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I'm just curious, is there a formula for designating food "made from scratch"? If one uses a bunch of organic carrots, does that negate the non-scratch worthy status of dried herbs? Must ground beef be ground by the chef? Are frozen salmon fillets scratch-worthy, or must one catch the fish oneself? If one eats real-dinkum oatmeal in the morning, and fast-food in the evening is that demi or semi-scratch? Enquiring minds....
Sorry, you are quite right I should have been more specific and said only ever wild Pacific salmon. I could never poison my loved ones by feeding them farmed Atlantic salmon.
Like many of my peers' mothers, my mom worked full-time when I was young and had little time to teach me to cook. Usually, she prepared casseroles or started a meal in a crock-pot after I went to school and before she left for her 3-11 shift at the hospital. Thus, the extent of my kitchen training was knowing how to heat the oven. My school district had already done away with Home Ec classes by the time I reached middle school, and there were no grandparents around to jump in and teach me even the basics.
Oh puh. My Dad handed me the cookbook. If you WANT to learn to cook, there is nothing stopping you. I am, by no means, saying you SHOULD. But if you WANT, there are a thousand sources out there. And a couple of good failures will set you to rights.
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As an adult, I took it upon myself to learn the art of cooking by haunting the shelves at the library and working through the available cookbooks, sometimes more successfully than others. The results were sometimes good, sometimes comical. Fortunately, I have a very patient spouse whose tastebuds have been rewarded now that I can find my way around the kitchen.
Oh well I should probably delete the wasted paragraph above. My husband learned to cook after we married. Now he is an excellent cook. We each have our specialties that complement each other.
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I have resolved that my daughter and son will not suffer a similar fate. A few years ago, I started a family cookbook of our very favorite meals and recipes, and I make it a habit to take my kids into the kitchen a few times a month to work through them together. That way, when they're on their own and craving drunken lamb w/ rice, they'll know how to make it.
Kitchens and kids just go together. Both of my kids have picked up DH's and my cooking bug. But the most important thing is not the specific recipe, though family traditions are cool, but the lack of fear of the kitchen.
Well, I don't know about 'made from scratch' but I sure put a lot of meals on the table. I don't grow my own herbs or vegetables or anything.
I find a lot of women today ~ simply do not cook ~ be they SAHM or WM. They just don't do it. I grew up with a Mom who was a great cook (I still remember my favorite meals) and I know my son looks forward to dinner after a 3 hour swim practice. So I cook. It's a lot harder now that I no longer work at home and instead report to an office. But I do consider it my job as a mother to put a healthy meal on the table as often as possible.
A female friend of mine works every day making a very good income. By mutual consent, the Dad quit his job and stays home. He also considers it his job to have food on the table for the family ~ along with volunteering, etc. I agree.
Not disagreeing with you there, but "healthy" and "from scratch" aren't necessarily the same thing. I cook a balanced meal pretty much every evening, a lot of it organic. I just use things like frozen veggies.
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I checked and we spend around $700-$800/month (at least last time I itemized) on groceries (family of 4 with 2 boys who eat more than I do). That includes everything purchased at supermarkets and Target, so some of that is toiletries for sure, maybe even some clothing, birthday presents, etc. You know how easy it is to get off track at Target.
Not disagreeing with you there, but "healthy" and "from scratch" aren't necessarily the same thing. I cook a balanced meal pretty much every evening, a lot of it organic. I just use things like frozen veggies.
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I checked and we spend around $700-$800/month (at least last time I itemized) on groceries (family of 4 with 2 boys who eat more than I do). That includes everything purchased at supermarkets and Target, so some of that is toiletries for sure, maybe even some clothing, birthday presents, etc. You know how easy it is to get off track at Target.
Frozen veggies are often more nutritious than fresh ones. Why? They are frozen very soon after harvest and retain the nutrients better.
With such a heavy duty full time career, 2 children, a husband and all that cooking from scratch (including shopping economically, prepping and cleaning up) I'm shocked you find time to put so much thought into other people's business.
I do. More, if you count the household stuff like detergent, shampoo, razors, etc.
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Originally Posted by ellar
If I ignore all the OP's jabs at SAHMs and focus on the economic issue, then I find the basic premise of this whole thread not to be true. I have found it is much more expensive to eat healthy foods than to eat unhealthy foods. Our family does spend quite a bit of money on food. I have tried various things to bring down the cost, but I have come to the realization, I would have to sacrifice some healthy food to make a substantial cut. Here is what I have found:
1.) Coupons/Store Promotions: It is easy to find coupons for things like Coco Puffs. It is much harder to find coupons for fresh produce and less processed items. I also find stores are more likely to do promotions on less healthy food. One store near us does a big bargain promotion where you get money off at the register if you buy ten or so items with special tags. Even though I practically overflow my cart, I never reach the ten. All the marked items are highly processed junk food.
2.) Prices: Higher quality, healthier items generally cost more money. Leaner cuts of meat cost more. If I want chicken that hasn't been treated with antibiotics, that costs more. I have a similar issue with eggs. If you want foods without artificial food dyes or a lot of sugar, they tend to cost more. Food manufacturers have mastered the process of adding cheap fillers to items to bring down costs. If you don't want those fillers, you pay more. I have paid more for natural toothpaste and natural cleaners as well.
In the long run, if I wanted to save money on food, I could feed my kids things like hot dogs and baked beans every night. That would be a great economic decision and certainly cost less than roasting a chicken and cutting up veggies. Hot dogs are incredibly cheap, while some of my most expensive meals of the year are ones where I tend to make nearly everything from scratch (like Thanksgiving dinner).
It makes sense to cook nice meals for the health value and to provide comfort to your family. In some cases one choice over another does save some money--i.e. uncut carrots are cheaper in the produce section--but you know canned carrots sometimes are even cheaper, though certainly not healthier.
Totally agree! (Also, regular carrots are tastier than peeled "baby" carrots.)
Not disagreeing with you there, but "healthy" and "from scratch" aren't necessarily the same thing. I cook a balanced meal pretty much every evening, a lot of it organic. I just use things like frozen veggies.
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I checked and we spend around $700-$800/month (at least last time I itemized) on groceries (family of 4 with 2 boys who eat more than I do). That includes everything purchased at supermarkets and Target, so some of that is toiletries for sure, maybe even some clothing, birthday presents, etc. You know how easy it is to get off track at Target.
I agree. I use a lot of fresh veggies (and frozen) but I did indicate that I wasn't so sure about 'from scratch'. I still, like you, think they can be healthy even if everything isn't 'from scratch."
I go to three different stores to keep the cost down, a produce store that has bags of cheap fruit and veg, and who has fresh herbs for a buck a bunch - fun stuff like lemongrass and star fruit, depending on the season - a Safeway grocery store that has good meat clearance sales, and Aldi for spices, dry goods, mayo, ketchup and that kind of stuff.
I have it down to a fine art by now.
But if I had my druthers, and was independently wealthy, and you know - not concerned about the family income and stuff - it would be all Whole Foods, Trader Joes and organic farmer's markets. I might even squeeze in a mommy and me session. I dunno, sounds like fun.
I do. More, if you count the household stuff like detergent, shampoo, razors, etc.
I don't care really. I just found it interesting that a poster who was so critical of others' spending habits spent so much more than I did.
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