantities, it usually can last a long time.

 

1. a huge bag of potatoes - any potato item we eat is made from here (except tater tots cause I just don't know how to make them) - mashed, scalloped, hash browns, home fries, baked, etc.

 

2. a huge bag of apples - tons of options especially in the dessert department

 

3. Flour/sugar/other "normal" baking items - 99% desserts, I make - cakes, muffins, cookies, etc.

 

4. Eggs/butter/bread - breakfast and baking

 

5. Pasta noodles/sauce

 

6. Chicken/meat

 

7. Cheese -I buy the bricks because they have more options - slice it, shred it, cube it, etc.

 

Those are the things you will always find at my house so I can make stuff. Of course we have lots of fruits and veggies too but if you are in a crunch, any of those items can make a good meal and have lots of combinations.

 

Your $40-$50 take out will buy you A LOT of the stuff listed above. And with a family of 9, I would imagine you will double up (we are a family of 4). And I buy most of this stuff at Aldis, Save A Lot and Walmart. No fancy places.

[Cinder]

Another convenience meal I do is a rotisserie chicken with a bagged salad. When stuff is on sale that's a meal under $7. I don't do these things all the time, but again, I do sometimes get sick of cooking, but I don't want to spend money on take out. That's my compromise.

 

This is one of my quick meals too. And there is often enough meat leftover so that, along with boiling down the carcass for broth, I can make another meal like chicken pot pie. Or you can throw the broth and meat in the freezer and have the start of chicken soup for another day.

 

Another favorite quick meal is quesadillas made with deli meat and bbq sauce. Although with 9 in the family that wouldn't be so quick to fry those all up, would it?

 

And I use canned spaghetti sauce. It makes meal prep so much quicker.

[2squared]

I'm with ya, OP. I am sure many food snobs on this board would be scandalized by my cooking, but I do it cheaply and mostly from scratch. Something has to give, and I am deciding that my time in the kitchen needs to be downsized. My kids need me to be physically present more than they need ultra-from-scratch meals.

 

My meals are pretty basic lately - baked meat, frozen/fresh veggies, salad, frozen/canned/fresh fruit

 

I also see that meal planning is critical to getting healthy food on the table in a timely manner. If I have a meal plan, I can work on food through out the day without having to rush at dinner time. I have also fallen into a bad habit of grocery shopping every day b/c I don't have meal plans.

[Night Elf]

This could make me look bad but we don't cook much from scratch. We do have some type of meat with every meal and the sides are boxed or canned stuff. DH prepares potatoes sometimes whether baked or mashed. But basically our dinners are very simple. We eat leftovers for lunch, or make simple things like sandwiches or eat cereal. Dd14 eats leftovers for breakfast sometimes too, before she goes to school. She doesn't like breakfast foods very much. Sometimes we have pancakes but even then we use Bisquick. I can't imagine cooking things from scratch. It just seems like such a hassle because everything would have a gazillion ingredients and it seems like the grocery bill would be high to buy all of it. But then I see some of you talk about how much cheaper it is to make things from scratch. It boggles my brain. :)

[SKL]

We eat a lot of whole foods that require little or no cooking. For breakfast, the kids get some kind of egg, whole fruit, and yogurt. Lunch is a sandwich of cheese or pbj on wheat bread, plus fruit or veg and milk/cheese. Snack varies, but if they are home, it's whole fruit/veg and maybe a handful of healthy crackers. Dinner is either leftovers, carefully selected semi-prepared food from the whole foods grocery (they have some healthy, easy, tasty boxed and canned stuff), or we go out to dinner and we share a halfway decent meal. (For example, we might do the half sandwich/half salad at Panera and add a yogurt. This is enough to feed myself and two kids. Bob Evans is also pretty reasonable if you share. As is Chipotle. The key with eating out is to avoid the unnecessary extras. For example, we may eat light and get water to drink, and have milk and maybe fruit at home before/after.) We almost never eat "freezer food" (when we do, it's usually authentic Indian served with home-cooked rice or with store-bought tortillas heated in a pan - it stretches quite a bit). And even when we eat boxed food, I do my own thing, such as adding veggies and leaving out some of the added ingredients.

