"Dinner's Got to Be Quick and Easy": A Day of Recipes from WW II

Here are the wartime recipes from the menu I posted yesterday, a quick and easy menu for a busy day, all three meals.

Stewed Rhubarb (breakfast)

1 1/2 lbs rhubarb, chopped
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup sugar or honey (sweetening may vary with kind of rhubarb)

Place rhubarb and water in covered pan. Bring to a boil then turn to simmer for 10 minutes. Add sweetening, and continue simmering for 5 minutes.

English Monkey (lunch)

2 cups dried bread crumbs
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter or fortified margarine
1 cup soft mild cheese, cut into very small pieces
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt

Soak the bread crumbs in milk for 15 minutes. Melt butter or margarine in a saucepan. Add cheese and stir until cheese is melted. Add soaked bread crumbs, eggs and salt. Cook 3 minutes. Serve on toast or toasted crackers. Serves 6.

Carrot-Raisin Salad (lunch)

3 cups shredded carrots
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup seedless raisins
1/2 cup mayonnaise

Combine carrots, salt and raisins. Add mayonnaise and mix lightly. Serve on crisp lettuce. Serves 6.

Soya Bread (lunch)

2 cups soya flour

11 cups sifted all-purpose flour

4 cups milk

1 cup lukewarm water

5 tablespoons sugar

5 teaspoons salt

5 tablespoons shortening

2 cakes yeast

The soya flour in this recipe is not sifted before measuring. Stir flours together, and proceed as follows: Scald the milk and add it to the sugar and salt. Dissolve yeast with 1 cup water and add to it 1 teaspoon sugar. Let stand for 10 minutes. When the 4 cups of milk have cooled, add dissolved yeast to milk mixture. Next add flour and the softened shortening. Mix well and turn out onto a floured board. Knead until dough becomes elastic and does not stick to board. Place in a greased bowl, cover, allow to rise until double in bulk. Remove brad from bowl, punch down, and cut into nfour equal size loaves. Shape, cover and allow to stand 20 minutes on baking board.

Then flatten out each loaf and again reshape. Place in greased pans. Allow to rise until double in bulk, or until, when pressed with a finger, the imprint does not disappear. Bake in a preheated 350 F oven for 1 hour. This recipe makes four 1 1/2 lb loaves.

Note: To get a browned, softer top crust sprinkle top of unbaked loaves lightly with lukewarm water. To prevent a soggy bottom crust and to protect texture, remove bread from tins at once. Cool on wire cake coolers.

Bologna or Weiner Carrot Sandwich Filling (lunch box)

1/2 lb bologna or weiners

1/4 cup chopped pickles or relish

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 teaspoons minced onion

Dash of Tabasco

2 Tablespoons pickle juice

1 cup ground carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

Grind bologna or weiners and mix well with the other ingredients. Makes 2 2/3 cups, or 7 to 10 sandwiches. 

Peanut Butter "Pep Up" Sandwich Filling (lunch box)

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup honey

1 cake compressed yeast. 

Mix well.

Barbecued Cube Steak (dinner)

4 tablespoons catsup

3 tablespoons vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons meat drippings, melted, but not hot

2 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 cube steaks

(toasted buns with mustard butter is substituted in menu for the bread and shortening)

4 slices bread

3 tablespoons shortening

Combine catsup, vinegar, drippings, water, Worcestershire Sauce, and salt. Heat. Pour over steaks and allow to stand for 15 minutes. Drain, reserving sauce. Place steaks on broiler rack, 2 inches below broiler unit. Broil 5 minutes on each side, basting each side with sauce. 

Spread bread with shortening and brown on broiler rack while meat broils. Place steaks on bread. Serves 4.

Parsley Potatoes (dinner)

New potatoes are best to serve this way. Either scrape or peel thin and boil. Just before removing from saucepan, pour melted butter or margarine over potatoes, and shake kettle vigorously to distribute butter/margarine. Chop parsley fine, and sprinkle over potatoes in serving bowl.

Pennsylvania Dutch Spinach (dinner)

2 slices bacon diced

3 cups chopped raw spinach

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup hot water

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 hard-cooked eggs

Fry bacon until crisp; add bacon to spinach. Add flour to drippings and blend, add hot water and cook until thickened. Add sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour over spinach. Stir until well mixed. Garnish with sliced hand-cooked eggs.

Mustard Butter (for Toasted Buns -- dinner)

1/4 cup butter or fortified margarine

1 1/2 tablespoons prepared mustard

Cream butter/margarine and mustard together. Use as a spread for buns under the broiler or on meat sandwiches.

Broiled Grapefruit (dinner)

Prepare half a grapefruit in the usual manner [halve crosswise, use a knife to section and cut around edge between segments and white pith], removing the seeds. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Broil in oven until the sugar melts and the grapefruit is well browned.'

Applesauce (alternate breakfast)

10 medium size cooking apples

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

Wash, pare, remove core, and quarter apples. Add water. cover, and cook slowly until soft. Add sugar and simmer long enough to melt sugar. 7 servings.

Rarebit (alternate lunch)

1 tablespoon butter or fortified margarine

1/2 cup evaporated milk

few grains cayenne

1 egg

1/2 lb soft cheese, grated or cut in small pieces

salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter/margarine on high heat, add seasonings and cheese and turn to low heat. As cheese melts, add milk gradually, stirring constantly. Add slightly beaten egg. Two tablespoons of tomato soup, added just before serving, improves flavor and color. Serve on toast squares or crackers.

Cheese Fondue (alternate lunch)

3 eggs, separated

1 cup grated cheese

1 cup bread crumbs

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon butter or fortified margarine

1/2 teaspoon salt

Beat egg yolks until lemon colored. Cook cheese, bread crumbs, milk, butter/margarine and salt over low heat, stirring constantly until thick. Add beaten yolks. Beat egg whites until stiff, fold into cheese/milk/egg yolk mixture. Pour into a well greased, 2-quart casserole.  Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Serve at once. Serves 6.

Pimento Sandwich Filling (alternate lunch)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon butter or fortified margarine

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons vinegar

1 egg, well beaten

1/2 cup coffee cream or top milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

1 package cream cheese

1 tablespoon grated onion

3 tablespoons chopped pimento or diced green or red pepper

Cook sugar, butter/margarine, flour, vinegar, beaten egg, cream and salt on low heat until thick. Remove from heat and add chopped eggs, cream cheese, onion and pimento. Place in fruit jar and keep in refrigerator. 

Dried Beef Gravy (alternate dinner)

1/2 lb dried beef

1 qt milk

4 tablespoons drippings

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Heat drippings in skillet. Brown the flour. Add shredded dried beef. Allow beef to brown and become well coated with flour. Use Medium heat. Add milk. Stir to prevent lumping.. Serve on brown rice, toast or crisp cereal.

