AIBU a generation that can’t be bothered.

Whether we cook from scratch or not, choose to fill our trolleys with bottles of gin, or crochet our grandchildren’s lunchboxes, this remains a highly judgmental thread.
I can remember hearing criticism of people in council house with “big” cars, inevitably we are tempted to criticise what we regard as profligate spending, but twas ever thus.
Convenience food, junk food, takeaways, expensive Pret sandwiches - who are we to accuse a “generation” of being lazy because of the contents of one shopping trolley.
Like the “dreadful” newspaper in question, this thread is based on a value judgement which we have no right to make.
I know of more than one superb cook who has ordered their entire Christmas from Cook! or Côte at home. Good luck to them - wish I’d thought of it.

Look... this woman is on a budget but she buys ready-made lasagna and chips: www.mirror.co.uk/money/savings-banks/thrifty-mum-shares-how-feeds-26126721?int_source=mantis_rec&int_medium=web&int_campaign=more_like_this

Basically shopping and cooking on top of a busy life working is a nightmare for a modern mother trying to make ends meet. Slow cookers and microwaves help with time allocation but sometimes prepared food may be necessary to get food to the table on time.

I agree with comments on domestic science. My mother was a GP and put all her dishes in the Rayburn cooker - today I use the slow cooker. And she had domestic help.

I learned to light the gas at my grammar school in domestic science and apalled the domestic scince teacher by putting one tablespoon of raising powder in the buns to be cooked because being dyslexic I had read this instead of teaspoon - tps. I failed the domestic science exam because I did not know what you put in the stew!!

My son's wife is an excellent cook and so are my grand children. As someone said food technology, which replaces domestic science is useless for practical every day cookery.

At the start of lockdown I helped in a foodbank. I was amazed at one woman who came in and gave me back potatoes because she didn't "know how to cook them".
There was also one mother who had never tasted mango - but when we gave her one, her son and her both loved it and always asked if we had any. Quite a few people cooked from scratch though.
There were a few who had never seen a coconut too. It was the perfect time for people to try things like that. However, I was amazed at the things people 'wanted' - tinned meat, tinned meatballs, spam, ready made dinners.
In the end we commissioned a hotel (who were struggling) to prepare fully cooked dinners so people were other only a microwave could have something fresh. Once they had been it was a scramble for everyone else!
The people with only a microwave were the homeless in temporary accommodation.

Strange how olyou all know these families, and their financial ins and outs.
I live in an area of poverty, and I havent met anyone at all, ever, who eats just takeaways and convenience foods.

I guess it must just be a failing amongst the better off.

My friend's daughter is always asking them for money before the end of the month when her & her husband's wages go in the bank, from their well paid jobs, as they are down to their last pennies. This is a young woman who feeds her kids McDs, Subways, Kentucky's, etc for dinner and sometimes they need two meals each to fill them. The kids now kick up a stink if they don't get their takeaways after school. Now that money would be better spent filling a trolley to me, she works from home so could easily stick a chicken and potatoes in her oven. Ready made veg, rice, etc would be far healthier than a McDonald's.

When I got married 46 years ago, I hadn’t a clue how to cook. My mother didn’t trust me with the gas…..my go to meal was instant mash potatoes gammon steaks and tinned peas. What a shame we were not taught to cook in school.

My mother will be 90 this year and I will be 65 this year neither of us can be bothered to peel, mash, boil, grill, roast or bake if we don't have to do this anymore. Our days of that are over now that my mother doesn't have many guests to cook for and my family are grown up and gone. M&S do it so much better with such variety and it frees her and I up to do far more interesting things, so are we both lazy?

Well I think there’s the problem. If you’re on a tight budget why would you buy expensive stuff like that? You buy a big bag of spuds and prepare it yourself. I used to work a 50 hour week with 3 kids and that’s what I had to do. It’s like, people are saying they have no money but smoke, drink, got iPhones and Adidas trainers on their trotters. I know there’s genuine cases but a lot aren’t that badly off. My Mum used to say, if people can afford to smoke and drink then they can’t be that badly off! True that.

I can cook and I can bake but I often by convenience foods because I find peeling potatoes difficult (arthritis in hands) I can't cut through a sweet potato or a swede, If I buy a cauliflower I find it almost impossible to cut into and even if I manage it I have to have the same veg every day etc,etc. If I buy steam fresh microwave veg and frozen mash I can cook varied meals in the right portion sizes. We should not judge anybody by the food in their basket without knowing the circumstances first.

I kind of agree with the OP but there may be mitigating circumstances for some people.
In my case, I have MS and my manual dexterity is rubbish. As much as I do own a sharp knife and potato peeler, I can't hold them properly, so as much as it's a lot more expensive, being able to buy fresh chopped veg is an absolute godsend for me because frozen aren't always good enough imo. Also, if I have to peel vegetables, there's the waste to be dealt with as well as finding a receptacle to cook them in and the washing up, with a bag of pre-chopped, I stab a couple of holes in the bag and microwave for a minute or two then serve and put the bag into my soft plastics recycling - simple.

MayBeMaw

A while ago there was a thread about the meal of a lifetime.
Is going out and spending three figures for a meal, which could equally have been cooked at home from scratch, more or less irresponsible than buying shortcut ingredients or ready meals?

