People are fat because they're poor

[Caoineag]

I personally could not cook from scratch. there are not enough hours in the day. I am not talking about eating healthy but like the above poster is talking. they actually cook from scratch. I know that when I say I cook from scratch I am actually talking about mixing mixes and putting ingredients together versus using a ready made box item of the whole meal. I have to agree there is probably not too many people who actually cook from scratch, as in make their own bread, tortillas, mixes etc from actual spices. I know there are people who make bread but I mean the people who never buy ready made bread. I would also think it is not the cheapest. When I go shopping to make cookies the seasonings, cinnamon, vanilla, almond extract, etc. they are not cheap. But I do however, have great sense of respect for ones that do it. By the time I get home from work I only have 4 hours till bedtime, I would like to do something other than cook.

Actually time isn't your biggest enemy when cooking from scratch (there are ways to condense the time so that you are making lots of things all at once and the freezer is your friend. I generally have only 3 hours at night as well) its not having recipes. Cooking is an art, baking is a science. Developing good quick recipes is the biggest battle because without a good recipe, you just wasted your time and ingredients.

Course the other advantage I do have and its a real advantage is that my DH helps alot with the cooking. When you split the effort, you can get a lot done. He gets home before me and will often start (and many times finish supper before I arrive. I tend to mainly do the mass cooking on the weekends and midweek which gives us leftovers for the week.

It does save money because instead of having a box mix for this and a box mix for that, your main staples can be used for any recipe you want. Main thing I have to limit is fresh produce though once I figure out how to properly freeze all that stuff that will help with the using it up in time (especially once I have stuff from my garden).

[rob62521]

Cooking "from scratch" definitely has a different meaning than it once did. If you ask, most people will consider a meal to be made from scratch if it involved opening a bag of frozen veggies, cooking them and serving them over boxed pasta that was boiled and then topping the whole thing with sauce from a jar.

You are right, Steve. I'm basically talking about people buying stuff that is already ready, just add water or something and that, in my opinion, is not cooking from scratch. I do spend time on the weekend making things truly from scratch. I may bake a roast and a chicken while the oven is going, pull the meat from the chicken and then put the bones, water, and some veggies in a CrockPot and make a chicken stock. I can then use some of the chicken for a chicken pot pie for later in the week, and use some of the chicken for sandwiches for my lunch. The oven did most of the work -- I just put it in a pan.

I used to use a commercial rice mixture because it was easy, but found cooking plain rice was just as easy and I could add what I wanted without all the preservatives and salt. I think the poster who said having the recipes is the problem was right on that as well.

We love fresh green beans and when we can get them, I fix them. They are a little more trouble to fix than opening a can, but boy, what a difference. If I fix enough, I can freeze the extra and have it again some other time.

[disneysteve]

We just had what I feel is a reasonably healthy and quite filling dinner - pizza. I was thinking about this thread so I added up the costs involved.

store bought crusts - $3.50
1/2 can pizza sauce - $.50
cheese - $1.00
vegetables - $1.50 (mushrooms, onions, olives, green and red pepper, spinach)
------------------------------------------
total - $6.50

That made enough pizza to easily feed 4 people, so $1.63/person. If money was tight, you could spread the sauce a bit thinner, buy cheaper cheese (this was store brand but already shredded) and cut out a topping or two. That would bring it down to $1.50/person or less. And we could probably make our own crusts for less or buy something cheaper than what we use.

So is $1.50/person for dinner a lot? It's certainly cheaper than a trip to a fast food restaurant while also being lower in calories and much higher in nutrition. If we had taken the same veggies, grilled them and served them over pasta, the total cost would be more like $3.50 total or $.75/person. You can't even get one item off the dollar menu in comparison.

[Atreides]

"Poor" people are skinny because they cannot afford food. People who are overweight have money to eat bad foods, and too much of those bad foods for that matter, so they have them means to buy healthy foods. Market Basket has pretty cheap food...

[rob62521]

We just had what I feel is a reasonably healthy and quite filling dinner - pizza. I was thinking about this thread so I added up the costs involved.

store bought crusts - $3.50
1/2 can pizza sauce - $.50
cheese - $1.00
vegetables - $1.50 (mushrooms, onions, olives, green and red pepper, spinach)
------------------------------------------
total - $6.50



So is $1.50/person for dinner a lot? It's certainly cheaper than a trip to a fast food restaurant while also being lower in calories and much higher in nutrition. If we had taken the same veggies, grilled them and served them over pasta, the total cost would be more like $3.50 total or $.75/person. You can't even get one item off the dollar menu in comparison.

Sounds good, Steve. One question...why didn't you call the rest of us for dinner?

[LuxLiving]

Disneysteve, that's what we had last night for supper, except that I made the crusts from Amy D.'s Tightwad Gazette recipe doubled. Two pizzas w/meat, onion, black olives & cheese = approximately $2.75 in cost for both which fed four of us for supper. Had to start about 20 minutes early to make the crust dough, but still I can't see how that would eat up too much of anyone's evening time. I made the dough in about 5 minutes and then went and set the timer while I did something else. Let it rise for 15-20 minutes and then came back and mushed it onto the pan, loaded the toppings and then waited another 15 or so minutes while it cooked and again I was doing something else while it was cooking. Easy-peasy! And tasty. Not gourmet, but decidely decent & inexpensive.

[Gruntina]

Funny! Growing up my mom and I were poor even though she worked two shifts. We end up heating up frozen pizza and almost daily trip to McDonalds as it was just the two of us. We were skinny!!! Then again, we could not afford to have a car so we walked everywhere.

[disneysteve]

I made the crusts from Amy D.'s Tightwad Gazette recipe.

I just checked the book and don't see the recipe in the index. Can you post it or PM me? Thanks.

