Is it really cheaper from scratch?

**cab54** · 01-17-2009, 12:52 PM

It's not always that way for me. There are a lot of things that ---- by the time I buy all of the ingredients (that I normally don't buy) it would have been cheaper to go the semi-homemade way. Not many, but some things.

**mnmarty03** · 01-17-2009, 06:30 PM

I think there are 3 things to consider when deciding whether making a food item from scratch is cheaper than premade.

1. Cost: How much will it cost to buy the ingredients I need? How much does the premade stuff cost?

2. Time: How much of my TIME will it take up? Is it worth it?

3. Taste/Health: Which will I enjoy more? Which is better for me? These questions have varying importance w/each person & family.

4. Capability: Not everyone can cook.

These are all thing I take into consideration when I cook. I don't buy a lot of prepackaged meals anymore because they are too salty and I'm not crazy about the taste. I also like knowing what's in my food.

With that said, I usually do a mixture of homemade/prepackaged cooking. I made Chicken a la King yesterday that was mostly homemade: chicken from a whole bird I baked earlier in the week, frozen peas (don't like canned), fresh red pepper, fresh onion, jarred chicken gravy & bisquick frozen biscuits. To be REALLY from scratch I'd have to make my own gravy and biscuits. But I don't have the time or energy to do that w/my schedule, and this still tasted great!

**vigilant20** · 01-17-2009, 06:52 PM

I do a combination too. Aldi's mac & cheese is 33 cents a box...I couldn't get just elbow noodles for that much. I also quite like their 98 cent pizzas. I get 2 meals out of each of these.

**joyofsix** · 01-17-2009, 07:03 PM

I think it's also a matter of scale. When I was single or just dh and I convenience foods make sense. Now that I feed 9 people buying ingredients in bulk and scratch cooking works out cheaper. Except for Aldi mac&cheese

**Grainlady** · 01-19-2009, 08:58 AM

FROM SCRATCH (source- Merriam-Webster Dictionary):

with no steps completed or ingredients prepared ahead of time...

I'd consider chocolate chips an ingredient - just like flour, sugar, butter, etc.... Not many of us make THOSE ingredients either.

You can't ALWAYS make it cheaper, but you can nearly always make it better (for you), as others pointed out. If I can't make it better AND make it for less, then we would only rarely, or never, include that food in our diet.

-I make 2 loaves of enriched 100% whole wheat bread or multi-grain bread (freshly-milled flour milled at home) for 50-cents (1-lb. 4-oz. size). It's even less if I make sourdough or lean loaves (no eggs, fat, dairy...). I also make all baked-goods at home using wholegrains/seeds/beans.

-Fresh pasta and noodles made from powdered egg yolks, or powdered whole eggs, and freshly-milled durum flour - pennies. I dehydrate homemade noodles.

-A pot pie can also be made from leftover meat, gravy and frozen mixed vegetables for pennies, if you mill your own flour for the dough. The inexpensive pot pies never included a serving of either vegetables (1/2-cup) OR protein (3-oz.), so are sub-standard for nourishment. I try never to substitute "cheap" when we need "healthy". Empty calories are NEVER a bargain in my book.

-I make my own ice cream. I can make it with low-costing ingredients like powdered milk (Morning Moo's whey-based milk substitute). You can make all kinds of frozen ice cream-like desserts that don't require high-priced cream. By making double-strength form of powdered milk, you can substitute it for cream. Inexpensive brands of commercial ice cream is highly aerated - how much do you pay for "air", and little else? I can even make the chocolate syrup for the topping for a few cents over commercial chocolate syrup.

-Cookies are also inexpensive to make when you mill your own flour. Using a variety of whole grains, seeds, and bean flours, as well as good-for-you nuts, in cookies, you can move them from the "junk-food" category, to "good-for-you" category. Using wholegrains, you'll also consume less because of the high fiber content is more filling. Cookies at our house are counted as part of the daily requirment for wholegrains.

-Pizza... I make pizza dough with freshly-milled flour and homemade kefir or sourdough starter as the leavening, for only pennies. I don't even need to use yeast. Toppings are generally leftovers. That's how we use those tiny bits of ham removed from a ham bone, or bits of chicken. Sauce is made from dried tomato powder (made from homegrown tomatoes) and dried herbs from the garden, and top it with frozen onions/peppers from the garden. Cheese is a garnish, so it's not expensive to use as a topping. I've even used as little as 1-slice of Pepper Jack cheese (used for sandwiches), cut into strips. I manage to make a pizza that has some redeeming qualities in the "healthy" division. Not just cheap eats.... In two slices of pizza you'll get close to 1-serving of vegetables and 2-servings of whole grain "bread".

-Cereal is also cheaper to make at home from whole grains. When you consider there's approximately 17-cents worth of grain in a box of cereal (a statistical number I read recently), whole grains are STILL a bargain (even at their all-time high price this year). At 17-cents a box, I can get the equivilant of nearly 30 boxes of cereal from 25-pounds of grain, which I paid $5 for. I guess we pay more for the box and the advertising than we do the food inside....

