<p>This is an interesting thread! Believe it or not, the amount of people I know that actually cook more than a few nights per week (let alone make much from scratch) is very small.</p>
<p>For me, it is definitely, always Alfredo Sauce from scratch. Mashed potatoes, cream puffs, cheesecake, strawberry jam (every July), dill pickles, stuffing at holidays, roasted tomatoes from our garden with roasted peppers and roasted garlic (frozen every September), vodka sauce, lasagna (although like a prior poster I use store bought noodles), chicken and dumplings. I am sure there is more but I am not thinking of it all right now. </p>
<p>Things I prefer from scratch but don’t always have the time: puddings and custards, spaghetti sauce (when I get it right, never have been consistent with that), breads and rolls, pound cake, biscuits (again I am just not so consistent with those), cookies, cakes, etc</p>
<p>One thing I always buy because I have never, ever been able to get it right from scratch is pie crust. I have yet to figure out why this is but gave up long ago trying to figure it out.</p>
<p>I buy pie crust too. I don’t make pie enough times a year to get good at it. Not a lot of pie eating going on in our circle of friends and family so nobody knows the difference. I tend to make a cooler or crisp. I make my own cobbler dough.</p>
<p>This is the pie crust that Mr B actually eats (he usually scrapes the store-bought ones off and just eats the pie filling). To keep our carbs consumption down, I make pies only at Thanksgiving - bake one right away and freeze a couple to be used for Christmas desserts. For the filling I use wild strawberries that I pick in my backyard. </p>
<p>I make pie crust from scratch. It’s the basic recipe from the ancient Betty Crocker cookbook. The key with pie crust is to a) use a pastry blender to cut the shortening into the flour and b) don’t overwork it or it gets tough. Use a fork to toss the flour when you add the liquid. That will make it nice and flaky. I love to make pie and it’s almost rhubarb season </p>
<p>I make most desserts from scratch - lots of cheesecakes, brownies, cookies, cakes, frosting, cinnamon rolls, bread and my latest thing that I LOVE homemade are bagels. I make home made chicken nuggets using skinless boneless chicken breasts. I used to always make homemade marinara but honestly, I find Prego is just as good and much easier while I’m working. Chicken parm, lasagna. </p>
<p>I make a lot of food from scratch including pizza, granola, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, soups, most baked goods, rice and tapioca puddings and can all kinds of jams, jellys and butters and also pickles. However, if I find something store made that is just as good or better than what I make, I’ll buy that. In particular, Trader Joe’s pie crusts. I can make a very good pie crust and always fill it with my own filling, but what I’ve found is that TJ’s pie crusts are excellent and I will make pies more often if I don’t have to make the dough. Pizza dough isn’t hard but all of our grocery stores now sell balls of pizza dough, which generally taste a lot like mine and when you bake them on a stone with some cornmeal sprinkled on the bottom, you really can’t tell the difference. </p>
<p>I will also buy oreo’s for my husband because although I like to bake cookies, he doesn’t seem to care if they are homemade or store bought and he’s the only one eating them. I always do scratch mac and cheese but if it’s a night when I get home at 5:15, it’s going to be the pre-shredded cheddar with some grated Parmesan thrown in. If I have the time, it’s going to be Gouda, Vermont Cheddar, Parmesan, bacon and toasted bread croutons on the top. I love taking the time with a recipe, but I find I enjoy it much more if I’m only doing an all out dinner just a couple of nights a week. I generally make enough food for two meals and we’re all okay with left overs. </p>
<p>When I want to try a new recipe, I often google the name of the recipe and than, “Cooks Illustrated”. While I won’t be able to get the actual recipe from their site, someone usually does a blog about it and I can get it from there. </p>
<p>My list is pretty long as we’ve tried to cut back on sodium intake over the last few years and adopted a healthier diet overall. I make oatmeal (no instant packets here), spaghetti sauce (I do use canned crushed tomatoes), meatballs, dried beans (no canned), mashed potatoes, mac-n-cheese, wild rice pilaf, oven-fried potatoes and oven-fried sweet potatoes, most soups, and several seasoning mixes I use in other meals. I rarely purchase flavored yogurt. I mix Greek yogurt with fruit and cereal. Except for cookies at Christmas, I rarely bake, and we don’t have baked goods often. When I do bake a cake or pie, it’s with a box or pre-made crust. I just never learned to make pie-crust. </p>