[LuxLiving]

Here you go DisneySteve, an annotated pizza dough recipe...

Amy Dacyczyn's, Tightwad Gazette II volume, pg. 8 -

I just double this for our family of four - 3 HUNGRY adult males & 1 female. I buy bulk yeast at places like Sam's/Costco and store in freezer as I do a lot of from scratch baking, and I use olive oil instead of veg. oil. For baking I always use a wooden spoon and plastic or glass bowls. That has something to do with metal supposedly reacting negatively in w/the yeast or something - can't recall read it in a mag or somewhere.

---

"Thick and Chewy Pizza Dough

1/2 to 3/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F.)
1 pkg. dry yeast (1 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

[Lux's note- Turn the oven on to preheat NOW at 425 degrees - the warmth of the oven will help it to rise.]

Combine 1/4 cup of the water with the yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve the yeast and let stand until bubbly, about five minutes. Put the flour, oil and salt into a food processor, and process about five seconds with a steel blade.

Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture, and process about 10 seconds or until blended.

Turn on the processor and drizzle just enough of the remaining water through the feed tube so the dough forms a ball that cleans the sides of the bowl. Process so that the ball turns around about 25 times.

Put the dough ball onto a 14 inch greased pizza pan or large cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap or a bowl, and let stand 10 minutes.

Pat the dough out so that it covers the pan, leaving a ridge on the edges. (Or, if you're feeling really adventurous, spin the dough in the air a few times.) Spread with pizza sauce, and add cheese and toppings.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly."

---
It goes on from there to talk about making their inexpensive spaghetti/pizza sauce.

Okay, so listen, I don't have a food processor, I never liked taking one of them apart to wash them and then trying to put it back together. I just make this in a plastic bowl w/a wooden spoon and then knead it in the bowl for about 25 turns.

Since I double mine, I cut the dough ball in half here and put it on the pans. I also spray my pizza pan w/Pam or cheap equivalent and throw on a splash of cornmeal before I put the dough on it to rise. I give a bit of a Pam spray to the top before I cover it w/plastic wrap, lightly sealing the sides down to the top of the pan. I have a gas oven so the heat is rising nicely about now and I leave my pans sitting on the top of the stove which is warming nicely, I set my timer and go do something else for a few minutes.

When I come back it has risen and then I just punch it down and form to the shape of the pan. For us, Hubster isn't a big tomato fan, I just use an el-cheapo can of tomato sauce, you know, the 5/$1 type and splash on a bit italian seasoning before I put on my toppings.

Or, sometimes if I plan it correctly I will have a larger can of the .99 spaghetti sauce on hand and I'll open it and use a small portion to top the pizzas with and use the remainder to go ahead & make up my spaghetti & meat sauce and let it set in frig for the next night's meal. Spa-get is always better day two, to me.

Add a nice hearty salad (and garlic toast too, if folks are just THAT hungry) and you're good to go. Here the guys think they have to have some kind of dessert so a small portion controlled sugar free jello cup, pudding, or fruit serving such as peaches or pears, finishes out a meal plan.

Enjoy!

[disneysteve]

Thanks, Lux. I'll have to give that a try.

[simpleyme]

I think perfectionism holds some people back, if I cannot do it right I wont do it at all mentality

my definition of scratch cooking is 1 level above what ever you are doing now(unless of course you raise your own beef, churn your own butter , gather your own wild rice and mushrooms......)


if you eat every meal at McDonald's scratch cooking would be making burgers at home

[FrugalFish]

Hey! Would you believe that I had Amy D pizza for dinner last night too? It is very easy to make. I don't currently have a food processor, so I mix it together in the bread machine. It is a very good recipe- very quick, and very easy. Once you get use to the base recipe, you can alter it so many ways- whole grains, mashed potatoes, we've even made sourdough back when I had starter. If you use mashed potatoes in the dough, it's extremely tender and also very filling.

Oh, I also cook mine at 450-460. It reduces crust rise a little, so if you like your crust less risen, hotter is better. OTOH, if you like a little thicker and chewier crust, keep it cooler.

[Ima saver]

I can't believe that 4 pages have been devoted to this topic! I am not 112 pounds like I was in my 30's, so i guess I am over weight! I am not poor or lazy!!

[disneysteve]

Tonight's dinner was a teriyaki vegetable and tofu stir-fry over brown rice. I can't figure the exact cost because we've had some of the ingredients for a while, but I'm quite sure it cost less than last night's pizza, so probably between $4.00 and $5.00 tops, if that. That fed the 3 of us with leftovers for one more serving at least, so again about $1.00-$1.25 per person. And again, way cheaper than a trip to the fast food restaurant.

[Gruntina]

Tonight's dinner was a teriyaki vegetable and tofu stir-fry over brown rice. I can't figure the exact cost because we've had some of the ingredients for a while, but I'm quite sure it cost less than last night's pizza, so probably between $4.00 and $5.00 tops, if that. That fed the 3 of us with leftovers for one more serving at least, so again about $1.00-$1.25 per person. And again, way cheaper than a trip to the fast food restaurant.

That meal sounds yummy! I think the start up cost with stocking the pantry with sauce, oil, vinegar, butter and etc... can be really pricey at first. I think key thing is to build over time and using a method of some sort to make sure there is enough basis on supply when cooking any meals cheaply. I think it’s hard to have that mindset if you never really learned to cook or if someone's living in a situation where you split up half the space with roommates and etc which is often the case for poor people. It’s hard to plan to make sure if your living a stressful life where you are working all the time to make ends meet.

Having a healthy functional life style makes the most difference on how you eat, sleep and live in general. Some people are poor because they have a mental illness or medical issues, depressed in the more severe category.