50's style Food Glorious Food, Stocking your Pantry Home Economics #1

   Home cooked Food...Big Breakfasts for the Kids before School...Family Dinners...Filled Cookie Jars? Is this what you think of as the Typical 50's life? Or TV Dinners and mushy canned Vegetables and an odd assortment of inedible treats? 

     

A bit over the top but loved the clip's exaggeration

     Ya Know...I am always assuming that everyone automatically knows how to do everything...That cleaning the house, sewing a button or fixing a hem...washing dishes by hand...cooking, menu planning, grocery shopping and, actually, the list is enormous of what I take for granted. But some don't! They were never taught because their moms didn't teach them and probably didn't know herself. I grew up where we were raised with these skills working around us. Our mothers cooked and Baked from scratch, they sewed on that button that was about to fall off, sewed our clothes, mine even knit us sweaters etc....and then the school system had weekly Home Economics Classes. In 7th and 8th Grade, One Day a week, after lunch we would be bussed to another elementary school and spend the next 3 or so hours to learn how to take care of a home. How to Cook, Sew, knit etc....all those things that are not run of the mill, part of daily life anymore. So...I figured I would share my retro knowledge with a side of 50's every once in a while ala "Greenley Acres Home Economics Classes" 😉
   So, First...FOOD, the good, the bad and the Ugly of Food in the 50's. It is true, there are some things that were not at their Zenith in the 50's and food was one of them. It was almost as if going through 2 decades of just getting enough food to eat (The Great Depression and Rationing of WW2) made us forget what good food was and how to eat healthy. So Here is a list of some of the unfortunate things I have seen in 50's Cookbooks

1. Gelatin...

   If you mean for it to be fancy and want to impress everyone you must add Gelatin...or Flavored Jello. Everything is a dang Aspic! So disgusting! What is an Aspic you say? It is Gelatin made with Meat stock as a base for meat and vegetables to float in and be molded. It is as repulsive as it sounds but was all the rage in the 50's. Just thinking of a sitting down to a meal and a molded, jiggling, slow motioin moving mass with floating peas and turkey set before you...Mmmmm.... "It's so tasty too, tastes just like Candy" Shudder (quote from I Love Lucy Vitameatavegimin episode) Originally Aspic was made by boiling animal bones...the gelatinous stock that was naturally made. If you have ever made Chicken noodle soup and taken it out of the fridge the next day seeing a solid mass, you know what I am talking about. So...No...just NO!!

2.Molds & Loafs

 If
company is coming...Put dinner in a Mold or Make it into a Loaf. Sort of the same thing as Gelatin...as those are always molded.  It doesn't matter what the loaf is stuffed with as long as it is "Frosted" in Hellman's Mayonnaise OMG! What were they thinking...If it was the 60's or the 70's we could blame the drug culture, but alas there is no excuse.

3. Spam...enough said

     Enough said because we need to move on. The Period after WW2 was filled with frozen TV Dinners, Canned Food, Dinners made with concentrate canned soup and the list of "convenience foods was growing every year. But we want to concentrate on feeding our families, good healthy, made from scratch food and how to be frugal while purchasing...stick to a budget. That is pretty much how the 50's housewife did things. I very rarely saw some of the things that are standards in our house, while growing up. We didn't have nuts..except before Thanksgiving. Chocolate chips were purchased for a particular recipe...along with Cream Cheese and even "real" butter. We used Margarine. When the milk man came...we got milk and nothing else. But what I have at all times in my house might be a bit much for most but I can whip up a meal without going to the store if I can't get there for one reason or another. Your pantry should be filled with things that are used frequently by your family.

MY PANTRY LIST

Dry Goods/Room Temp Safe:

