It seems that everybody is talking about the crunch. To most, this is the 'credit crunch' but to us at School Recipes it usually involves the great debate over whether chocolate or vanilla is the one true Crunch....

But on a serious note, we know that money is a bit tight at the moment and this is where we can help! 

All our recipes are actual school dinner recipes. This means that they've been put together on a very tight budget. In fact, until Jamie Oliver came along and brought the whole issue in to the spotlight, the amount being spent per pupil on the ingredients and preparation was ridiculously small - as low as 19p! Was this a bad thing? We don't think so as it meant schools were buying proper raw ingredients and not processed foods and it was the introduction of processed foods that took away the nutritional value that was always present in the old classics.

Yes, there's lard involved. Yes there's milk powder - hardly an ingredient in every day use in most kitchens - but these ingredients are low cost and very versatile and for the health conscious, items like lard can just be substituted.

So, spread the word! You can take full advantage of the email icon at the top of each recipe, and indeed this ramble, to help friends and family save money. In fact, why not invite them around for tea? The other great thing about these recipes is that they are designed to be scaled up to very large amounts - enough to feed a whole school! If you're signed up to other forums and web sites, why not post a link back to our site here? The more people we can get to visit, the more recipes we'll be able to accrue!