Learning from the history of food

I see people still filling their trollies up week after week in the supermarket. My mind boggles over how they can eat so much and how they can afford it.. The fact is they can’t, and in lots of households a lot of that trolley will go in the bin, including all the packaging. Often I just want to shout ‘just stop buying so much”. I am sure that a lot of them would be able to look in their cupboards and freezers and feed themselves another week if they had to. We only have to look back in history to learn that this consumerism is a recent thing.

Prices are high, and families are struggling. However, there is still this pressure and expectation of having lots of variety, bought treats, meat most nights, and  convienience jars and meals. The cheap staples that fed people in the past are forgotten.

Tasty meals can still be made much more cheaply than most people realise. We just have to look at other cultures, or simple  recipes from the past. In my home we have beautiful, tasty food, and lots of treats, but spend a fraction of other people’s food budget.

I blame advertising and a loss of knowledge and skills. It is only recently that people have had access to so much food, and all of this variety. This could be promoted as a good thing, but in fact generally the health of this generation is worse. A lot of food now is ultra processed. The generation that had food rationing was the healthiest.  Lots of studies have shown this.

Food is vital, and often a way of showing love, care, gratitude and other emotions. It is an important factor in my life. However, I stay away from the supermarkets as much as I can. They are addictive and the more I go, the more I buy, even though I have an intentional shopping mindset. I don’t even go looking for yellow reduced stickers any more.WeI can do this as I have foods in that store well, like pulses and beans. Here are some of the things that store well in our pantry, and some of the things that we do to stay away from the supermarket.

1. We store pulses and beans. They store for ever if kept dry. Usually they are cheap, nutritious but can make things like hummus, wraps, or tasty vegetarian meals like dahl. They can also bulk out meals like cottage pie to reduce the amount of meat.  £1 will buy a bag full from places like Farmfoods.

2. We use tinned Sardines or tuna. They are not just something to have in a sandwich or on toast. Tuna pasta bake, curry, quiche, or fish cakes, for example, can be made from a tin that costs about 55p in a discount store, or is bought in bulk.

3. Each week we throw everything into the slow cooker and use up what we have. The meal can be changed to a curry, Italian, Moroccan, Chinese, or Chilli by changing spices and an odd extra ingredient. We make soups or stews this way that make about 3 meals each.  Barley, pulses, beans, orzo, rice, smashed spaghett, tomato puree are used to thicken it, or make it more filling. There is always some left to freeze for another day or to make a pasty or pie with.

4. We use pastry to stretch meals. I make things like pies, pasties, tarts, quiches to make small portions go further. The other day I had a portion of chilli for 1 person in the freezer. I made 2 big pasties out of it and served it with new potatoes. A bit of grated cheese was added to the chilli. Sometimes I will put a bit of mash inside to bulk it out as well. I didn’t need to serve veg with it as the chilli had already been bulked out with beans, lentils and grated carrot. One sausage can make a quiche, just veg, or a  cut up slice of bacon can be used with a tomato from the garden. A  chicken breast, chopped small,  with some mushrooms or veg, can feed a family of 4 in a pie. You will find no more meat in a bought one.

5. We serve ‘Pickie’ meals using up bits in the fridge. This might be cold bits with crackers, or hot bits served as a kind of tapas.

6. Potato cakes or hash meals make easy stretch meals. We use tinned fish, chorizo, cheese and leek, bits of left over meat, or make bubble and sqeak with left overs vegetables. Often these are served with home made baked beans or as part of a main meal. We even have them for breakfast sometimes. Potatoes are stored in a cardboard box when grown, or bought for a good price.

7. We use batter to make pancakes, either savoury or sweet, with small fillings. Yorkshire puds and toad in the hole are also ways our ancestors would have stretched ingredients. A couple of sausages and stuffing balls, or pigs in blankets, can make a lovely toad in the hole for 2 or 4 people. Potato pancakes or lentil pancakes are also ways we adapt what we have..

8. We use left overs as sides to use up meals. Macaroni cheese, ratatouille, cauliflower cheese, bubble and squeek, for example.

9. We make tacos and flat breads to make meals using less ingredients, eg fajitas etc. Nachos made from potatoes or corn chips also stretch meals as not as much filling is needed. Pizza is another way to stretch a little food.

10. We make spicy rice dishes or paella style dishes. Rice is another thing that can be kept for 15 years if stored properly. I am still using a 5kg bag bought 2 years ago.

11. We are always adapting and don’t  just buy an ingredient if it is missing. Potato crust or wrap crust can be used for a quiche or pie. Squash puree, apple sauce,  yoghurt, or seeds can be used instead of eggs, etc. This week I made pumpkin puree waffles.

12. We save bacon fat for taste and to cook with. This saves buying lard or oil as often.

13. People spend a lot on snacks. We use air fried peelings or spicy seeds for snacks,  plain yoghurt  has pureed fruit or jam added if we want it flavoured. Fresh popcorn is made with a bit of icing sugar and salt, chocolate treats are made with a 65p bar of chocolate and baking ingredients.

14. Sausages, meat loaf, steaklets, burgers, meat balls are stretched by adding bread crumbs or veg. We buy the majority of our meat when it is on special offer or reduced. We mince and process it ourselves.

15. We make bread, wraps, bagels, bread buns, cakes and biscuits, and other staples from store cupboard ingredients when we need them. These can be switched up by adding dried fruit, spices and herbs to give variety. We have no waste and bread crumbs or a bread and butter pudding are made with anything stale.

16. Our foraging adds variety and nutrition to our diet, especially berries, apples and wild garlic.

17. A simple stew or ratatouille is switched up with different topping. Toppings can be made with sliced garlic bread, bread crumbs with herbs and cheese,  cheese or herbs scones, or sliced potatoes.

18. Milk pudding including rice, ground rice, macaroni, semolina are firm favourites from my childhood and we always have something in to make a milk pudding. It just needs milk and a bit of sugar, and they stretch to a family meal. I like to add a bit of jam. I remember my school days when our milk pudding used to be bright pink.

19.Lunches often consist of things on a slice of toast, or toasties. Eggs, beans, left over bolognaise, etc cheese. Even pizza toast. We aso have soup. Lunches are really just using up what we have.

20. Our garden provides most of our salad and vegetables. However salad can be grown on a window sill, as can microgreens. Been and pulses can make bean sprouts. There are lots of waste food projects or Olio where fresh vegetables can be obtained for free or little money. We don’t  need to top up at the supermarket each week. Veg never goes off in our house as we use it up, preserve it, or freeze it.

All the things that we do I have learned from looking back in history, especially during the World wars, Victorian times, or the Great Depression. It has saved me so much money. Our food is nutricious, and we are cooking from scratch without all the additives.  As times get harder now with increased prices, I feel grateful that I started this frugal journey 10 years ago. I have incorporated a few habits at a time. For some it will be a shock to the system. I know when I do go in shops, I never come out without saying “How much?”. How do you manage to stretch your food budget?