 

I have no idea what your food budget looks like, but IME if you cut meat down to the bare minimum, and avoid any drinks or snacks that don't enhance health, you can save a lot of money. That can make up for the additional expense of good-quality prepared or semi-prepared foods.

[SKL]

 

Yeah either I toss the carcass in the crock pot or throw it in the freezer for a later time.

 

I make my own sauce, but I use canned puree. So I brown up sausage, dump in a can of the puree, add in some dried seasonings, put in a bit of tomato paste and simmer that for about an hour and it's done. It's very simple. It also freezes well.

 

The way my mom taught me to make spaghetti sauce is to brown some ground beef, drain the grease, and add a can of Ragu (or the like) and simmer for about 20mins. :) It's pretty tasty IMO. I usually don't make spaghetti, only because even that takes up a lot of time compared to my very tight schedule. Besides, I'd have heart disease by now, since it's my favorite meal. :)

[cloversandlions]

Mind if I ask a question of those who make their own broth? I've just started doing this, but have found that I don't know a good way to store the broth after it is ready. Do you put it in freezer bags and freeze?

[butterflymommy]

We make double batches and freeze the second batch, as well as use a crockpot or rice cooker for those times when prep time is short. There are many meals you can do with under half an hour, if your family accepts the dishes. Egg drop soup using stock you've previously made, rice done in the rice cooker combined with stir fry for ex.

 

If you use frozen instead of fresh fruits and vegetables you can cut down on some prep.

 

Today we had oatmeal for breakfast...it went in the rice cooker last night, with chopped apples and cinnamon. The timer was set to the desired ready time and we added some sliced almonds (bought already sliced) on top. Much less of the cook's time than the on top of the stove version.

 

I already do this kind of thing but it still seems like I spend at least 2 hours a day cooking. I guess the key is "if your family accepts the dishes." Husband won't eat what I eat, kids won't eat what either he or I eat. And all the kids won't eat the same thing. The only one who ever compromises is me and that's usually for less healthy fare which I don't like to do.

[butterflymommy]

I'm with you!

and no matter WHAT I make, half the kids will complain.

 

I feel beaten down.

 

Yep. I'm coming off a 1 year "experiment" to keep costs down and get the kids eating at least a little healthier. I used to buy packaged crackers, bread, cold cereals, sometimes cookies and dessert mixes, and cook everything else from scratch. I stopped all that and we switched to homemade everything plus hot cereals or from scratch pancakes/ waffles for breakfast.

 

While I'm producing more food from the kitchen our grocery bill hasn't gone down. I guess if i were still buying some packaged stuff our costs might have gone up but I'm really not sure anymore.

 

The final straw for me was a few days ago. I made three loaves fresh challah (with the idea of french toast for kids for dinner), jam bars, and hot oatmeal. The oatmeal was rejected for "not being creamy enough" (it was creamy) and the jam bars (which they've eaten before) were rejected for making their hands sticky. And before I could make the french toast DD stuck a pizza in the oven (I always have pizza dough in the fridge if they want a pizza). On top of that I'd cooked for myself and DH as I try to eat very healthy (unlike the kids) and he's picky too.

 

So at the next grocery trip I bought self-serve fixings for cold cereal, toast, and sandwiches, because I feel so done! I haven't bought any of this stuff for a year and they were all so delighted to see it. (I'd had homemade bread and hot cereals, just not the packaged stuff.) I'll continue to prepare healthy things for myself which they're welcome too (fruit, veggies, whole grains and beans) but I'm tired of climbing this endless kitchen mountain.

 

This particular vent here about the kids is JAWM, I have tried everything with these kids and they will not budge from their 3-4 meals they're willing to eat. They have even driven my sister to tears and she is unapologetically of the "starve them and they'll eat" mentality for picky kids. Please be merciful and refrain from listing all the things I'm doing wrong re: their pickiness. :nopity:

[butterflymommy]

Just some thoughts because I cook a lot. There are a few "staples" that I always have on hand to make stuff. When you get this stuff in large quantities, it usually can last a long time.

