The women's liberation movement didn't just change the role of women in society, it also helped transform what appeared on family dinner plates. Food historian Dr Polly Russell told today's This Morning that in the Fifties, only 20 per cent of women worked, leaving the majority of wives to spend their time cooking, cleaning and managing their households. But in later decades as women swelled the workforce, convenient pre-prepared sandwiches, microwaves and ready meals transformed Britain's kitchens - and its diet. Scroll down for video . Food in the Fifties as illustrated by this display on today's This Morning. Housewives had to feed the family with limited rations . Thanks to households being rationed to one egg per week, cakes like this one, right, had to be made with dried eggs, left, while they were topped with blancmange thanks to the lack of sugar available . The Robshaw family try making a Fifties cake with limited ingredients on BBC show 'Back in Time for Dinner', ably assisted by Mary Berry . She told presenters Phillip Schofield and Amanda Holden: 'We have this idea of the Fifties being a domestic ideal - Mad Men, glamorous -  this was not the case in Britain, we were still in rationing, very austere. 'It meant there was only one fresh egg a week per household so housewives had to feed the family with these limited rations. 'It's not surprising housewives became fed-up in the Fifties - they spent 75 hours a week doing housework.' 'They had to cope with powdered eggs and a limited amount of variety to cook with.' A new BBC series called Back In Time For Dinner challenged a modern family to try reliving what this was like. The Robshaws - father Brandon, mother Rochelle and children Miranda, 17, Rosalind, 15, and Fred 10 - learnt that rations certainly made birthdays less indulgent. Food historian Dr Polly Russell, pictured, took Phillip Schofield and Amanda Holden on a trip down memory lane for the taste buds on today's This Morning, showing what was typically eaten from the Fifties to Nineties . The Robshaw family took on a brave culinary challenge to eat as a family would have in every decade from the Fifties to the Nineties. Pictured, from left to right, Rosalind, 15, mum Rochelle, Fred, 10, dad Brandon and Miranda, 17, in the Fifties episode . Dr Russell invited Amanda and Phillip to try a birthday cake the family made on the show based on a Fifties recipe. She explained: 'A cake had to be made with dry eggs and icing with a blancmange topping because of the lack of sugar. ' After a taste test, Amanda admitted it was 'dry but not inedible'. Bread and dripping (often leftover fat from the Sunday roast) was a common reality at breakfast time while fresh vegetables were often taken from community allotments. In the Sixties, This Morning illustrated how a typical food spread would include cheese and pineapples on cocktails sticks and corned beef. Dr Russell revealed how this was the decade when kitchens were transformed by technology. She said: 'In the Sixties there was a real rise in disposable incomes and an increase technology in the kitchen. In the Sixties, food became more colourful and decorative, as shown by the cheese and pineapple sticks served on an orange and vibrant table cloth on today's This Morning . The Hairy Bikers' Dave Myers pictured with the Robshaw family as they sample the food of the Sixties . 'The most iconic piece is the fridge but only 50 per cent of households had one by the end of the decade, everyone else used larders. The fridge changed what you could cook.' The food historian added that food at this time became 'more about display and what it looks like as well as what it tastes like.' So along with the decorative pineapple and cheese on sticks served attached to an orange, came colourful dishes like vegetable terrines. By the Seventies, 40 per cent of women were working, leading to a rise in the number of convenience foods on offer. Dr Russell explained: 'Now women have less time for cooking so the food industry starts offering help in terms of processed, convenience foods so there are things like Pot Noodles available. 'There's also more branding and colourful packaging to try and persuade people to buy them.' By the Seventies, with more women going out to work, food is becoming more convenient with products like Angel Delight, back left, and ready-made cake mixtures, back right . Arctic rolls and Pot Noodles became popular in the Seventies as people spent less time cooking . Children of the Seventies loved Angel Delight, chocolate, strawberry and butterscotch flavours pictured . Iced fingers and ready-made Arctic Rolls were the desserts of choice during this decade but every child's favourite sweet treat was Angel Delight. The product was purchased as a powder so could be whipped up in seconds by time-strapped working mothers. Such convenience foods became even more popular in the Eighties as the number of women working increased again. 'There was a more disposable income and less time so the ready-meal industry steps up and we get the microwave,' Dr Russell explained. In the Eighties, the invention of the microwave led to a rise in ready-meals while pre-packed sandwiches, bottom right, appeared on shelves for the first time as workers wanted to grab lunch and go . The Robshaw family, pictured in their 1980s-style kitchen which was all about convenience, with gadgets aplenty helping them to make meals . She added that the pre-packed sandwich we take for granted today only came in to fruition in 1981 'marking our changing relationship with time and leisure' as people would rather grab lunch and go than do a home-made packed lunch. The first flavours for pre-packed sandwiches included cheese and pickle and tinned salmon and tomato. Following the rise of convenience foods came concerns for health in the Nineties. But Dr Russell admits this was a contradictory time, when the nation had a 'schizophrenic relationship with food'. While families tried to be healthier by opting for organic foods and aiming for their 'five-a-day' they were also bombarded with high sugar, processed foods like Pop Tarts and Mr Kipling snack cakes. In the Nineties, people became more health conscious opting for salad and organic foods but at the same time, high sugar, processed foods like Pop Tarts were introduced . 'Back in Time for Dinner' is on BBC2 Tuesdays at 8pm .
A family was challenged to eat through the decades on new BBC show . Food historian appeared on This Morning to reveal typical meals on offer . In Fifties, most women were at home but were limited by rationing . As more women went out to work, foods became more convenient .