Victory Hamburgers (alternate dinner)

1 lb ground beef

1/3 cup soya meal

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup water

6 slices onion

2 tablespoons shortening

6 slices bacon

Add salt, pepper, and water to soya meal and mix thoroughly with the meat. Pat this mixture into n12 thin cakes. Spread onion slices, which have been browned in the shortening, on half of the meat cakes. Put the remaining cakes on top as a meat sandwich. Press edges together. Wrap each with a strip of bacon and fasten with a toothpick. Broil on each side for about 10 minutes or until brown.

Fried Ham and Eggs (alternate dinner)

1 1/2 slices ham, cut 1/2 inch thick

eggs

Slash edges of ham about 1/2 inch deep about 4 inches apart, to prevent curling. Grease hot pan lightly with ham fat. Brown ham on both sides, using a Medium heat. Remove from pan. Break eggs into hot fat. When eggs begin to set add 1 teaspoon water, cover tightly and cook until desired hardness. Place eggs on hot ham and serve immediately.

Stewed Tomatoes (alternate dinner)

1 can tomatoes

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

salt and pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

Place tomatoes in 2-qt covered saucepan. Turn heat to High to bring tomatoes to steaming point. Then simmer for 5 minutes. Add butter/margarine, salt, pepper and sugar. 

Variation: Bread cubes or cracker crumbs can be added for thickening.

My thoughts:

I make stewed rhubarb and carrot-raisin salad all the time. Both are cheap and easy side dishes for my household. I don't measure with either of those, but add ingredients to taste.

The English Monkey sounds interesting. Maybe I will give that a try. The soft cheese could be cheddar. As I mentioned yesterday, this was a recipe popular during the Great Depression. It is sparing with eggs (for 6 people), but generous with cheese, and stretched with dried bread crumbs.

Soya bread must have been a recipe designed to contain more protein and other nutrients than standard wheat or white bread. That's quite a lot of milk in the recipe. But it would be a way to get additional calcium and protein into daily meals.

I'm not a fan of bologna or hot dogs straight from the package. Blending the ground meat with ground carrots does sound interesting, though. This might work with ground ham, for a ham spread. Has anybody here had deviled ham? My mother used to buy small cans of ground ham to make this. I imagine making the carrot bologna sandwich filling with ham might actually be good.

That's interesting that the recipe for "Pep Up" peanut butter spread would call for ordinary compressed yeast. I know brewer's yeast is used as a nutritional supplement to boost immunity and energy levels. It's high in B vitamins and many minerals. I would try the "Pep Up" sandwich filling made with brewer's yeast. I also think I would enjoy the pimento cheese spread. It looks fairly easy to make.

In the dinner menu I especially like the sound of the spinach and the mustard butter for toasting buns. Both sound flavorful and like the kind of thing I would enjoy. I would choose the Victory Hamburgers over the Cube Steak, as bacon is always good!

I can appreciate that these recipes call for basic ingredients, for the most part. And the recipes themselves sound easy to follow. The most time intensive of all of the recipes is the Soya Bread.

If it were 1944 and you had a busy day to day life, which of these recipes might be something you'd try?

"Dinner's Got to Be Quick and Easy": Another Menu from World War II

Here's another day's menu from the April 1944 Meal Planning Guide.

Quick and Easy Menu

While the previous menu from the booklet contained a couple of more complicated recipes, this particular menu is designed for busy days. 

Many women worked outside the home (either for pay or as volunteers) while their children were in school during WWII. Women who had previously thought of themselves as full-time mothers and home caretakers were now trying to balance outside work with their homemaking roles.

If you can imagine what it must've been like to go from cooking three full meals from scratch daily and caring for the house and children to suddenly in a situation where your husband is away at war and you're working in a factory, store, office, or volunteering in some capacity, while looking after the home, yard, children and still providing three "squares" a day. Many of us do that in modern times. But imagine not having the array of convenience foods or simplified cleaning tools or restaurants for take out or delivery that make it all possible.

Enter women's magazines and booklets that offered suggestions for quick and easy (and healthy) meals, basically from scratch.

The menu suggestions here are based on simplified recipes and using a few "healthy" prepared foods (such as purchased enriched white bread, boxed, uncooked whole grain hot cereal). The booklet suggests using the basic menu for one day, then subbing in the alternates on other days to provide variety while still working within the context of a quick and easy menu plan.

Here's the menu:

Breakfast

(A) Stewed Rhubarb (recipe)
Hot Whole Grain Cereal with Whole Milk
Enriched White Toast
Butter or Fortified Margarine
Coffee and Milk

Lunch at Home

(B) English Monkey on Crisp Crackers (recipe)

Carrot Raisin Salad (recipe)

Soya Bread (recipe) with Butter or Fortified Margarine

Apples or Bananas

Lunch Box

(C) Bologna Carrot sandwich Filling (recipe) on Enriched White Bread

Peanut Butter "Pep Up" Sandwich Filling (recipe) on Soya Bread

Wedge of Cheese

Apples or Bananas

Cocoa

Dinner

(D) Barbecued Cube Steak (recipe)

Parsley Potatoes (recipe)

(E) Pennsylvania Dutch Spinach (recipe)

Toasted Buns with Mustard Butter (recipe)

(F) Broiled Grapefruit (recipe)

Alternates

(A) Applesauce (recipe) or any canned fruit

(B) Rarebit (recipe) or Cheese Fondue (recipe)

(C) Pimento Sandwich Filling (recipe)

(D) Dried Beef Gravy (recipe) or Victory Hamburgers (recipe) or Ham and Eggs (recipe)

(E) Stewed Tomatoes (recipe)

(F) Citrus Juices and Cakes or Cookies Left from Previous Baking

Things to do ahead to get these meals on the table fast

• stew the rhubarb
• wash the spinach

Tips to make meals quick and easy

• Serve raw fruits and vegetables, if possible -- more vitamins, less time to prepare, and fewer utensils to wash. "A relish plate of raw carrots, tender greens, cabbage wedges, green onions and radishes can take the place of both a vegetable and a salad." Fresh fruit, such as berries and pineapple require little extra (perhaps a little sugar) to make a dessert. 
• Serve fruits unpeeled, when possible.
• Serve small chunks or cubes of cheese along with the fruit to boost protein with little extra work.
• Cook "big" when you have the time, in order to use leftovers in future meals, not only entress and side dishes, but desserts such as cakes and cookies as well.
• Use fish and eggs as the main protein source, as they cook quickly.
• Use canned and frozen foods (judiciously, I'll add) to speed meal prep time.
• Use fewer dishes, if possible. Plan one-dish meals, such as casseroles and stews. Less to clean up afterward. 

I'll be providing the recipes tomorrow. English Monkey is a dish that was around during the Great Depression. Curious sounding name, right? And the "Pep Up" sandwich filling sounds like a food I need right now. Stay tuned to find out how these dishes were made.

