[hippytreehugger4ev]

I just found this site that has some info on what the depression was like. I thought someone here might be able to use it for a reference on frugal recipes, but it's just neat to read:

http://coveredbaptists.proboards31.com/index.cgi?board=recipes&action=print&thread=1426

 

[Jasmine_xoxo]

Out at our farm in the library is my great grandmother's depression recipe collection. Once I have time to go poke around the library I will find it and do some scans to show you. It's pretty cool.

It's really near and dear to my heart since it was compiled at the very same farm where we are working on becoming self sufficient too. It seems like we have come full circle.

 

[BrowserCat]

Gag...now I know where my mother got porcupine meatballs. Dang, I hated those things...some of what she cooked on a budget [she lived through the Depression, and this is when I was a kid] wasn't bad, but some of it - no taste. Back then, the idea of seasoning was still kind of new and Julia Child hadn't come along to introduce Americans to the idea of cooking something other than a TV dinner, so salt and pepper was it.

One thing my mom made that she now sneers at as 'poor food' but I always thought was quite tasty was creamed tuna on rice. I think it was a can of tuna and some white sauce, heated up, and served over rice. Don't know how she seasoned it, but it stretched a can of tuna to feed 4 - 6 people [along with carrots or some other veg].

 

[HammerHand]

My mother has a cookbook that belonged to her mother - one of those ones that a flour company would give you if you sent a quarter and the "proof of purchase" thing from five of their bags of flour.

Has all kinds of flour-laden recipes (obviously) - but what I found interesting were the sections near the end. One was called "Variety Meats", and was full of tips on stuff like tripe, sweetbreads, and other organ meats. There was a section on game meats - deer, moose, elk, caribou etc. - and how to get the "gamey" flavor out if you felt like it.

And then there was the section that really caught my eye. Bear... Apparently you can cook bear meat like beef - but it has a lot less fat, so you have to add some, or be very careful not to dry out the meat.

Bear... I guess if you're hungry you'll eat anything.

 

[Ramona M. Faunce]

I find the storys very interesting. Even during an depression, they seam to have enjoyed a full life. I did find a few recipies that I will be trying.

 

[KaBar67]

Good post. Always looking for budget minded recipies.

 

[preparedmama]

I found a really cool book written for nuns by nuns and the recipes taste great and are cheap, high yield. Found it in a secnd hand store for .25. Amazing what you can do with so little.

 

[momma_soapmaker]

One thing my mom made that she now sneers at as 'poor food' but I always thought was quite tasty was creamed tuna on rice. I think it was a can of tuna and some white sauce, heated up, and served over rice. Don't know how she seasoned it, but it stretched a can of tuna to feed 4 - 6 people [along with carrots or some other veg].

I grew up eating this too, except we ate it with shell pasta instead of rice. It had the cream sauce and shredded carrots.

We never knew we were poor though.

 

[Sweeper]

My mother has a cookbook that belonged to her mother - one of those ones that a flour company would give you if you sent a quarter and the "proof of purchase" thing from five of their bags of flour.

Has all kinds of flour-laden recipes (obviously) - but what I found interesting were the sections near the end. One was called "Variety Meats", and was full of tips on stuff like tripe, sweetbreads, and other organ meats. There was a section on game meats - deer, moose, elk, caribou etc. - and how to get the "gamey" flavor out if you felt like it.

And then there was the section that really caught my eye. Bear... Apparently you can cook bear meat like beef - but it has a lot less fat, so you have to add some, or be very careful not to dry out the meat.

Bear... I guess if you're hungry you'll eat anything.

Bear meat is great,we treat it as pork when cooking:thumb:

 

[kajunman1]

Boil some meat with vegis and eat over rice.

Beans and cornbread

 

[stonecypher]

Lots of ideas for "historical cooking" through the recipes in the cookbooks on this site:

http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/html/browse.html

You can browse the collection by date, by interest, or alphabetically, and many have PDF downloads available.

 

[Tugger]

before my grandfather passed away he told stories about how they stretched their food by cooking/frying meat in a pan (this was generally for the adult males) and the kids would get bread fried up in the remaining fat.

As crazy as it sounds he did it for me one day, it was actually quite tasty..........but I'm sure my colesterol level shot up a few points

 

[test]

If you eat a lot of vegies you can counter act much of the cholestrols. My grandparents(depression survivors) bought the big economy sized buckets of lard, straight up pork lard and cooked everything in it but they also ate lots of raw home grown vegies and poke salad and bottles of aspirin and lived into their 90's hardly every going to doctors so go figure. Oh and they smoked and dipped occasionally.

 

[utahboy]

My kids have enjoyed good old fashoned jello for desert. Cheap, easy to make, and fun. Jello really made itself a household name during the depression.

 

[craftymama]

There's also some recipes (and she tells stories also) here:

 

[Maurepas]

When I was very young, I lived with my grandparents. We didn't have much money but the best thing was care by Grandma 24/7 and lots of love.

Our usual snacks were "mayonnaise foldovers". Just a piece of white bread with a little mayo and folded over. We got cake or pie on birthdays or social gatherings. Cookies occasionally. Yearly family reunions would have a spread of food like you would not believe.

My grandmother could do amazing things with little or nothing to work with. We had biscuits and gravy with every meal and I still can't do them as well as she did.

One of my fondest memories was going to the feed store on Saturdays with grandpa. Grandma would dress me in a pretty little dress to send me off. He would sit me up on a stack of feed, give me a coca-cola in the small bottle with a pack of peanuts poured in. I'd enjoy my treat while he stood there talking to the other farmers, who of course never failed to make a big deal out of the apple of grandpa's eye.

Isn't it amazing how simple food treats can become entwined with our favorite memories? Makes you realize it's not really what you are feeding your kids, it's how you serve it up.

 

[bltjr1951]

One thing my mom made that she now sneers at as 'poor food' but I always thought was quite tasty was creamed tuna on rice. I think it was a can of tuna and some white sauce, heated up, and served over rice. Don't know how she seasoned it, but it stretched a can of tuna to feed 4 - 6 people [along with carrots or some other veg].

I lived with some folks in the 70s that loved "tuna fish & peas on toast".
I grew up on chipped beef & gravy on toast, potato soup, mac&cheese and crackers. These were the main meal at night, didn't have them at same time.
I didn't think we were poor, that's just what we ate. When the TV dinners came out, I loved the roast beef one. The only time I would eat peas.

 

[bltjr1951]

He would give me a coca-cola in the small bottle with a pack of peanuts poured in.

Finest kind.
Now adays, for some reason, I'm allergic to peanuts.
And coke hasn't tasted the same since they screwed with the taste.