You are right. I buy pouches of rice when there are two of us, recooked rice can contain a lot of harmful bacteria like kidney beans. If we have the family I cooked a panful.
After the article about the very expensive meal which I now am ashamed I joined in with. I found a complimentary bottle of the said establishment in Cartmels homemade vinegar about the size of an almond essence bottle. I know it came from there as DD was taken for her 40th a few years ago. We looked after the GC.
They came back very disgruntled and said it took so long for the meal and the explanations that my SIL asked for it to be cut out as the food was getting cold and he had forgotten what it was and he was hungry at the end. A friend also said the same. her DH drank a pint of milk afterwards. Is that not a waste of money just like buying mashed potatoes instead of a large bag of potatoes they cannot afford.
Why should anyone judge what others buy or cook or spend their money on? No one condemned the Cartmel meal as a complete waste of money! Though some posters did say fish and chips or egg and chips.
We do not know their circumstances. It's alright if you can cook or be taught at school like most of us were. A lot of young people are brought up by working parents as was I, my M was in charge of a large cooking establishment and I was given fish fingers, fish cakes, instant puddings, vesta meals. She did not want to start again when she came in. My DD did the Roasts and the Christmas Turkey. I can cook from scratch as can my children but we don't always choose to do so.

Somebody upthread mentioned making stock from bones. I’d need persuading that this is a good thing. I’m eternally grateful that DH cooks for me from scratch but I’m so glad I persuaded him to throw the chicken carcasses away, no matter what the TV chefs say. A stock cube’s tastier, a lot more economical and easier on the nerves than hours of gas and streams of condensation running down the kitchen walls.

I was very fortunate to have had a brilliant domestic science teacher and great facilities, it was probably the only thing I excelled at. We could cook almost anything by the time we left school, we also had different fuelled cookers to move around weekly. This was the fifties when a married women was expected to look after a husband! My daughters were not so lucky though, and when they did cookery at school they would have a list of ingredients to bring to school. One week it was a tin of mince and a packet of smash. I taught both daughters to cook properly and to be aware of nutrition. My mother was a hopeless cook and I took over as soon as possible! I also occasionally buy a ready meal though just for a break.

Maybe not the most economical or environmentally purchases, but could have been worse.
Serious articles or TV programmes which support, encourage and educate about food costs and cooking would be preferable to those which include judgement and ridicule to make their point.
What bothers me more is that people are now having to refuse certain foods from food banks as they can't afford to use the electricity to cook it.
...and this is going to get much worse as 2022 progresses.

SAGO
To each his own .I only have myself to cook and feed and for years bought what you see as rubbish
I find this no different in taste / quality . Suits me ,suits my pocket.

OP Here I am coming under a lot of criticism, being told to volunteer in food banks etc.
The post is not about how people spend their money or cook.
The point I am making is that a journalist tried to shop and cater for a family of 4 for £60.

I’m sure if we were set that challenge we would have the common sense not to buy things such as ready grated cheese, prepared and cooked veg etc.

The till receipt was in my opinion an insult to families that are struggling.

There is no moral high ground, or even reason to prepare fresh veg, when frozen is more nutritionally rich.

Reluctant to cast stones and damn whole generation! Could recast thread as “senior so upset that woman buys ready meals that she makes social media post”. At least it wasn’t all cocoa pops…

Grandmabatty

Maybe they don't have access to a cooker but only have a microwave?

Even f they only have a microwave, they can still prep the vegetables themselves. I once spent a year in a studio flat with only a camping gas stove and a kettle. I made most of my meals from scratch, including things like stews. Another year, I had a kitchen with a hob, sink and microwave. I had to use the hob to put my chopping board on, as there was no other workspace, and then balance it on top of the microwave or sink when I wanted to use the hob. Still prepped and cooked everything from scratch

If she has only £60. Then she will buy only what is on offer and the cheapest. I buy rice pouches 2 minutes in the microwave saves on my electric, surely not right to cook rice on a stove even if it’s gas or electric because of the rise in heating etc.
I have a slow cooker and George Forman grill.
Things have to change if we are too manage the big hike in heating.

Children do not get cookery classes at school now, anything they learn has to be with parents at home. Do modern families really have the time and energy to cook everything from scratch.
I find the comments quite judgemental, in my book it is whatever works for you. It is nobody's business whether you buy pre-prepared food or spend all day slaving in the kitchen.

No excuse for not cooking other than can't be bothered. Worked full time, DH worked shifts, then away a lot, didn't have all the fancy equipment there is nowadays. What's a microwave, a fridge/freezer, auto washing machine, tumble dryer, car, shops that open all hours,family support. Falls on deaf ears afraid when the moaners start on how hard their life is especially when they have their head down looking at their mobile phone. Had a chuckle yesterday when attending a local meeting when a 40 year old told me it was a bargain to buy a piece of totally unnecessary kitchen equipment on credit as after all it was only £38 a month for 3 years and that was cheaper than what she paid for her mobile phone. Can't be bothered is endemic.

It doesn't reflect very well on that woman's parents, does it?
Makes you wonder where she got that mindset, since the world and his wife have cooked from scratch in the "olden days".

I had 3 little ones at home and a full time job but managed to get a proper cooked meal on the table every night we even grew our own veg in the garden
Now my kids all cook everything from scratch themselves my grandchildren love fresh veg