Surgery Yesterday Morning

Hi, friends. I didn't get to posting what I had planned for yesterday evening. I had minor surgery in the morning and had pain and felt wiped out for the rest of the day. The pain is minimal today, still tired though. If my day improves 😀, I'll finish up my post for this evening. But if I don't, I'm just trying to get myself feeling quasi-normal 😜 again. Like I said, it was minor surgery. But I would appreciate prayers for me to return to my normal state.

Wishing you all a wonderful and frugal day!

Just in the knick of time

In late April I planted out the cabbage seedlings. They were started indoors under lights a month prior and still pretty small compared to seedlings you might buy from the nursery.

A couple of weeks after planting the cabbage seedlings, I decided to use the space in between the rows of cabbage with a quick-growing veggie. I seeded radishes in between the rows of cabbage seedlings.

It's been about a month since seeding the radishes, and both the radishes and cabbages have grown quite a bit.

The leaves on the cabbage plants have grown large enough to begin shading the radishes. Fortunately, the radishes are about ready to pull out of the ground. The cabbage plants will continue to grow and develop heads over the next month or so. 

Just in the knick of time for the radishes. Look at the size of those cabbage leaves! They'll take up all of the space in that bed in no time.

Using a single garden space to grow multiple types of plants simultaneously is called interplanting or intercropping. It's a method that maximizes limited space in order to grow more. Experts don't recommend interplanting all from the cabbage family vegetables (such as cabbage and radish), as it could increase pests that are drawn to those particular plants, like cabbage moth. However, I've had good luck with this combination in past years, as the radishes are only there, right next to the cabbages, for about a month. 

Looks like we'll have radishes in our salads this next week.

As I said, just in the knick of time.

The $0 Grocery Budget Video

I was watching a youtube video the other day titled something like "How I feed my family when I have $0 left for the week." Now this is just the sort of thing I'd like to watch. I was expecting a mom conjuring up meals from Worcestershire sauce, a tea bag, pickles and macaroni noodles. Instead, this mom went to her chest freezer and pulled out several frozen pizzas, jugs of milk, blocks of cheese, frozen juice concentrate, and several other items.

So in my mind, if I have frozen pizzas, milk, and juice, we have a meal. Her "demonstration" of how she manages to feed her family on $0 was faintly reminiscent of my teen self. After school, I would come home and open the refrigerator or pantry door, stand there for a half-minute and declare loudly, "there's nothing to eat." In reality, there was enough in our fridge and pantry for full meals and snacks to last many days, at all times.

What I think was happening with me in my hungry, younger days was that I didn't see that one perfectly satisfying food that was ready to pop into my mouth. We've become spoiled by the variety of colorful, interesting, and tasty options available to us in our stores and quick-serve restaurants. Plain apples and carrots in the fridge just don't have that magic for a lot of folks, especially teens and kids. And when you haven't years of cooking experience and know-how to transform the plain into wonderful, it really does look like there's nothing to eat, at least nothing you may want to eat in that moment.

The refrigerator section of our kitchen fridge/freezer seems small to me. We're always looking for space to squeeze in one more thing. So it's no surprise that it is rarely really empty, with nothing to eat. But when we're all out of quick to grab snacks, running low on fresh produce, or seriously lacking protein options, we may be feeling like we're living on a $0 grocery budget. So, I take a few minutes to survey what we do have, then brainstorm how I can refill those categories of foods. 

This week has felt a lot like that type of scenario for me. I haven't done a major grocery shopping in two weeks. In response, I've needed to scavenged the garden for early produce (lettuce, turnip greens, chives and their blossoms, rhubarb, and sorrel), paw through our chest freezer (and found several partly full frozen veggie bags -- spinach, broccoli, peas, corn), pull out the last of the canned veggies from the storage room (canned tomato paste, beets, and pumpkin puree), boil a couple of eggs and rescue an abandoned partial container of cashew butter for quick protein snacks, unearth 3 containers of baking milk in the freezer (just a teensy bit sour), and then finally, start the cooking and baking. 

I've found that by having a handful of emergency recipes in my figurative pocket, there are many possibilities for transforming odds and ends into tasty meals and snacks. Cream of anything soup works well for savory foods. I add a vinaigrette to drained, canned vegetables and call it a salad. Snack cake is a great use for small amounts of vegetables or fruits, pureed. Egg, cheese, and rice squares make great portable entrees for lunches or on the run breakfasts. And any odd pieces of fruit can be combined to make a decent fruit compote to have as dessert.

The youtuber woman did eventually produce some interesting snacks and meals for her family that weren't all pizza and freezer meals. And some of them looked easy and inventive. The title of her video felt misleading to me, though. In my mind, if I'm saying I need to come up with meals and I have $0 left for the week, that implies my fridge and pantry are about empty, and I have $0 in my pocket. But perhaps to a different audience, preparing a meal made from ingredients instead of opening boxes may be a novel experience. And being low on freezer or boxed meals may feel like there's nothing to eat.

I'm just rambling, I know. I would love to watch someone create meals from a more meager larder. I'll be waiting for a video like that to come up in my recommended videos feed.

Just a suggestion -- if you have a handful of unrelated ingredients and don't how how to put them together to make a meal, try a recipe search engine like Recipe Radar. Input the ingredients you do have, then scroll through the results and see if any of the recipes will work for what all you have one hand. And if you have a peculiar sense of fun, spend a minute or two entering oddball ingredients that you have to see what the search engine can come up with. It may just inspire your next meal.

Have a lovely weekend!

Chive Blossom "Cream" Soup

Like I said yesterday, I'm using as much of what the garden gives us as I can this year. Yesterday, I made a soup using chive blossoms, chicken stock (from our most recent roasted chicken), salt, dried thyme, and a bit of flour to thicken.

Three of the four of us thought this smelled and tasted liked cream of mushroom soup. My opinion that the most prominent flavor in canned cream of mushroom soup is onion powder has been confirmed.

I picked and washed about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of open chive blossoms while thawing a scant quart of homemade, unseasoned chicken stock. I cut most of the green stem off the chive blossoms, but I didn't fuss too much over it. Using a medium saucepan, I brought the chive blossoms and chicken stock to a boil. After the chive blossoms had simmered in the chicken stock for about 20 minutes. I allowed it to stand and cool before pureeing. Just a note, cooking the chive blossoms turns them gray. I had hoped the pretty purple would remain.

Once cooled, I dumped the whole batch into a pitcher blender, adding a couple of tablespoons of all-purpose flour to blend in while pureeing. After the mixture was smooth, I returned all to the saucepan and brought it back to boil to cook the added flour and thicken. At that point, all that was needed was some salt (about 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon) and a pinch of dried thyme. 

So, delicious. I went back for seconds.

Last week I made 2 jars of chive blossom vinegar, which is about all we will use in a year. I still have a lot of chive blossoms on my plants. Now that I know I can make a good soup (and a good cream of mushroom substitute for casseroles) from the blossoms, I plan on harvesting and freezing as many of the blossoms as I can in the next day or two.

Do you grow chives? Have you found ways to use the blossoms?

