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Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:00 pm
by Lon
I fully expect that we will be having hard times like most of you have never experienced and that it will last longer than anyone can presently imagine.

During WW 2 with food rationing and scarcity of many foodstuffs, mothers became quite inventive with meal preparation. Here are a few of the meals I remember-----------tuna casserole, scalloped potatoes, macaroni and cheese, Spam with powdered eggs, chipped beef on toast, ham hocks and lima beans, Campbell Soups, stews with questionable ingredients, horsemeat.

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:03 pm
by Chezzie
Lon;1011866 wrote: I fully expect that we will be having hard times like most of you have never experienced and that it will last longer than anyone can presently imagine.

During WW 2 with food rationing and scarcity of many foodstuffs, mothers became quite inventive with meal preparation. Here are a few of the meals I remember-----------tuna casserole, scalloped potatoes, macaroni and cheese, Spam with powdered eggs, chipped beef on toast, ham hocks and lima beans, Campbell Soups, stews with questionable ingredients, horsemeat.


Only things i would eat without barfing are::lips:

scalloped potatoes

campbells soups:wah::wah:

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:04 pm
by Odie
PB & J

Kraft dinner and brown beans

spagetti

eggs and toast

mac & cheese

home made stews and soups




Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:08 pm
by Omni_Skittles
Lon;1011866 wrote: I fully expect that we will be having hard times like most of you have never experienced and that it will last longer than anyone can presently imagine.

During WW 2 with food rationing and scarcity of many foodstuffs, mothers became quite inventive with meal preparation. Here are a few of the meals I remember-----------tuna casserole, scalloped potatoes, macaroni and cheese, Spam with powdered eggs, chipped beef on toast, ham hocks and lima beans, Campbell Soups, stews with questionable ingredients, horsemeat.sadly i grew up eating that... omg I love spam!!! i miss spam!

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:12 pm
by G-man
Hey, there are some comfort foods on that list. :D

Wow... someone that loves Spam who doesn't live in Hawai'i!

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:14 pm
by along-for-the-ride
I have been eating most of those foods all my life. The "coming" hard times? :-2

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:16 pm
by Chezzie
Spam ewwwwwwww :yh_sick:yh_sick:yh_sick:yh_beatup

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:17 pm
by G-man
Chezzie;1011885 wrote: Spam ewwwwwwww :yh_sick:yh_sick:yh_sick:yh_beatup


You said eww to Spam before "stews with questionable ingredients" (one of which could be Spam)? :wah:

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:17 pm
by Omni_Skittles
G-man;1011878 wrote: Hey, there are some comfort foods on that list. :D

Wow... someone that loves Spam who doesn't live in Hawai'i!
omg Spam!!! Spam with fried potatoes... spam and eggs.. spam and eggs and potatoes wrapped in a fried bread mmmmmm

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:18 pm
by flopstock
ribeyes

cup of noodles

tuna patties

powdered milk

biscuits... buscuits and gravy with everything.:wah:

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:19 pm
by Bryn Mawr
Chezzie;1011871 wrote: Only things i would eat without barfing are::lips:

scalloped potatoes

campbells soups:wah::wah:


Wazzup with Macaroni Cheese?

Favourites included corned beef hash (more baked beans than corned beef) and Lancashire Hot Pot (how else do you use scrag end of mutton).

Nowadays the cheepo meal is what I fondly call Spaghetti Neopolitain (a finger of spaghetti with a tin of tomatoes and some herbs) or a jacket spud with a couple of ounces of cheese.

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:19 pm
by CARLA
Anyone who grew up in the 50's and 60's remember these meals I loved them. I passed them on to my Daughter and now they love them, my Granddaughter will pass them on I'm sure as she loves them as well. What was great about these is they were homemade from scratch, well except the powered egg and potatoes. Yummy.. :cool:

[QUOTE]tuna casserole, scalloped potatoes, macaroni and cheese, Spam with powdered eggs, chipped beef on toast, ham hocks and lima beans, Campbell Soups, stews with questionable ingredients, horsemeat.[/QUOTE]

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:20 pm
by Chezzie
Ok tell me whats a biscuit that you have with gravy made out of?

