Cooking from scratch is a forgotten skill. However it would be so easy to revive if the will was there. I learned all my skills at school and in the Girl Guides. I believe that it is my super power. It has saved me so much money. Food was often the only household bill that I could cut back on.
Cooking from scratch has been the biggest help to me living a simple, frugal life. It has also kept me healthy as I have consumed a lot less UPF and sugar than most people. We are fed the line that it is inconvienant, and takes a lot of effort and time. However, with a bit of organisation, a meal can be prepared quickly. How easy is it to throw some ingredients into a slow cooker and switch it on to make a curry that would last a few meals and save cooking another day?
We can have a stirfry on the table in 15 minutes, or home made burgers with salad in the same time. Fajitas, omelettes, pizza, and so many other quick meals can be made as quickly as opening a packaged meal and warming it up in the microwave. They also taste better, and there are no nasty ingredients lurking that I don’t recognise. Bolognaise, sweet and sour, Moroccan stews etc, all can be done in a slow cooker, with or without meat.
By cooking with simple ingredients I have control of our nutrition. By adverts and media, we have been programmed to believe that we need all of the variety in the supermarket. That we need to fill our trolleys up each week. We don’t. I mostly cook from about 12 staple ingredients, and we always have beautiful meals. Lots of the things found in the supermarket can be easily made from scratch. Waffles, yoghurt, biscuits, burgers, chicken nuggets, hash browns, wraps etc, to name a few. Foraging and growing food gives us even more variety, and choice. Now and again we will buy a luxury ingredient like cocoa or dried fruit. 
It scares me how much hidden sugar is in the so called healthy foods that we feed our children, and ourselves from the supermarket. I used to think that things like yoghurt and fruit juice were healthy. Apparently, lots of under 5s are needing extractions due to rotten teeth, now. Cooking from scratch helps me feel in control of things like this, but also helps me feel like I am being rebellious and not doing as expected. It is my way of protesting against changes to food that I don’t agree with. If anyone doesn’t know how to cook from scratch, here are some simple tips. 
1. Start with a simple recipe with just a few ingredients, for example, a casserole, or bagels made with just yoghurt and flour, or a pizza base. Build your skills gradually.
2. Prepare your ingredients and get your equpment out before hand.
3. If possible try cooking at first with someone who knows how to cook from scratch, especially if that suits your learning style. Maybe you could cook a meal with friends.
4. Watch YouTube tutorials.
5. Always read the recipe through a couple of times before starting.
6. Don’t be upset if you make mistakes, or your first attempt doesn’t work out as you had hoped. That is how you learn. My first bread loaves were like bricks. Now I can make gorgeous bread without looking at a recipe. Somethings take practice.
7. Learn and master the different cooking techniques eg. Boiling, frying, steaming, roasting etc.
8. Pick one meal, or dish, to master and practice it until you get it just how you want it. Then go on to the next one until you build a meal plan. I did this with cheese sauce, which I only became confident to make 5 or 6 years ago. I cheated with a packet before then, or got Mr S to make it.
9. Make sure that you clean your cooking area as you go along. It makes life easier and is less stressful.
10. Taste your food whilst cooking, and season well.
11. Keep a stocked pantry of essential staples. This way you can always make a meal.
12. Invest in good quality appliances and tools. We get ours in sales, or for presents. I have had my cake tins since I was 11. Quality saves duplicate buying.
13. There are cooking classes at some food banks and projects. Colleges also do evening classes if you want to learn from someone more experienced.
14. As you become more confident don’t be scared to be more creative and make up your own recipes using what you have. Different ingredients can be swapped in if you don’t have exactly what is in the recipe. Experiment and have fun.
15. When making meals always be aware of nutrition. You need a good balance of proteins, vitamins, minerals, fats and carbohydrates.
Do you cook from scratch? What tips would you give to someone just learning?
I have always cooked from scratch and never have take away food except the occasional fish and chips. I agree with all you say and would just add that you can so easily find a recipe on the internet or go to the library and borrow cookery books until you find one that suits you. Charity shops often have cookery books too. I recommend starting with soups (very easy and cheap) and simple bakes. These should give confidence.
Great tips. Thank you
I think number 8 is a really good tip: one thing that I taught my kids was to make a good cheese sauce as it can be the basis for so many other meals and is way better and cheaper than a packet or a jar: lasagne, macaroni cheese, cauliflower cheese and so on. So many cook books are way too complex for beginners and require too many ingredients. Simple is best. I also agree that soup is the best and for using up ingredients: my kids won’t touch tinned soup and that’s probably a good thing as it’s so simple: a blender is very worth saving up for.