<p>I tend to use a crock-pot for making larger quantities of sauces and beans. I then bag and freeze it for later meals. The beans are fine after freezing provided they are not overcooked. Same with rice pilaf. When I make meatballs or even meatloaf, I use 2-3 pounds of meat and freeze the extras. Without my crock-pot and large freezer, I would be lost for meals. </p>
<p>I just scanned my grocery list for the past couple months (I shop online, so it’s easy to do). The only “prepared” food that I regularly buy are canned tomatoes, ketchup, mustard, salad dressing, jarred marinara sauce, pasta, microwave popcorn, sliced bread and tortillas. Everything else is a “staple” (no simpler form available, such as eggs, cheese, milk, chicken, etc). Occasionally, H will buy potato chips for his lunch. Oh, and I have a serious Diet Coke habit. So, I guess everything else we eat is “from scratch”? I mean I don’t butcher my own hogs, but I can make a meatloaf!</p>
<p>OP here. My original intent was not thinking things like “mashed potatoes” - thinking that likely more people make mashed potatoes rather than buying the pre-made ones. But something like hummus for instance - my guess is that more people (majority) buy pre-made hummus - so if you don’t, and make yours at home using the key ingredients to hummus - that’s from scratch! </p>
<p>If you take tomatoes, olive oil, spices and such and make spaghetti sauce - that’s from scratch. If you buy Prego and add some spices to it - not from scratch. </p>
<p>I was reading an article in allrecipes magazine the other day that went through buying vs from scratch comparing cost and convenience along with taste… it said that per ounce making salad dressing from scratch is more expensive unless you happen to keep the ingredients on hand anyway, but that for the taste it is worth the money. Hummus was cheaper homemade and way better. I think they said lemonade is cheaper homemade but not worth the trouble to make. I thought that was interesting about the dressing. I like the dressing we buy so it’s maybe not worth it to make it homemade, especially since we don’t keep the ingredients on hand for anything else.</p>
<p>Random fact: I hate the expression “on hand” for reasons not even I understand.</p>
<p>Forgot about cranberry sauce… of course I make that from scratch too. We generally don’t keep bread in the house but when we do we buy semolina loaves at Italian market or baguette from Trader Joes. We do buy fresh rolls in the bakery on Sunday mornings and bagels on Saturday mornings. When I am in the mood for them , I will pick up English muffins from Trader Joe’s also and I do buy mini-pitas for hummus and babaganoush.</p>
<p>I always have ingredients for salad dressing in the house. Don’t most people have olive oil and vinegar as a staple? I also always have Dijon mustard in the refrigerator and heads of garlic on my counter. A simple dressing doesn’t take much. My latest is just a fig balsalmic and olive oil with fresh ground pepper.
I have lime trees so making limeade is cheap. I don’t buy lemonade, we mainly drink water.</p>
<p>Most people might, the article suggested that was the case, making the point that it was only more expensive if you don’t and even if that’s the case it’s worth it for the taste. I don’t keep any of that in the house and I am the only one that eats salad, and I’d just as soon eat it dry as with any dressing.</p>
<p>For those not making their own, here is my favorite simple pizza sauce - NO COOK – it is made with canned tomatoes, which are already cooked, and it cooks a bit in the oven. Slightly adapted from Master Bread Baker Peter Rinehart. It is so good, not worth buying commercial. I like to splurge on San Marzano tomatoes but any will do. I freeze any I’m not using that week. </p>
<p>Crushed Tomato Pizza Sauce</p>
<p>1 can (28 ounces) crushed or ground tomatoes
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 tsp Italian seasoning (or oregano)
2 to 3 cloves of garlic, minced or pulverized (can use 1 Tbsp granulated garlic)
1 to 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (or balsamic or lemon juice)</p>
<p>In a bowl, stir ingredients together. Will sauce 4 to 6 pizzas. Keeps 7 days refrigerated.</p>
<p>I worked at the pizza place on campus (Garcia’s) when I was a student at UIUC back in the 70s. I use their sauce recipe to this day, and it looks almost identical to yours, BrownParent. The only difference is that it calls for oregano and basil instead of Italian seasoning (not even sure if that’s a difference)…and I’ve cut down on the salt in the past years as our palates have changed. </p>
<p>Funny, because it was originally oregano and basil, but just the oregano is authentic he says. I modified it for what I had on hand and liked. Now I ordered some Penzy’s Pizza Seasoning to replace the herbs and the garlic. It has a bit of fennel too and I will see. My roommate thinks the garlic is too strong, but not I. Well we will see if she likes the dried garlic in the mix better. Anyway, it is just the right sauce I agree! </p>
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