Stretching Your Meals From Days Gone By

Today was the shopping trip down south.  And, as usual, I made a mental note of prices.  Prices are jumping, my friends.  And not by a little.  A bag of flour that I purchased last month (December 31st, to be exact) had about $1.25 increase.  In the meats section pork prices were still rising, as was chicken.  Bacon packages are now 12 ounces instead of 1 pound.  But they still want 1 pound pricing. Beef prices are dropping a little, not all of it (the high priced cuts are still high priced) but cattle prices are down some.  Rice and some produce are still rising.  But I did notice that the nutritionally questionable stuff , like boxed do-it-yourself-helper, were on the 'cheap' end of things. I guess it is to make you feel like you are getting a 'bargain'?

This past year has been a great challenge.  Our income is oil field related.  Enough said.  So with all the snowy days, I have been researching ways to stretch our meals and still provide us the nutrition we need.  As stated before, I like cookbooks.... older cookbooks.  Not the more modern cookbooks where you need to have some rare expensive spice or a can of prepared 'something'.  That's not really making meals with homegrown produce or common ingredients.

 With the high cost of meat and dairy I've had to become creative in stretching the meal out for our family on a limited budget.  The boys seem to have hollow legs and some days it just doesn't seem like the pot roast goes far enough for a family of five.  If I do have a roast of some sort that is big enough for leftovers, I'll turn it into chili, soup or tacos.  But it starts to get 'old'.  Not every roast is on sale, nor very large.


So I turned to history. The Great Depression and wartime meals.

During WWII Canada, America and Great Britain all had some kind of rationing program at home to prevent the general public from becoming angry with shortages and to prevent the wealthy from buying up whatever they wanted (except on the black market it created).   Items that were rationed were things like fuel, fuel oil, clothing and food.  There were going to be shortages and rationing controlled the use of those items whether you were rich or poor.

So let's look at a sample of a food ration for an adult for ONE WEEK in Great Britain (a child would receive 1/2 of the ration): 

Bacon and ham (3-4 slices/rashers) 4 oz
Other meats – 2 small chops
Butter 2 oz  
Cheese 2 oz Margarine 
4 oz Cooking fat 
4 oz Milk 3 pints Plus 1 packet dried milk per month  
Sugar 8 oz Preserves (every two months) 
1 lb Tea 2 oz Egg (shell egg) 
1 Plus 1 packet dried egg per month Sweets 12 oz

Other items were based upon availability.  But if you grew or raised your own, you weren't so restricted.  It is very interesting and I believe quite relevant to our time now.  I have seen on local shelves where a product sells out and it is not restocked for several weeks without any explanation.

Below are a few links that I have run across with recipes during that era.   Some have booklets and some are just a collection of recipes.  Save them if you can or print the ones out you think you and your family will enjoy.

http://recipecurio.com/category/rations/

http://www.recipespastandpresent.org.uk/
 (has a link for wartime recipes, too)

http://wartimecanada.ca/document/world-war-ii/recipes/victory-cook-book


http://wartimecanada.ca/archive-categories/eating

These are a few that I have run across.  Do a search online for WWII recipes, or rationing recipes and see what you can find.  Some people have posted individual family recipes.  

The Great Depression also had its time of troubles.  Our property was part of the Homestead Act and I read about one of the family members.  She stated that during the Depression they had a really nice car, but no fuel to drive it.  And they eeked a living out by selling cream and eggs. 

Below are a few more links on cooking during these times: 

http://community.tasteofhome.com/community_forums/f/30/t/44025.aspx
  
Great Depression Cooking with Clara (she also tells stories of this time.... like how a neighbor showed up one day with a shopping bag to help herself to Miss Clara's vegetables out of her garden, without asking!)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRKls2LLMqU-uK2csT6FOKw

(some links that I've already posted but a lot of links here)
http://www.morewithlessmom.com/index.php/2013/10/08/great-depression-era-recipes-real-food/

Look around in thrift shops, used book stores, or libraries for cookbooks made during the 1930's or 1940's.  I was fortunate to find a set of cookbooks done by a group of Home Ec teachers at a thrift store.  Don't be afraid to make up your own recipes to stretch out your meals.  Keep an eye out for cookbooks from an era where people actually cooked using fresh ingredients and not canned ingredients.  Check out estate sales, or yard sales, and look for a grandmother's cookbook/recipe collection.  Even the handwritten ones may be worthy of your time.

