We often say that Mum was ahead of her time. Growing up, we were taught about Eco-friendly green living. We just didn't call it that. We turned off lights as we finished up in a room. If the oven was on, we popped in something else to cook - so the heat wasn't wasted. We rarely had the heating on "full blast". We washed jcloths and freezer bags and hung them out to dry rather than throwing them out once used. Mum even brought us on holidays to a Eco-themed "fun park" in Wales in the mid 1980's.

Mum cooked delicious, budget conscious meals, that were healthy and made from seasonal produce from local suppliers. We went strawberry picking in Wexford and crammed our cupboards full of strawberry and gooseberry ("goosegog") jam to use throughout the winter. One of our favourite memories is of sitting in the Home Economics kitchen in Loreto Dalkey, the sun streaming in and watching Mum, her hands covered in flour, demonstrating how to bake something delicious that we'd be lucky enough to taste later. Even today, the smell of baking brings us right back to that time.

Mum believed in living within one's means. She had a strong grip on household finances. But because of her thrifty ways most of the time, she could splash out when she really wanted to. She never had a car loan but she loved sporty cars. So she would save to buy the car she really wanted. During the Irish economic boom we would have thought of this as quaint. Now the boom is over and we are returning to Mum's way of living through necessity. All About Home Economics helps us navigate our way around basic cooking skills, sourcing value for money produce and basic sewing skills.

While Mum believed in "green living", she was no saint. One of her sayings was that "life is too short to stuff a mushroom". So we ate fast food occasionally, just not all of the time. She had a wierd fascination with a frozen "chicken balti" dish that she bought in the supermarket. Mum believed in good food that was easily and quickly "whipped up" when we all came home from school. So most of Mum's recipes were quick, straightforward and made from easily obtainable ingredients. Some of her weekend recipes were more labour intensive but her scones with homemade jam, brown stew, Sunday roasts and scone-base pizza make our mouths water just thinking about them.

Growing up, we were sometimes embarrassed by Mum's "green" ways. After a series of amazing home baked birthday cakes - a chocolate train, a fort and some pretty incredible "fake eggs" made from Swiss roll, apricots and cream, we begged her for a shop bought cake, which we thought was the height of sophistication! Now, of course, Mum's way of living is trendy. She'd think that was hilarious - and no doubt she'd say "I told you so" with a mischievous glint in her eye.