depression era cooking for survival

[feather]

I was reminded today of the foods my grandmother taught me in WI, where they kept chickens (in the town/city) and they had very little food. Potatoes, beans from the garden, chickens, eggs, flour, bread, butter.

blog.survivalsupplyzone.com/emergency-food/depression-era-recipes/

The first one is green beans and potato soup.

This is an unusual soup that I can't find referenced anywhere.

In a kettle cut up 6 potatoes and put in 3 cups of green beans, water and salt to taste.

Bring them to a boil and cook until potatoes and beans are tender.

Take 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup flour, make a roux, getting it boiling bubbling and cooking the flour.

Now instead of stopping when the flour is cooked, it is cooked slowly and longer, until it turns brown (like in southern cooking but we aren't from the south).

Then put the flour mixture in the soup, it will bubble spatter and steam, be careful. It will thicken the soup a little so it is more like a gravy. Then add vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

We had this a lot growing up and I still like it, weird as it is. When you are a kid and you are hungry, you get to like what you get.

The second one is a dish of noodles croutons scrambled eggs.

Egg noodles made from eggs and flour and salt. Boiled in a kettle, drained.

Scrambled eggs.

Then melt butter in the frying pan and put the stale bread cubes in it, brown them.

Put that all together and salt to taste.

Those croutons soaked in butter were ridiculously delicious.

When they had ketchup they put ketchup on it.

Do you have depression era family recipes/cooking? Weird recipes you just like because you grew up with them?

[Melissa]

We always had hamburger, macaroni, and tomatoes. We browned the burger with some onions and maybe some green peppers if we had them, added a jar of tomato juice and brought it to a boil, added the macaroni and simmered until done. We topped it with a little parmesan cheese if we had it and salt and pepper to taste.

We always had big bowls of wilted lettuce salad.

We made big pans of macaroni and cheese with cheese that was passed out for food distributions. We called it charity cheese. It was actually pretty good.

Vegetable soup was made with any vegetables and ground beef.

We often had hamburger gravy on toast.

One of the desserts we had was fruit cocktail cake- no icing.

We had many apple trees so always had applesauce.

[Jolly]

MIL was one of twelve kids, raised in a three room house. The boys slept in the barn. Being raised that way, she still stretches food...For example,chicken & dumplings is eaten over rice.

[dustawaits]

I was six before I ever tasted hamburger..
Potatoes beans and cornbread was in or all of most suppers.
Lunch was most likely a bologna sandwich fried or not.
Breakfast egg and biscuit made with bacon grease.

[themotherhen]

My Mom stretched meals with cornbread and a pot of green beans and potatoes frequently also. I remember on Sundays during the school year Grandma would bake a ham and either a beef roast or a couple chickens. The leftovers were eaten by the extended families during the week-my parents and 2 of my sets of aunts and uncles all worked full time and had children. Us kids stayed at Grandma's house before and after school and Grandma made dinner for everyone on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (usually sandwiches or something quick before church) and Thursday. Friday, Saturday and Sunday night we all ate at home. The aunts and my Mom always cleaned up the kitchen with us kids helping, and we were all home by 7:30 for baths and bed. What a blessing that was for the working Moms in our family, not to have to worry about cooking so often after work. Grandma loved to cook and it was truly an act of love! 

My Grandmas both grew up in fairly poor, country families with lots of siblings. They both knew how to stretch everything, I remember my Mom's mom would save bits of soap and when she had enough would melt it in water to make hand soap. Smart tip that I use now.

[tenbusybees]

Green beans and potatos, radish sandwiches with butter on homemade bread. Lunch at my great-grandmother's. They were poor country folk and pretty much if they dudn't grow it, they didn't eat.

My grandma grew up during the Depression. She used to tell me what a treat it was to eat a can of pork-n-beans...she just hated that she had to share it with seven other people. My grandfather promised her if she would marry him he would never let her run out of pork-n-beans. They were married 60-something years and after they passed I found cases and cases of pork-n-beans in their cellar. ❤

[themotherhen]

tenbusybees, awww, that is so sweet!

