Save money by cooking like your Grandma

My grandmother knew a thing or two about saving money. Growing up during the depression, then becoming an adult just as World War 2 broke out, followed by being a young mother during the post-war years of rationing, it wasn’t really surprising that she knew how to make a meal out of apparently nothing and didn’t believe in wasting anything.

By the time I was born my gran, along with the rest of the country had become more affluent, but she never forget the days when there often wasn’t enough to go around and it was only the determination and imagination of housewives that kept a family fed.

We could learn a lot from the women of my gran’s generation. In our throw away, easy come-easy go society, ideas such as make do and mend, or making meals out of left-overs might seem arcane, but really they shouldn’t because not only is that a more economical way to live, it is also very green. With that in mind, read on for a list of great websites offering wartime recipes that are both delicious and frugal - it wasn't all sheeps heads and powdered egg. Many of these recipes are also healthier than a lot of our modern food, don’t forget, the British public were at their healthiest during the war years - not sure what that says about us the rest of the time LOL

Some Wartime Recipes: Includes a recipe for real Lancashire Hotpot, perfect for this chilly time of year.

Food and recipes of wartime Europe: Includes a recipe for Mock Goose which would be a good vegetarian option this Christmas.

Frugal recipes from wartime Britain: Amongst the offerings is a recipe for sausage and sultana casserole which seems an odd combination but sounds intriguing.

Wartime Mock Recipes: During the war people came up with ingenious ideas for creating mock versions of popular but hard to obtain food, this page lists a few.

20 Thrifty recipes from the austerity years: These recipes are actually scans from original books so are a little hard to read. It’s worth persevering though, especially for the last one, a frugal Christmas pudding.