Do you find that cooking from scratch saves money?

[Grainlady]

I took a class that included the cost and nutrition analysis of convenience VS homemade foods. Because I'm a whole foods person who makes their own "convenience" foods, it was interesting to take this class. I came to the conclusion that whole foods are the original "FAST FOOD". Many need NO cooking. Most fruits and vegetables are ready-to-eat, once they are washed or peeled.

I make all our breads and mill flour from wheat and other grains/seeds/beans. Although wheat has gone up drastically, using wheat purchased in 2007, I can make a loaf of 100% whole wheat bread for 50-cents. I also make my own (cooked) cereal and bulgur for pennies.

Advantages of cooking from scratch includes:

-having "fun" with recipes and personalizing them
-improving nutrition and fiber
-reducing salt/fat/chemicals, etc.
-you know what's in it
-you can improve the quality and flavor
-generally, but not always, you can make it for less than using convenience foods

But as we've all noticed, convenience foods:

-can take less time to prepare
-you know what to expect in the way of taste and texture, which tend to stay the same
-clean-up can be easier
-and you can still alter things to suit your personal taste

We also compared prices in this class.

-It was cheaper per serving to make Hamburger Helper than to make a Hamburger Stroganoff type dish from scratch.

-Depending on what brand you buy, it cost about the same to buy chili from the can or to make it from scratch.

-Pizza from scratch can actually cost you more than purchasing it from the freezer section at the store (depends on ingredients used), but both were less expensive than getting a pizza from a fast-food (restaurant) place.

-No surprises here... It's also cheaper to buy your Macaroni & Cheese in the box, but everyone thought homemade was much better.

We also compared these conveniences:

-Shredded cheese VS buying it in the block and shredding your own. You nearly always save by shredding your own cheese.

-Pre-cooked chicken strips VS making your own. Although it took a little longer to make your own from raw boneless, skinless chicken strips - pre-cooked chicken was more expensive and doesn't come close to the taste of homemade chicken. The chicken isn't nearly the quality in the pre-cooked as it is when you make it yourself.

-Convenience of having someone else cut or chop foods for you. Our example was it cost about $1.13 more for 10-ounces of Matchstick Cut (shredded) Carrots. It only took a couple minutes to shred or cut a carrot and we all agreed they tasted better than pre-cut, pre-packaged.

-Bagged salad greens cost nearly 5 times as much as buying and washing your own lettuce. The BIG difference was in volume. The volume in the bag and the volume you get from a head of lettuce.

[LastDragonfly]

I'd love your yogurt recipe if you have one handy!

That and I am once again looking for a cottage cheese recipe. I saw Alton Brown do it on Food Network and it looked like tons of fun and money saving too! So I went and tracked down his recipe and now I lost it and didn't save it to my food network recipe box and can't find it on the site!

So if anyone has one of either of those recipes to share, I'd love to try them!

Mother Earth News had a recipe for cottage cheese in the crockpot in the dec/jan issue

[MomToTwoBoys]

It saves us a ton of money. When we cook from scratch, we have the option to do OAMC and do it at a time when the food is priced right. The same goes for desserts like cookies, pies, etc. I think it all depends on the area you live in because some areas charge more for produce and goods than others. Here in Canada, it's at least 50% or more expensive than you pay in the US and the dollar here was better than the USD for a while.