 

1. a huge bag of potatoes - any potato item we eat is made from here (except tater tots cause I just don't know how to make them) - mashed, scalloped, hash browns, home fries, baked, etc.

 

2. a huge bag of apples - tons of options especially in the dessert department

 

3. Flour/sugar/other "normal" baking items - 99% desserts, I make - cakes, muffins, cookies, etc.

 

4. Eggs/butter/bread - breakfast and baking

 

5. Pasta noodles/sauce

 

6. Chicken/meat

 

7. Cheese -I buy the bricks because they have more options - slice it, shred it, cube it, etc.

 

Currently I'm making everything from scratch so I have all those staples on hand except pasta, which the kids refuse to eat. I buy at a remainder/ wholesaler/ ethnic places so I'm buying dirt cheap.

 

What I'm tired of is the endless, thankless cooking.

 

I've been wanting to make this thread for a while but the resurrected duggar thread inspired me to do it now. After a year of cooking 100% from scratch for a family of 9, I now understand why the duggars eat frakenfood. If they cooked 100% from scratch Michelle and the older girls would never, and mean never, be out of that kitchen.

[butterflymommy]

It's the same story here. Honest. I get frustrated a lot by it. I know I need to get a thicker skin. DH doesn't give me much grief. But I admit I'm pretty annoyed when DS 10 goes on and on about how much he is enjoying the hot dogs and tater tot dinner (that I make once a year because I'm desperately sick of cooking). He even calls it gourmet. I cook gourmet regularly!!!! I even went to culinary school!! It's not me.

 

 

 

:smash: to your DS!!!

[SKL]

I do have kids with very different tastes, so I try to serve multiple options so everyone has something they can eat. I mean, my one kid cannot stomach beans and the other loves them. Vice versa with cheese. Both have protein. So I offer both and don't take any of it personally.

 

If I want to serve one fruit/veg and the kids differ on what they want (if we discuss before I serve), I tell them that they have to agree on one thing or else I am deciding for them. (This works for a lot of stuff they do together.) When they feel it is their choice, it seems to taste better somehow.

 

What I won't do (or allow others to do - they have tried!) is offer a cooked alternative to what I've prepared and served. As in, make something to reward the cranky brat who sticks her nose up to everything when she's in a mood. (Yes, I have one of those and amazingly, she is far from skinny.) If someone appears likely to go to bed literally hungry after finding an entire meal unappetizing, I might allow a slice of bread or alternative fruit. Now that my kids are past the really picky preschool years, this is a rare occurrance.

[LibraryLover]

I'm getting tired of cooking so much.

[renmew]

OP - My three kids rarely agree on what they like, and my 4 year old claims to not like anything, so I no longer listen to their opinion. If they don't like it, breakfast is in the morning. Sometimes I'm nice and I will give them one piece of bread before bed so they'll stop whining about hunger.

 

I have never been a cook, but I don't like feeding my kids the frozen stuff all the time. But, I work, so if I don't plan we eat drive thru. This is what I do -

 

Pizza night = english muffins on sale, bag of grated cheese, jarred sauce, and pepperoni slices. They love this one the most!

 

taco/quesadilla night = corn tortillas I buy in bulk, avocados on sale, bag of grated cheese, ground turkey on sale, tomatos from the garden, salsa from a jar

 

pigs in a blanket = hot dogs (kosher and on sale), crescent rolls from a can and on sale, frozen mixed veggies

 

orange chicken = trader joes bagged orange chicken, microwave rice from trader joe's, frozen broccoli

 

bbq chicken legs = bulk buy chicken legs dipped in store bought bbq sauce and baked, mashed potatoes from powder, frozen mixed veggies

 

spaghetti - any kind of noodles on sale, jarred sauce bought in bulk, graded cheese to top, browned ground turkey on sale

 

tuna caserole = mac and cheese on sale, tuna, cream of mushroom soup, frozen veggies

 

mac and cheese with any ground turkey/beef on sale with frozen veggies mixed right in

 

 

That's about it. I also have a busy family cookbook with meals 30 minutes and under. I let the kids pick one of those a couple times a month. Oh, and we also do pancakes and eggs on Wednesday nights. The above is what my kids eat for dinners.

