Someone asked me recently about when to use pre-made or prepackaged foods. It of course depends upon your level of ability but you need to evaluate whether the time it would take you to make something from scratch is worth the potential savings.

There are certain things like puff pastry or mini tart shells that are so readily available for purchase that it just doesn't make sense to make them by hand.

Spinach is another thing that I usually buy pre-washed because it takes such a long time to wash out all the dirt and sand and then trim off the ends that it is usually easier to buy it already done. If you will be using it in a cooked recipe buy the frozen spinach, cook it and strain it and use that.

There are many other examples that I could give you but as I said, you need to make the decision based upon your individual capabilities.

--- © Chef Raven

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