Homemade Vs Pre-Made Pastry?
It is hard to beat a homemade pie....there is something about buttery flaky pastry filled with warm, hearty goodness....Ok I will stop there!
But seriously a homemade pie is a wonderful family meal and a favourite in our house!. You can pack these full of vegetables and are great to make in advance (they keep warm for a while) or serve straight from the oven piping hot. If you are lucky there maybe some left overs to take for lunch!
Pre-Made Pastry? What’s the Deal?
I would love to claim that I spend hours in the kitchen kneading and making my own pastry but I definitely do not. In fact, I have never attempted too. I would still love to learn but will file that away for when I have a bit more time (haha). I have watched good chefs struggle at this on many TV shows and the thought of attempting to do this when I need to get a meal on the table for hungry monkeys is very unappealing…above all else there is a great alternative.
In a perfect world we would be making our own pastry....but the world is not perfect and nor am I! For now I do not have a lot of time make dinner each night let alone make my own pastry! In my opinion, using pre-made pastry to easily make a family meal at home is a great short-cut. To put things in perspective – when you make a pie at home, you make it packed full of vegetables with no extra fillers or additives and you use high quality meat – and this makes up the bulk of your meal. You could also include a side salad or a side of peas/beans to boost up your vegetable intake and overall nutrient density of the meal.
Nutrients
Speaking of nutrients - here is what you are looking ingredients wise in your pre-made pastry:
As you can see there is no added sugar at all and minimal preservatives in your pre-made pastry. It is very very close to what you would make at home. Filo pastry is the lightest (in terms of calories) of all pastry, though can be a tad more fiddly to use if you have not tried before (you can check out my easy Mini Bacon and Egg Pies which use filo pastry).
So let's just lose the guilt on using pre-made pastry and keep in mind the big picture of the joy that a home cooked family meal can bring!
P.S Just off the record, my Moroccan Chicken Pie (below) in Healthy Easy Dinners for Busy Mums has proved to be a crowd winner from this cook book (I promise you it will be a winner in your house hold too).
xxx Dr Julie Bhosale.
But seriously a homemade pie is a wonderful family meal and a favourite in our house!. You can pack these full of vegetables and are great to make in advance (they keep warm for a while) or serve straight from the oven piping hot. If you are lucky there maybe some left overs to take for lunch!
Pre-Made Pastry? What’s the Deal?
I would love to claim that I spend hours in the kitchen kneading and making my own pastry but I definitely do not. In fact, I have never attempted too. I would still love to learn but will file that away for when I have a bit more time (haha). I have watched good chefs struggle at this on many TV shows and the thought of attempting to do this when I need to get a meal on the table for hungry monkeys is very unappealing…above all else there is a great alternative.
In a perfect world we would be making our own pastry....but the world is not perfect and nor am I! For now I do not have a lot of time make dinner each night let alone make my own pastry! In my opinion, using pre-made pastry to easily make a family meal at home is a great short-cut. To put things in perspective – when you make a pie at home, you make it packed full of vegetables with no extra fillers or additives and you use high quality meat – and this makes up the bulk of your meal. You could also include a side salad or a side of peas/beans to boost up your vegetable intake and overall nutrient density of the meal.
Nutrients
Speaking of nutrients - here is what you are looking ingredients wise in your pre-made pastry:
As you can see there is no added sugar at all and minimal preservatives in your pre-made pastry. It is very very close to what you would make at home. Filo pastry is the lightest (in terms of calories) of all pastry, though can be a tad more fiddly to use if you have not tried before (you can check out my easy Mini Bacon and Egg Pies which use filo pastry).
So let's just lose the guilt on using pre-made pastry and keep in mind the big picture of the joy that a home cooked family meal can bring!
P.S Just off the record, my Moroccan Chicken Pie (below) in Healthy Easy Dinners for Busy Mums has proved to be a crowd winner from this cook book (I promise you it will be a winner in your house hold too).
xxx Dr Julie Bhosale.