Share Your Favorite Depression Days Recipie

[rsmith6621]

Here is mine.....

4 lg potato's
1 small walla walla onion
1/2pd ground beef
- salt and pepper
2 tbsp Veg oil
- crushed clove of garlic


Heat pan up and add veg oil.......slice,dice or shred potatoes into desired chunks add to pan. When the potato's soften add onions and season with salt and pepper to taste add garlic and simmer until. Serve with cheese ketchup or any condiment...

Since we may very well be heading towards a depression I thought maybe we could put together a book of tasty dishes just in case...


Please add you favorite cheap dish below.

[Kutjara]

1. (1) Take one slice of stale bread.

(2) Tear off a piece.
(3) Hold it in your mouth for several minutes, until it softens.
(4) Call it "cake."

[Captain Hilts]

2. I actually LOVE Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Really. And canned green beans.

Kraft Dinner was invented in 1936, so it's Depression-era.

[Ilsa]

21. I like the canned green beans also. But not the Kraft mac. ugh. nt

[Captain Hilts]

43. You and me - OUTSIDE!!! Remove your ear rings, we're going at it!

[colorado thinker]

3. SPAM!

Or was that World War II?

[Captain Hilts]

40. "Roosevelt Steak" in England.

Cheers!

[Pryderi]

4. Eggless, Milkless, Butterless Cake

http://community.tasteofhome.com/forums/t/44025.aspx

Eggless, Milkless, Butterless Cake

1 cup water
2 cups raisins
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup lard (shortening)
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Place water, raisins, cinnamon, cloves, brown sugar, lard (shortening), nutmeg and salt in a saucepan and mix. Place on heat and bring to a boil. Cook 3 minutes. Allow to cool, then sift together the flour, baking soda and baking
powder. Stir into cooked mixture.
Place in a greased loaf pan and bake at 350F for one hour.

[kath]

37. Depression Cake! -- as mom and Grandma used to call it. You beat me to it.

Good stuff! I was just thinking the other night that I was in the mood for one of these.
It's good with a little podwered sugar frosting on top.

Apparently the recipe was also quite popular during WWII when dairy products were rationed.

The old Spanish Bar Cake that A&P used to sell tasted very similar to Depression Cake. But when I searched for Spanish Bar Cake recipes just now, most of them contained eggs.

[BrotherBuzz]

5. One big flat onion, two potatoes and a pound of liver...

Juts hope there is enough oil and salt still left in the pantry.

[Historic NY]

6. Stone soup..

[Tangerine LaBamba]

7. I got this one from Cindy McCain

It's just like yours, only she stirs in a cup of white wine, NOT champagne, and a pound of cooked lobster meat.

She garnishes it with a dab of creme fraiche and a smidgen of Beluga caviar.

Serves 1 Republican or 24 Democrats.

[Historic NY]

10. elitist.

[Ilsa]

24. Serve after W's course of "brie and cheese". nt

[spindrifter]

8. Here's mine--

one extra large recipe pie crust

Two onions, cut in rings
Two carrots, cut in one-inch pieces
Five Idaho potatoes, peeled and sliced

Drudge the vegetables in enough flour to cover

Add pats of margarine

Two neocons, smoked

Find a pan large enough for the neocons

Fit bottom layer of crust

Add neocons--might have to beat them with wooden mallets to soften them up so they fit in the pan.

Add vegetables.

Place pats of butter on top.

Cover with crust--cut air holes in top.

Brush crust with milk.

Bake in very slow oven overnight.

[valerief]

9. GM Prolefeed

1 boiled GM chicken leg
1 GM tomato sliced
1 cup GM creamed corn

Ignore the glowing boil that develops on your forehead after eating this and think positive. Don't be whiner.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

11. Stone soup

Put a clean stone in boiling water. Have the neighbors each bring something to add to the soup. Then share with everyone.

[cynatnite]

20. I was just thinking of that n/t

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

26. As were others who type faster than me

I saw it upthread after I posted.

[1Hippiechick]

49. What was the purpose/symbolism of the stone? I have never heard of this, but find it intriguing.

[XemaSab]

57. I think it's a children's story

The idea is that it's called stone soup, but since it has about 10 other things in it, the stone is not the primary flavoring agent.

[Historic NY]

12. brother can you spare a dime

http://www.foodtimeline.org/fooddecades.html#1930s

[halobeam]

13. I'll use Bush's recipe...

it's called "Disaster"


scramble (thoughts)
mix (words)

and Bake.

[Pathwalker]

14. "Poor Man's Stew": Given to me by my Grandma who lived it.

"Take whatever ground meat you have, a chopped onion, or whatever vegetable you have on hand, and cook until meat is brown. Add a can of beans of whatever variety you have on hand, cook until beans are warm. Add whatever cheese you have on hand and cover until cheese melts. Serve warm, with bread if you can get it".

