Cooking from scratch

By now you all must have guessed that food is one of the things in life which I am simply crazy about. Most of the stuff we eat at home is home cooked stuff. It is so much healthier, cheaper and yummier! It does take more time to prepare, but in the end, all the hard work is worth it! When I read the food labels on the food products, I realized that there are so many preservatives in the already prepared food and meals that I was really worried about what is going into my body. I like knowing exactly what goes into my food and how much preservatives and sodium is in there.

The stuff we eat at my place is usually extremely easy to cook up in a jiffy and economical. We have become really health conscious also recently. As in all Indian cooking, we use a lot of spices to make the food as tasty as possible. We have minimized the amount of salt and oil to bare minimum and we constantly experiment with different spices to see which combination we like best. When I am in a rush and want something on the plate quick I usually end up eating boiled potatoes and yogurt with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Otherwise, it is a full meal.

Sometimes when I am in the mood I like to whip up a few time consuming dishes, but this leads to a total chaos in the kitchen. The kitchen ends up looking like a war zone and I end up thinking thoughts like maybe the army’s elite forces should be called in to help me clear out this mess which I have gotten myself into. But, I end up saving loads of money which I usually end up using for some household expenditure or when the movie mania hits me, and then I am off to the movies.

Home made dosas; aloo parathas with yogurt and aachar (pickles), and Aloo puri with yogurt and aachar (pickles) are a few of my favorites. I eat these items very rarely since they are a bit on the oily side. I try to avoid outside food as much as possible since I am able to make most simple items at home at half the price and it is much healthier. I usually end up adding a lot of salad items to make it as nutritious as possible. Sure, it might not taste as delicious as the restaurant stuff, but I am satisfied with the end result and the food digest quickly. Under certain circumstances outside food just simply cannot be avoided. But, these are rare occasions and on these occasions we usually have tons of fun. So, how often do you all cook from scratch and is it too much of a hassle?