5 Reasons to Cook from Scratch..

As a Mother of 4 I know that time is precious! Sometimes all I want to do is stick fish fingers and chips in the oven, and there is nothing wrong with that! However, in the last 6 weeks I have realised that cooking from scratch can actually be just as easy. More on that in another post though! Anyway, here are 5 reasons I cook from scratch..

Money Saving..

Undoubtedly the biggest reason for me to cook from scratch is it saves money! There’s lots of opportunities to use up left overs too – whether for a packed lunch or another dinner. Batch cooking meals is really helpful if you’re time limited. Sometimes I will spend a Saturday evening making a big batch of Bolognese for dinner, then freeze a couple of portions for a quick dinner later in the week. It works out much cheaper than buying a ready meal. I also freeze par-boiled potatoes ready for Sunday roasties – cheaper than shop bought frozen ones and I think the taste better too.

What is in it?!

This applies particularly if you have someone in the house with an allergy. Although sometimes when I read packets of pre-prepared food and don’t recognise the ingredients I wonder why I’m eating them! I especially notice this with cakes and biscuits, one of the items I have struggled to start making myself. Though I’m challenging myself to try a new baking recipe with the children each weekend. We have progressed from the go to super simple chocolate cookies recipe! So far we have been successful making our own shortbread and chocolate brownies too.

Healthy

This really ties in with “what’s in it”. It’s much easier to control calories when you are adding ingredients yourself. Many shop bought ready made foods contain lots of hidden calories. For example pasta sauces often contain added sugar. I also find that we can add extra vegetables to most meals. This means the meal is healthier, and bulking it out with vegetables is cheaper too – no after dinner snacking required! – Saving pounds and lbs too!

Tastier..

I guess this one is debatable. However, I have noticed that we find our meals are tastier. The main reason is probably as we can tweak recipes to fit our own tastes. This is especially true with things like curry!

Eco-friendly.

Cooking from scratch can mean you avoid plastic. Less plastic – or plastic free if you shop carefully! You can avoid those plastic trays and plastic lids which come with ready meals! They aren’t readily recycled so never go away, they just sit in landfill. We currently freeze food in plastic tubs which get re-used. I’m hoping to find a non-plastic replacement for them when we need to replace them, but I’m not entirely sure what it’ll be?

So those are my 5 reasons for cooking from scratch, do you cook from scratch?