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:39 pm
by YZGI
Chezzie;1011895 wrote: Ok tell me whats a biscuit that you have with gravy made out of?


FLour, eggs etc

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:41 pm
by YZGI
Split em up, butter them and slather cream gravy on them. I love to eat fresh tomatoes with mine.




Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:41 pm
by guppy
lima beans and cornbread is a FEAST!!! yummy



pinto beans and cornbread



rice and tomatoes and limas with cornbread..

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:07 pm
by Bridget
I would like to know the ages of you who think you went to the "great depression as my older sisters did. They start at eighty and come down to 77. The stories they tell are nothing like you are all telling. What you are talking about is the 1940's during the war. I remember that. My sisters tell about bread and flour and grease biscults smeared with gravy made from flour and water and the grease of the remains of a rabbit. Blackberries spread on biscults. No seasoning but grease. Rabbits, squirrells, fish, fowl, chickens,where the meat of my family. I grew up on pancakes made of cornmeal as it was cheaper than flour,and that was the way Mom had aways made them. Greens were the veggie of the day in the spring gathered while gathered new, again wilted with grease. All fruit was picked in the woods or from some ones apple tree. They raised a big garden each spring and canned anything they could stick in a jar. Kids would spend the day in the winter hunting for rabbits and then walk the streets trying to sell them. My mother would buy one for 25 to 75 cents. According to the size. Mom was a excellent pie maker and that supplied the sweets. She told me about the winter they did not have the money for her any shoes so she wore old galoshes over lots of socks. They didn't have electricity because the town did not have electricity, heat was from a heating stove and coal or wood which ever they could buy. Water was to an out side hydrant, brought in by bucket. The bathroom was at the end of a very long and cold lane. :-5:-5

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:08 pm
by Lon
Odie;1011872 wrote: PB & J

Kraft dinner and brown beans

spagetti

eggs and toast

mac & cheese

home made stews and soups






eggs, cheese. jam, tea and milk were just a few of the rationed items during WW2

You would probably have to settle on powdered eggs and toast.

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:10 pm
by Lon
along-for-the-ride;1011881 wrote: I have been eating most of those foods all my life. The "coming" hard times? :-2


If that's the case, you will adapt better than most.

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:16 pm
by Lon
flopstock;1011891 wrote: ribeyes

cup of noodles

tuna patties

powdered milk

biscuits... buscuits and gravy with everything.:wah:


Ribeyes???? Not unless you lived on a farm and had your own animals. From 1941 to 1945 if you had a rib eye steak it was probably horsemeat.

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:18 pm
by Lon
YZGI;1011923 wrote:

FLour, eggs etc


Both were rationed during WW2

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:18 pm
by Bryn Mawr
Bridget;1011969 wrote: I would like to know the ages of you who think you went to the "great depression as my older sisters did. They start at eighty and come down to 77. The stories they tell are nothing like you are all telling. What you are talking about is the 1940's during the war. I remember that. My sisters tell about bread and flour and grease biscults smeared with gravy made from flour and water and the grease of the remains of a rabbit. Blackberries spread on biscults. No seasoning but grease. Rabbits, squirrells, fish, fowl, chickens,where the meat of my family. I grew up on pancakes made of cornmeal as it was cheaper than flour,and that was the way Mom had aways made them. Greens were the veggie of the day in the spring gathered while gathered new, again wilted with grease. All fruit was picked in the woods or from some ones apple tree. They raised a big garden each spring and canned anything they could stick in a jar. Kids would spend the day in the winter hunting for rabbits and then walk the streets trying to sell them. My mother would buy one for 25 to 75 cents. According to the size. Mom was a excellent pie maker and that supplied the sweets. She told me about the winter they did not have the money for her any shoes so she wore old galoshes over lots of socks. They didn't have electricity because the town did not have electricity, heat was from a heating stove and coal or wood which ever they could buy. Water was to an out side hydrant, brought in by bucket. The bathroom was at the end of a very long and cold lane. :-5:-5


The Great Depression in the US is well outside my experience, I joined with the mention of WW2 and rationing and I do not think that it bares comparison - you need to go farther back in British history to find conditions like that.

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:19 pm
by Lon
YZGI;1011927 wrote: Split em up, butter them and slather cream gravy on them. I love to eat fresh tomatoes with mine.