Making Jello With Rhubarb

Are you about to be inundated with rhubarb? Do you have favorite ways to use it? I try to use as much of our garden produce as I can. I feel that's the good steward thing to do with the abundance, and doing so saves us a lot of cashola on groceries each summer and fall. The usual ways to use rhubarb are in preserves, stewed into a sauce, or in baked goods. Here's another way to use rhubarb, rhubarb jello dessert.

What I like about this

It's a fat-free, relatively low calorie way to use rhubarb. Most rhubarb desserts add a pie crust or other grain, butter, and sugar part to make the rhubarb more palatable as a dessert. While there is sugar added to sweeten the naturally tart rhubarb, turning rhubarb into a gelatin dessert makes this a less fattening option for using our rhubarb.

It's super easy to make

Using minimal ingredients, unflavored gelatin and homemade rhubarb sauce (even the kind where you add a pinch of baking soda and reduce the sugar), rhubarb jello comes together with about 5 minutes of hands-on time.

ingredients:

4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
5-6 tablespoons room temperature water
3 cups of rhubarb sauce, sweetened to taste

As with all scratch-made, natural fruit gelatins, you soften the plain gelatin in a little water while the rhubarb sauce cooks. 

Once the rhubarb sauce is cooked and sweetened, melt the softened gelatin in the microwave and stir into the cooked rhubarb sauce. 

Puree the rhubarb in a pitcher blender and pour into a large bowl, individual bowls or custard cups. Chill overnight. 

The end result is a layered gelatin, with a foamy/fluffy layer on top and firm jello beneath. If desired, servings can be topped with whipped topping. 

My family LOVES this, and it disappears quickly.

A Lovely Memorial Day With My Family

I'm thankful that someone paid the ultimate price so I could live in freedom.

Our Memorial Day

Remember I said it's our tradition to bring breakfast to the beach on Memorial Day Monday? This morning I asked the gang what they would prefer, egg and cheese biscuit sandwiches (homemade) or donuts. Guess which one we all chose?

So, we made coffee at home, picked up some donuts, and headed to the beach, along with a couple hundred other people. Well, maybe they didn't bring coffee and donuts to the beach, but they were out in force this morning. 

As it turns out, the tide was exceptionally low this morning. Folks from the area poured out of their homes decked in wellies and windbreakers to inspect the tide pools that formed in and around rock formations at the base of the ferry terminal pier.

Because everyone else was busy looking at the sea life down along the rocks, we were able to find a great bench to sit on while sipping our hot coffee and noshing on some yummy donuts. After breakfast, we too went to check out the sea life.

We saw several sea stars, many, many sea anemones, a couple of sea cucumbers, some crabs, and even a couple of tiny fish swimming in pools and a shrimp. 

The tide was so low we could walk under the pier where the cars load onto the ferry.

It was a blustery morning, perfect conditions for sailboats. The clouds parted just enough so we could see the mountains on the Olympic Peninsula.

After a long walk on the beach, we made our way back to the car. 

This town is known for its many beautiful flower pots and baskets that line the sidewalk through town. I need to make a point of coming back mid-summer just to walk the main streets and see all of the gorgeous flowering plants that the people so lovingly care for.

This evening, we'll enjoy a hot dog cookout on the freshly-cleaned patio. On Saturday I got the pressure washer out and three of us took turns cleaning the bricks. I also cleaned the patio furniture and put out the umbrella and some chairs that had overwintered in the garage. We now look like we're ready for a summer full of outdoor fun.

I hope you enjoy these last moments of your Memorial Day weekend! See you tomorrow.  

Any Plans For Memorial Day Weekend?

Is Monday a day off for you? Will you do anything special for Memorial Day? As a homemaker, I work everyday, but I take it slower and easier on Sundays. I especially work on holidays. :) But doing things for friends and family is a labor of love.

As we've had a long string of cold wet weather, I will use this weekend as an opportunity to work in the garden. I still have some veggies, flowers and herbs to plant. So lots of garden work for me.

But there is something special that we'll do on Monday. Since this weekend is the unofficial beginning of summer, we usually go to the beach briefly on Memorial Day morning. We bring a breakfast, dress warmly, and walk along the water's edge. By the time we leave, families are beginning to arrive. It works out great. We have the beach mostly to ourselves, parking is a breeze, and we spend some time outdoors.

Later in the day, late afternoon, I'll get a fire in the fire ring going and we'll have a hot dog cookout -- hot dogs, potato salad, green salad, and a rhubarb gelatin salad. And that's about it for our Memorial Day.

How about you? What do you have planned for this weekend? Is this too early in your area to go to the beach? Or does summer unofficially begin in your area, too?

Wishing you a wonderful weekend. I'll be back on Monday afternoon.

10 Tips For Getting More Fruits and Vegetables Into Each Day

Since we were talking about the Basic Seven and getting more of what we need each day, I thought I'd share some tips that work for me to get more fruits and vegetables into each day.

Tip 1

Buy fruits and veggies that you can't resist eating. I love fresh apples. I eat a fresh apple several days per week. I also love fresh tomatoes. So tomatoes make their way into my day whenever we have them. Tangerines are "better" in my opinion than oranges. So I buy lots of tangerines. We often have tangerines as dessert after dinner. So what do you really like? Are you a raw broccoli and dip sort? Do you love a good salad? Is watermelon irresistible to you? Buy what you really love and make a point to have some with your meals every day.

Tip 2

Prep salad ingredients in bulk. Wash enough lettuce for several large salads. Shred a couple of carrots at a time. Slice celery or cabbage enough for a few days. The vitamins that you will lose by prepping these veggies in advance will be outweighed by eating more of them overall. My lunches are super simple to make. I grab whatever prepped veggies I have in the fridge and pile them on a plate. Then I add the other items to my lunch to balance everything out. You may have noticed I had a large salad and a tangerine with my Tuesday lunch. I added over 2 servings of produce in lunch alone. I love a good salad, but I don't like to have to prepare all of the veggies every day. Prepping salad ingredients to last a few days allows me to throw together a salad with minimal effort on a moment's notice.

Tip 3

Make vegetable-filled omelets instead of scrambled eggs. In fact, you can prep omelet vegetables for a few days of omelets in a week like you would prep salad stuff -- slice zucchini, dice red onions, slice red and green peppers, halve cherry tomatoes, wash baby spinach leaves. My favorite omelet filling is a mix of zucchini, red peppers, red onions and cheese. What's your favorite?

Tip 4 

Alternate which weeks you prep salads, soups, and omelets so your meals rotate by weeks. It will be much less monotonous. With even my favorite foods, I can feel like I'm in a rut if I only eat salads at lunch, or only eat soups or omelets. I try to rotate what veggies I'm prepping and thinking through how I'll use them. This week is a salad week. Our lettuce containers on the deck are bursting with leafy greens right now.

