I am with you on this....I just don't buy any "Stir Fry Sensations" or ready made meals period....no sauces or things like that either....I would agree with Cathy and would probably use a pre made mole sauce as that is VERY time consuming...but I do try and make what I can from scratch..pasta, bread, tortilla's......it's just so much better tasting, and usually a LOT cheaper.

The benefit of making everything from scratch is you can control what goes in it, and is generally much healthier than pre-packaged items. I spend much more time in the fresh produce and fresh meat aisles that I used to and I feel a lot healthier

It is so true chef boy - it may take a little longer - but you know what you are eating. I would rather have to go to the grocery store 2 or 3 times a weeks for fresh items!

I don't think there's any question in anone's mind---at least anyone on this list---that fresh is better.

The question about convenience foods, really, is where to you draw the line? Carl Sagon is credited with saying something like, "if you want to make an apple pie from scratch, first create the universe."

One can use that to justify all sorts of convenience products; to the point where one buys a micro-wave dinner and calls it "home-cooked." But the basic point, I believe, is valid. No matter how far back along the "from scratch" chain we move, there's a point at which somebody else provided ingredients or processes.

When you make an apple pie, for instance, do you grind the wheat? Grow the apples? Refine the sugar? Somebody has done these things, making it more convenient for you to bake that fresh apple pie.

Does it matter? I don't think so. Not unless you get all smug and self-congratulatory about how much better you are because you eschew "convenience" products.

The fact is, there is a continuum that ranges from Zero convenience products, on one end, to Complete Take Out on the other. None of us (other than Carl Sagon, perhaps ) even approaches the Zero end. And some of us are very close to the Complete Take Out. But we all do use convenience products of one sort or another.

Early on back in college I relied on the dining hall and Wawa where most everything was prepackaged, deep fried and generally bad all around. Around my junior year I started cooking a lot of my own food and I had much more energy. That and the gym helped me get back in good shape so I can't complain at all these days. Best decision I ever made