Making meals from scratch?

I think you're right about the processed foods. I always say that if things don't grow naturally in the world, then they're just not things that we should be eating as part of our every day diet. A lot of parents just cook junk food for their children while they're growing up, and this can mean that this is all that they learn to cook. When I was at college, the number of people who didn't know how to even switch an oven on was untrue, and I ended up doing a lot of the cooking there because I just wanted everyone to be healthy!

My Grandmother used to make jam and would give it to me when I was younger, so I am used to home made things around the place. I grow my own strawberries to make jam out of and this is something that I get great satisfaction from. My partner is one of those people who complain about their health whilst still eating rubbish, so that is something that I am certainly very familiar with in my own life. The amount of sugar and salt that are added to foods that we don't make ourselves is untrue, but most people don't even realise it!

mmmmm been waiting for those strawberriesran out of that jam, the balsamic strawberry jelly and champagne and strawberry jelly a while ago now! I use very little salt in our foods opting more for herbs and now find processed foods way too salty for my tastes.

That is true - time and effort! I know a lot of them say "home style" as well, but it sure doesn't have the taste of home! Restaurants tend to add a lot of salt or butter and who knows what - tastes like they threw a bunch of canned stuff together! My kids will only eat my spaghetti sauce - all made from scratch. They don't like the jarred stuff (neither do I) - and often the restaurant sauce tastes like jarred! Now I'm sure my scratch costs more than the jarred and takes longer to make (versus a twist of a jar lid) - but then again I make a lot so it lasts us a while and I can make other dishes from it too.

Toss in the fact that they really aren't that good! Marie Calendars chicken pot pie is the only thing that I think is Really good...but look at the sodium in there anda the fat!!! Needless to say..it is a treat for me to get one...once or twice a month and then I watch what I eat afterwards to make sure I compensate for the fat and sodium. I am weird...I'd almost rather have one of these pot pies than a sweet fattening dessert! But I have tired other frozen dinners/meals...they are okay in a pinch or just to have on hand should Ijust not be able to get to the store and the fridge is empty or something to have for a really quick meal and then get gone..but as a regular...they just aren't that good. I'd rather cook all weekend and freeze the stuff and then reheat it during the week (make my own frozen dinners!) than to buy at the store. And they aren't that cheap anymore either! I remember when the Banquet TV dinners in the aluminum trays were the hottest thing in the dinner world! Oh, yeah, their salisbury steak, corn and mashed potatos are the best ever!!!! But again..just not to healthy and they used to be 88cents! Now, they go on sale for $1.49 every once in a while sometimes. I treat myself to one of them every now and then too..only when they are on sale tho! And the MC potpies go on sale for 2/$6 and that isn't bad considering you get so much chicken and veges inside. Can't believe I am going on about a pot pie/frozen dinner!! I think I need a life!

That sounds like a really fun game to play, I might try to play it myself next time I am trying to cook a meal! One of the things that I have noticed about being out when I am eating is that the bigger portions always seem to be cheaper than the smaller ones. If you go to a more expensive place to eat, the prices will get higher but the plates and the portions will get smaller at the same time. Once I had a friend who said that they paid £20 for one small scoop of ice cream with a mint leaf, and that seems to be completely ridiculous wherever you go; I could feed myself for an entire week on that amount of money!

One of the things that I enjoy the most about eating out is seeing the kinds of things that they put on their menus, as I like to try and see if I can cook meals for myself that I have enjoyed whilst being out somewhere on a special occasion. I think that everyone needs time away from the kitchen at some point, and eating out gives the person who normally cooks a great chance to have a rest and just enjoy the food without having to worry about cooking it themselves or about washing up all of the dishes and things that they have used after the meal.

Helping your Mother in the kitchen is an excellent way to be able to learn how to cook, and I think that if more parents taught their children like this, the world would be a much better, happier and healthier place. I was taught to cook from when I was young, and because of that I know exactly how to do things these days which means that I am able to cook for myself. My friends who have never been taught are not able to cook, and they are the unhealthy ones because of the fact that the only thing that they choose for themselves is fast food.

I think that actually having the time to cook something is one of the major factors that can put a lot of people off cooking. I know that my younger brother will never cook anything because he is at school at the moment as well, so has to spend a lot of his time doing homework and revising for the exams that he has in the summer. But even if you don't cook from scratch now, it is great that you feel as though you're going to have the skills to be able to do so when you move out of the family home when you leave school.