[wally]

Some of our favorite meals are beans and cornbread, chicken and noodles, actually we prefer simple meals over 5 course meals

[paquebot]

With me it was my parents who came from the Depression era. carried over to when it was over and still continues with me. Wild game and other wild foods were common. Almost any animal bigger than a rat and birds pigeon or bigger were table fare. Same for any fish. Even ate dandelion greens! Was given to an uncle and then it was almost strictly what was grown on the farm.

Martin

[themotherhen]

Oct 16, 2018 4:10:19 GMT wally said:

Some of our favorite meals are beans and cornbread, chicken and noodles, actually we prefer simple meals over 5 course meals

Wally, us too. It is difficult to make elaborate meals with everything else going on. 

[Jolly]

Remember Clara?

m.youtube.com/user/DepressionCooking

[Deleted]

Egg gravy on biscuits. Huge omelets. With chickens, we always had eggs. I grew up in the 50's, Dad was born in 1900, Mom 1919. We lived like it was the 20's early 30's. You made do with what you had on the farm. Mom went to town once a month for staples but we had wheat, milk, vegetables and meat....James

[Woodpecker]

We lived on a small farm, with chickens and one cow. We did drink the milk directly from the cow. We also had a milkman come, I think weekly. We ate a lot of potatoe pancakes & potatoe soup, with veggies from the garden. Actually we ate a lot of soup. Mother would make chicken soup with every chicken we ate. She would make what we called “cluski soup” which is chicken soup with plenty of dumplings. We too ate eggs many times & ways. One supper was boiled eggs, sliced up, in a cream sauce over toast. Also beef vegetable soup. Mother also made beef in a cream sauce, over toast, or just with potatoes & gravy. We had little money, but my mother was creative in the little we had. My brother would shoot rabbits, everyone ate them but me, ick😝

Desserts were apple pies, cherry pies, and usually sugar cookies. We did not have desserts all the time. It was always a treat.

I wouldn’t trade my childhood for anything more. Having little made us count our blessings.

[misskay]

Oh yes James, egg gravy! I absolutely love it but never heard of anyone else cooking it except my mom. If we had nothing else, we had eggs so I took egg sandwiches to lunch everyday and never got tired of them. I love eggs just as much today.

[feather]

Okay what is egg gravy? I searched out recipes, one used the egg as the thickener and the other made a gravy and added chopped hard boiled eggs, so I'm not sure what you are talking about.

[Use Less]

Dec 8, 2018 18:42:45 GMT misskay said:

Oh yes James, egg gravy! I absolutely love it but never heard of anyone else cooking it except my mom. If we had nothing else, we had eggs so I took egg sandwiches to lunch everyday and never got tired of them. I love eggs just as much today.

We didn't call it egg gravy, but my Mom put chopped hard-boiled eggs in a white sauce and served it over toast sometimes. Quite lovely, really. Delicate. 

[Deleted]

Milk and cheese (if Mom had any) gravy with hard boiled eggs cut up in it.

Cooked sweet peas over crackers with hot cheese sauce on top. Mackerel soup, canned mackerel was cheap. Mostly you ate what you had on hand, simple and plain....James

[dodgesmammaw]

My mom was the oldest child. She had to take care of the 6 siblings while my grandparents pulled cotton. She said there was nothing to cook by cucumbers . She said she made biscuits and sliced and fried cucumbers like it was squash.  It will come as no surprise she married at 16. She always told me don't ever tell me you are marrying at 16 because she did. She said I had already raised a house full of kids by that time.

[dodgesmammaw]

My mom was the oldest child. She had to take care of the 6 siblings while my grandparents pulled cotton. She said there was nothing to cook but cucumbers . She said she made biscuits and sliced and fried cucumbers like it was squash.  It will come as no surprise she married at 16. She always told me don't ever tell me you are marrying at 16 because she did. She said I had already raised a house full of kids by that time


Double post sorry

[dw]

We called it creamed eggs on toast.

[MeandTK]

Jolly,
In Washington Parish, LA and neighboring Walthall County, MS, they all eat chicken and dumplings on rice. I had never heard nor seen such until I went over there and married. My wife's family does it, and thinks it odd that others do not eat "chicken pie" on rice.

