> plus making things from basic ingredients increases the understanding of how ingredients work.

That’s a bit of a stretch. Following a recipe doesn’t necessarily imply you understand how ingredients work.

I would say I’m an “above average” cook (define as you will), and yet I still use Krusteez pancake mix. They’re very good from the mix and I’d prefer to waste my time scrolling endlessly or other crap instead (I’m not fooling anyone, time saved making pancakes from scratch is entirely time wasted elsewhere).