 

Breakfast is oatmeal or pancakes/eggs (the only thing I make from real scratch) only. We don't buy cereal at all. Makes us gain weight like crazy.

 

Lunches are pbj or deli turkey when on sale. Or quesadillas in the microwave. Lots of fruit... crackers and cheese slices... Sometimes I'm nice and buy a tube of pringles. Then pre-divide into snack sized ziplock bags. They are allowed one bag a day for lunch only.

[cottonmama]

We usually cook from scratch, but when I'm pregnant I use a lot of shortcuts, especially for lunches. Here's what we've been eating for the last 9 months:

 

-Bagel pizzas

-Frozen meatballs, heated in the toaster oven or microwave, with rice and a frozen vegetable

-Rotisserie chicken with rice and a frozen vegetable

-Frozen pizzas

-Spaghetti and meatballs or meat sauce

-Swedish meatballs (made with frozen meatballs)

-Real fettucini alfredo is surprisingly quick and easy... we add frozen broccoli to make it a full meal. Garlic bread or even just toasted Italian bread would be an easy addition.

-Soup from a North Bay Trading Company mix. You could probably brown up some sausage to add to the soup.

-Crock pot beef stew, with pre-cut stew meat, dried minced onions, and baby carrots (instead of cutting up potatoes for this, we serve it over rice... so no prep work required for the stew itself) Tastes fine with chicken stock instead of beef stock if you have homemade.

-Crock pot chicken vegetable soup with grilled cheese sandwiches (the soup is just frozen vegetables, canned tomatoes, chicken stock, and shredded chicken... seasoned with salt, pepper, and a spoonful of sugar)

-Loaded baked potatoes. If that's not filling enough for some in your family, top it with some chili.

-Cincinnati chili (spaghetti topped with chili and shredded cheese)

-Baked macaroni and cheese with a frozen vegetable, with a few frozen chicken nuggets or meatballs if everyone needs a meat.

-Spaghetti pie is pretty easy, especially if you make it without meat

-Baked kielbasa and yukon gold potatoes (so I don't have to peel them), served with a frozen vegetable

-Hot dogs

-This marinade can be used for drumsticks (just adjust the cooking time), served with rice and a frozen vegetable

 

Since everyone in my family is pickier than me, I do sometimes buy myself something separate, like a Kashi or Amy's frozen dinner, and fix my family something less healthy that they'll eat well. :leaving:

[lovinmomma]

Great thread! :bigear:

[dbmamaz]

1. i also cook everything from scratch but i have to due to multiple food allergies
   
2. i get really burnt out but luckily money isnt too tight - we had sub sandwhiches for dinner tonight (i make double-batches of buns for the gluten free half, so we had those in the freezer). my easy meals are spaghetti, tacos, burgers. A roast chicken is pretty easy really - throw potatoes in the pan and cook a vegetable. and everyone eats it!
   
3. i sometimes make 2 meals to keep everyone happy. usually my family is pretty ok w my cooking, but my daughter is going through a bit of a crisis and has been insulting my cooking daily . . .
   
4. BROTH: i freeze it in ice cube trays and then transfer in to ziploc bags. 2 cubes is about a quarter cup, in my trays.
   

[zillymom]

Thanks for all of these great ideas!

[Arcadia]

I don't cook from scratch and my 8 year old has sensory issues with food textures (that has gotten better).

 

I get tired doing food prep and we had no luck with food processors. So what I do is buy pre-cut carrots, pre-peeled onions and garlic. I also buy frozen peas, sweet corn, brussel sprouts, brocoli, cauliflower and pepper strips. We do sometimes buy fresh vegetables but only in quantity that I can chop up without getting overtired.

