Pocket The Difference
Healthy Eating - in association with 
How ditching processed junk could give your family a financial boost.
We've taken three family favourites from the ready meals range of three of the UK's big supermarkets - Tesco, Sainsburys and Waitrose, and worked out how much it would cost to cook them yourselves. Both the results, and the comparable ingredients lists, certainly make for interesting reading!
Sainsburys Pizzeria Margherita Pizza costs £3.49
368 calories
10.9g of fat
Ingredients: wheatflour, mozzarella cheese (22%), water, tomato (10%) (with citric acid), vegetable oil, yeast, salt, tomato puree, sugar, modified tapioca starch, emulsifier; mono and diacetyl tartartic acide esters of mono and diglycerides of fatty acids, oregano, flour treatment agent: ascorbic acid, garlic puree, black pepper.
Homemade version costs £2.06
Ingredients
6oz (175 g) plain white soft flour - 20p
1 level teaspoon salt - 1p
1 level teaspoon easy-blend dried yeast - 14p
½ level teaspoon golden caster sugar - 1p
1 tablespoon olive oil - 4p
Mozzarella cheese - 95p
Tomatoes - 70p
Total - £2.06 (shopping at Sainsburys)
Method:
Sift the flour, salt, yeast and sugar into a bowl and make a well in the centre of the mixture, then add the olive oil and pour in 4 fl oz (120ml) hand-hot water. Mix it into a dough, then find a flat work surface and knead the dough until it's nice and springy. Knead the dough for a few minutes. Leave it somewhere warm until it looks as though it has doubled in bulk which should take around an hour.
Heat the oven to gas mark 8, 450°F (230°C) and pre-heat the baking sheet. Knead the dough once again, then roll the dough out - using your hands to make it roughly rounded. Top with tomato puree and nuggets of mozzarella cheese and put in the oven for 10-12 minutes.
Tesco Bolognaise Sauce costs £2.98
£1.49 for a two person portion. (£2.98 for four)
Carrot, Onion, Oil, Salt, Sugar, Bayleaf, Garlic, Black pepper, Tomato Puree, Bacon, Tomatoes (Tinned), Parsley, Oregano, Thyme, Basil, Red Wine, Minced beef, Malt extract, Water
Homemade version costs £2.04
Ingredients
500g beef mince - £1.21
250ml beef stock - 8p
Handful of mushrooms, sliced - 20p
Onion - 12p
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes - 34p
Tbsp tomato puree - 6p
Garlic clove, crushed - 3p
Seasoning
Total: £2.04 for four persons (shopping at Tesco)
Method:
Fry the onion and garlic until soft, add the mince and brown it evenly. Add mushrooms and fry for five minutes. Add the stock, tomato puree, chopped tomatoes. Season to taste and simmer for 30 minutes.
Waitrose Fisherman's Pie costs £10.76
£2.69 for one person portion - (£10.76 for four)
Ingredients: Mashed potato (44%), cheese sauce (31%), cod (22%), Cheddar cheese and breadcrumb topping (3%). Mashed potato contains potato (96%), vegetable oil, salt, white pepper. Cheese sauce contains water, milk, mature Cheddar cheese (10%), double cream, onion, maize starch, white wine, unsalted butter, wheat flour, concentrated fish stock, salt, parsley, concentrated lemon juice, ground bayleaf, white pepper. Cheddar cheese and breadcrumb topping contains breadcrumbs, mature Cheddar cheese, salt. Concentrated fish stock contains concentrated broth from plaice, corn maltodextrin, salt, vegetable oil, yeast extract, seaweed concentrate, vegetable concentrate (onion), stabiliser citric acid, emulsifier monoglyceride of fatty acids, spice concentrate. Breadcrumbs contain wheat flour, hydrogenated vegetable oil, salt, yeast.
Homemade version costs £5.76
Ingredients
450g cod or haddock fillets - £4.10
600ml milk - 31p
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
40g butter - 18p
40g plain flour - 4p
3 tsp. chopped fresh parsley
900g potatoes - 25p
Milk
25-50g butter - 18p
100g grated cheese - 70p
Total £5.76 for four persons (shopping at Waitrose)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 375°F, Gas Mark 5, 190°C. Put the fish in an ovenproof dish and pour over the milk. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for 15 minutes before flaking fish. Strain the milk from the fish and reserve some for the sauce. Put the flaked fish back into bowl. Put the potatoes on to boil for 20 minutes. In a medium saucepan, melt butter, add flour and mix well. Let the mixture bubble gently for 2 minutes, stirring continuously. Remove from heat and add milk, stock, parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Bring back to the boil, stirring continually until sauce thickens. Pour over the fish. Drain potatoes and mash with a little milk or cream, butter and pepper. Cover the fish with mashed potato and smooth over with a fork. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and bake for 20-25 minutes until top is golden.
