I watched all the videos over the weekend and, while I probably won't make the recipes, I gleaned some great tips. This information will look somewhat familiar because bloggers, including myself, are picking up ways to decrease our food costs and environmental footprints from many sources. The tips I gleaned from her videos are listed below with my additional comments or links in italics.
- Starches such as potatoes, pasta, and bread are cheap and fill your belly.
Use whole grain, if possible, for more nutrition and fiber. Wheat berries, for example. - Lentils are a cheap and filling source of protein. Meat was very expensive and rare; the cuts were very thin.
Lentils are the fastest cooking of the legumes, and will therefore use less energy. - Cut potatoes in small cubes so they cook faster, using less energy.
- Finish cooking foods by covering the pan and turning off the heat.
See Retained Heat Cooking for taking this a step further. - Trim the bruised parts off fruits and vegetables rather than throwing out the whole item.
Anything to avoid food waste is good! - One tip I would add is use a rubber spatula to scrape every last bit of food out of the bowl or pot.
- You can survive with salt and pepper as your only seasonings.
Grow some herbs for variety. - Use lots of olive oil; it's healthy.
I disagree with this one. While oil was an easy source of calories in hard times, its copious use is not a nutritious part of the diet. (See these two articles.) - Grow your own vegetables for more variety in your diet.
- Save seeds from your food to dry and replant next year.
- Make sure your neighbors know they can't harvest from your garden without permission.
Help them develop their own food security to reduce theft issues. - Keep chickens for your egg and meat needs.
- Eat smaller portions.
Americans today are used to super-sized meals. Huge portions were not available during the Great Depression. - If you live in a cold climate, you can bury food in the snow instead of owning a freezer.
I'm assuming they didn't have a dog... - Turn the heat down and bundle up to stay warm.
See Crunchy Chickens' challenge and read the comments for ideas on how to stay warm. - Find cheap sources of entertainment. Read a book aloud to the family, for example.
- And, most importantly: Don’t use up everything you have; keep some aside, in case conditions get worse.
19 comments:
The book 366 Delicious ways to Cook Rice, Beans and Grains has 7 wheat berry recipes. It's a good way to get into cooking these types of foods if you are not familiar with them (not YOU, of course, Chile!)
I love her videos because she reminds me so much of my great g-ma.
My CSA's recipe database has tons of wheat berry recipes, too. (Scroll down to the bottom.)
Great list! I've been eating a lot of wheat berries now that I found a local source. I'm working a deal with the farmer now, but it's only $7 for a 50# bag (I paid $52 for a 25# of local rice)! Uh, yeah. I'm going to be eating lots more local wheat berries and lots less local rice. Talk about saving money!
Wow, Heather, that's cheap! When we wanted to stock up on extra wheat, the cheapest I could find was, if I remember right, 50 cents/pound. Extra wheat at the CSA sells for 75 cents a bag, and I don't think the bags weigh more than a pound, if that much.
Yeah, I'm pretty excited about it. I'm negotiating with the farm (still trying to find out what pesticides were used if any) and with one of the vendors at our market (who has a grain mill). I think what we'll probably do is I'll buy the wheat berries. Save out what I want to use as berries, send the rest to the market vendor for grinding and then she and I split the resulting wheat in whatever percentage we decide on.
The guy I talked to (the son-in-law of the farmer) didn't think the farm used any chemicals on the crops, but he's supposed to tell me for sure this week.
This is going to be great!!!!
For small quantities of grinding, the little Basic manual mill works fine. You could save up for your own manual or electric mill. The electric KTec Kitchen Mill I used to have was a couple hundred dollars and would grind any grain, including popcorn, from very fine to fairly coarse. The manual mills are more expensive.
Dave and I have been talking about it. So you like the mill you have? All the reviews on line are mixed and I never know who to believe :)
I like the little basic one for coarse oatmeal. We invested in a Country Living Grain Mill for bigger quantities. It works well but is quite a workout. Converting it to pedal power makes it much more practical.
Love the list. We can learn a lot from our grandparents and great grandparents.
I'm a lifelong vegetarian but now that I'm tracking expenses, I also realize how expensive dairy - especially dairy from happy cows - is. Less is more.
Thanks for the links! I guess I should lean towards an electric one since I make a couple loaves at a time...
AHA! So,that's where wheat grass comes from--wheatberries!
AHA! So you can put those sprouts--wheatberries--in sprouted bread!
Anybody besides me think that sprouted wheat berries taste very sweet?
Thanks for the info, '
peace,
Shamba/sheri
I always thought it would be cool to have a few hens if I had my own house, but unfortunately there's a bylaw against that. I guess I'll have to move to Vancouver where it's now allowed :P
>I'm assuming they didn't have a dog...
Make that "Bury your food BARREL in the snow ..."
Sheri - I do. In fact, I dried some of the sprouted wheat berries (without cooking them) to grind up for a nice sweet malty addition to ... something. Malted barley is used as a sweetener. If things get really bad in the future, we may have to get used to more subtle sweets like that. ;-)
Risa - good suggestion! In one video, she mentioned food being buried in the snow in different places in the yard. She was sent out to get the meat out by the fence. LOL
So many weird suggestions out there- I love this one - If you live in a cold climate, you can bury food in the snow instead of owning a freezer...
Only if you live where it reliably snows, is really cold (remember snow is a great insulator), you don't have dogs, bears or surprise thaws. Even the barrel won't help much. Plus you have to remember where you buried the meat. Bad idea I say. Sounds like something someone in the city came up with.
Anonymous (do you have a name?) - I'm sure the people trying to survive the Great Depression did whatever they had to do to make it, whether it seemed logical or not. I doubt they had so much meat, for instance, that a surprise thaw would keep them from cooking it up for a special meal.
Please leave your name next time.
You posted at my site (www.justincasebook.net)and I linked over here. What a great site! So glad I found it. I have an electric Nutrimill that love for everyday use and Lehman's Best Hand Mill for a backup. The hand mill is hard work. I have to have some of my big boys help me if I am grinding more than a couple of cups. The Nutrimill cost the same. It is lightening fast but LOUD.
You said "If you live in a cold climate, you can bury food in the snow instead of owning a freezer.
I'm assuming they didn't have a dog..."
I do have a dog, and don't have a freezer, or any other electric appliance. We keep our frozen food in the tool shed in a plastic tub with locking lid during the winter. Works great. However, it takes a LONG time for a chicken or roast to thaw out when it is -35 outside, LOL.
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