The Settlement Cookbook has some good recipes, too.  This you can save as a pdf 

http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/books/settlementcookbook/sett.pdf

Glean as much information as you can, while you can.  And while it is still on the internet.   Only you care about your family and their nutritional needs. 

Handmade Bandages

Do you know how to knit?  Crochet?  How about making an "Ace" bandage using cotton yarn/thread for your medical kit?  I ran across the following pattern posted at one time by the LDS Humanitarian Services a few years ago, printed out the instructions and have been working on it ever since.  Monotonous work but I have been impressed on how well it is constructed (compared to the store bought bandages). It has good stretch and a nice feel to it.  Not that I crochet perfectly, with a skipped stitch or two, but it is still functional. It is well worth making for your medical kit whether you knit or crochet.  And it is simple enough for a beginner to do. Note:  you can make the bandage wider, too, by just adding a few more stitches across the bandage.

LDS Humanitarian Services Pattern for Leprosy Bandages

 

Size: approximately 3" – 4" inches wide by 4 feet long.
Material specifications: No. 10 knit Cro-sheen, 100% mercerized cotton in white, cream or ecru. (1 small ball 225 yds- should make 1 knitted bandage)

Knitting needles:
US 2 = 2.75 mm = UK size 12
US size 3 = 3.25 mm = UK size 10

Crochet hooks:
US size D = 3.00 mm = UK size 11
US size E = 3.50 mm = UK size 9

Do not use dyes/colors.
*When completed, roll bandages and secure with a large (2") safety pin.
*Put in plastic bag, remove air, and seal.

Hand Knitted Bandage:
Use US size 2 = 2.75 mm = UK size 12 OR US size 3 = 3.25 mm = UK size 10 knitting needles if you knit average or loosely, otherwise use a size 3 needles if you knit tightly.

8 sts = 1"

12 rows = 1"

Cast on 24 to 27 stitches so the bandage measures 3"- 4" across.
 
Knit every row until bandage is desired length of about 4 feet long, then bind off, leaving a 2-3" tail to weave in.

Secure tail by slipping thread through last stitch, tying a small knot, and weaving end back through stitches.

Crocheted Bandage: 
Use US size D = 3.00 mm = UK size 11 or US size E = 3.50 mm = UK size 9 (looser tension desirable).

Chain enough stitches (23-26) to measure 3" - 4" in width.

(GAUGE: 23 chs and an E hook, and it takes about 6 rows to equal one inch.)

Row 1: Single crochet into each chain. Chain 1 and turn.

Rows 2: Single crochet into each sc across row. Ch 1 and turn. Continue to single crochet to end, chain 1 and turn

Row 3 - ? (whatever it takes to reach 4 feet long) Repeat row 2 until bandage measures about 4' long. Finish off by pulling thread through last loop and secure with a knot. Weave end back through stitches.

Old books and information

With winter making a last hurrah before spring makes its 'official' debut in a few weeks what better time to do research on gardening, livestock, homesteading or just reading a good book. 

Below are a few online book sites for some of those old time books that are no longer in publication or classic reading publications that can be viewed online and, in some cases, downloaded to your computer or reading devices. 


For example, I wanted to read The Henwife: Her Own Experience in Her Own Poultry-Yard.   So I went to Forgotten Books, typed in the title and at this link it appears with a choice to download to an app, read online, download a pdf, read on a kindle or add to your library wish list to read later. 

Do some reading now or download and save for later.  There is a lot of good information out there today that may not be available tomorrow.