[wally]

We had some friends from Louisiana Visit us last week .never even heard of it, but they put chili over rice. Surprisingly it was actually pretty tasty

[feather]

Dec 10, 2018 20:04:29 GMT MeandTK said:

Jolly ,
In Washington Parish, LA and neighboring Walthall County, MS, they all eat chicken and dumplings on rice. I had never heard nor seen such until I went over there and married. My wife's family does it, and thinks it odd that others do not eat "chicken pie" on rice.

DH will not eat rice. Anything I serve with rice, and I'm not from the south, he doesn't like. He doesn't like the texture or taste. If I made more rice and expected him to eat it, he'd find a way to go live somewhere else. It really seems like a deep problem too. And I can't figure it out. Rice is so non-descript, non threatening, not strong flavored, you'd almost think I was talking about something like blowfish which can be deadly or liver or brussel sprouts. I'm completely confused by his hatred of rice.

I don't know if it has something to do with pearl harbor day, suzuki's being rice eaters, or hawaii, or the japanese or chinese and how they affect our finances in the international market, seriously, it's just rice. I'm lost on what is so bad about rice.

[Jolly]

Dec 10, 2018 20:19:52 GMT wally said:

We had some friends from Louisiana Visit us last week .never even heard of it, but they put chili over rice. Surprisingly it was actually pretty tasty

My preferred way of eating chili.

[Jolly]

Dec 10, 2018 20:34:52 GMT feather said:

Dec 10, 2018 20:04:29 GMT MeandTK said:

Jolly ,
In Washington Parish, LA and neighboring Walthall County, MS, they all eat chicken and dumplings on rice. I had never heard nor seen such until I went over there and married. My wife's family does it, and thinks it odd that others do not eat "chicken pie" on rice.

DH will not eat rice. Anything I serve with rice, and I'm not from the south, he doesn't like. He doesn't like the texture or taste. If I made more rice and expected him to eat it, he'd find a way to go live somewhere else. It really seems like a deep problem too. And I can't figure it out. Rice is so non-descript, non threatening, not strong flavored, you'd almost think I was talking about something like blowfish which can be deadly or liver or brussel sprouts. I'm completely confused by his hatred of rice.

I don't know if it has something to do with pearl harbor day, suzuki's being rice eaters, or hawaii, or the japanese or chinese and how they affect our finances in the international market, seriously, it's just rice. I'm lost on what is so bad about rice.

Appeal to his patriotic feelings...Lots of rice grown in Arkansas and Louisiana.

[Jolly]

Dec 10, 2018 20:04:29 GMT MeandTK said:

Jolly ,
In Washington Parish, LA and neighboring Walthall County, MS, they all eat chicken and dumplings on rice. I had never heard nor seen such until I went over there and married. My wife's family does it, and thinks it odd that others do not eat "chicken pie" on rice.

Your wife is an educated and wise woman.

I'm about half cajun, half redneck, but I still retain the cajun ability to look at a 40 acre field of rice and tell you exactly how much gravy to put on it...

[dodgesmammaw]

My husband will only eat rice with butter and sugar.

[Skandi]

Dec 10, 2018 20:19:52 GMT wally said:

We had some friends from Louisiana Visit us last week .never even heard of it, but they put chili over rice. Surprisingly it was actually pretty tasty

Chili as in minced beef in a spiced sauce? what else would you eat it with!

[wally]

Dec 11, 2018 9:16:51 GMT Skandi said:

Dec 10, 2018 20:19:52 GMT wally said:

We had some friends from Louisiana Visit us last week .never even heard of it, but they put chili over rice. Surprisingly it was actually pretty tasty

Chili as in minced beef in a spiced sauce? what else would you eat it with!

[br
Yes, traditional chili does not have beans, we add beans as that is the way we prefer. Some like chili with corn bread or crackers

[Woodpecker]

The only way we eat chili is over brown rice & it does have beans in it too. I always make corn muffins to eat with the chili.

When I was a child we ate plenty of chicken & dumplings, which we called cluski’s ( polish🙂) we didn’t have anything else with it...that was a meal. We also had plenty of hard boiled eggs, cut up in a cream sauce, over toast & lots of sh-- on a shingle. I liked all of it!