by Texas Homesteader ~
How would grandma have done things in her kitchen? I’ve been seeing this question a lot on social media lately.
But it’s interesting food for thought, especially for those striving to reduce waste and save a little money too in their own kitchens. Let’s see how grandma would have done it.
Single-Use Items Not Common In Grandma’s Day
In her kitchen, grandma went about things in a whole different (and often much simplified) way than is common in today’s kitchens.
You see, disposable plastic and single-use items weren’t commonplace kitchen items back in my grandma’s day.
And yet, grandma got around the kitchen just fine without it. And without having to spend money on specialty products either.
Replacement For Plastic Wrap To Cover Food
Grandma simply covered the food with another piece of dinnerware instead of using plastic wrap.
She also covered the roasting pan in the oven with a cookie sheet instead of disposable aluminum foil.
Multi-Use Bakeware: Cook & Store Leftovers
I have my grandmother’s CorningWare Bakeware and I love it.
Grandma used oven-safe cookware to cook food, store leftovers, reheat & eat all in the same dish. No disposable dishes yet fewer dishes to wash!
How Grandma Eliminated Food Waste
Grandma couldn’t afford to let food go to waste. So she would put the cut end of fresh vegetables such as celery, broccoli or carrots in water using a repurposed wide-mouth jar or a deep bowl.
Repurposed Jars Hold Small Leftovers In The Refrigerator
Grandma was always saving useful jars for reuse, especially for storing leftovers in the refrigerator.
Whether using repurposed jars or wide-mouth canning jars, food in my refrigerator is also stored in glass jars.
Since the glass is see-through I find that leftover food is much more likely to be seen & used instead of being shoved to the back & forgotten until it’s only fit for the compost heap.
Using Leftovers
Leftovers were never wasted at grandma’s house. I use this tip when I make Planned Leftovers. I’m able to reduce food waste, lower my food budget and feed my family deliciously at the same time!
Preserving Food
Grandma knew how to preserve extra food. Whether by freezing, dehydrating or canning.
You can read my posts about food preservation by clicking the links below:
Reducing Disposables From The Supper Table
Although there were times when paper plates made sense for a quick meal at grandma’s table, it was rare. Grandma almost always used real dishes and Cloth Napkins at her table.
Grandma knew disposable paper plates and plastic utensils cost too much – both in money and the environment – for her to buy and toss over & over again.
Plus having a nicely-set table tends to add a little more ambiance to the meal.
Cast Iron Cookware Lasts A Century Even With Heavy Use!
Grandma didn’t have specialty gadgets to cook various things. She used her Cast-Iron Skillet to cook everything from fried pork chops to grilled quesadillas to Baking Biscuits in the oven.
Grandma received this beautiful skillet as a wedding gift when she and my grandfather married in 1934.
It cooked many delicious meals for her family for decades before being passed to me. And it’s still not showing any signs of wear.
I’ll be passing this skillet to my children and then on to my grandchildren and beyond. That’s some kind of longevity for a single heavily-used skillet, y’all!
Grandma Used Rags For Cleaning
Grandma would have never considered buying something disposable or even specialty kitchen cloths To Clean even if they had been available to her!
My grandmother lived through the Great Depression and she was well skilled in ‘Use Whatcha Got’ thinking!
I took a cue from her and I don’t buy specialty kitchen cloths. An old, clean cotton t-shirt is cut into dishcloth-sized rags. They’ve replaced our disposable paper towels too.
When they’re too stained to be used in the kitchen anymore I send them to RancherMan’s shop where they’ll be used for greasy grimy things before finally being thrown away.
From clothing to dish rags / paper towels to shop rags. That’s lots of mileage from an old t-shirt!
Grandma’s Kitchen – Good For The Budget & Environment
So there are a few simple things our grandmothers did back in the day. And those same simple steps can easily be used in your own kitchen today.
It’s good for our wallets AND good for the environment!
~TxH~
This post categorized in 
Tagged in 
Grandma’s Old Fashioned Kitchen
Cooking Like Grandma
- Old-Fashioned Kitchen: Living Life Like Grandma
- Grandma-Approved Cleaning Techniques
- Is Grandma-Styled Cooking A Lost Art?
- Using It ALL – Eliminating Leftover Food
- Homemade Meals Daily (The EASY Way!)
Old-Fashioned Family Life
- The Importance Of The Family Supper Table
- Living Deliberately & Naturally: Voluntary Simplicity
- Easy Self-Sufficiency Steps You Can Take Now
- Old-Fashioned Money Saving Tips From Grandma
Grandma’s Dishes
- Caring For Grandma’s Cast-Iron Cookware
- Stuck-On food? How To Easily Clean A Cast-Iron Skillet
- Using Grandma’s Vintage Corning Ware
- Why Doesn’t Junior Want Grandma’s Fine China?
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Hello Tammy, I have just discovered your wonderful blog. You write about very similar topics to me: living frugally, avoiding waste, making things yourself, etc.
Two days ago I wrote a post about my grandmother.
I will have to read a lot more of your stuff.
Maybe you will visit my blog sometime?