Tip 5

Front-load your day with a fruit-veggie-protein smoothie. I don't care much what I eat for breakfast each day. Mostly I just need something to get me going. A smoothie is relatively easy and will get 2 or more servings of produce plus some protein into my day right off the bat.

Tip 6 

Make your own veggie purees. Lightly steam frozen veggies then run through the food processor. Freeze in small containers. This is a fantastic way to get leafy greens into many dishes. I like to puree lightly steamed frozen spinach, then use in chocolate muffins or brownies. Cocoa powder does a fantastic job of hiding the dark green of spinach puree. Jerry Seinfeld's wife Jessica Seinfeld wrote a cookbook Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food. See if you can get a copy from your library. She hides vegetable purees in family favorite dishes. For example, she suggests adding pureed cauliflower to mac and cheese.

Tip 7 

Consider using veggie powders. You can stir veggie powders into a cup of juice, some cottage cheese, a smoothie, prepared broth for a quick hot drink, or batter for baking. I even add a small amount of beet powder to my cold weather hot cocoa. 

Tip 8 

Add chopped or grated veggies to sandwich spreads. Grated carrot mixed into peanut butter. Finely chopped red pepper and celery mixed with purchased or homemade hummus. Lots of finely chopped celery and green pepper added to tuna salad. Finely chopped celery and cucumber mixed in with chicken or egg salad. Adding minced veggies to sandwich spreads will often mean you need less mayo or oil -- win-win!

Tip 9 

Think small. Instead of thinking each time you eat a fruit or veggie that it needs to be a full serving, try to find the many ways you can add a small amount to whatever you cook. Add 2 tablespoons of spinach puree to mashed potatoes. Stir 2 tablespoons of pumpkin puree into a bowl of applesauce. We do this often, I add a dash of cinnamon, too, and call it pumpkin-applesauce. Add a couple of tablespoons up to 1/4 cup of fruit or veggie puree to baked goods, like quick breads, biscuits, muffins, and brownies. Add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable puree to any soup or gravy. Opening a can of chicken-noodle soup? Stir in 2 tablespoons pumpkin puree. Making a beefy gravy to go over pot roast? Stir in a tablespoon of tomato paste. Making pancakes? Add a few tablespoons of pumpkin, squash, carrot or sweet potato puree (along with some spices) to the batter. Or, top pancakes with fruit instead of syrup. Adding a little veggie or fruit to almost everything you eat will add up at the end of the day.

Tip 10 

Juice 'em. I don't recommend getting all of your veggies in the form of juices, as you miss out on other benefits of the whole foods. But, having a glass of vegetable juice with your dinner or lunch will boost your final count without thinking you've eaten a lot of veggies. If you have a juicer, you can make a pitcher (3 to 5 day supply) of fresh veggie juice right in your kitchen. If you don't have a juicer, commercial juices like V-8 are tasty, not overly expensive, and don't add a lot of calories. You can also DIY your own tomato-vegetable-seasoning drink at home, starting with tomato paste. Homemade tomato juice recipe using tomato paste in this link

I use these tips every week. Set yourself up to succeed and buy what you like, prepare some vegetables and fruits in advance, and keep purees and maybe powders on hand. You might be surprised how many servings of produce you can get in each day.

My Day of Eating the Basic Seven

Have you ever said something, thinking you were absolutely right. Then later, you began to think, hmmm, maybe I should check that thing I said. Yesterday, I said I pretty much chose foods along the lines of the Basic Seven, thinking as the day went by what else I needed to eat. Well, later that evening I thought maybe I don't get something from each group each day. Maybe I should check this. So for today, I have been eating the Basic Seven, maybe not in the amounts of each, but trying to hit each group. I'll see where I fall short and need more work and where I'm pretty much okay in my diet.

My first obstacle was we were totally out of tangerines, orange juice, and fresh tomatoes, our usual Vitamin C rich foods. I thought about eating a bunch of fresh parsley, or a couple of bowls of raw cabbage. But neither of those ideas appealed to me. And it would not be something I'd ordinarily do. Since I had to go out and pick up 2 birthday cards today, I stopped at Walmart and bought another bag of tangerines, some fresh tomatoes, as well as a couple of other items we needed. Had I not gone out to pick up those foods, I would have missed the Vitamin C group.

The Basic Seven

Breakfast -- protein (soy and peanut butter powder)-vegetable-fruit smoothie (1/2 serving vegetables, 1 1/4 servings fruit, 8 grams protein)

Still hungry at 9:30 AM, so I began snacking. Obviously the smoothie wasn't enough nutrients for me to start the day. I also had some frustrations to begin the day, hence choosing a cookie as my first snack. Then I needed to take a vitamin, so I needed to eat something with that, another cookie.

Morning snack -- 2 oatmeal cookies, 2 turkey snack sticks (some grains, 7 grams protein)

Lunch -- salad of lettuce, green cabbage, carrot, cheese, chive blossoms with oil and vinegar dressing, tangerine, and peanut butter on bread, and you guessed it, an oatmeal cookie for dessert (1 serving grains, 1 Vitamin C, 1 to 2 green and yellow vegetables, 1 dairy, 1 fats, some meat alternative -- 15 grams protein)

Dinner -- chicken, vegetable, potato hash, salad of lettuce, tomato, grated carrot in creamy garlic dressing, pumpkin-applesauce for dessert (1 serving meat -- about 25 grams protein, 1 serving potato/other vegetables and fruit, 1 serving green and yellow veg, partial serving Vitamin C/tomato, 1 serving fats)

How'd I do?

Group 1 Green and Yellow Vegetables: yes
Group 2 Vitamin C Fruits/Vegetables: yes
Group 3 Potatoes and Other Fruits/Vegetables: yes
Group 4 Milk and Milk Products: yes
Group 5 Meat and Meat Alternatives: yes
Group 6 Grains: yes
Group 7 Butter/Other Fats: yes

I hit each group, but perhaps didn't have as much of every group as may have been recommended. Also, like I said above, I would not have had a Vitamin C fruit had I not gone to the store today. I simply would have skipped it. So that's one area I could focus on more, making sure we always have something I'm willing to eat on hand that is high in Vitamin C. My other thought about my eating -- I always have a smoothie for breakfast, but it often isn't enough and I end up snacking. Perhaps I need to add something on the side to the smoothie that will hold me over until lunch. I might eat far fewer cookies if I had more to eat at breakfast. At least those cookies were on the small side and homemade. I also know that I don't eat much milk or milk products. I have some cheese just about every day, but the milk I use in smoothies and cooking is a soy milk powder that is unfortified. The commercial liquid soy milk products have additives that give me tummy aches. 

I heard something in an interview the other day about longevity, health, genetics, and life choices. The conclusion was before age 50, genetics have the greatest influence on health outcomes. After age 50 environment and life choices influence longevity and good health more than genetics. I now feel especially motivated to check my daily diet periodically and make adjustments as I see need.