I agree. Thanks for sharing
I cook from scratch, luckily my mum taught me and, as she worked shifts, I was cooking for 7+ adults when I got home from school! I find it relaxing tbh. It saves loads of money and makes sure additives are at a minimum🙂
Absolutely. Great your mum taught you. I find cooking and baking relaxing as well
I think I would tell someone to try making stir fries first of all. I often don’t use oil, just water and you can use chicken, tinned fish in it’s own sauce, you can buy stir fry sauce in packets and bottles but watch how long you can keep it. I sometimes add left over passage. You can have a stir fry with rice, pasta or as we did the other day a cold jacket potato chopped up and stirred in. Sometimes it has baked beans and I have also used the left over fajita salsa. There really isn’t a limit to what you can do.
Yes they are versatile. We like them with a bit of sweet chilli sauce in. A great way to use up fridge gravel
Great blog Toni, thanks.
Thanks Jean
Passage should read Passata.
Great ideas. I made a Mary Berry tea loaf at the weekend….very simple, just flour, sugar, dried fruit, tea, an egg and some lemon. It made 18 slices for £3.20! No unidentifiable ingredients and absolutely delicious. My local supermarket is selling a snack packet of two chocolate digestive biscuits for 95p. I know which I prefer!
Simple is definitely the best, and I agree about the hidden ingredients. Thanks for sharing
I love cooking from scratch I really do need to practice bread making I’ve cracked soda bread & we love it with home made soup . I made soup out of squash & another with sweet potato & peppers .I’m being far more creative with soups. The soup maker I was given has been such a bonus I just pile the ingredients in & set it off .
I’m sharing a lot of your ideas with families at food club it’s great to see others braving new foods & techniques. X
Aww thank you. I have watched you grow and gain confidence in your cooking. Thanks for sharing and supporting this website since the early days. I really appreciate it
I’m always really proud of the meals I produce from the cupboards – my mum isn’t a great cook (her mother really couldn’t cook) but I watched her absolutely making the most of her really limited budget to feed a family of five. My Dad’s mother was a great cook, a real inspiration- living rurally and making the most of seasonal produce as we all seemed to do more of back then. I then pretty much taught myself to cook and am still learning. I’ve had some disasters but most still edible 🤣Even experienced home cooks can get in a food rut so I enjoy taking inspiration from everything – social media, trusted cookbooks etc. A lot of what I cook from scratch these days is based on using up what needs to be used and not being wasteful. Also like a lot of people we are only feeding two as the kids are grown and gone so that has taken a bit of getting used to, I think I cook the same but freeze more. The other bonus is I always think how much less packaging, food miles, energy etc we use by cooking from scratch. My wish is that parents teach their kids to make food from scratch it’s such a valuable skill.
Absolutely. I also wish that there would be more free community lessons. Thanks for sharing
I’ve cooked from scratch since my kids were small because we needed to save money. There was a lot of trial and error but with perseverance you do get better. We don’t really have takeaway because I make takeaway style meals at home which are much tastier and healthier. I keep a stock of frequently used spices and things like rice, lentils, pasta, chickpeas and bulgar wheat and some go to recipes thst I have perfected over the years.
Great tips. Thanks for sharing
My mum probably never thought of herself as a housewife (she had an academic career), but she/they allways cooked from scratch. Nothing exiting, just plain simple cooking, often quick-to-make meals. Anyhow, it never occurred to me not to cook from scratch. I have become better over the years making sure nothing goes to waste and make more meals from or at least with beans & lentils. These days I find it very helpfull and inspiring to google recipies based on ingredients, that I wish to use. And yes, it is quite allright to adapt these recipies to taste and according to what is in your cupboard. Remember, it doesn’t have to be fancy and we all learn as we go. I also find it helpfull to cook enough for 2 days to take the pressure off daily cooking.
I agree. I am still learning in my mid sixties and have been cooking since I was 9. Thanks
My mum always shopped local and cooked from scratch, nothing fancy but good home made food. I never used to like cooking when I was younger but these days I’m enjoying planning and making nourishing meals like bean stews, veggie chilli, Dahl and casseroles. I’m not too confident in cooking fish but have been getting my partner to help me, as he loves to cook. I’ve also been learning to bake, I got a secondhand Mary Berry book and it’s brill. I love the way she just puts it all into a bowl, nice and simple, no messing. I’ve baked a few cakes and now I’m working through the biscuit recipes. So nice to eat home made treats knowing what’s in them.
Brilliant. Thanks so much for sharing