**nic4549** · 01-19-2009, 09:58 AM

I just think it all depends on what is on sale and what you feel like cooking. My oldest DS LOVES to cook and watch cooking shows. (My DH jokes that I'm turning him into a chef so I will not have to cook Thanksgiving dinner when he gets older.) For us, baking cookies is cheaper, but also it gives us time to spend together. Pizza is definately cheaper to make the dough and dress the pizza. I only buy convience foods on the weeks that I have night class. That way I can pop it in the oven before I leave and it will be ready by dinner time. Plus, most of the times they come in a disposial tray. No clean up when I get back from class at 9:00 to night.
I cannot find a pizza for $1 around here (panhandle of Florida) even on sale and with a coupon. Plus if I did, it would not feed the entire family (my DH eat A LOT). Now, bread for us is not worth baking fresh. My kids just don't eat it. I buy it on sale or at the day old bread store. At least the kids will eat it and I do not have to throw it away.

**gardening momma** · 01-19-2009, 12:09 PM

Originally Posted by LuvMyHubby

There is also comfort level in the kitchen.. I cannot bake a cake or pie crust from scratch to save my life...no matter how much coaching and how many "no fail" reciepes I have been given..........Yes, folks it is possible to fail at a no fail receipe.

Got a kick out of this! My mom calls her pie crust recipe "no fail pie crust". I'm not particularly good at getting the pie crust onto the pie without it breaking when I use her recipe, but I do much better when I buy a boxed mix.

**xtena** · 01-19-2009, 12:22 PM

Sometimes I'd just rather pay more for homemade. Mac and Cheese is a case in point. I don't care if a box is cheaper than homemade. My made from scratch version (using a white sauce and real cheddar cheese stirred in), is just plain superior, in both taste and nutrition. Not that I think either version is very nutritious, too much fat, salt and starch, but at least my homemade version is not chemical laden.

I could probably find day old bread that is probably cheaper than homemade, but again, the taste and nutrition of chemical free, homemade ww bread wins every time in my book.

Edited to add: don't take offense if you use boxed mac and cheese and storebought bread, I don't mean to criticize those who do. I have used them in the past myself, and still buy storebought breads when time is short and I see a great deal. For me it's about the taste and I can afford the time and $$ to make it myself.

**xtena** · 01-19-2009, 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by rhiana

Bread, (one packet of yeast alone costs more than a loaf of thrift bakery bread)

Rhi

Yeast packages are a major ripoff!!!

Do you have access or friends with access to a warehouse style store like Sam's or Costco? Or is there a Smart and Final near you? They aren't membership based and they carry bulk yeast. You can get 1 or 2 pounds of good yeast for the cost of one of those little bread machine yeast jars in the grocery store, and it freezes well.

I'm sure I read that tip last year on this forum, and I am grateful to whoever posted it as I've saved a *ton* on yeast

**xtena** · 01-19-2009, 12:35 PM

Laughing out loud, I just replied to two posts including the original one and didn't even notice the date was 2003. Wow.

**Sonnenwende** · 01-19-2009, 03:52 PM

I think it depends on what you are making and how many people you need to feed with it exactly. Also constraints on time factor in. Your time is not worth nothing.

I tend only to make from scratch things that are very simple and quick to make like whole wheat pancakes, roasted salmon, garlic mashed potatoes, chocolate chip cookies. I really don't have time to waste with the vast majority of yeast breads. However, why should I, when the thrift store down the road from me sells excellent loaves of organic whole wheat bread for $1.19? Can I really make it cheaper than that? Doubt it and all the ingredients are natural and legit as I would get them from my own kitchen if I could be bothered.

**MommyBliss** · 01-19-2009, 04:35 PM

We do a mixture of homemade and convenience foods. I can't make lasagna cheaply, so that is something I buy ready made from the store, but it's one of the few things I buy ready made. I have begun to bake more, so our rolls, cookies, sweets, are generally made by me. Bread is next on my list to conquer along with pancakes made from scratch. For me it's a question of time as well as convenience.

**rowdy35** · 01-19-2009, 05:47 PM

this is not a "one size fits all" question. it really depends on you. I stock lots of convenience foods in my house. I work 2 jobs and it's cheaper for my husband to eat a frozen dinner or a can of soup than to drive thru McDonalds so I say "to each his own"

i do cook lots of stuff from scratch and use my crockpot but I don't do the homemade bread thing anymore as we have a bakery outlet near and i can get two large bags of bread, tortillas & bagels for $10

**redhead68** · 01-19-2009, 05:53 PM

Originally Posted by xtena

Sometimes I'd just rather pay more for homemade. Mac and Cheese is a case in point. I don't care if a box is cheaper than homemade. My made from scratch version (using a white sauce and real cheddar cheese stirred in), is just plain superior, in both taste and nutrition. Not that I think either version is very nutritious, too much fat, salt and starch, but at least my homemade version is not chemical laden.

I have to agree with you about this. I have never understood the appeal of box mac-n-cheese. If I'm going to blow the diet for cheesy goodness, Kraft just doesn't cut it.