Wartime Nutrition Guide: The Basic Seven

today's sourdough loaf -- part of our grain foods

I grew up with the 4 basic food groups. Then the food pyramid was introduced with 6 layers. And today the US government promotes the MyPlate visual with 5 food groups. Did you know that in the 1940s, the foods we eat were divided into 7 categories -- the Basic Seven?  

General knowledge of nutrition has come a long way since the 40s. My guess is the 7 food groups were a method of teaching the average woman how to get the right balance of nutrients during a period when some basic foods might not be available or abundant, especially for those in cities. 

From Health for Victory: Meal Planning Guide, April 1944

This particular food scheme divides foods into the usual milk and milk products, meat and meat alternatives, bread/flour/cereals, butter/fortified margarine, plus it breaks down fruits and vegetables into 3 distinct groups: green/yellow vegetables, oranges, tomatoes and grapefruit, and potatoes/other vegetables and fruits. The publisher goes on to say that each group has specific benefits for health and beauty. 

In looking back at last week's post of a sample day's meal plan, the writers do indeed include foods from each of the 7 groups. In that's day's plan, there are 2 servings of citrus, 2 servings of orange vegetables, 1 serving of green vegetables, other fruits, plenty of milk, meat and meat alternatives, fats, and grains.

The food groups' article is titled "Eat Your Way to Beauty". Much of the focus of the text is on the beauty benefits of eating from all of the 7 groups each day. Little tidbits of information are provided such as Iron may boost a woman's radiance as she feels more "pep". Or, Riboflavin found in dark green leafy vegetables is good for eye health and may prevent bloodshot eyes. Or, lack of Vitamin C could lead to scurvy symptoms, such as loose teeth and bleeding gums.

"U.S. Needs Us Strong. Eat the Basic 7 Every day." 

Both beauty and health were extremely important on the home front during World War II, as most women and men were part of the war production in one way or another. For men not yet serving, they needed both excellent health and vigor to fulfill their roles once inducted. In addition, the US government used this moment to build lasting good health throughout society, from the very young to the very old. There were educational films that described the ideal diet. Booklets such as the one I am posting about. And the government rolled out the Victory Garden to improve the variety of produce most Americans ate. 

As for beauty, such emphasis on half of the population's appearance might be controversial today, but a beautiful woman was thought to boost morale back then and project an image of strength, tenacity, and power. Much of war is psychological. Projecting resilience in the face of attacks says to the enemy that you can go on fighting just as long as they can, maybe longer. And a nation that is taking care of its looks as well as its health is a nation that is looking to the future.

I think dividing foods into 7 categories is actually a good way to go about nutritional guidance. It's more to remember, but it ensures all the bases are covered. It's sort of how I think of what I need to eat for the day. I do think about leafy greens or deep orange vegetables. And I try to get something with Vitamin C each day. And as I get older, I try to get more protein (meat/meat alternatives) and my dairy for calcium. I cover all the categories, but I just don't sit down and plan it out in advance.

What do you think? Which do you prefer, the 4 food groups, the food pyramid, MyPlate, or the Basic 7? Do you go for the simplicity of 4 or even 5? Or did you like the visual aspects of the food pyramid? Do you give much thought to the categories of foods you're eating? Or do you eat more intuitively?

"Oh Boy, Mom": A Day of Recipes from WWII

Yesterday I posted a day of menus from a WWII booklet, dated April 1944, right here. Check out that post of you missed it or need a refresher on what foods were suggested for one day.

Today I'm posting the actual recipes for that entire day's menu plan. I'll run through the recipes in the order they appeared in the menu plan. 

It's interesting to note which ingredients were apparently available in abundance, such as molasses and corn syrup compared to sugar.

It looks like a lot of cooking daily. We have to remember that convenience foods and frozen meals were not a "thing" just yet. Still, most of the recipes are basic and simple. For example, all of the bread recipes are quick breads and don't require kneading, and the desserts are all very simple with little hands-on time required.

It all looks delicious. I would be happy to eat any of this, with exception to the liver spread. Not a liver fan, here.

Enjoy reading!

"Oh Boy, Mom" Recipes

Citrus Fruit Cup (breakfast)

Grapefruit, 2 small or 1 large

3 tangerines, or 2 oranges

Basic Syrup

1 drop peppermint flavoring, if desired

Peel and section fruit. Cut in suitable pieces. Combine fruits, add basic Syrup to desired sweetness. Serve very cold.

Basic Syrup

3 cups corn syrup

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

Combine ingredients. Let come to a rolling boil. Remove from heat. When cool, pour into quart jar. Refrigerate until wanted for use.

Fried Rolled Oats and Bacon (breakfast)

Place leftover rolled oats in a greased mold. When cool, slice 1/2-inch thick. Dredge in flour and dip in beaten egg which has been thinned with 1 tablespoon water. Fry 6 slices of bacon until crisp, remove from fat and drain. Fry oatmeal slices/squares in all of the bacon fat until brown on both sides. Serve with bacon.

Soya Cream Soup (lunch)

1 strip bacon, diced

2 tablespoons onion, finely minced

2 cups water

1 cup milk

4 tablespoons soya flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup cooked, pureed or finely chopped vegetables

Slightly brown bacon and onion. Add 1 cup of the water and the milk. Bring to a boil. Add the other cup of water which has been mixed with the soya flour. Simmer 10 minutes. Add salt, pepper and vegetables. Serve hot. This amount should be doubled if used for a main dish for lunch [no sandwiches or other mains].

Croutons (lunch)

Cut bread into 1/2-inch slices. Remove crusts. Spread both sides with butter or fortified margarine. Cut slices into 1/3-inch strips, then cut strips into 1/3-inch cubes. Toast very lightly in oven. Serve with soups.

Carrot-Peanut Filling (lunch)

Grind together finely:

1/2 cup salted peanuts

1 cup carrots, shredded

Combine with 3 tablespoons mayonnaise and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Use on whole wheat or rye bread.

Apple-Berry Whip (lunch)

1 package raspberry gelatin

2 cups boiling water

1/2 cup strained applesauce

1/4 cup evaporated milk, whipped

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water, stirring. Pour half of mixture into a mold which has been rinsed with cold water. Chill until it thickens. Fold the applesauce into the whipped evaporated milk and add to the cooled remaining gelatin. Place on top of the thickened gelatin. Chill. Serve with cream. 6 servings

[My thoughts-- strained applesauce is likely what we buy in a jar, just not a chunky applesauce. Whipping cream could be subbed for the evaporated milk.)

Liver Sandwich Filling (lunch)

1 chopped onion

1 tablespoon butter or fortified margarine

2 hard-cooked eggs

2/3 pound steamed pork liver

1/3 cup cream

 salt and pepper

Steam liver for 25 minutes in tightly covered pan. Cool and put through meat grinder. Mince eggs. Brown onion in melted butter or margarine until light brown. Mix all ingredients well. Spread on enriched white or whole wheat bread. Keep spread in a cool place.

