Uncrustables. Seriously, they’re just frozen white bread pbj (or Cheez Wiz) sandwiches. If you’re a harried parent that needs frozen sandwiches to toss in the kid’s lunch bag, buy a loaf of white bread, some peanut butter and jelly (or Goober to be even lazier), on on your next day off, spend maybe five minutes to slap together a week’s worth, toss them in some bags, and freeze yourself?
And it tastes better too.
Who the hell has a spare room? I’m not Richie Rich over here.
I make my own grilled cheese. I make it with my own garlic butter with my own hand peeled home ground garlic.
Exactly. The example that got me thinking down the convenience route was a milkshake. Can’t get any easier than that- ice cream, milk, blender, with maybe some flavorings like chocolate syrup or nuts or something. And you can use whatever brand or flavor you desire… almost certainly better than generic shake mix at a fast food place. But most people buy them. Why? Because they’re convenient. You don’t have to go buy ice cream or milk, and you don’t have to do the dishes.
I’ve noticed that it seems to pay off to do things at home if the volume is high enough. My wife does this meal-swap thing with other mothers in the neighborhood, where they make 4-5 meals, freeze them, and swap with the other people who have done the same thing, so that everyone always has some frozen meals in the freezer in case of time crunches or whatever. We’ve found that a lot of things that are cheaper in terms of money and effort for one meal are often considerably cheaper monetarily, and not much more effort if you do them the long way- shredded cheese, chopped vegetables, etc…
Considering the recent scandals with 7-9% wood pulp found in shredded cheese, I’ll stick to grating my own. It also keeps much longer.
I feel a twinge of guilt when I buy coffee from my corner store knowing I could make a pot myself but I buy it anyway.
Coleslaw: Has to be the easiest and cheapest thing to make, and the crap that’s premade in the store tastes like ass.
Pancakes: You really need a mix for this?
OJ
Spice mixes: I make my own masala blends or whatever else I need.
Granola: MUCH cheaper and better when made at home, and dead easy.
People keep saying that, but it’s not true. Those things take MONTHS to make.
And don’t even get me started about how tough they are to get out of the mold when they’re ‘done’. :eek:
See my refusal to grate my own cheese is actually a safety consideration. I have comprehensively demonstrated over a period of many years that despite the fact that I am not generally particularly klutzy, and despite the fact that I am a reasonably accomplished home cook (to the limits of my interest), if faced with the task of grating anything (including cheese), I will manage to grate my own knuckles at least twice and possibly more often during the process. Every time. Without fail. Only grating cheese though. I can manage to peel, chop, dice, trim and otherwise handle sharp implements without incident, but hand me a grater (regardless of style or configuration) and there will be blood.
Two words: food processor
One word: pre-shredded 
Sending Kimstu the love.
I’ll send even more love if you stop sniffing me.
You win the thread. Where do you want it delivered?
I believe that scandal was with the lowest-end Walmart brand of grated Parmesan. I’m usually buying a good brand of shredded cheese (Sargento, for example), so I’m not very worried about adulteration.
QFT.
Also some of these things involve skills that take time and experience to acquire. In the case of guacamole, the skill is being able to tell whether an avocado is ripe or not. My dad grew up in southern California, and could tell ripe from unripe avocados just by picking them up for a second. I grew up in the D.C. suburbs, and I can’t do it to save my life.
I used to do everything myself, but I’ve started considering the time I spend on things.
Stuff I consider:
- single person living alone
- full time job
- arthritis in knees and hip make standing a long time painful and walking funny looking the next day
- small kitchen with limited cabinet space and a smallish refrigerator
- make 98% of my own meals
- I hate throwing out rotten food
So I have to decide how long I’m willing to stand up, do I have room for a whole watermelon, or do I need to buy cuts? (maybe I can find someone to share it? take some to work? juice it and add some rum… wait, let’s get a pineapple, too). So sometimes convenience is good. I CAN make my own bread or salsa or cookies, but if I just need two buns or enough salsa for one dish, I can buy buns by the each and salsa by the ounce. And I definitely do not ever under any circumstances need a whole batch of cookies.
Sometimes I have to go with my dearly departed and somewhat unsaintly grandmother used to say: It’s good enough fer what it’s fer.
Sometimes I want cooking to be quick and easy and convenient because what I really want to do is spend my time embroidering my spring office shawl (freaking cold in this joint). Yeah, I could go buy a sweater, but I want my hand decorated office and bus wrap.
I think if you don’t sew or live with a sewer, you might be surprised at how much of a resurgence sewing has made. I’m starting my new custom messenger bag tonight. (cherry oil cloth; definitely one of a kind).
Since when is that a scandal? It’s said it right on the label for years on nearly every brand I’ve ever seen. (I read labels!) And ultimately it’s inert- we can’t digest cellulose, so in essence, it’s added fiber.
The big issue with the Wal-Mart and Kraft grated parmesan is the *volume *of cellulose anti-caking agent added; in their product it’s at a high enough level to count as filler or adulterant and not merely an anti-caking additive (added at like 0.3% normally), considering that it says “100% parmesan cheese”, but is really like 95% Parmesan and 5% “anti-caking cellulose”.
I often wonder how individual JoAnns determine their inventory, because ISTM that you can find very different stuff at different stores, maybe depending on customers’ regional/neighborhood preferences.
Yeah, real silk twill/broadcloth/etc. is not going to end up being cheaper than crappy big-box polyester curtain panels. Def way cheaper than real silk somebody else sews for you, though.
I’m a calico gal myself when it comes to curtains, b/c washable. You know what nobody has anymore and it’s really annoying? Those fine cotton lawn fabrics that had embroidery/eyelets just along one side of the fabric bolt with the other side plain. Those were perfect for half-length cafe-style curtains.
Ooooh. I want to see both of those. We are definitely straying from “easy to make” territory though, so I’ll let it go.
Something that’s actually way easy (though not super fast) to make at home, and far more delicious than store-bought, is dill pickles.
Pour a boiled salt/water/vinegar/garlic solution over pickling cukes, dill weed and spices in an apothecary jar or other non-metal wide-mouthed lidded container, let cool, allow to mature in the fridge for two days or until you just can’t wait any longer, and omg pickles. Yumyumyumyumyum. In the summer I make those with my own garden cucumbers and dill: THE BEST.
Dunno about “Decent” but this one is good enough for basic projects like that as well as repairs, etc. So, yeah.
Pancake mix, yeah. If you’re gonna have to add your own oil, eggs, and milk, why not just take that next step and add some baking soda (or is it baking powder, I never can remember)? On the other hand, there’s “complete” where you just add water, and that IS easier. Not as good, but when you’re talking “stupid easy” there it is.