Two Great Depression Ways to Extend a Few Eggs

Meals Tested Tasted And Approved, Good Housekeeping, 1931

I got the go-ahead to eat most of our normal foods today at my one-week post-op visit with the surgeon. I still can't have things like carrot sticks or nuts, but most of the rest of our foods are now a-okay. I came home and had a slice of bread, all in one piece (not cut up into small cubes). And I didn't puree our chicken noodle soup plus ate the biscuits as is. It was only a week, but I was really tiring of everything blended, pureed, liquified, or made soggy in liquids.

from page 59, Meals Tested Tasted and Approved

Anyway, one of the foods I did eat when needing things to be very soft were eggs, prepared in two ways that were popularized in the Great Depression: 1) soft scrambled eggs stretched with water, and 2) eggs with bread crumbs (as in the recipe above for Crumb Omelet).

The first egg variation, with lots of water, was a way to stretch a few scrambled eggs to look like more food for a family. Obviously, one would be filling out the egg meal with cheap starches like macaroni, biscuits, or potatoes, plus whatever vegetables or fruits the cook might have access to. The upside to stretching eggs with water (besides looking like more eggs) is that they come out very soft and easy to mash against the roof of one's mouth with their tongue. 

To extend eggs with water, I used 2 tablespoons of water for 1 large egg, beating well together, adding salt and pepper then scrambling in a hot skillet with fat. I cooked the egg until it was set, but not dried out. The water in the egg not only extends the egg, but it also creates steam which puffs up the egg, making it look like more volume. Most instructions for adding water to eggs recommend between 1 and 2 tablespoons of water per large egg.

The second egg variation extended the few eggs with bread crumbs, again making a few eggs look like many. For my purpose, I incorporated the bread crumbs this past week as a way to add soft grains to my meals. 

The recipe above calls for making this omelette-style. I made mine as scrambled eggs. As you can read in the recipe, this omelette was made with 4 large eggs, yet it served 6 people. That's 2/3 of an egg per person. Again, I would hope that the cook would be filling out the meal with lots of other filling and nutritious foods, perhaps a dandelion salad and a dish of fried potatoes.

Many home-cooks weren't fortunate enough to have a lot of eggs to work with each week in the 1930s. Stretching the eggs one did have to feed a large family was a bit of a challenge. We're rather spoiled in comparison, with the idea of two eggs as the normal serving per adult. In the cookbook pictured at the top of this post, most recipes provide 1 egg per serving, but there are a couple of other recipes that call for 5 eggs to feed 6 people.

Grocery Shopping for January 2025

I grocery shopped 3 times in January, and my daughter picked a few items for me on 1 occasion.

January 2.  We needed milk and a couple of other items, so I went to Walmart, which is about our closest grocery store. I bought 1 gallon milk ($3.67), 2 small boxes frozen turkey breakfast sausage ($1.78 ea),1 bar unsweetened chocolate ($2.84), 2 3-lb bags of apples ($3.28 ea), 2 packages turkey snack sticks ($3.72 ea), bananas (50 cents/lb), cabbage (86 cents/lb), garlic powder ($1.12), and 4 avocados (78 cents ea). I spent $33.81.

January 13. This was my big stock-up for the month and in preparation for not going anywhere for about 10 days. I went to WinCo because most of their prices are better than Walmart, and the quality of both fresh and frozen produce is higher. I would shop at WinCo every time, but they are a good 20 minute drive from my house. Gas is still very expensive in my area, so how far I have to drive to shop is a consideration.  

I bought 1 large bag frozen petite peas ($2.99), 7 small bags broccoli cuts ($1.18 ea), 2 gallons milk ($3.67 ea), block of sharp cheddar ($3.48/lb), block of mozzarella ($3.48/lb), family pack boneless skinless chicken breasts (about $2/lb), a lb sliced pepperoni (about $6/lb), 7 avocados (68 cents ea),1.5 lbs raisins ($2.58/lb), 1/2 lb cashew pieces ($4.48/lb), 1 lime (25 cents), dried cranberries (70 cents), .38 lb dry milk for cocoa mix ($4.08/lb), sesame snack ($3.16/lb), green pepper (78 cents), 2 3-lb bags apples ($3.28 ea), celery ($1.28), 5-lb bag carrots ($3.48). 2-lb bag tangerines ($2.98), 2 heads cabbage (78 cents/lb), bananas (50 cents/lb), mayo ($3.28), Roma tomatoes ($1.47/lb), bread flour ($4.98/5-lb bag), 2 lbs freshly ground peanut butter ($2.18/lb). Total spent at WinCo -- $96.65. I was buying a couple of snacky foods for our de-decking the halls dinner while at WinCo. Their bulk section is great for small amounts of snack treats.

January 24. My daughter picked up a jar of smooth natural peanut butter, a box of Cream of Wheat hot cereal, and 4 cans of green beans for us. These items came to $12.44.

January 31. My first time grocery shopping since my mouth procedure. Our fridge was beginning to look a bit bare, especially the produce drawer. Since this wasn't a big shopping trip, I just went to Walmart -- less driving.  I bought 2 packages turkey snack sticks ($3.72 ea), 1 bag frozen spinach ($1.16), 1 bag frozen peas (98 cents), 1 lb mozzarella cheese ($4.22), celery ($1.88), 5-lb bag carrots ($3.98), 3-lb bag apples ($3.28), 3-lb bag tangerines ($3.28), 1 green pepper (92 cents), Roma tomatoes ($1.28/lb), cabbage (86 cents/lb), bananas (50 cents/lb). I spent $32.39.

My total spending on food groceries for January came to $175.29.

I think my groceries are pretty basic. It feels easier to me to cook from basic ingredients and not worry about ingredients that bother my digestion than to buy a lot of convenience foods. Plus, I think cooking from basics saves us bunches of $$$.

What I bought in January:

3 gallons milk

3 pounds cheese

small amount of powdered milk (for cocoa mix)

4 packages turkey snack sticks

2 small boxes turkey breakfast sausage

family pack chicken breasts

a pound of sliced pepperoni

a couple of bunches of bananas

9 lbs apples

5 lbs tangerines

4 heads cabbage

10 lbs carrots

2 green peppers

11 avocados

several Roma tomatoes

2 bundles celery

1 lime

10 bags frozen vegetables

4 cans green beans

1.5 lbs raisins

garlic powder

1 jar mayonnaise

10 lbs bread flour

3 containers of natural peanut butter

Cream of Wheat hot cereal

cashew pieces, dried cranberries, sesame snacks for a fun dinner