National Ag Library Digital Collections (USDA farmers bulletins, too)

http://naldc.nal.usda.gov/naldc/home.xhtml

Forgotten Books
http://www.forgottenbooks.com/

Biodiversity Heritage Library
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/


Online Books Page (does a net search of readable online books... doesn't get them all but does a good job)
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/


Hathitrust Digital Library (can't always download but if you can find the book here you usually can find them on other sites listed)
http://www.hathitrust.org/

Google Books
https://books.google.com/


Cornell University
https://www.library.cornell.edu/google-book-search-library-project

Core Historical Literature of Agriculture
http://chla.library.cornell.edu/

Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/

Loyal Books (audio books)
http://www.loyalbooks.com/

Ag Building and Equipment Plans

Just sharing one of my bookmarked links that may be of some use or interest.

http://bioengr.ag.utk.edu/extension/extpubs/planlist97.htm

The University of Tennessee published their Agricultural Building and Equipment Plan list.  It has plans for greenhouses, various animal handling and housing plans, water storage, bee hives, food storage, dog houses, food storage, sheds, etc.

You may find something worth while to print out.

Ball BLUE Book of Canning

As I posted previously, here's my "important" post on canning/preserving.  Well, at least what I wanted to share with you that I felt was an important part of being self-sufficient.

With all the gardening activities winding down or completed for the season now is a good time to assess your efforts, whether some things need to be changed or if you are going to grow the same varieties next year or not, order seeds for next year (taking advantage of the end of season sales) and get your equipment ready for next season by cleaning/oiling your tools and draining or running the fuel dry from your tillers and mowers.  (Old fuel will cause a bunch of headaches come spring!)  And getting your produce stored or canned for the upcoming winter months.

Now, since I have been canning and freezing stuff like a crazy woman, I have a few canning books that I refer to.  Ball Blue Book of Canning is one of them.  Well, actually I have two of them.  One is a newer release and the other is an older book.  Even though both books have the same recipes (the yellow one has some additional ones), I really like the blue covered book with the last publishers date of 2001 and mostly because at the end of the book are a some (in my opinion) very important charts in helping you plan your garden (which, by the way, I had initially overlooked for several years).

Like I stated in my previous post, I did not plant enough to supply the family with a years' worth of preserved produce.  I have been focusing on what varieties of vegetables grow well in my temperature zone (5b) and length of growing season.  It has been a learning curve!  I think I am getting them narrowed down.

But the question has been for me is how the heck do you determine how much to plant to provide a certain yield for a family of 5.  Seed packets don't give you this information. And, yes, I do know that even if the packet did state that Tomato Plant XYZ would yield 100 pounds of tomatoes per plant that would also vary based upon soil conditions, weather conditions, water schedules, fertilizer, soil temperatures and number of days in your growing season.  And, yes, the packet numbers would also be based on the seed growers' "perfect growing conditions" in a "perfect environment".  Like that ever happens.... can't say I've ever had "perfect" gardening conditions.  I think that is called an oxymoron.

So before I get completely off-topic, the answer I found to my question is at the end of the Ball Blue Book of Canning (blue cover), publisher date 2001 (Volume 1, Alltrista Corp). The charts in the back are for determining how much to plant for a family of 6, canning guide for family of 4, jar estimates and recommended freezer storage for certain lengths of time.  I don't know why Ball didn't include them in the later book.  It is an important piece of information that has been left out especially if you are planning for your family.  It may be because people just don't can or preserve foods like they used to.

 

So below are pics of the charts for your reference.  And I highly recommend that if you do run across this edition in a used book store or thrift store, grab it (make sure that all pages are intact - don't want to be surprised when you get home only to find that some pages have  been removed).  Check those yard sales, too.  Not only because this book contains a wealth of canning information and recipes but also for the charts.  They are a very handy reference in planning your garden or when you swing by that farmer's roadside produce stand or when your market has a good sale on meats.