Burnley gran opens her recipe book to show families struggling with rising cost of living how to put healthy meals on the table

The eldest of seven children, Hazel Wilkinson helped her mum to cook for the family as a teenager.

Hazel, who has four grandchildren, went on to carve out a career as a cook in a care home, a job she did for 12 years, before becoming a childminder for a decade.

Now 74 and retired, Hazel, who lives in Burnley with her husband Eric, still loves cooking and baking for her family, including her two daughters and their families.

And, as the cost of living bites with food prices rising, Hazel agreed to come up with some back to basics recipe ideas that families can follow, using fresh ingredients that don't cost the earth.

Drawing on recipes handed down from her mum, Hazel, who was a volunteer Brownie Guider for many years, invited the Burnley Express into the kitchen of her Burnley home as she prepared a family favourite, pasta bolognaise.

And, using Hazel's recipe, it will feed a family of four/five for just £6. Other recipes in her armour include chicken fajitas with potato wedges, cheese and onion pie and beans and cottage pie and peas. All to feed four or five people for £5 to £6.

Hazel said: "It's a simple meal that will fill the family and is tasty too with garlic bread.

"I grew up in a big family so learned how important it was to budget and to make meals stretch as far as possible."