Personally, I only make it with ground turkey, onion, vegetarian baked beans, and shredded cheddar, but my Grandma said "there's lots of varieties possible".

This recipe is from the First Depression.

[Bobbieo]

25. During the Great Depression my neighbor Paz Flores used to

make Ragweed soup. Boil the ragweed in 6 cups of water and add chopped onion, tomatoes, garlic a dash or two of hot sauce and add any leftovr meat and veggies, plus tortillas Serves six!!!

[redwitch]

15. When I'm depressed I eat lots of chocolate.

:P

[Ilsa]

27. Hmmm. Giardelli. 65% cocoa. yum. smooth. nt

[Bobbieo]

30. As long as it is dark chocolate, it is good for you!!! Sure helps my blood pressure!!!!

[Captain Hilts]

45. Yeah, none of that milk chocolate kid stuff!

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

55. Hershey's Kisses now come in dark chocolate and they are yummy.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. I know you are trying to be serious

so here is one that works

wash and let beans stand overnight in water

Put them in clean water and boil until they soften, add an onion, salt and pepper, and if you can afford it cilantro

With tortillas, there is your protein

[redwitch]

36. Now I feel bad so here's my favorite eating on the cheap recipe:

skin chicken thighs, dredge in flour, saute in olive oil until browned. Add salt, pepper, some dried thyme, onions, quartered potatoes, sliced carrots, shrooms, simmer in chicken broth until veggies are tender. You can add other veggies or subtract what you don't like/have. You can add a bit of red or white wine if you have it. I often cook like I am Napoleon's chef at Marengo. :-)

It's yummy. And cheap!


Your tortillas filled with beans sounds delicious and filling. Especially with the cilantro, my favorite herb!

[nadinbrzezinski]

58. Mexican staple, for thousands of years

now if you add squash and chile to the mix, (serranos), you have the basic diet until the fast food revolution (argggh) invaded the country

Now when I can get them for cheap, I do chile rellenos. They are intense to make, but they are yummy and filling

[TahitiNut]

17. "Depression Stew" ... pretty much like that, but

more potatoes, HALF of a ring bologna cut into small bite-sized pieces, onion, salt & pepper, cook until potatoes start to break down and make a thick 'broth'

The idea is that the flavor of the 'meat' (by-products) will sate the inner carnivore, the potatoes are filling and the onion is good for the heart.

I've had this since before I can remember. We still have it about 3-4 times/year.

[bsdetector]

18. What do you do with the ground beef?

;-)

[Wiley50]

32. Ha Ha I caught that right away. Can't believe so many didn't

I guess it's a recipe for fried potatos and onions

(BTW If it's really hard times you'll use any goddamned onion you can find. Walla Walla? The best down here are Vidalia
But that doesn't matter if you're starving)

[bsdetector]

62. Hey, there's absolutely nothing wrong with fried taters 'n onions!

:D

Vidalias (which are actually Texas Granex grown in Jawjah) are easy to find around here. :-)

[notadmblnd]

19. What do you do with the burger?

[Ilsa]

22. Corn bread and chili. Use just half a pound of ground meat.

Lots of beans. Onion, chili seasoning, one 8 oz can tomato sauce. Serve over cornbread.

[knitter4democracy]

29. My stepmom had a way of making that last.

She'd start with a huge (and I mean huge) stockpot full of spaghetti sauce. We'd have spaghetti the first night, and then she'd take some of that and add macaroni to it for what she called goulash. The next night, she'd turn it part of it into chili. After that, it would become sloppy joes. All leftovers would be spiced up as chili. She'd freeze whatever was leftover, too.

[Ilsa]

44. YEAH!!! I've done that when preparing for having my babies.

I'd start a huge pot of meat and onions and some garlic. Then subdivide into spaghetti, chili, "goulash" with mac noodles and lots of paprika. Then freeze. I had lots of tomato-based meals for when I was in the fourth trimester. It helped us cut down on eating out alot.

BTW, I had also stocked my pantry with tons of dry goods during pregnancy. I didn't need anything from the store except fresh milk, eggs, bread, etc.

[knitter4democracy]

23. Soup. Lots of soup.

Cheapest place to get meat is often at a local butcher who serves local small-time farmers. I get the best quality stuff at ours (Pease Packing in Scotts, MI) for excellent prices. Buying in volume is even better.

Today, I did soup--package of bison stew meat from the half a bison we got last year, bag of bean mix that was less than $3 at Horrocks, one onion, 2 celery ribs, 2 carrots (the last three from our CSA produce delivery--best produce deal in town after Horrocks), jar of my own bison broth (low salt, low fat), and some Penzey's garlic salt and roast seasonings and Tb of their veggie bullion. Filled the big crockpot with that, and had Jiffy mix cornbread muffins (often can get 3 boxes for a dollar these days--used to be cheaper, but that price has gone up, too). Soup'll last a few days, but if I can get it away from the hubster, I'll freeze up the leftovers for a quick meal some night instead of being tempted to get takeout.