Butter???? that was also rationed.

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:24 pm
by Lon
Bridget;1011969 wrote: I would like to know the ages of you who think you went to the "great depression as my older sisters did. They start at eighty and come down to 77. The stories they tell are nothing like you are all telling. What you are talking about is the 1940's during the war. I remember that. My sisters tell about bread and flour and grease biscults smeared with gravy made from flour and water and the grease of the remains of a rabbit. Blackberries spread on biscults. No seasoning but grease. Rabbits, squirrells, fish, fowl, chickens,where the meat of my family. I grew up on pancakes made of cornmeal as it was cheaper than flour,and that was the way Mom had aways made them. Greens were the veggie of the day in the spring gathered while gathered new, again wilted with grease. All fruit was picked in the woods or from some ones apple tree. They raised a big garden each spring and canned anything they could stick in a jar. Kids would spend the day in the winter hunting for rabbits and then walk the streets trying to sell them. My mother would buy one for 25 to 75 cents. According to the size. Mom was a excellent pie maker and that supplied the sweets. She told me about the winter they did not have the money for her any shoes so she wore old galoshes over lots of socks. They didn't have electricity because the town did not have electricity, heat was from a heating stove and coal or wood which ever they could buy. Water was to an out side hydrant, brought in by bucket. The bathroom was at the end of a very long and cold lane. :-5:-5


My original post was talking about WW2 years not the Great Depression. Having been born in 1934, I remember both quite well. I think our coming hard times will be closer to the 1941 to 1946 era than the GD.

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:26 pm
by Odie
Lon;1011971 wrote: eggs, cheese. jam, tea and milk were just a few of the rationed items during WW2

You would probably have to settle on powdered eggs and toast.


we are discussing hard times now, not back inWW2.

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:33 pm
by Bridget
Lon I am sorry if i took your idea out of context. When you said that they might be eating worse meals than they ever had it sounded like most of your contribritors were not too upset at mac and cheese and spam. I too have eaten all of that but not during the WW2. We were rationed on so many things. We did not have mac and cheese but did get spam. May no mac and cheese was forthcoming because my folks just could not afford it. Sorry i interrupted your chain. It is very funny.:lips:

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:57 pm
by Lon
Bridget;1012004 wrote: Lon I am sorry if i took your idea out of context. When you said that they might be eating worse meals than they ever had it sounded like most of your contribritors were not too upset at mac and cheese and spam. I too have eaten all of that but not during the WW2. We were rationed on so many things. We did not have mac and cheese but did get spam. May no mac and cheese was forthcoming because my folks just could not afford it. Sorry i interrupted your chain. It is very funny.:lips:


No problem:)

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 4:15 pm
by Galbally
That sounds better than the crap we had in Ireland in the 1980s. I quite like macaroni and cheese, nowt wrong with that, thats actually kinda fancy food. :p

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 4:53 pm
by Lon
Galbally;1012042 wrote: That sounds better than the crap we had in Ireland in the 1980s. I quite like macaroni and cheese, nowt wrong with that, thats actually kinda fancy food. :p


I love it too--------and that's what I am having for dinner tonight, with tomatoes and fresh asparagus. I like real sharp cheddar cheese, so sharp it makes your teeth tingle.:wah:

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 5:19 pm
by Patsy Warnick
My Parents lived thru the depression - and having a large family, my Dad kept with his staples he was raised on.

S.O.S. - which you've pictured

Hash - made from leftovers

Toasted cheese sandwiches & soup

Don't forget the Powdered Milk,, just add water & add to your

eggs - stretch your scrambled eggs

Who gets Ribeye's ?

Pork Chops will be a treat.

Patsy

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 7:17 pm
by guppy
My mom was raised in the early forties..she said that they often had grits with tomatoes for breakfast..it fed a large family..which they were..



and rice was always on the table..at supper...:-6

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 7:26 pm
by flopstock
Lon;1011980 wrote: Ribeyes???? Not unless you lived on a farm and had your own animals. From 1941 to 1945 if you had a rib eye steak it was probably horsemeat.


