On Aug 4, 12:53 pm, Omelet > wrote:
> [snips]
> It's just that I don't consider cooking to be "work".
>
> YMMV or course! ;-)
>
> Cooking from scratch does not have to be that time consuming, if you
> know how and what.

Do you consider boiling dried pasta to be cooking from scratch? Sure
you do, but the OP talked about 'basic single ingredients'. If that
means flour then you've first got to make and dry and store your
pasta. I would consider that work. I bake bread sometimes, but not
always and not all the kinds we like to eat. Baking some is fun;
baking all of it, or going without some kinds, would be work.

You make some sausage. Do you make all the kinds you enjoy?
Knockwurst? Lop cheong? Andouille? Making some Italian sausage is
fun, making every kind we like would be work.

I buy very few processed foods but quite a few prepared condiments and
flavorings. My question of the OP is, which are "reasonably" prepared
at home and which are not? The ingredients for oyster sauce are
known; is making your own "basic"? You might think it's fun once; I
think it's work.

You're still missing the essential point, which is how do you choose
to define what is "basic"? -aem