Sunday, August 19, 2012

Recession-Era Cooking: Apple Crisp

This week I am focusing on a new Pinterest board I have created Depression/Recession Era Cooking.  I have a keen interest to reduce my grocery bill and I have taken too the cooking skills I have seen used by the women who have lived through tough times before.  There are many thrifty ideas that make a lot of sense.  I will turn first to my MIL who raised 7 children on a very thrifty budget.  She has a lot of great recipes that feed a crowd and are nutritious.    This is the one recipe that my husband requests the most, it is a very simple recipe for apple crisp.

Ingredients:
4 cups apples, sliced thinly
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup water
Topping:
3/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup margarine

Place apples in a greased 8 x 8-inch baking dish with cinnamon and water.  Mix flour, sugar, and margarine until crumbly and sprinkle on top of apples.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50minutes.  

Here is the finished product.  No complaints when anyone walks by the stove and steals a bite!  
 
This was Sunday's Lunch at my house, chicken noodle soup and apple crisp. 

I haven't shown off this Hoosier cupboard yet, it was my Great-grandmother's.  It lived through the Depression.   There is no natural light where we keep this cupboard so the pictures are a little harsh on it. 

Arriving in our grocery stores now is this year's crop of potatoes.  I have seen a 15# bag and a 50# bag of potatoes this week in the stores.  This 15 # bag I have was $4.50, that is 30 cents a pound and they are so filling.  My kids will not complain if I have a meatless meal and serve potatoes.  When you consider potatoes are 30 cents a pound and meat can be $ 3.99 a lb. on up, potatoes make a great main dish replacement.  
So, what did people in the Depression or a recession era do to save on their groceries and feed a family?  They ate frugally, often making meat a scarce thing on their table.  When our children were small (3 and 1 year old boys)  I could feed us on $75 a week.  We now have two teen boys and a 7 year-old and we are spending almost $250-300 a week!!  I have had it with the pricey food costs and this house is turning to a recession-era cooking plan.  I am going to start with a use less meat formula that I got from a thrifty website years ago.  
I am taking the formula and tweaking it a little:

Sunday: meat
Monday: casserole
Tuesday: pasta
Wednesday: meat with crock pot
Thursday: casserole 
Friday: fish, eggs, cheese, or potatoes
Saturday: soup & sandwiches

You can change these up to fit your schedule.   But, right away you can see where making a pasta dish or casserole can fill up the family and you can avoid the pricey cuts of meat.

So, I will be pinning my recipes from this onto my Depression/Recession Pinterest Board.
  There are a few resources on there already and I hope to have a lot more to add if you follow along.   If anyone would like to join the board just let me know.  The drought has been tough on our area and food costs can't help but rise, maybe, using this formula it might help save dollars on food .  
 Sherry
Cottage Style Link Party  at Lavender Garden Cottage
Sunday's Best Party  at My 1929 Charmer
Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper
Sunny Simple Sundays  at Sunny Simple Life
On the Menu Monday at Stonegable

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