Ya know... we were kinda suspicious because all of our steaks were shaped like that empty spam can...you don't suppose they lied to us, do you?:-2



:D

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 3:33 am
by Accountable
Bridget;1011969 wrote: I would like to know the ages of you who think you went to the "great depression as my older sisters did. They start at eighty and come down to 77. The stories they tell are nothing like you are all telling. What you are talking about is the 1940's during the war. I remember that. My sisters tell about bread and flour and grease biscults smeared with gravy made from flour and water and the grease of the remains of a rabbit. Blackberries spread on biscults. No seasoning but grease. Rabbits, squirrells, fish, fowl, chickens,where the meat of my family. I grew up on pancakes made of cornmeal as it was cheaper than flour,and that was the way Mom had aways made them. Greens were the veggie of the day in the spring gathered while gathered new, again wilted with grease. All fruit was picked in the woods or from some ones apple tree. They raised a big garden each spring and canned anything they could stick in a jar. Kids would spend the day in the winter hunting for rabbits and then walk the streets trying to sell them. My mother would buy one for 25 to 75 cents. According to the size. Mom was a excellent pie maker and that supplied the sweets. She told me about the winter they did not have the money for her any shoes so she wore old galoshes over lots of socks. They didn't have electricity because the town did not have electricity, heat was from a heating stove and coal or wood which ever they could buy. Water was to an out side hydrant, brought in by bucket. The bathroom was at the end of a very long and cold lane. :-5:-5
I'm too young to remember the times (I was born in '61) but I definitely remember the food! :yh_drool As a small child, grease biscuits and tomato gravy was our family popcorn. Cornmeal pancakes and potato pancakes (made from leftover instant mashed potatoes) were neat treats I only got to eat sometimes and considered them special occassion dishes. :D evening family activities always included shelling beans, shucking corn, or some such activity while sitting in a circle on the front porch.

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 5:52 am
by Nomad
Ill dumpster dive in the McDonalds trash bins.

Due to the modern marvels of chemical carcinogen additives theyre food doesnt deteriorate. :-6

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 6:12 am
by sunny104
I still like tuna casserole and Campbell's soup. :wah:

homemade mac and cheese is the best! :yh_drool :D

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 6:21 am
by Chezzie
Tuna casserole sounds so vile I would barf at trying to make it???

I dont like tuna bake either or tuna on pizza..ewwww



I love casseroles but not with bloomin horsemeat:lips:



To be fair ive not had mac n cheese:o

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 6:26 am
by Nomad
chezzie;1012477 wrote:

i love casseroles but not with bloomin horsemeat:lips:






freak !

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 7:38 am
by Bez
Well I made my own bread the other day because of the cost. The bread I like is £1.05 for a small loaf. The bread I made cost £0.40.....trouble is it was so deliciious I ate the lot....most of it while it was still hot.!!!

For a lot of us NOT buying so much convenience food will save money....ready meals etc. are so convenient specially when you're cooking for 1.

As for SPAM....love it .....although the stuff I bought from TESCO the other day was rather 'rubbery'.

I vaguely remember rationing but never felt deprived of good food as my mum anad grandad grew loads of veg and reared chicken....plenty of fresh eggs. Think my mum kept the powdered stuff for baking.

My biggest concern is the price of energy and therefore the cost of keeping warm this winter. Got lots of warm jumpers etc and have turned down the thermostat on the central heating......will have to see what happens.

Anything cooked with rice or pasta is filling and with veg and really nutricious and liver is still really cheap.....mmmm....love it with mushrooms, onions and bacon.



Maybe people could post their 'hard time' recipes....

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 7:42 am
by Bez
Chezzie;1012477 wrote: Tuna casserole sounds so vile I would barf at trying to make it???

I dont like tuna bake either or tuna on pizza..ewwww



I love casseroles but not with bloomin horsemeat:lips:



To be fair ive not had mac n cheese:o


Agree about the tuna casserole....I only eat tuna with salad or in sandwiches.

Beef, lamb or chicken in casseroles for me.

Mac/cheese ....yum...put some sliced tomatoe or onion on the top....not exactly a slimmers meal though

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 7:44 am
by Bez
Any kind of thick soup with some crusty bread....that'll keep you going !

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 7:54 am
by Chezzie
Bez;1012619 wrote: Any kind of thick soup with some crusty bread....that'll keep you going !


