Chop, chop! ( ... and save yourself pounds 55,000)

he diced onion finally pushed me over the edge. Like millions of shoppers, I'd grown used to the idea of supermarkets offering us ready- prepared foods to help save time in the kitchen.

Bags of assorted lettuce, sacks of shredded carrot, ready- prepared potatoes - yes, I'd been seduced by this stuff myself. I knew it was extravagant. And, frankly, I felt guilty. But I liked the idea of not having to do all that tedious work myself. Especially on days when my energy levels hit rock-bottom.

But there was just something about that little plastic box of chopped onion, gazing at me from the Sainsbury's chilled compartment, which made me feel things had gone too far. Who in their right mind, I wondered, was so chronically lazy - or incompetent - that they couldn't dice their own?

Especially as this particular prepared alternative - "equivalent to one large onion", according to the label - would set them back 69p.

And then it hit me. When we buy this kind of convenience product, I thought, how much are we actually paying the store to do the work for us? So I decided to put it to the test. I bought 10 different prepared foods from a range of stores and at the same time bought the exact ingredients I'd need to do that same preparation myself.

As expected, this weird buying spree prompted strange looks from cashiers who, as they rang up the items, stared at me as if I was deranged. One deli lady clearly thought I'd flipped when I insisted that, for reasons too complex to explain, I needed 400 grams of cheddar - and, no, 380 wouldn't do.

Anyway, by calculating the price difference in each case, then timing my own efforts, I worked out what I was effectively paying these stores to do that work for me - first as an hourly rate and, second, an annual one, based on a 40-hour working week.

OK, so it wasn't the most scientific of experiments. We weren't talking "laboratory conditions" here. And, no, I didn't take account of the washing- up. But I did try to be fair. I even allowed for the small amounts of butter and seasoning which prepared foods often include.

The final results varied considerably. Some products proved good value, others seemed daft. In the end, of course, it all depends where your priorities lie. But, if you're paying these stores on an annual rate more than you earn, it does tend to make you stop and think.

pounds 82,368

Prepared version:

3 x 180ml cartons, pounds 1.08

(36p per carton)

Equivalent ingredients: 5g of powder from a Nesquik pack (at 99p for 225g) is 3p, plus 180ml of semi-skimmed milk, 11p. Total: 14p

Price difference: 22p

Home preparation time: 20 seconds for which I'm paying them 22p, which is pounds 39.60 per hour or an annual salary of pounds 82,368 Call me old-fashioned, but I always assumed the whole point of milk shake was to make it yourself, especially as you can determine precisely how you like it. Plus, you can have great fun trying to squash the lumps against the side of the glass.

VERDICT: Another case of paying seriously over the odds, I'd have thought. Mind you, the little cartons do come with straws. They're also slightly more convenient for car journeys, unless mum fancies sitting in the front with a bottle of milk, a box of Nesquik powder and a teaspoon.

pounds 99,840

Prepared version: Waitrose cheese and tomato sandwich, 95p

Equivalent ingredients: bread (Waitrose white, sliced) approx 2.5p

per slice, so 5p for 2 slices, tomato 5p, cheese 20p, mayonnaise and butter 5p. Total: 35p

Price difference: 60p

Home preparation time: 45 seconds

for which I'm paying them 60p, which is pounds 48 per hour or an annual salary of pounds 99,840

We've grown so used to the idea of supermarkets selling ready- made sandwiches that it might seem odd even to include these in the test. But, as I discovered, we really are paying a hefty whack for the privilege of having some stranger slap a few bits and bobs between two slices of bread.

VERDICT: Handy for a quick working lunch, but then if you've got up a couple of minutes earlier you could make your own before leaving for work. Having said that, of course, you'd probably have eaten them by 10.30am. Well, I would.

pounds 86,112

Prepared version: Marks & Spencer Spanish crisp-heart lettuce leaves, washed and ready to eat, 200g, pounds 1.09

Equivalent ingredients: Marks & Spencer Spanish crisp-heart lettuce, 650g for 55p, so 200g worth 17p

Price difference: 92p

Home preparation time: 1 minute 20 seconds. So to save 1 minute 20 seconds I'm paying them 92p, which is pounds 41.4 per hour or an annual salary of pounds 86,112

These bags of prepared salad seem to be everywhere now. Often one bag will contain bits from several different types of lettuce, which you could argue makes sense as it means you needn't buy several whole ones. This one, however, struck me as totally barmy as it contains just the one type. And right next to it in the chilled compartment was an entire lettuce of the same variety for a fraction of the price.

VERDICT: Not so much lazy as plain loopy! Honestly, if you're prepared to pay this kind of rate to have the job done for you, you might as well go the whole hog and pay them to eat it for you too.

pounds 21,465

Prepared version: 8 Sharwoods ready-to-eat puppodums, pounds 1.29

Equivalent ingredients: 8 Patak's pappadums (two-thirds of a 64p pack). Total: 43p

Price difference: 86p

Home preparation time: 5 minutes for which I'm paying them 86p, which is pounds 10.32 per hour or an annual salary of pounds 21,465

For some obscure reason, Patak's spell the name of this product differently. But I used their non-cooked version for the test because it's basically the same thing. And because I couldn't find

the Sharwoods' equivalent. Microwaving these myself proved so easy (you can do two together in one minute) that I can't see the point in paying someone else to do it. And if you don't have a microwave, just grill them.

