Store-bought vs. Home-made

Read an article on Yahoo yesterday that listed 8 products you should buy in the store as opposed to making them yourself at home. I won’t list the specific brands but they were:

1.    Marinara tomato sauce

2.    Puff pastry

3.    Whip cream

4.    Chocolate chip cookies

5.    Chicken wing marinade

6.    Lemonade

7.    Chicken pot pie

8.    Pizza dough

Although I am all about trying things at home and learning how to create your own masterpieces, sometimes you need the help of a jar. With some of the suggested items above I agree with, with some I don’t.

Tomato sauce, come on now. That’s a simple one anyone can make at home. It’s not rocket science although it does take a bit of time. Just saying, if you’ve got the time, you can do it.

Puff pastry, forget about it. Unless you are a professional baker, or really old (meaning you’ve had the practice), you won’t master puff pastry at home. Well, you might master it after many tries, but how many times do you really wanna try?

Whip cream is something you can do yourself in about 30 seconds. Buy organic whipping/heavy cream (yes organic since the damn non-organic cow was pumped full of god knows how many antibiotics and growth hormones), pour it in a bowl, add a touch of sugar if preferred and whip by hand with a whisk or turn on the mixer. Seriously, that’s it. Most of the store brands have a list of ingredients you can’t pronounce.

Chocolate chip cookies, hm. If you are a baker, you go right ahead and do them yourself. If you burn down the kitchen, buy them from the store. Or buy the dough premade and simply bake.

The marinade is something I would concoct myself. The one advertised by Yahoo was supposed to have the right amount of sweetness, spiciness and tanginess. Again, that amounts to how many ingredients not spelled out in English?

Lemonade is up to you. If you don’t have many gadgets, you’ll be squeezing lemons until your arms fall off. If you’ve got gadgets, you’ll still have to buy a bag of lemons to use. On the other hand, Yahoo featured the only brand they could find that didn’t have a plastic bottle taste mixed in with the refreshing lemony flavor. Good luck with that.

Chicken pot pie, that’s kind of up to you too. I have actually made my own before and it was mackin. It was a bit time consuming though so not sure how many people would have the time. If you plan on making it for Sunday dinner or anytime you have time, then go ahead, otherwise maybe just pick it up from the restaurant if possible. The store kinds tend to have preservatives and even the Yahoo review said the different ones they tested didn’t taste good or the pastry didn’t puff up, etc..