• All Purpose White Flour
• Wheat Berries (I grind my own whole wheat flour)
• White Sugar
• Brown Sugar
• Powdered Sugar
• Molasses
• Honey (We have bees so there is always honey)
• Baking Soda
• Baking Powder
• Cocoa Powder
• Cream of Tartar
• Salt (White, Pink Himalayan, Real Salt)
• Pepper (black, green and white)
• Shortening
• Vegetable Oil
• Olive Oil
• Sesame Oil
• Vinegars (I make our Apple Cider Vinegar, but white, red wine, Balsamic)
• Pasta (Ziti, spaghetti, elbows, Asian Pastas for lo mein, Pad Thai, Couscous etc.)
• Rice (White and Brown)
• Quinoa
• Corn Meal
• Cream of Wheat
• Cold Cereal
• Oatmeal
• Dried Beans and Canned beans for quick meals
• Canned Tomatoes (from our garden)
• Tomato Paste
• Tomato Sauce
• chili powder
• Sweet basil & Thai Basil (garden) both dried and in the freezer
• oregano (garden)
• sage (garden)
• thyme (garden)
• Cumin
• paprika
• Ginger
• Nutmeg
• Cinnamon
• Curry Powder
• Garlic Powder
• Poppy Seed
• Dry Mustard
• Tabasco Sauce
• Extracts: Vanilla, Almond, Butter
• Tuna
• Potatoes
• Fresh Tomatoes (from the garden when in season, but always have them all year)
• Onion
• Garlic
• Coffee
• Tea
• Creamora (addicted...I know it isn't good for me)
• Jams and Jellies (Garden)
• Relishes (Garden)
• Sauerkraut (Garden)
• Pickled Peppers Hot & sweet (Garden)
• Coconut Milk
• Coconut Cream
• Grated Coconut
• Artichoke Hearts
• Niblet Corn
• Refried beans
• Different Stocks...Beef, Vegetable and Chicken
• Popcorn (not the microwave kind...plan on planting some to see how it goes)
• Corn starch
• Peanut Butter
• Bread Crumbs
• Crackers
• Raisins (Occasionally other dried fruits)
• Marshmallows
• Maple syrup
• I also have sprouting seeds...Mung bean and Alfalfa, they take only a few days to be able to use

Fridge:

• Celery
• Carrots
• Eggs (OMG...the eggs...we have chickens and they produce tons)
• Butter
• Margarine
• Almond milk
• Milk
• half and half
• Usually Lettuce and cucumbers
• Sharp Cheddar cheese
• Sour Cream
• Parmesan Cheese
• Mustard
• Mayo
• Ketchup
• Soy Sauce
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Usually Lemons and Limes

Freezer: (mostly from our garden)

• Spinach
• broccoli
• chopped green.red, yellow peppers (I haven't had to buy a fresh pepper in forever use them fresh when in season and chop and freeze excess for off season use)
• collards
• pumpkin or other winter squash
• berries
• Yeast
• some herbs
• frozen ginger root
• Veggie Beef Crumbles ( We do eat meat just not very often...maybe once a month & Holidays)
• Boca Burgers
• Chocolate Chips (Giant Costco Package)
• Almonds
• Pecans
• Walnuts

We buy fresh fruit and vegetables as needed for certain meals we want along with other dairy products and cheeses. With these things at my constant disposal, I can make a number meals without going to the store...or only needing to go for a few things

Chilis and other Mexican entrees with Jalepeno Cornbread
Burgers and French Fries
Chinese Fried Rice
Egg Foo Young
Pasta with Marinara sauce or Veggie lasagna
Macaroni & Cheese
Tuna Macaroni Salad
Potato Salad
Quiche
Cuban Black Beans and Rice
Piccadillo and Rice
Curried Vegetables and Rice
Broccoli Potato Cheddar soup
Beans, Greens and Corn Bread
Thai Peanut Butter Curried Noodles with Spinach
Scalloped 'tomatoes with Parmesan and cracker topping
Pizza
Garbage Pasta...basically pasta with a number of veg...artichoke hearts, parmesan, lemon and garlic
Morrocan Curry with Pumpkin, veg, Chick Peas and cous cous
Corn and Potato chowder
Thai Coconut Corn Chowder
Baked Potatoes stuffed with broccoli and cheese
Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie
Pad thai
Vegetable Lo Mein
Vegetarian Strudel
Vegetarian Pot Pie
Vegetable soup
Cream of Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches

Countless breakfasts:
Eggs any way
Hash Browns
Home fries
french toast
pancakes
waffles
cereals..obviously
scones
muffins
quick breads
Donuts

Pies, Cakes, Cookies, Cupcakes, and Brownies

Yeast breads

Snacks:
Popcorn
Caramel Popcorn
Candied Nuts
Savory nuts
Rice Krispie treats

These are just some of the things that are obvious to me but I know if I were to look in my pantry I would be able to come up with even more.
Well, that is it for now. Hopefully, I won't be a month later before I post again. But Spring and all the planting is still going strong but I had a break from it when I sprained my ankle...thus...I got this done that I started last month. Post any questions and I will get back to you
. Have a good Happy Spring!