Average Jane’s Depression-Era Cooking

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Meesha had a post today that mentioned the 93-year-old woman who cooks Depression-era meals on YouTube and it reminded me that many of my favorite childhood recipes had their origin during the Depression.

Here are a few that I've posted before:
Slumgullion
Chicken & Dumplings
Meatloaf (which undoubtedly had less meat and more cracker crumbs back then)

All of these recipes will feed an entire family; the chicken and dumplings can be stretched over at least two meals. It's also notable that they consist mainly of meat and vegetables. Staying out of the center aisles of the grocery store is a big money saver.

Not all of my grandmother's recipes made the transition to the next generations. My mother and her siblings used to complain about being served Mock Chicken as children, but my grandmother would protest that she "Only made it one time!"

Still, the cooking sensibilities of my grandmother were passed down to my mother and then to me as I was growing up. If we had leftover roast beef, we made it into hash. If we had some roasted chicken or turkey and gravy, the leftovers turned up as pot pie. The ham bone from Sunday dinner was boiled with cabbage during the week. Stale bread became French toast or bread pudding.

Food was precious and you didn't waste it. Even the vegetable peels and rinds went out to the chickens. Post-meal scraps flavored the dogs' food.

Dealing with food this way is still second nature for me. I always have a plan for leftover meat and although I don't have dogs or chickens, the birds and squirrels in my neighborhood get to enjoy any scraps that get too stale for the humans to eat.

What's your favorite budget-stretching recipe? Did it come from the 1930s/1940s or is it more recent?

Comments

4 responses to “Average Jane’s Depression-Era Cooking”

March 4, 2009

Jenny Meade

I wish I could get away with cooking that way, it’s how I was raised. My parent’s families saw the depression first hand, my husband’s family really only read about it in the newspaper. So he doesn’t appreciate things like meatloaf, at all. And leftovers? Please. Ugh.

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March 4, 2009

Valerie

Mine is my grandmom’s chili recipe. For every can or bottle of something she used (beans, a small bottle of ketchup, etc.) she filled up the container again with water and dumped that into the pot. I think that was partly to get the last little bits out of the containers.
It starts out looking like soup with all that water, but then you throw in egg noodles. They soak up a lot that water, and you end up with a sort of chili goulash.
I’m pretty sure the noodles and water are also there to stretch it out. There’s usually two dinners’ worth in one pot.

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March 8, 2009

Annie Lynsen

One word: Pasta. I love it, it’s filling, and it’s cheap! I try to cook without meat at least once or twice a week to help the budget, and make enough for leftovers for lunch the next day.

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April 4, 2009

class factotum

I learned how to eat cheap in grad school and the Peace Corps and have no patience for people who buy processed/prepared foods and then whine that they can’t make ends meet as they watch cable TV and talk on their cellphones.
Beans. Beans and rice. Cheap, filling, and nutritious. And easy to cook. And delicious! I am eating a bowl of black beans with linguica right now. (A little cumin, a bay leaf, some onion and green pepper with a garnish of onion and sour cream — oh yum.)The sausage came from the bargain counter at the butcher’s. Nothing wrong with it, just 7 sausages instead of the six that were supposed to be in the package.

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