Scones - often around $4.50 for six in an unreyclable hard plastic container.
Very simple and quick to make - many recipes online. Basic ingredients: SR flour, melted butter, and soda water. I like to add dates or cheese and chives with pepitas.
I’m guessing less than $1 for six.
More delicious toasted following day.
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@Wend you are so right about scones. Easy to whip up for afternoon tea and for some reason it impresses visitors; they are much easier to make than people think and you can vary flavours.
I agree with all the bakers and people who prepare their own food - we know what is in it!
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If people were taught basics asi remember at college when o was going to be a chef i still remember it all from chopping to amd prep food. As you say food we previously cooked in homes, is so much sold in the shops for many reasons. For example a, frozen pizza depending on brand some bases and toppings are quite good but some bases are way to hard if overcooked. I could go on giving my thoughts about it.
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Labne. Only need to strain liquid from greek yoghurt.
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Scones, great with a cuppa. Surprisingly expensive if having with jam, cream and a brew out.
Even a coffee sit down or take away needs $5 and some change. Yes, there are exceptions, to that pricing, and to whether it’s really coffee.
There’s always the option of a muffin etc. How easy to make your own - packet mix or the extra 10 mins to handle, measure and prepare the ingredients.
Convenience today so often rules. Our Gran on a longer trip to town might have packed all that was needed including home cooking carefully wrapped and placed in her large wicker shopping basket. All for morning tea at a park in the city. The availability of boiling hot water assured from numerous nearby sources at nominal cost.
Today are we too time poor or too proud to show off the cheaper option? If it was a picnic with family and friends how might we answer as to the source of the goodies we are sharing?
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I like to think most would answer with pride ‘made it myself’ unless it’s a total failure of a cake / frittata / salad!
It’s more time consuming with a child/ren but they Love to ‘Help’ and are more likely to eat / try something they’ve helped prepare.
And there’s a huge cost comparison between a shop bought sandwich $5 - $15 and one made at home $.50 - $5!
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Pizza; although I rarely bought one. When my neighbour fell ill I ended up wrangling two little kids and cooking. So I combined the two and had play time with flour, cheese, veg etc and we produced pizza loaded with faces, figures, lots of variety, and things they said they would eat. Used up left overs and minimal washing (had some sweeping & hand washing).
Unfortunately Mr Z hates “Pis-ar” as a cardboard food, so until I can develop a soft yeasty crust, (and rename it) it will remain a kiddie dish. The frozen ones seem devoid of toppings.
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Nor me, but surely it can’t be as bad as when a dog floats an air biscuit?
Apparently, if it is vomit, it typically smells sour because it contains partially digested food and bile whereas if it is just regurgitation then it will smell like the food the dog ate. If it smells like excrement then get it to the vet …
In either case, don’t bake it 
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You want a high protein flour, not the standard flour you buy for typical cooking. 10% or better protein content is the best in flour for bread making. The addition of milk powder boosts protein and adds some more fat to produce a softer bread. More gluten allows the bubbles to develop and stay intact, high protein in flour means more gluten is there to be promoted by kneading, typically lower protein flour means a more chewy/tougher bread product.
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Try letting the flat circle of dough stay in the pizza tray until it rises a bit before adding the topping. Adding a little oil and a little powered milk to the dough also helps to make a light, softer pizza base.
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I prefer to make my own muesli as I suspect packaged muesli contains cheap ingredients (dried paw paw is common) to bulk them out and sweeteners to make up for the lack of real dried fruit. I love adding my own blend of ingredients - dried apple, chia, apricots, coconut, cinnamon, almonds etc. It is difficult to pinpoint what the savings are but I feel I get a superior product with my own choice of healthy, tasty ingredients.
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You are so right - all you need is a good one-bowl recipe (there are plenty on the internet) so I can’t see the need to bother with the boxed stuff.
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Took my kids to all 3 Lord of the Rings movies. Havent been back to Village Cinema since, because of stink of buttered popcorn.
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