Recipes / Baking

[doodles]

Butter here too and I haven't eaten a Mr K cake or jar pasta sauce in a long time because I like cooking and it's cheaper. We all love sausages and buy them from the local farm.

I started looking very closely at labels about 10 years ago when I was rather unwell and had to take some unpleasant meds. I began to look very closely at our diet and the amount of unnecessary chemicals (on top of the meds) I was consuming in the form of additives and preservatives. Hence the drive to get back to knowing what we are eating and where it's come from.

However, I'm no saint and I can't stand alfalfa and I cook my Yorkshire puddings in lard - the only way I'm afraid

Thanks jiff, the flapjack tin is restocked in time for school tomorrow!

[Amber]

I cook my Yorkshire puddings in lard - the only way I'm afraid

Ah now I have been experimenting a bit with dripping as we have started to roast beef bones to make stop and they produce some proper dripping. That seems to work well too. I really really want to be able to cook meat over a fire like they used to and have been wondering for ages about an outdoor wood oven but they are so so expensive.

What about roast potatoes? The Amber family is split over which is the best fat for these so would welcome views. (Just planted my first earlies but not for roasting).

Like you doodles, I try to cook everything from first principles and enjoy it if I have time but if I am in a rush as I so often am I end up trashing the kitchen and then I think maybe it would have been easier just to buy something.

[Yamin151]

I doubt there is anyone here, myself included, that doesn't cook from scratch, as it is indeed cheaper and nicer.

[kenyancowgirl]

Nope...I'm afraid that whilst I try to cook from scratch, I am going to confess to being a second class citizen in this sea of middle classness (NB tongue firmly in cheek here!) as my children are known to open a pizza box and slam it in the oven, or breadcrumbed fish of some variety - or (curses be upon me!) a ready made sandwich - usually for some sports event that required a packed lunch at short notice! And, not being a pudding family, on the odd occasion that we feel the need, we have bought a ready made pie or something similar! I'm not saying it happens all the time but, whilst I would love to make from scratch every day our reality of two boys with massive appetites needing to be in two different directions at the same time means it is not always practical!

[Yamin151]

Nope...I'm afraid that whilst I try to cook from scratch, I am going to confess to being a second class citizen in this sea of middle classness (NB tongue firmly in cheek here!) as my children are known to open a pizza box and slam it in the oven, or breadcrumbed fish of some variety - or (curses be upon me!) a ready made sandwich - usually for some sports event that required a packed lunch at short notice! And, not being a pudding family, on the odd occasion that we feel the need, we have bought a ready made pie or something similar! I'm not saying it happens all the time but, whilst I would love to make from scratch every day our reality of two boys with massive appetites needing to be in two different directions at the same time means it is not always practical!

How refreshingly honest and I'm right with you! From scratch a lot of the time but I love those breadcrumbed fish!!

[doodles]

Now I did say I wasn't a saint and a fish finger sandwich with salad cream is just to die for.

Gosh I wish you hadn't reminded me about that one, now I want one

[Tinkers]

Nothing to do with middle class snobbery here, all and to do with the fact i can't eat a lot of ready meals for the same reasons I can't eat pasta sauces. Tomato and tomato purée gets everywhere. I'd spend longer checking the ingredients than the things would take to cook. Even the most unassuming things have it in. Even eating out can be tricky as many chefs put the stuff in gravy. Last year's works Christmas lunch I was told I could bring my own gravy as the gravy they would be serving wouldn't be safe. In a previous year the restaurant made a completely separate but practically identical dish for me.

Prepackaged sandwiches are also a bit of nightmare, though improved labelling in recent times has helped.

I also do like breaded fish though.

[doodles]

No snobbery here either, health issue as I've already said was the main driving force and then cost, filling up my family on ready made would require the income from a small oilfield.

[yoyo123]

Tuesday is my very long day at work and Mr Yoyo cooks the dinner that day..his speciality is breaded fish, chips and peas. I really look forward to it!

Lidl does some really nice frozen haddock with a seedy coating or plaice with a lemony 'lightly dusted' coating. Both lovely ( and cheap) their oven chips are good too.

[scary mum]

Amber, I have studied the humble roast potato for some time. I've used goose fat, duck fat, olive oil, sunflower oil etc etc & my firm belief is that sunflower oil is as good as anything. What matters more is how you roast them. I par boil for 8 minutes, drain & shake, then allow them to dry off a bit. Chuck into very hot oil and bingo.
My father would tell you that dripping is the best and it may well give a better flavour but I haven't tried it.
And mine sometimes have "golden dinner" - breaded chicken breasts with wedges (oven chips if I'm really lazy . It won't do them too much harm - I do prefer to cook from scratch but it doesn't always happen (I do work full time!).