[pacalo]

28. Tomato soup for family of 4 = 1 cup ketchup (or 3 borrowed tomatoes) + 1 pint water.

[Bonescrat]

35. I had ketchup soup...nt.

[knitter4democracy]

47. Ketchup's expensive. Canned tomatoes are cheaper. nt

[pacalo]

59. Thanks, dear. I backtracked & added them in as a substitute.

:hi:

[lynettebro440]

31. Noodles and ketchup

Boil egg noodles, drain and fry in butter. When warm put on plate and pile on the ketchup, absolutely love that stuff:)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

33. Gathering and hunting wild food

Don't know how safe it would be now, what with widespread spraying, but if you know the location, it could still be done:

Spring: Wild asparagus, wild strawberries, sassafras root for spring tonic tea, poke salad(gotta cook it or it's poisonous)
Summer: black raspberries, blackberries, huckleberries, dewberries, lamb's quarter (wonderful in salads), wild watercress, wild onion, ground cherries
Fall: mushrooms of various sorts (gotta know which ones are safe, though!), persimmons, venison, squirrel, apples, pears (found on trees in abandoned orchards, elderberries(process, please!)

Friend of mine knows all about medicinal plants and is teaching me how to make tinctures and salves from native plants in our area--a handy thing to know.

[MikeE]

34. Here's one of my favorites

My co-workers ask for the recipe all the time since I brought it to an office party:

Lentils with tomatoes and Garlic

5 cloves garlic chopped fine
1 cup lentils
2 3/4 c water
3 oz tomato paste, (1/2 small can)
oil, (I like extra virgin olive)
salt
juice of 1 lemon

Heat the oil in a sauce pan and cook the garlic till it is golden. Add the tomato paste, lentils and the water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat and cook covered till the lentils are tender, (about 45 min). Take pan from heat and add the juice of 1 lemon and salt to taste.

You can eat it hot or cold , over rice, or even use it as a dip.

[lynettebro440]

38. delete duplicate

[KoKo]

39. Amazon book to Recipes and Stories from "Great Depression"...4 Star Review...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0961966319/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

[DearAbby]

41. Mom taught me to cook from scratch.

Rice, beans goes a long way. Cream gravy over homemade biscuits fills the belly on very little. You can add left over meat to the cream gravy.

Save drippings from your meats for grease in which to fry foods. (frying a potato in grease, cleans it, from flavors, like onions, fish, so it can be used again for eggs whatnot) Also can be used to bake with.

Soup bones or Ham hock bones are good to cook with your beans, or making stock for soups. Or sauce for Rice and Veggies. Add crackers or bread crumbs to stretch your hamburger.

Learn to make biscuits and tortillas for breads. Dad taught me to make my own egg noodles, they are cheap and filling, can make it with beef or chicken, or use with Veggies

[LiberalHeart]

42. Vodka

[Cleita]

46. Here's my dad's.

Butter toasted bread. Sprinkle sugar on it and pour hot milk over it. Enjoy your one hot meal of the day.

[cliffordu]

48. Well....

two pounds fresh roadkill.

onions

carrots

garlic

potatoes

roast all ingredients in a huge dutch oven in an open fire, covering the lid with coals.

Eat.

[Thirtieschild]

50. Cornbread and milk

Crumble Southern cornbread (no sugar, baked in iron skillet) in bowl, add milk, eat. I was born in the middle of the Great Depression, ate lots of cornbread and milk. Can even remember meals of white bread and milk. Not as good as cornbread and milk but you eat what you have.

[Contrary1]

51. Shepherd's Pie

1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion chopped
3-4 potatoes (enough to make about 3 cups mashed potatoes)
1 Can of mixed veggies (drained) **
2 TB beef gravy mix
8 oz shredded cheese (optional)

Cook ground beef and drain - Add gravy mix and 1/4 water, stir to mix - put meat mixture in baking dish - add veggies - cover with mashed potatoes - top with cheese, if desired.

Bake at 350 Degrees for 30 minutes.

** I save leftover veggies in a single freezer bag, (green beans, carrots, corn, peas, whatever) and use that instead of the canned version.

Leftover gravy can also be used.

[ljm2002]

52. Here you go...

Kielbasa and Cabbage

1 small cabbage
1 small yellow onion
1 large Kielbasa sausage (1 lb)
1 tablespoon whole fennel seed
1 pound (16 oz) wide egg noodles
Olive oil, salt, pepper

Place about 2 Tbsp oil in a large pot, add the fennel seed, and heat until fennel seed is toasted. Add chopped onion and cabbage and sauté in the oil until the cabbage just begins to soften. Slice Kielbasa into bite-sized rounds, sauté until browned, and add to the cabbage, onions and fennel. Add about 1/2 cup of water (or optionally, chicken or vegetable stock), cover and let simmer over low heat. It's done when the cabbage is soft but not mushy and the flavors have melded.

