Wartime recipes help modern families

Mum-of-one Rebecca Inman, 41, has taken on the role of Fanny Craddock to help struggling families rustle up a home-cooked meal.

And by adapting cookery books used by her grandma Margery Frowen during the conflict, Rebecca Inman believes she can create meals for 21st century families or under £2.30.

Mrs Frowen passed away in 1999 aged 68 and it is her collection of recipes has been the inspiration for her granddaughter’s budget menus that are proving to be a hit on social networking site Facebook.

Rebecca said: “Most of the menus I use are coming in between £1.80 and £2.30 but I can make a meal for a family for about #1.40 - like mushroom pizza.

“I’m a real bargain hunter and what I like to do is buy cheap meat and season it. I also keep an eye out for any good brand frying pans on sale and then share it so that people can go out and buy them. Cooking can be expensive but if you know where to look you can really save a lot of money.”

Rebecca’s recipes range from a chicken gumbo - a rich cajun stew - to a chicken sautéed leek and pancetta in a cheese sauce with sage boiled potatoes.

The civil servant from Cleveleys, Lancashire, said: “I still have a bag full of recipes my Grandma wrote. She kept scraps from books of recipes she liked and also had books of written recipes too.

“Every time I make her cake it just takes me back and makes me want to cry. I just feel like I’ve got a piece of her and that this is her legacy. She never got to meet my son and this just brings everyone together and makes us feel

close to her.

“A lot of the recipes are from the wartime and are quite outdated but I find that I can easily update them and keep them at reasonable prices.

“I’m a busy working mum but love cooking and I cook everything from scratch because I don’t believe in buying in processed food.

“I tend to use water and low fat oil. I want people to be able to cook healthily regardless of how much money they have.”