VERDICT: Cook your own. They do come out a bit wonky, but that makes it more fun. Added to which, most of the ready-made packets seem to have bits that have broken off in the bottom.

pounds 55,224

Prepared version: Sainsbury's diced onion, 200g, 69p

Equivalent ingredients: 1 large onion (250g to allow for wastage). Total: 10p

Price difference: 59p

Home preparation time: 1 minute 20 seconds for which I'm paying them 59p,

which is pounds 26.55 per hour or an annual salary of pounds 55,224

Oh, for heaven's sake. Surely anyone can chop an onion. The most time-consuming bit, when doing my own, was peeling all the skin off first. After that, it was a doddle, although admittedly my final version did have a bit of fingernail in it.

VERDICT: The only real justification for this, I'd have thought, is avoiding all those tears. But I'm told you can do that

equally well by gripping a spoon

between your teeth as you chop.

You'll look a bit of an idiot, though.

pounds 8,548

Prepared version: Sainsbury's medium matured cheddar, 400g grated, pounds 2.25

Equivalent ingredients: Sainsbury's medium matured cheddar from deli counter, 400g. Total: pounds 2.01

Price difference: 24p

Home preparation time: 3 minutes 30 seconds, for which l'm paying them 24p, which is pounds 4.11 per hour or an

annual salary of pounds 8,548

Grating cheese can be slow and unpleasant if you're using one of those flat graters where you rub it along the side, especially as you nearly always lose bits of finger along the way. But I've got this really neat device where you feed the cheese in the top and turn a handle. It's tremendous fun.

VERDICT: The ready-made version in the bag is quite good value, especially as it also contains something yummy-sounding called microcrystalline cellulose (an anti-caking agent, apparently). But you're missing out on a lot of pleasure.

pounds 957

Prepared version: Marks & Spencer mashed potato (with butter and cream), 340g, 99p

Equivalent ingredients: 2 Marks & Spencer baking potatoes (totalling 504g to allow for waste), plus butter and cream. Total: 75p

Price difference: 24p

Home preparation time: 31 minutes, 20 seconds for which I'm paying them 24p, which is 46p per hour or an annual salary of pounds 957

Ready-made mash struck me as a pretty silly idea at first glance, but then making your own can actually be pretty laborious - what with peeling, gouging out those nasty black (or even green) bits, then boiling, simmering, mashing and frantically trying to obliterate several thousand lumps.

VERDICT: Marks & Spencer do have this image of making foods for people who are either terminally lazy or incapable of doing much more than switch an oven on. But this one turns out to be a surprisingly sensible idea, especially if you're cooking for one.

pounds 13,332

Prepared version: Tesco

carrot and courgette, washed and sliced (with parsley butter) 230g, 95p

Equivalent ingredients: 136g carrots, 4p, 118g courgettes, 24p, butter, 10p. Total: 38p

Price difference: 57p

Home preparation time: 5 minutes 20 seconds for which I'm paying them 57p, which is pounds 6.41 per hour or an annual salary of pounds 13,332

Tesco's little pack does look rather neat, and the vegetables are sliced impressively thinly. But I found that, even with my rather amateurish chopping technique, I was quickly able to produce something remarkably similar with almost no loss of body parts.

VERDICT: Up to you, really. But do bear in mind that you don't need super-fast Floyd-style slicing skills to prepare an equally good version in your own kitchen.

pounds 32,094

Prepared version: Sainsbury's jacket potato and cheese 240g, 99p

Equivalent ingredients: loose baking potato (218g), 19p, cheese (22g), 20p. Total: 39p Price difference: 60p

Home preparation time: 20 seconds (but prepared version then took 2 minutes less to cook). So to save 2 minutes 20 seconds I'm paying them 60p, which is pounds 15.43 per hour or an annual salary of pounds 32,094 To be fair, the prepared version isn't entirely raw, which means you can microwave it in six minutes. Having said that, my own version only took eight minutes.

VERDICT: You're paying quite a lot for the pre-packaged option, but I found it did offer one key advantage over mine - namely, that it was edible. My version offered speed and convenience only in the sense that it went straight from the oven to the bin.

pounds 5,262

Prepared version: Waitrose shelled

walnut halves (34 in pack), pounds 1.09

Equivalent ingredients: 17 loose

walnuts (225g) Total: 69p

Price difference: 40p

Home preparation time: 9 minutes 30 seconds for which

I'm paying them 40p, which is pounds 2.53 per hour or an annual salary of pounds 5,262

This one rather depends on how enjoyable you find it to crack your own nuts, so to speak.

Personally, I found that, in this instance, the novelty wore off after about the fifth. By the 17th, I think I was developing some kind of

repetitive strain injury. Besides which, what I was producing wasn't so much walnut halves as walnut powder,

VERDICT: Unless walnut-cracking

is your idea of great entertainment, I seriously recommend you pay some other sucker to do it for you. Properly.

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