Bean and Wiener Casserole (dinner)

8 wieners

2 cups cooked navy beans

1 large onion, sliced

1 can condensed tomato soup

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon mustard [ground mustard powder is my guess]

Split wieners in half lengthwise and cut each piece in half. Place a layer of cooked beans in a greased casserole, then half the wieners, and half the onion slices. Add remaining beans, then wieners and onion. Mix the tomato soup with the seasonings and pour over the casserole. Cover and bake at 375 F for 25 minutes. The onions will still be crisp, but this gives a pleasant crunchiness. Serves 6

Candied Sweet Potatoes (dinner)

6 medium size sweet potatoes, peeled

1/4 cup orange juice

1 cup dark corn syrup

3 tablespoons butter or fortified margarine

2 tablespoons flour

Parboil sweet potatoes in salted water. Drain. Place in a greased utility dish. Combine flour with orange juice, add syrup, mix well. Pour over sweet potatoes and dot with butter or margarine. Bake uncovered at 375 F for 1 hour.

Snappy Cole Slaw (dinner)

1/2 cup vinegar

1 tablespoon butter or fortified margarine

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon celery seed

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon paprika

1/2 head cabbage, shredded

Bring the vinegar and butter or margarine to a boil. Remove from heat and add all the other ingredients except the cabbage. Stir well. Serves 6

Graham Bread (dinner)

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup sour milk or buttermilk

3 cups graham flour

1 egg

1/2 cup molasses

1 tablespoon melted shortening

1 teaspoon soda

1 tablespoon boiling water

1. 1/2 teaspoon salt

Beat egg, add sour milk or buttermilk, add melted shortening and molasses. Dissolve soda in boiling water and add. Mix the graham flour, salt and sugar together and add to first mixture, beating only enough until mixture is well blended. Pour into a well greased loaf pan. Bake at 375 F for 50 minutes.

Sour Milk or Buttermilk Griddle Cakes (breakfast alternative)

2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose enriched flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 teaspoon soda

2 cups sour milk or buttermilk

1 egg

2 tablespoons melted shortening

Mix and sift dry ingredients. Add the sour milk, melted shortening and beaten egg. Beat thoroughly, and drop by spoonfuls on a hot greased griddle. When well puffed and bubbles appear, turn carefully and cook on the other side.

Basic Cream of Leftover Vegetable Soup (lunch alternative)

1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

3 cups milk

1 cup finely chopped or pureed vegetables of any kind

Blend the flour and butter/margarine, add seasonings, milk and vegetables. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 5 minutes. Serves 5

Baked Rhubarb (lunch alternative)

2 pounds rhubarb

2/3 cup sugar

Wash rhubarb and cut into one-inch pieces. Do not remove skins unless they are tough. Mix rhubarb with the sugar and put into a greased casserole. Bake until tender but not mushy. About 25 minutes in a 375 F oven. Serves 5

Barbecued Frankfurters (dinner alternative)

1 1/2 pounds skinless frankfurters

1 medium size onion

2 tablespoons vinegar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 cup tomato catsup

2 teaspoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons water

Put onion through a food chopper, using fine knives. Blend vinegar and flour and combine with onion and remaining ingredients. Pierce each frankfurter with a fork. Arrange frankfurters in three-quart greased casserole. Pour sauce over frankfurters, cover and bake in 350 F oven for 1 hour.

Dandelion Salad (dinner alternative)

2 eggs

5 slices bacon

1/2 cup cream

4 tablespoons vinegar

1 pound tender, young dandelion leaves

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Wash and dry dandelions, which preferably have been picked from stalks which have no flowers. Place in a salad bowl. Dice and fry bacon, and then pour bacon pieces and the hot fat on top of dandelions. Mix the butter or margarine and cream, beat the eggs, add pepper and salt, vinegar and sugar, and mix with cream mixture. The butter or margarine can be melted in the same utensil used for frying the bacon, and cream added to the butter/margarine while it melts. After egg and other ingredients are added to butter and cream, cook over very low heat until thickened, like a custard. Pour this pip[ing hot over dandelions and blend through greens by tossing up and down with a fork.

Bran Bread (dinner alternative)

2 cups All-Bran

2 cups graham flour

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons soda

1 cup molasses

2 cups buttermilk

2 eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup raisins

Sift white flour with soda, sugar and salt, and blend in the other flours [graham flour and All-Bran]. Add raisins. Mix eggs, molasses and buttermilk together and add to the first ingredients, stirring only until well mixed. Pour into 2 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour at 350 F.

Victory Muffins (dinner alternative)

2 tablespoons shortening

1 egg

1 cup All-Bran

3/4 cup milk

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Beat shortening and egg together until well blended. Add All-Bran and milk and let stand at least 20 minutes. (This much may be done in the evening, adding dry ingredients in the morning.) Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to the first mixture, stirring only until liquid and dry ingredients are combined. Fill greased muffin pans 2/3 full. Bake in 400 F oven. For small muffins, bake 25 minutes. For large muffins, bake 30 minutes. Makes 12 small or 8 large muffins.

Dried Fruit Compote (dinner alternative)

10 dried prunes

5 dried peach halves

5 dried pear halves

5 dried apricot halves

1/2 cup sugar

Wash dried fruit. Cover with boiling water. Put tight lid on saucepan and simmer 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until tender. Add sugar and simmer 5 minutes. Keep utensil covered until cooking is completed to keep in the vitamins.

"Oh Boy, Mom": Menus and Recipes from World War II

When I woke up this morning, it was raining and it looked like it would rain for a good part of the day. I chose to skip the farms (mud) and stick with the vintage shops. I packed a large thermos of half and half coffee and some sweet and savory snacks. Since I wouldn't be hanging out at a farm for part of the day, I figured I would head back home in the early afternoon and not need a full lunch.

My current obsession with vintage shopping is vintage cookbooks, particularly ones from the 1940s and 1950s. In March, I had seen a particular cook booklet from the 1940s in which I was interested. I debated then whether to buy it or not. In the end, I chose to leave it. Well, I regretted that decision afterward and promised myself that if it was still there I would get it next time.

Next time was today. That was the first shop I went into. It was also the first shop to be open this morning. Most shops open at 11 AM M-Th, 10 AM F-Su. This shop opens at 10 AM every day. Serendipity that the shop that had a booklet I wanted was the one open so early? Maybe, maybe not. I also like to get to the vintage district because parking is hard to find by 11 AM.

So I arrived around 9:45. I sat in the car and drank coffee and finished my breakfast until the "OPEN" sign came on. And yes, that booklet was still there as well as one other that interested me today. Oftentimes, items we're interested in will still be there for many months. So this wasn't too big of a surprise. I bought that booklet and considered a couple more. It looks like I'll be heading back there in a few weeks to get at least one more booklet.

