The internet is available and recipes are searchable. Cooking can be learned as an adult. As a child I learned how to cook on PBS by watching the frugal gourmet and Julia Childs. Cookbooks are a thing.
The time issue is why people are eating pre-made, processed foods.
Below is an example of what it takes for me to make a pizza from scratch in terms of ingredients and time.
Cost of store brand premade pizza: $6-8, 15 minutes cook time, versus Cost of homemade pizza:
$2.50 for half block of store brand mozzarella cheese (Pre-shredded cheese has additives in it to keep it from clumping.)
1/2 onion - $1.00
2 cloves garlic $0.25
4 ounces tomato paste $0.50
Dry basil, oregano, bay leaf, parsley, paprika $0.10
2 cups flour $0.30
Packet of yeast $0.30
Total cost of ingredients: $4.95 Ingredient wise, I’m saving $1-3.
Prep time/clean time: Making dough, chopping veg, making sauce, shredding cheese, bake time, and washing dishes, is 2.5 hours (My hourly wage is $28) so that’s a $70 cost in terms of time. That cost will be variable depending on a person’s hourly wage.
Making a pizza from scratch has a cost of $74.95 for me. Yeah that homemade pizza is cheaper ingredient wise, and has better ingredients without added sugar, salt, or preservatives, but I could buy 10-15 store brand pizzas by just working for 2.5 hours instead. For a person making $15 an hour, that labor is costing them $37.50, and they could buy 5-7 pizzas bu just working 2.5 hours.
We all get 24 hours in a day, but they are not equal. If you don’t live close to work, or have to rely on public transit, you could spend 4 hours of your day commuting, on top of an 8 hour work day. My eating habits improved when I had a 15 minute commute which gave me time to cook and clean.
The internet is available and recipes are searchable. Cooking can be learned as an adult. As a child I learned how to cook on PBS by watching the frugal gourmet and Julia Childs. Cookbooks are a thing.
The time issue is why people are eating pre-made, processed foods.
Below is an example of what it takes for me to make a pizza from scratch in terms of ingredients and time.
Cost of store brand premade pizza: $6-8, 15 minutes cook time, versus Cost of homemade pizza:
$2.50 for half block of store brand mozzarella cheese (Pre-shredded cheese has additives in it to keep it from clumping.)
1/2 onion - $1.00
2 cloves garlic $0.25
4 ounces tomato paste $0.50
Dry basil, oregano, bay leaf, parsley, paprika $0.10
2 cups flour $0.30
Packet of yeast $0.30
Total cost of ingredients: $4.95 Ingredient wise, I’m saving $1-3.
Prep time/clean time: Making dough, chopping veg, making sauce, shredding cheese, bake time, and washing dishes, is 2.5 hours (My hourly wage is $28) so that’s a $70 cost in terms of time. That cost will be variable depending on a person’s hourly wage.
Making a pizza from scratch has a cost of $74.95 for me. Yeah that homemade pizza is cheaper ingredient wise, and has better ingredients without added sugar, salt, or preservatives, but I could buy 10-15 store brand pizzas by just working for 2.5 hours instead. For a person making $15 an hour, that labor is costing them $37.50, and they could buy 5-7 pizzas bu just working 2.5 hours.
We all get 24 hours in a day, but they are not equal. If you don’t live close to work, or have to rely on public transit, you could spend 4 hours of your day commuting, on top of an 8 hour work day. My eating habits improved when I had a 15 minute commute which gave me time to cook and clean.