You cant go far wrong with a soup can you Bez.

I used to make all my own soups, had a great recipe for spicy curried lentil.

You can make a soup out of a couple of ingredients too, like celery, onion and carrot, stock cube, blend it all together with a touch of milk and plenty of pepper:p

Pan of scouse ( sorry love) can last a few days and is so warming and filling, served with pickled red cabbage or beetroot and crusty bread.

An authentic production of Scouse should allow the spoon to stand straight up in the bowl! For veggies, simply remove the meat from the recipe and cook as normal and you have ‘Blind Scouse’ .

Scouse

900g/2lb neck of lamb, cubed (remove fat first)

450g/1lb stewing or braising steak, cubed (remove fat first)

600ml/1pt beef stock, plus extra hot water for topping up

Oil for frying

3 onions, peeled and sliced

900g/2lb potatoes, peeled and sliced

900g/2lb carrots or parsnips or swede, peeled and cubed (or a mixture)

seasoning to taste

1 tbsp fresh thyme

Serves: 6 People

Preheat the oven to gas 3/325F/170C. Melt a small amount of oil in a large heavy-based pan (or, alternatively, use a metal casserole dish). Seal the lamb and beef cubes quickly in the hot oil, turning often. When the meat begins to brown, add the onions, and cook for 5 minutes stirring often. Pour into a casserole and add all other ingredients except the salt. With cheap cuts of meat it’s always best to add the salt towards the end of the cooking time, otherwise it will make the meat too tough. Add enough hot water to just cover all the ingredients. Cover with a lid and cook in the centre of the oven for 4 hours until the vegetables are cooked through and the ingredients are softer and mixed together. Taste, adjust the seasoning.

The longer this sits in the pan the nicer it tastes, one of those dishes that tastes better the next day.:p

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 7:55 am
by Lon
Tuna casserole made with White Albacore in water instead of the regular tuna in oil, makes a much better casserole.

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 7:57 am
by YZGI
Lon;1012631 wrote: Tuna casserole made with White Albacore in water instead of the regular tuna in oil, makes a much better casserole.
I use Salmon instead. I like it a lot better than Tuna.

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 7:59 am
by Chezzie
When we were younger and mum didn't have much money, she would give us enough money to buy a family sized bag of chips and then we would ask for fish bits which were free.:p:p:p

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 8:02 am
by Chezzie
YZGI;1012633 wrote: I use Salmon instead. I like it a lot better than Tuna.


I shall not be converted Ok:D

Dont want to give you the op-perch-tuna-ty to try either:D

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 8:55 am
by Carolly
jimbo;1012679 wrote: meals for coming hard times ...... why do you people name threads like this you just know i'll get banned :-5:-5:-5Now theres an idea

:thinking::rolleyes::sneaky:

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 11:49 am
by Bryn Mawr
Bez;1012610 wrote: Well I made my own bread the other day because of the cost. The bread I like is £1.05 for a small loaf. The bread I made cost £0.40.....trouble is it was so deliciious I ate the lot....most of it while it was still hot.!!!

For a lot of us NOT buying so much convenience food will save money....ready meals etc. are so convenient specially when you're cooking for 1.

As for SPAM....love it .....although the stuff I bought from TESCO the other day was rather 'rubbery'.

I vaguely remember rationing but never felt deprived of good food as my mum anad grandad grew loads of veg and reared chicken....plenty of fresh eggs. Think my mum kept the powdered stuff for baking.

My biggest concern is the price of energy and therefore the cost of keeping warm this winter. Got lots of warm jumpers etc and have turned down the thermostat on the central heating......will have to see what happens.

Anything cooked with rice or pasta is filling and with veg and really nutricious and liver is still really cheap.....mmmm....love it with mushrooms, onions and bacon.



Maybe people could post their 'hard time' recipes....


Easier to cook for four and freeze three of them - quicker too.

Meals for the Coming Hard Times

Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 1:45 pm
by Bez
Bryn Mawr;1012868 wrote: Easier to cook for four and freeze three of them - quicker too.


I haven't got a freezer Bryn otherwise I would freeze. I do sometimes cook enough for 2 days and then vary with different veg the 2nd day. My flat's very small ....no room for too many 'mod cons'.