I love to cook and I definitely love to eat homecooked meals. However, there are a few foods I do not want to make from scratch and I have plenty of reasons why.
There are many people who are very passionate about making ALL of their meals from scratch. I am not one of them.
I Don’t Want to Learn How to Make These Foods from Scratch
In no particular order, here are the foods I don’t want to learn how to make from scratch – and the reasons why.
In some cases, I share affiliate links to the foods I buy because I would much rather pay someone else to make them for me. I only recommend products my kids and I have actually eaten.
Pasta from Scratch – Including Gnocchi
Let me tell you: homemade pasta from scratch is THE BEST. Especially when it is made by an Italian grandmother. I love it and can still taste the noodles my paternal Nonna – the one I am named after – used to make. They were amazing!
With that said, I know I won’t ever achieve that level of greatness so, I honestly don’t bother trying.
- First of all, I don’t have the patience to make the dough, then cut, and arrange everything “just right” so the noodles don’t stick to each other.
- Second, I hardly ever measure anything when I cook. That right there is a potential “recipe” for disaster.
- Third, when it comes to gnocchi, holy moly those delicious little morsels require a lot of work and your fingers do get tired.
Instead, I buy these Italian Potato Gnocchi from Amazon Fresh. They taste just like homemade gnocchi.
Homemade Bread
All of the same reasons why I don’t want to make pasta from scratch.
The closest I come to making “fresh bread” is buying the take and bake version from the grocery store and popping it in the oven. Ten minutes later – or less – we have warm bread on the table.
Italian Sausage from Scratch – Or Any Kind of Meat
I am Italian. My parents were born in Italy and learned how to make EVERYTHING from scratch. Everything! When I was young, I learned how to make Italian sausage from scratch.
I wish I could say it was a “one and done” experience, but it wasn’t. This was an annual occurrence. Now that I am an adult, I would much rather purchase ready-to-cook sausage links I can prepare in minutes.
Fish – Including Most Seafood
If I have to catch it, clean it, AND cook it – forget it. As long as I can fast forward to Step 3, that is perfect for me.
Going back to when I was a kid, my father would go fishing for trout. I actually enjoyed the taste of trout as a child. What I didn’t care for was knowing my mom would have to clean it before she could cook it. No, thank you.
I enjoy shrimp prepared several different ways: breaded, baked, sauteed, shrimp scampi, shrimp cocktail, etc. I really do like most fish and seafood…EXCEPT….scallops. I am allergic to scallops and cannot eat them anymore.
I love the butterfly shrimp and shrimp scampi from SeaPak. The family size packages are big enough to feed four people. We usually serve the shrimp scampi with noodles like thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta.
This Amazon Fresh brand shrimp ring is a great appetizer for parties too.
Produce – Planting a Garden
Oh my gosh, I LOVE fresh fruits and vegetables. But the same rule applies here as it does for meat and fish. Except – it requires planting a garden. If I have to take any fruit, vegetable, berry, herb, or spice from a little seed and wait until it grows into something I can cook I, unfortunately, do not have the patience for that.
I am 100% grateful for all of the farmers who do that work for me – and others like me – so that I can buy their products when I need them.
Cakes and Cookies – Baking, Ugh!
These are the worst! I am putting these in the same section because they are basically the same thing. Just the sizes are different.
I love dessert. I would eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if I could. Okay – NO, I would not eat dessert all day long but it does sound like a little bit of fun.
Eating it is one thing. Actually making it is quite another. At the top of this post, I said I love to COOK. Cooking is not baking. If I can put together a no-bake dessert that only requires a few easy ingredients. I will absolutely do that. Measuring a bazillion different things to make one cake or a dozen cookies is not a good use of my time nor is it budget-friendly.
In my humble opinion, it is much more cost and time efficient to buy a cake mix, throw in the egg, oil, and water (or whatever the box says), and put it in the oven. I know MANY bakers will disagree with me on this – and that is perfectly fine. We should all do whatever is most comfortable for ourselves and our families. Right?
You May Also Like
- One of my favorite things to make from scratch is this simple tomato sauce. Quick and easy!
- This easy pasta and peas recipe is also quick to make and budget-friendly too!
Do You Enjoy Making Meals from Scratch?
I would love to hear from you! Can you relate to any – or all – of these? Also, did I miss anything? If there is a food you love to eat but would prefer the shortcut vs the long way, what is it?
