Save like Nana did. Make do.

I am not keeping up very well at the moment!   For a little while I might be quieter while I catch up with the fruit and the garden!  But I will get there!   

Everyone I speak to is worried about their grocery bill.   I saw a comment where a lady was crying in her car because she has been getting less and less for her money every week and this week was even worse.  So she sat crying in the car park.   This is heart breaking.   I just want to help.  I hope that having a group of friends that encourages each other is a help of sorts and I know for sure there are always new things to learn.   And there is no one better to learn from than Nana... 💖

While there have been egg shortages (and really high prices)  there was a lot of talk about egg substitutes.   Also recipes with no eggs at all.  Thanks to the internet we can quickly find suggestions for good substitutes for just about anything!    Denise was unable to buy Baking Power and then it was $8!   From talking with her I discovered it is very easy to make your own baking powder and never buy it again!   So we both learned something really handy! 

It is kind of a running joke in our family that we will substitute so many things in a recipe that the end result bears no resemblance what so ever to the original.  haha!   This is even more so because now I will also alter things to make them Gluten Free.  Most of the time it works out fine.   (And oh my goodness the savings from making your own Gluten Free items are just huge.)

We all got too fancy.  We were busy trying to pack our diets with superfoods and exotic ingredients.  While it is true there are foods that are wonderfully healthy many "superfoods" are just foods with expensive advertising campaigns.   Our families will still be healthy with more humble fruit and veggies. 

Nana did not lay awake at night dreaming up exotic recipes with expensive ingredients that would be used once.  She was busy using what she had,  using what was a good seasonal buy or what she had picked or been given.  So right now as I survey the living room floor  (pears are laying on blankets ripening) and there are baskets of apples as the two fridges are already full of apples....  I am doing what Nana would do.  

The first thing is to eat them fresh,  share them with the family so everyone has beautiful fresh fruit.  The second thing is to work them into meals and cooking.   Then I have some to give away and some to trade.   And lots and lots to dehydrate,  freeze and freeze dry.   Each day I do something...  I already made rows of apple pies.   Tomorrow I am making apple puree... while the freeze drier and dehydrator are also running.

Nan had recipes that were flexible.  Muffins,  cakes and pies would contain the fruit you had.   I have a cake recipe that is wonderful for using stone fruit.    

You can find that recipe here Economical and yummy cake.   Obviously currently my version will be apple!

I have a very versatile Muffin recipe as well.   Miracle Muffins.   You use what you have... preferably something that needs using up quickly so it is not wasted.  These freeze perfectly and are so handy in lunch boxes or even for breakfast.   

Another is making use of left overs creatively.  One of my favourites is to make Bread and Butter pudding but I make it more like a cake.  And jam or fruit can be used...   and in any recipe where you are a bit low on fruit you can use some jam.  

This is so delicious!  You really can make do with the most basic ingredients and still come up with something beautiful.   Never waste one slice of bread.

The more flexible we are the better.   It is about looking at what we have creatively, wasting nothing,  stretching things as far as possible,  preserving what we cannot use right away...  thinking what could be used instead of the thing you are missing.  

There are many good lunch box fillers when supplies are low.  We loved a stack of Pikelets with butter!  Left over fried rice.  Little impossible pies.  There were lots of "make do" meals that I thought were delicious!  Fritters were one... if Mum had a little bit of roast meat left she made a batter and added chopped meat, sweetcorn (and probably whatever else she had)  and made fritters.  I thought they were fabulous.   

Kids are great,  they don't know you are making do they just think their tummy is full and their packed lunch is delicious.  💗  

The world of making do isn't limited to the kitchen.  Whatever we are needing for a task or project it is possible that we might find a way to make do.   It can be quite a good challenge!   Be proud of your inventiveness and resourcefulness!  If you are stuck think what would Nana do?xxx