Homemade food | Imamother

amother

OP ↓

Tue, Dec 31 2024, 11:57 am

Where does that begin and end?

Falafel powder from a packet that you make the balls yourself- is that called homemade?

Schnitzel breaded from the butcher that you bake- is that homemade?

Curious as to what others think on this rather meaningless conversation!

amother

Tiffanyblue

Tue, Dec 31 2024, 12:49 pm

I don’t think it’s meaningless. Your first two examples I’d say are not homemade.

If I buy chicken that is pre marinated from the grocery store, that I also don’t consider homemade. Frozen burekas, not home made. Burekas with bought dough and homemade inside is homemade

Seasoning your own chicken is homemade… breading your chicken with panko and spices you like is homemade. box cakes could be homemade if you twist it up a bit, make a homemade frosting or at nuts//chocolate chips.

To me, anything with your touch and personality is homemade. Anything that is someone else’s touch is not homemade

Cheiny

Tue, Dec 31 2024, 12:50 pm

amother OP wrote:

To me, I see homemade as meaning from scratch.
Although if you want to be literal, anything you cook in the house is “home made.”

mushkamothers

Tue, Dec 31 2024, 12:52 pm

I consider it ingredients. If someone cooks in my kitchen using my ingredients thats homemade. If I make meatballs using jarred sauced but the ingredients are few and clean then that's homemade. Also the oils used- I only use olive and avocado, all takeout uses seed oils.

I've done extreme diet where everything had to be made from scratch (similar to pesach but actually more intense) and that was exhausting and unsustainable and also not necessary for real life. Just read ingredients.

goodvibes

Tue, Dec 31 2024, 12:56 pm

I don’t think baking ready-made food at home automatically qualifies as homemade.

To me, homemade means at the very least preparing food using ingredients that are either homemade, store-bought, or a combination of both.

So yes, using falafel mix to create falafel falls would be homemade, but baking breaded cauliflower from the bag or frying ready breaded schnitzel is not

MiracleMama

Tue, Dec 31 2024, 2:00 pm

amother OP wrote:

No. Those are semi-homemade IMO. Others will think differently. It's kind of a meaningless term in that sense.

Reality

Tue, Dec 31 2024, 2:11 pm

I don't consider either of those homemade. Homemade means I know what the ingredients are.

The falafel is a store bought mix, like a pancake mix or cake mix. They are using chemicals and stabilizers that are not in anyone's home kitchen.

The pre-breaded schnitzel is buying prepared takeout that I cook fresh for my own convenience.

amother

Burntblack

Tue, Dec 31 2024, 2:17 pm

I though you where going to ask about things that are more borderline - like boiling pasta instead of making from scratch, or using tomatoe sauce from a jar instead of making it on your own.

You examples are what I consider fast food at home. Like frozen pizza,pre-bread shnitzel, cake mixes ....

But if you make pizza dough, add sauce and cheese and then freeze - that's homemade even if you use sauce from a jar.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Dec 31 2024, 6:53 pm

Interesting! I also feel those examples were not homemade but home cooked I guess.

I consider both those options my fast food options and it has been a busy week so that’s what we had. Nothing wrong, just got me thinking.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Dec 31 2024, 7:37 pm

amother Charcoal wrote:

Can I ask why it matters? Why does it all need to be made from scratch?

Doesn’t matter at all- even my first post said it’s a meaningless discussion!

I was just thinking and asked - nothing more! Certainly don’t mean to make anyone feel bad and I apologise if I did.

amother

Broom

Tue, Dec 31 2024, 9:12 pm

hodeez wrote:

Agreed homemade means from scratch. If I mix jello powder and hot water that jello isn't homemade..

But how far back do you go? Grind flour and milk cows?
A number of years ago it probably wouldn't seem homemade if you don't kasher your own chicken let alone raise and schecht them in the yard.

↑ hodeez

Tue, Dec 31 2024, 9:22 pm

amother Broom wrote:

But how far back do you go? Grind flour and milk cows?
A number of years ago it probably wouldn't seem homemade if you don't kasher your own chicken let alone raise and schecht them in the yard.

combining basic ingredients. So making a cake from flour sugar and eggs, as opposed to baking a cake mix or whipping whipped topping

amother

Beige ↓

Tue, Dec 31 2024, 9:22 pm

Homemade is taking raw ingredients mixing it and making a dish
Cooking ready made food like breaded chicken or cake box is not homemade
I would never say my pasta is homemade if it’s from a box and jar of sauce but if asked I would say I made it at home (as opposed to picking it up at the store)
Btw homemade falafel is 100x better than any frozen or mix version. It’s a bit of a hassle to make but sooo worth it if you have the time obv

amother

↑ Beige ↓

Tue, Dec 31 2024, 9:28 pm

amother Broom wrote:

But how far back do you go? Grind flour and milk cows?
A number of years ago it probably wouldn't seem homemade if you don't kasher your own chicken let alone raise and schecht them in the yard.

That’s a lot a lot of years back
My parents (retired age) grew up in a third world country and they had milk delivered daily by the milk man in glass jars and flour was bought in the supermarket they had super limited quantity so you had better be one of the firsts on line or there was no more flour
Chickens were slaughtered in their backyard but they didn’t raise the chicken the shochet brought the chicken slaughtered it and they plucked the feathers
Meat was bought as a big blob they cut and salted it and then divided it up (this for ground beef this for beef stew this for steak…)

amother

↑ OP

Wed, Jan 01 2025, 4:16 am

amother Beige wrote:

If you would be happy to share the recipe I would love it please- thank you!

amother

Bone

Wed, Jan 01 2025, 10:41 am

amother OP wrote:

That isn't homemade. That is takeout with a bit of extra work. Or a healthier takeout/ short cut needed night. Its better than Chinese takeout.

Homemade means using ingredients that don't have ingredient lists. Single ingredient foods that come like that from nature. I would give processed single ingredient foods a pass too. Like tomato sauce and pasta. Maybe a 2-3 ingredient food would be some exceptions, like prepared mustard. But that's as far as I would call homemade.

amother

↑ Beige

Wed, Jan 01 2025, 10:56 am

amother OP wrote:

If you would be happy to share the recipe I would love it please- thank you!

I make it with my mom to make it more enjoyable so I know what goes in but not real measurements.
I’ll try to get it for you later tonight