The rest of the day went well. I took breaks periodically to eat my snacks and have more coffee and water. I looked longingly in the window of the pie shop at all of the delicious pies. But I also know that I'm a pretty good pie baker, and just between you and me, I make a better pie crust than the pie shop. I got back onto the road to come home before 2 PM. I was trying to miss the Boeing traffic, which creates huge traffic jams every afternoon. I wound up in the early part of this traffic, which is better than the peak traffic hours. And I was going in the opposite direction of most of the Boeing employees. Yay! It was a great day, although different from what I've become accustomed to in the last 5 years. 

My new-to-me menu planning and recipe booklet

One of the reasons WW2 menu planning and recipe books appeal to me is these resources take into consideration that households may be short some of the usual ingredients. Many of us, here, sometimes find ourselves lacking an ingredient or two called for in a recipe or menu plan, and we are reluctant (due financial restrictions or personal frugality philosophy) to go out and buy said ingredients.

This booklet was published in April of 1944 (Westinghouse, Electric and Manufacturing in Ohio, USA) mid-WW2 with all of a war's associated lack of availability and rations. This 55-page publication contains 10 days of ration-friendly menus, tips for cooking for health, and page after page of recipes (21 of the 55 pages are dedicated to recipes). It's a women's magazine on steroids. 

Here's a sample day's menu:

Breakfast

(A) Citrus Fruit Cup (recipe)

(B) Fried Rolled Oats and Bacon (recipe)

Enriched White Toast

Butter or Fortified Margarine

Coffee and Milk

Lunch (at Home)

(C) Soya Cream Soup (recipe)

with Croutons (recipe)

(D) Carrot-Peanut Sandwich Filling(recipe)

on Enriched White Bread

(E) Apple-Berry Whip (recipe)

Milk

Lunch Box

(C) Soya Cream Soup

Liver Sandwich Filling (recipe)

on Rye Bread

Pickle

(D) Carrot-Peanut Butter Sandwich Filling on Cracked Wheat Bread

Orange

Dinner

(F) Bean and Wiener Casserole (recipe)

Candied Sweet Potatoes (recipe)

(G) Snappy Cole Slaw (recipe)

(H) Graham Bread (recipe)

Butter or Fortified Margarine

(I) Fresh or Canned Berries

Buttermilk

I'm assuming the Lunch Box's two sandwiches could be an either/or for a school-aged child or both for a working man with a physical job. I have no idea why the stay-at-home eaters get white bread and the lunch box eaters get Cracked Wheat bread for their carrot-peanut butter sandwiches. What we know now about nutrition, it seems to me all of the white bread could be replaced with whole grain bread for better nutrition.

The A, B, C, etc indicate there is an alternative for those particular foods in the case of not having the food or a personal dislike. Here's that list:

(A) Grapefruit

(B) Sour Milk or Buttermilk Griddle Cakes (recipe)

(C) Basic Cream of Leftover Vegetable Soup (recipe) with any Pureed Green Vegetables

(D) Any Leftover Sandwich Filling

(E) Baked Rhubarb (recipe)

(F) Barbecued Frankfurters (recipe)

(G) Dandelion Salad with Hot Dressing (recipe)

(H) Bran Bread (recipe), or Victory Muffins (recipe)

(I) Dried Fruit Compote (recipe)

The page also has a list of things to do ahead of time, to make last-minute meal prep quicker.

• cook the rolled oats in advance and pour into a pan to cool. I imagine this could be done while cleaning up the kitchen from dinner the previous night. By morning, you would have a shallow pan of cooked oats all set up for cutting into squares to fry.
• the carrot-peanut butter filling can be made ahead and kept refrigerated for a few days
• the apple-berry whip 
• soaking then cooking the beans for dinner's bean and wiener casserole
• mix and sift the dry ingredients for the graham bread

I'll post the recipes for anyone interested tomorrow. For now, I'm tired after my day, and this post has gone long. Enjoy the menu plan.

Taking Myself Out for the Day!

Sometimes you just need to be the one who does something nice for yourself.

With the exception of necessary shopping and appointments that I find unpleasant, it's been over 5 years since I went anywhere on my own. I'm out of practice. And I'm in need of time away for a day.

I have a couple of those unpleasant appointments coming up in the next few weeks. I need to forget those exist for a few hours. So I'm escaping.

There's a farm area not too far away. I am told one farm has small farm animals as well as a nice little store. I may try to find that farm. I may also go to the vintage district (which is close to the farm area) for a couple of hours. 

So, I've got to get myself to bed early, so I can get up early, get breakfast made and dishes washed up before heading out.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Gorgeous and Thrifty Blooming Gardens In the Pacific Northwest

One of the plants that makes the coastal northwest beautiful in spring is the evergreen rhododendron. In my microclimate, the majority of our rhodies bloom in May. We do have a couple of early varieties which bloomed in April, but the vast majority of rhododendrons blossom in May each year.

Rhododendrons come in pinks, purples, reds, whites/ivories, oranges and yellows. Our house came complete with a red, a white, and a purple rhodie when we moved in.

Since then, we've added several more, mostly in shades of pink and cream.

This is the rhodie that we can see from our bedroom window. The tight buds are a deep pink, opening to pale pink. Although I started with just this one of this variety, I now have 2 additional clones. (See below how I did that.)

On the other side of the yard is this more salmon-y pink rhodie.  The tight blooms are close to a salmon pink crayon in color, opening to a peachy pink blossom.

In our front yard there's a hillside with several different rhododendrons. This white one has yellow centers in each blossom. This particular plant came with the house and is now huge, like a tree with low-growing branches (some touching the soil). These low branches would prove to be beneficial to us. More on that in a bit.

This rhodie is smaller in total growth with smaller leaves and smaller blossoms. This one is a delicate pink. We added this one to the front of the hillside about 15 years ago.

This purple rhodie, like the previous white one, came with the house and property. It is also huge and tree-like, creating a dense screen between our front yard and the neighbor's. And like the white one, it has low-hanging branches which proved to be beneficial.

In actuality, this rhodie is a true red, not dark pink. It came with our house, too, on the hillside. Originally, there were 3 huge rhodies on that hillside, a white, purple, and red.

Although this simply looks like a white rhododendron now, before the blossoms open, they look like a very pale blush pink. 

The garden seating area we developed on my birthday in April contains a 3 of these white rhodies. I propagated these from low-hanging branches on the hillside white rhodie mentioned above. The branches were resting on the soil, so I used a simple layering technique to promote rooting on the woody part of the branch.

This article on Gardening Guru explains the simple layering technique. Basically, you skin a very small portion of the branch where it will contact the soil. Then you mound moist soil over this portion of the branch, leaving the green growing tips above the soil. It took our mother plant about a year to develop roots on the branches I layered. I then cut the rooted part of the branch off the mother plant and potted in moist soil and kept in a partially shady spot where I could keep an eye on it and water it as needed. Within two years I had a healthy baby plant (actually 3 healthy baby plants) to transplant into the soil where I wanted this kind of rhododendron.

We've used this technique to propagate a dozen or so rhododendron baby plants to add to our landscape. It's simple, works most of the time, and costs nothing. Now that's a bargain.