Best wishes from Germany, Sibylle
Well howdy Sibylle, and welcome! ~TxH~
YES, Great article… Could you comment on Grandma’s recipes.. I feel I need to get back to that day for cooking/baking… Generation I am from is all boxed cakes canned like cream of mushroom soup or chicken… Cereal in a box… ETC. I love to cook & bake labor induced.,so worth it for your health.
Me too Linda, but I’ve found home cooking doesn’t have to be time consuming or difficult. You can search this site for recipes for everything from homemade pumpkin granola to Crazy Cake (no eggs, milk or butter needed!) to homemade broth, desserts, main dishes, side dishes and more. Or you can click the recipe tag and see everything at once (here’s the recipe tag link –> https://texashomesteader.com/tag/recipes/ ) Start small and add more home-cooking as you gain confidence. Your taste buds and your wallet will thank you. đŸ™‚ Jump in, the water’s fine! ~TxH~
I just love this post. It reminds me how many of these things I already do. It also gives me a few ideas. I learned very much from my grandma who survived the depression era. She continued to live that way through the rest of her life. She carried it on into new things like washing out zip lock bags or even rinsing paper towels that were used for cleaning light messes. I enjoy all things zero waste. It is a great way to live.
I’m with you, Michelle. I love living intentionally & simply. And as you probably know I’m a big fan of reducing waste in all its forms. So this kind of life really speaks to me.~TxH~
So much interesting nostalgia from all of you girls. We have a rag cardboard box. One thing I wouldn’t be nostalgic for from my mom’s time and before is feminine hygiene products. I remember hearing them talk about washing out rags every month. But they survived and I expect I would have too. I have my grandmother’s china and we use it for dinners when we have big groups of friends and relatives over. The bird man who lives with me is in line for another set of gorgeous china which will be coming to us soon because his dear mother now resides in an assisted living facility. An addition on the house? Maybe that’s what I need.
I save (let’s not call it hoarding) glass jars and lids and am kind of obsessive about it. Not canning jars much any more, I’d rather freeze or dry things now. And I have neighbors who do can a lot and were glad to have many of mine (and my mother’s and my grandmother’s) and then they give them back to me with their great canning efforts. I just can’t get anyone to take those glass peanut butter jars off my hands and I have enough of them for an army and like rabbits they seem to multiply on the shelves of my basement “fruit” room. I do use them for small amounts of bulk bought food.
I use my cast iron skillets on my glass cooktop all of the time and have for years. I’ve never had a problem.
Also love the Corningware dishes with the glass lids as cooking and serving dishes. From cooking to table to frig…no issue!
Love this post. We are a society of wasters I swear.
I do have some cast iron, but because my house came with a glass topped stove, I can’t use it, except to bake in. I would love to get a regular electric stove, because I miss using my cast iron.
I have been buying vintage glass ‘refrigerator dishes’ as I come across them at estate sales and thrift shops. I love how they look in my cabinets and in my refrigerator. I didn’t start out with them intending to reduce my use of plastic, but that’s what they’ve done. I also like that many of them are a smaller size, which works better in our 2 person household, and they are much sturdier than any plastic ware. I used to like non stick fry pans, but none of them really stay non-stick for very long. My old cast iron on the other hand, does a much better job (and I think food tastes better cooked in it đŸ™‚ ) I hadn’t thought about ‘how would grandma do it’, but just thinking that phrase brings a smile to my face and makes me want to put on one of my grandma’s cross stitched gingham aprons and cook something from scratch. Thanks for good tips and some sweet nostalgia!
My grandma had a, “rag bag”. It was in the closet with her vacuum. This was the bag my brother and I went to if we wanted to make something. (Clothes for my dolls or a sleeping bag for his GI Joe). My grandma also had cast iron but what I got was some of her Revere ware. I was in 5th grade when she passed away, so I got what the aunts and older cousins didn’t want. I love my Revere ware and it’s much heavier than the same brand put out now and even 30 years ago (1980s). When I was first starting out I would go to second hand stores and look for the older ones. I have enamel covered cast iron for my frying pans. I lucked out and got most at a rummage sale one time. They happen to be brown which would not have been my first choice but Le Creuset was and still is very pricey. So I really lucked out with them.
I have two rag bags. One in the kitchen, and one in the laundry room. They are simply two clot totes that hang from pegs, and I shove cut up t-shirts, old wash cloths, and cut up old towels into them for cleaning, dusting, and taking care of the accidents my 20 year old has from time to time. The Redneck grabs one occasionally to check the oil in the truck or to use when polishing boots or cleaning guns. When he gets his ‘man cave’ finished (going on two years now), I will see to it he gets his own rag bag. I don’t worry about getting them too nasty to wash, I can toss them into the burning barrel with no guilt. I recall as a child, watching those Handi Wipe commercials, where they made using an old shirt, rag or diaper to clean with was bad. I thought, “Well, that’s dumb. Why should you BUY something when you have rags to clean with?”
When I was growing up we called our dish and wash clothes dish rags and wash rags. I remember asking my mom once why we called them that. She told me that when she was growing up, my grandma cut towels down as they got ragged. The last stop before going to my grandpa’s shop was either the bathroom for a wash cloth or kitchen for dishes. Hence the reason they were called rags.
I love my reverware too. I use it and my cast iron for almost everything.