In response to lots of emails and comments online, I have put together a compilation of all my Emergency Bread, Scones and Cakes recipes. Most are yeast, egg and fat free, and some use only small quantities of fat and flour. Enjoy!
Wartime Ration Book and Store Cupboard Baking Recipes
Hello, I hope you are all well and are coping with the lock down we have at present the UK. In response to lots of emails and comments online, I have put together a compilation of all my Emergency Bread, Scones and Cakes recipes. Most are yeast, egg and fat free, and some use only small quantities of fat and flour.
As well as these thrifty and frugal recipes, many from my old Be-Ro flour cookbook, I am also sharing a collection of my Wartime Ration Book and Store Cupboard recipes too. Mostly baking, with a few tasty breakfast and family supper dishes.
For most of us, we are living in unprecedented times, in the middle of a global pandemic. And, it has become increasingly hard to source many basic ingredients over the last few weeks. We haven’t been out in over four weeks now, and are staying at home to “shield” my husband, who has asthma and is in cancer remission.
All of the supermarket shopping slots have been booked and full for weeks, and I am relying on friends and neighbours to help. We have a lovely local support group here in North Wales, which has been so comforting. But, eggs, milk and flour have been in short supply and are almost impossible to find.
Regular readers of Lavender and Lovage will know that when we lived in SW France, we kept chickens. Our first three hens were known affectionately as the “Coronation Chickens”. A bit of a pun based on the recipe for Coronation Chicken, and the fact they were named after some of the characters in the popular TV series Coronation Street!
We went on to have several more hens over the years, and Betty, Peggy, Hattie also joined the original flock of Rita, Mavis and Deirdre. Our lovely Black Rock hen Mavis, lived until the ripe old age of 9 yrs, and was still laying eggs until a few months before she passed away peacefully in her sleep.
The Coronation Chickens 
Rita 
The Coronation Chickens 
Deirdre 
The Coronation Chickens 
Mavis
So, with the shortage of eggs and with an acre of land here, we have decided to keep chickens again. Watch this space for the new arrivals! We have EIGHT chickens arriving in May. And, the chicken coop is being made as I type. They will be totally free-range and will be part of our family, just like my French hens were.
Thrifty Baking & Cooking with NO Eggs and Fat
So, back to today’s Emergency Bread, Scones and Cakes. I have made a list of all these recipes below, and I hope that they will prove to be helpful during these difficult times.
They are all listed below, and PLEASE don’t hesitate to contact me if you need any other help or advice, for thrifty store cupboard recipes. I will be be be back this weekend, with a LOVELY Easter recipe for Lemon Shortbread Squares. These will be the perfect treat for your Easter Tea Time Table. Karen
Recipes for Emergency Bread, Scones and Cakes
The list below is by no means definitive, but I hope you will find some culinary inspiration during these trying times.
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Savoury Recipes
Some thrifty store cupboard savoury recipes
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MODERN DAY STORE CUPBOARD RECIPE
Store Cupboard Cowboy Pie
This hearty store cupboard recipe is made with easily accessible pantry ingredients, such as tinned corned beef, tinned baked beans, onions, potatoes and BBQ sauce. It's a fabulous recipe that I used to make for my daughter when she was little, and she loved it. Topped with a cheesy mashed potato, serve this pie with steamed greens such as Savoy cabbage in the winter, or a crunchy salad in the summer. If you want to overload on the carbs then serve this with crusty bread for saucy dipping! Cheap, cheerful and thrifty, but a real family favourite.
Ingredients
- Filling:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 large onions, peeled and diced roughly
- 1 x 340g tin corned beef, diced
- 1 x 400g tin baked beans
- 4 tablespoons BBQ sauce
- Mash Topping:
- 900g potatoes, peeled and diced
- 25g butter or margarine
- 100ml milk
- Salt and pepper
- 50g Cheddar cheese, grated or thinly sliced
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas mark 6.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and fry the onions until the they are soft, translucent and a light caramelised brown.
- Add the cubed corned beef along with the BBQ sauce and heat for a further 5 minutes, until the corned beef has broken up.
- Add the tinned baked beans and mix.
- Meanwhile, boil the potatoes in salted water until they are soft. Drain them, add the butter or margarine with the milk and seasonings, and mash until smooth.
- Spoon the pie filling into a deep baking tray, I used an enamel tin, and top with the mashed potatoes.
- Scatter the cheese over the top and cook for 20 to 25 minutes until the cheese has melted and the pie is bubbling hot.
- Remove from the oven and serve immediately with steamed greens or salad and crusty bread.
Notes
To make this vegetarian, omit the corned beef and add some minced Quorn. For a vegan version, omit all the dairy and the corned beef, and make the filling with the beans, onions, peppers and mushrooms. Add oat milk and margarine to the mashed potatoes, and decorate with sliced tomatoes.
For meat eaters, you can substitute the corned beef with crumbled sausages, cook the same way as above. You can also use chopped SPAM, tinned ham or tinned hot-dogs too,
Frozen mashed potato is also a great substitute for fresh spuds. Use a 900g bag and follow the instructions on the packet.
Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 713Total Fat 30gSaturated Fat 12gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 15gCholesterol 111mgSodium 1582mgCarbohydrates 84gFiber 10gSugar 19gProtein 31g
Nutrition information is an approximate calculation based on the ingredients listed and it can vary according to portion sizes and when different ingredients are used.
Jayne says
Keep faith. We had no flour, eggs or yeast down here for weeks, but they are gradually reappearing. The nice man who runs the village shop says most things are back in stock at the wholesalers now. We live next door to a farm, so have managed to have a limited egg supply, but I am still ekeing, just in case…
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thank you Jayne! The problem we have is that we don’t live close to any shops – it’s a car drive away. That’s all shops, farm shops, greengrocers and butchers etc etc. None within striking distance.
We’re fine and are lucky that we have space here to exercise etc.
Karen
Elizabeth says
Thank you for sharing your recipes. I live on the East coast of the USA and there is a shortage of sanitizer, and paper products and not there is starting to be a shortage of flour as everyone that is on Instagram is not baking bread. I think it is great that they are experimenting and learning new things. We have not left the house except for groceries for 3 weeks, and are now on lockdown until June 10th. Take are of yourselves.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thank you Elizabeth.
Yes, the flour hoarding is very strange here, it’s wonderful that people are wanting to bake, I just hope the flour isn’t sitting in people’s cupboards in a few months time!
Stay safe and thank you for your kind comments.
Karen