I also buy precut mangos, pineapples and frozen strawberries for my boys' smoothies. I cook chicken rice using chicken drum sticks so no prep work needed except to wash the rice and chicken.

 

My boys are able to make their own sandwiches for their snacks and they like pasta (without sauce) which is easy to cook. When we buy groceries, my boys will pick whatever they wish to eat for the week and we have very little wastage nowadays. Initially they pick items that they later found out they don't like eating. Hubby is nice about whatever I cook and will let me know if he wants to eat something he likes in advance. His favorites are easy to cook meals.

[Joanne]

I work more than one job, and I am not home to cook. I have to plan and organize so that the family's meals are budget friendly and easy-ish for a 14 year old and 16 year old to make (DH is usually not able and the 17+ year old is working).

 

I shop at night a lot, and get clearance meat. And clearance veggies (already chopped) and clearance bread. Kroger has, by far, the best clearance options.

 

I plan around this. Our meals usually look like:

 

ham, baked potatoes, salad (made from clearance bagged lettuce- sometimes even romaine, clearance crudites)

 

spaghetti, made from clearance, often cooked by me on Sunday ground beef, on sale spaghetti sauce, sale pasta, clearance garlic bread

 

tacos, taco salad - using .99 store shredded lettuce, and already cooked meat. I do buy shredded cheddar, store brand, in large bags. I use it for eggs, meals, quesadillas, etc. I don't have time to shred and it's not worth it to me.

 

Taco Soup

 

chicken cooked in crock pot with cream of chicken soup, seasoning, broth and served with egg noodles

 

Ham, egg, cheese sandwiches

 

Steak, clearance and serviced with clearance salad

 

baked chicken breast (only clearance, or, better yet, clearnance on sale!)

 

burgers, with or without buns

 

On weekends when I have the kids, I will make: chili, pot roast, lasagna, breakfast for dinner.

 

Lately, we've been having rice and beans as BIG sides (fillers) for our meals.

[vonfirmath]

This could make me look bad but we don't cook much from scratch. We do have some type of meat with every meal and the sides are boxed or canned stuff. DH prepares potatoes sometimes whether baked or mashed. But basically our dinners are very simple. We eat leftovers for lunch, or make simple things like sandwiches or eat cereal. Dd14 eats leftovers for breakfast sometimes too, before she goes to school. She doesn't like breakfast foods very much. Sometimes we have pancakes but even then we use Bisquick. I can't imagine cooking things from scratch. It just seems like such a hassle because everything would have a gazillion ingredients and it seems like the grocery bill would be high to buy all of it. But then I see some of you talk about how much cheaper it is to make things from scratch. It boggles my brain. :)

 

I am listening to _Kitchen Counter Cooking School_ by KAthleen Flinn and its making me believe that from scratch MAY actually be cheaper... if I could just figure out how to make the stuff we are used to preparing from a box

 

However, as I mentioned elsewhere, I need to do this anyway because I've got to feed my daughter and starting to want her to eat what we have and we're becoming convinced she is dairy allergic and everything in boxes, etc pretty much has dairy in it!

[2squared]

 

I am listening to _Kitchen Counter Cooking School_ by KAthleen Flinn and its making me believe that from scratch MAY actually be cheaper... if I could just figure out how to make the stuff we are used to preparing from a box.

 

The thing about cooking from scratch is that once you get to that point, your pantry will be stocked for most of the ingredients for most of your meals....all the time. Grocery shopping becomes easier because you are buying pantry staples rather than a box of this, a packet of that, and cans of those. I can brainlessly shop b/c I know we will need xx pounds of flour, xx pkgs of noodles, etc. every month. I can put together quick and easy meals.

 

The thing that is difficult, for me, about cooking from scratch is that I have to plan ahead. If we are having spaghetti for dinner, I have to thaw the ground beef, bake breadsticks, and toss a salad. So, I will be pulling the meat out of the freezer this morning and loading the bread machine at lunch time.