While the cabbage mixture is simmering, boil the noodles in 5-6 quarts of water to which you have added 1 tsp salt and 2 Tbsp oil. When they are done (8-12 minutes -- they should be soft but not mushy), drain them in a colander.

Place a serving of noodles on a plate and top with the Kielbasa and cabbage. Yum!

This is a very hearty meal for 4 to 6 people, and the fennel seed really gives it some pizzaz. You can do without the fennel if you must, it's still very tasty.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

53. Delicious but suprisingly reasonable Brownie Cheesecake. :)

Buy brownie mix on sale ---


Prepare according to package instructions (mine required 2 eggs, oil & water).

Lightly grease 13x9 pan and spread mixture evenly.

Cheesecake part

1 8oz cream cheese (buy store brand on sale) at room temperature
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

With a mixer, blend until smooth

With a tablespoon dollop cheese mixture on brownie mixture.
Take a knife or skewer and swirl the cheese mixture into the brownie mixture.

On the brownie box it will have an estimated bake time. Add approximately 10 minutes to the baking time and it's done when a toothpick comes out clean.

Let it cool to room temperature and then refrigerate. Once it's chilled EnJoy! It is moist and decadent and when the ingredients are bought on sale, should cost about $3.00 for the whole thing.

[helderheid]

54. Umm

GAH...

Drool all over my keyboard.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

56. Awwwwww. wish I could pass a piece for you through the screen!

:hug:

[XemaSab]

60. Chicken Bog

This can be made with whatever you have on hand: Chicken, Fish, Possum, Seitan, Roadkill...

The sausage and Italian seasonings are optional.


CHICKEN BOG RECIPE

A coastal South Carolina delicacy with chicken, sausage, and rice - This authentic recipe was contributed by the Loris Chamber of Commerce.

INGREDIENTS:

6 cups water
1 tablespoon salt
1 onion, chopped
1 (3 pound) whole chicken
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup long-grain white rice
1/2 pound smoked sausage of your choice, sliced
2 tablespoons Italian-style seasonings
2 cubes chicken bouillon

PREPARATION:

Place water, salt and onion in a large pot. Add chicken and bring all to a boil; cook until chicken is tender, about 1 hour.
Remove chicken from pot and let cool. Remove skin and bones and chop remaining meat into bite size pieces.
Skim off fat from cooking liquid and measure 3 1/2 cups of this chicken broth into a 6-quart saucepan. Add rice, chicken pieces, sausage, herb seasoning and bouillon to this saucepan. Cook all together for 30 minutes; let come to a boil, then reduce heat to low, keeping pan covered the whole time. If mixture is too watery or juicy, cook over medium low heat, uncovered, until it reaches the desired consistency. Stir often while cooking.

[Odin2005]

61. Tuna noodle hotdish

This isn't a depression-era recipe, but is a cheep yet very good dish my mom made for me all the time when I was a kid:

4 cups of cooked egg noodles
1 can of Cream-of-Mushroom soup
1 can of tuna
2/3 cup of mayo
2/3 cup of chopped celery
2/3 cup of chopped onions
1/2 cup of sliced black olives
2/3 cup of milk
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
2/3 cup of canned or frozen peas
Add salt and pepper to taste

mix up into a baking dish. cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

[lapislzi]

63. Beans.

Buy whatever's on sale. Follow soaking directions on package. In a heavy pot, brown an onion, some garlic, and your favorite spices in oil. Add some veggies and cook a little longer. Add the beans, a big can of tomatoes, some bullion cubes, and about 2 quarts of water. Cook for about 4 hours. Serve with rice, bread, pasta.

If you have a piece of pork or some ground beef, brown that with the onions and garlic at the beginning.

I make this dish about every other week, and it costs almost nothing. Bag of beans: $1.19 on sale. Can of tomatoes: $1.19 on sale. Use up those limp carrots in the drawer, and that half a bell pepper that's still good. Add a spud or two. Maybe use up that little bit of wine left in the bottle.

Depending on what beans you choose and what spices you combine with them, you have an infinite variety of dishes. One week it might be curried lentils, the next week maybe spicy black beans. And a pound of beans will feed the 3 of us for 3 or 4 days.

[chupacabranation]

64. GOOEY. BUTTER. CAKE.

Truly the most delicious dessert for sweet-tooths ever created.

St. Louis what whaaaaaaaaaaaat

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEFDF1F3BF93AA25757C0A96F948260