Clara Cannucciara was a lovely woman who lived throughout the entire Great Depression. During that time, Clara’s mother had to come up with creative and extremely cheap recipes for her family to eat. Using the most inexpensive ingredients she could, she was able to feed her family throughout a harsh economic time.

Clara has kept those Great Depression recipes alive. Her site, GreatDepressionCooking.com, features a blog with Great Depression recipes and information about her DVD and books. In this particular video, Clara shows us how to make the “Poor Man’s Meal” using potatoes, onions, hot dogs and a touch of red sauce:

Great Depression Cooking seems extremely relevant to me since many of us have been forced into exercising frugal creativity in the kitchen during this recession. Clara’s methods are inspirational, because they prove that frugal options worked during the toughest of times.

Do you know anyone who lived through the Depression and came out with some creative, frugal recipes? Please share with us!

*Editor’s Update: Unfortunately, Clara passed away in late 2013 at the age of 98. But luckily for her family, and for all of us, her recipes and her wisdom live on. Here are some other great posts we’ve featured about this fabulous lady!

• 4 Money Lessons from 97-Year-Old Great Depression Cooking Host
• Easy Great Depression Recipe from Clara