So do you know how to cook from scratch?

[sdrjeolsen]

Growing up I learnt how to cook from scratch from my mom also.
( I mean from killing and cleaning chickens to putting them on the table
roasted with gravy potatoes and homemade biscuits )
Canning freezing and baking.
Great thread

Me too. I don't impress my kids though. They don't get it. Hopefully some day they will want to know how to cook from scratch.

A couple days ago I made a quiche from wheat I ground and homemade goat butter for the crust. Goat milk and eggs from my animals, spinach & onions from my garden and some goat cheese a friend gave me. The kids about fell over when I explained the whole thing to them, I got the whole eye-rolling, are-you-serious thing. Makes me feel bad that they are so influenced by the instant society we live in.

Its great for you to offer your help.

[ubumartin]

I can remember my mom had about 4 or 5 dishes she would make.
hotdogs and beans
hamburgers
shake and bake chicken breasts
elbow macaroni and beef
pork chops with meat dishes we would have mashed potatoes every night with a veggie out of a can.
spaghetti with meat sauce out of a jar.
My dad would always make the sunday or holiday dinners and still does to this day at 78. He would make nice roast beef dinners, pork roasts, turkey and he would try to make some different dishes like meatloaf and stews. I do a lot more but I am learning all the time. I still use lots of convenience foods though.
I do use the crock pot as often as I can. I try to bake from scratch occasionally. I NEED HELP!!!

[DixieJ]

I was just wondering the other day if cooking from scratch will become a lost art. I cook from scratch all the time--chicken and dumplings, turkey and dresssing, biscuits, cornbread, homemade pies (with homemade pie crusts) cakes and much more. We were talking about homecooked meals the other day at work, I was amazed when one of my co-workers talked about going home and making a homecooked meal--fish sticks and boxed macaronni and cheese (she was serious in considering this a homecooked meal).

[nandmsmom]

I have always been a scratch cook. My mom was as well. I didn't appreciate it as much when I was a kid. The kids that had lunches with wonderbread and twinkies seemed more exciting than my homemade oatmeal bread and homebaked cookies. Now I wonder what I was thinking!

It is always amazing to me what people consider cooking now though. Heating up a meal from a package or just adding hot water is not my idea of scratch cooking. It's hard to find prepackaged stuff in my house. Just basic ingredients.

[AmyBoz]

I do what I can. We certainly don't raise any animals and don't grow grain, so I do buy my ingredients from the store. The only pre-packaged meals that I make are pierogies and frozen chicken nuggets, and I only make those on nights when I have to go out. Otherwise, I cook from scratch. We don't do prepackaged foods because a) I think they have too much sodium b) I think they are too expensive

Some of my regulars are:

baked macaroni and cheese (not from a box)
meatloaf
beef stroganoff
biscuits
chicken and dumplings
pasta with meat sauce (sausage and meatballs)
pork chops
roast beef
quesadillas
cookies
brownies