Cooking on a Real Budget

Ladies, today, even though we are in the middle of a war, we don't see the rationing that those who lived seventy years ago experienced. The 1940s and WWII gave us a family unit that was very strong, and the women in those families were the glue that held those families together, and it was even more difficult if her man was in Europe fighting to keep the country safe.   Below is a recipe from the Tuesday, November 3, 1942 Blytheville Courier. "The Pride of  the Yankees" with Gary Cooper was showing at the RITZ.

First Aid for the Meat Bill

by Katherine Fisher and Dorothy B. Marsh

Authors of The Good Housekeeping Cook Book

 

With such heavy demands being made on our supply of meat for war needs, it becomes the patriotic duty of every homemaker to know the meat cuts available in her markets and to make her meat purchases count for just as much as possible in her family meals.

   These tips will help you to buy meats economically:

1. For ground or chopped meat, buy such less demanded less expensive cuts as flank, chuck, plate, breast, shoulder, etc. Grinding makes them tender and delicious.

2. Always ask for the meat bones and trimmings. The bones simmered with soup greens, make a delicious vegetable soup. The fat trimmings can be tried out and used in sauteing, etc.

3. Frequently use beef, pork or lamb liver instead of calves liver. The food value is the same and the cost is far less.

4. Flank steak, broiled 5 min. on each side, and then sliced diagonally across the grain is a less expensive, delicious steak.

5. Simmer shanks or hocks of beef, veal, lamb or pork with vegetables. The cooking water makes good soup stock for a second meal.

6. Don't throw out bacon, sausage or ham drippings. They're just the thing for frying codfish cakes and sauteing fried potatoes, mashed potato cakes, fish fillets, eggs, slices of tomatoes, half bananas, etc.

   Here are some tasty ways of cooking less expensive meats;

 

Margaret's Meat Balls

(page 219)

1 lb. chuck beef, ground                       1 egg beaten

1 minced medium onion                       4 sprigs parsley, minced

1 peeled garlic  bud minced                 2 slices dry white bread

1 Tbsp lemon juice                                 salt /pepper

 

   Combine the beef, onion, garlic, lemon juice, egg, minced parsley, and bread, which has been sprinkled with a little water and broken into crumbs. Blend well, then form into small patties or balls. Saute in a little butter, fat, or salad oil until golden brown on both sides. Sprinkle with salt and pepper while cooking. Makes 6 patties. Serve with tomato or Spanish sauce if desired.

   Serve with macaroni and cheese, parsley-buttered carrots, red cabbage slaw, enriched bread, baked apples and coffee for dinner.

_________________________________________________

 

  When reading the above article, one has to remember that during the 1940s, meat was personally ground at home, not at the butchers. The local grocery didn't have all of  the modern conveniences as we have today, and there were no local fast food restaurants where you could run out for a Big Mac or a KFC. How do you think you would have survived the 40s? Try the recipe and let me know how it tasted. You, of course, do not have  to grind the meat--unless you want to.