'Hoover Stew' of the Great Depression - How to Feed 8 People for $3.74 - The Struggle was Real
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My mother used to make this but she'd use chicken bits instead of hotdogs, when she stopped making it, I realized we weren't poor anymore
ROFL
well atleast it doesnt taste like shit
@@2p19 no it was amazing, especially with chicken broth powder
Lol when we were poor my mom made rice cereal everyday
@@germsslick8625 wat
When you drain the pasta, keep the water and use it instead of adding plain water. The pasta water has some flavour in it, but more importantly it has starch in it from the pasta. That's some extra calories, which is important if you are trying to stretch the meal around a lot of people.
True pasta water is great def helps thicken sauce with the starch
I agree with using pasta water but not all of it. A cup or two is enough, and you can use the rest for other stuff too. Too much starch like that and you start to feel sick and your pasta gets all congealed and weird.
I had the same thought, i allways use the pasta water for sauce as well, as it adds texture.
A pot of rice or pasta makes the basis of two meals, one from the drained pasta, and a second from the pasta left in the pot with the pot water; just add leftovers and dump cans of stuff in. One pasta pot i get compliments for is the some of the pasta and water, add one can of cheap meat and bean chili, add cans of beans, corn (I drain out the water), tomatoes, green beans, carrots, and what leftover vegetables from the fridge.
it also allows the sauce to stick to the noodles and stuff because starch is like a glue ... better binder is flour ... but yes NEVER toss out the pasta water it makes the best broth
My wife moved out, and the kids and I need to live on half the income but the same old mortgage. I’m looking for ways to cut expenses, and one is food. Our middle class menu is now a working class menu. I just made this, and the kids loved it. I threw in a dollop of lard for calories and more flavor. I am following this channel now. Thanks for the idea!
I’m sorry, I’d suggest downsizing and moving so a state with cheaper cost of living
The middle class doesn't exist. You're either working class or not working class.
Best of luck
@@jakesmall8875 he's already paying for a mortgage on the house he is already living in. plus, he would also have to take the risk of finding a new job.
@@tamacat920 downsizing would involve selling the house
I know this came out during the pandemic but it almost feels like we need this video now more than ever. I went to the store the other day and spent $50 on groceries for a week, got in my car, and burst into tears because that was all I had. A can of beans or a thing of frozen veggies runs almost $2 in some stores when I could have sworn a year or two ago dry goods like beans and pasta were often under $1. It's a miracle to find anything under a dollar anywhere, and milk and eggs can easily run you $5 or more each. I'm only 24, single, and working on climbing out of debt, and my $15/hr job that would have felt like wealth to me just a year ago is barely enough without overtime. I cannot imagine how hard it must be to feed a family right now. Anyway, enough of my whining. I hope that all doesn't sound entitled. To be totally fair, a lot of my troubles are my own fault and come from being a naive kid with no financial literacy, but inflation is really kicking people's asses right now. I just wanted to say your videos mean a lot and they're really helping me through a tough spot. I imagine I'm not the only one either.
You're definitely not imagining things. It is reality, so no shame in crying or venting about the fact that commodities are jacked up. Sure, there are others who will always be worse off than us, but it doesn't mean you're not struggling there. Thankfully, creativity still persists and people are kind enough to share in on unique ways of how to stretch your dollar further. Keep your head up and if/when things improve again, carry the wisdom you garner from this period of time with you throughout life.
You're not alone Hun! The struggle is real for many right now & yes grocery shopping has brought me to tears! Stay strong my young friend & know you're in my thoughts!
Im a 50 year old man who’s doing ok, but your message alone brings me to tears. I hate this. It also makes me angry - and I know getting political will make at least half the people angry no matter what one says, but … and I say this as a bipoc Canadian - get your Democrats out! …but regardless of your political ideology, hang in there everybody.
My family went from owning multiple businesses to not being able to eat 3 meals a day. Sometimes, we only eat once. The job loss mixed in with the inflation is too much. I have been living off $1.29 macaroni, $1.39 loaf of bread and using whole milk for the macaroni instead of butter. This is our life. Ironically, my grandparents fed an entire neighborhood daily during the Great Depression. Everyone came to their house for a meal daily because they were one of the rare ones fortunate to have jobs. They fed the neighborhood mostly potatoes and bread with lard. I'm contemplating some potato dishes now. Good luck and just know soon all of America and the world will be in our shoes. The system reset is all by design.
You are most definitely not imagining things! Everytime I go to the store I scratch my head thinking "I know this was cheaper just a few visits ago!" It makes you feel like your going crazy. I have this fear that since we're paying for these expensive groceries now why would corporations lower them back to their original prices? I mean greedy companies are nothing new. Does anyone have any takes on that? I used to be able to get a cart decently full of groceries for $100 now I can't even get more than a half a cart for that.
This guy says "the people" more than the founding fathers did when writing up the bill of rights
Right to bear stewed tomatoes...
He should replace George Washington
I read that as "the foundling fathers" and was momentarily confused lol
@@michael931 Give me stewed tomatoes or give me death!
"..except black people of course" -the founding fathers, probably
the algorithm pushing these into my feed doesnt exactly foretell a prosperous future
You eat this stuff you are left with so much money to invest you become a billionaire or something.
You better download as much great depression meals before your wifi gets cut offed
2020 was the worst year for the USA since the Great Depression. People are out of work, starving and homeless without much desperately needed government support. History never repeats, not really, but it absolutely does rhyme, and right now, we have need of these desperation tactics again.
@@dashiellgillingham4579 These days, I'm not even sure if the qualifier "since the great depression" applies. Things might be better on paper in some areas but reality tells a completely different story when accounting for how the numbers are obtained.
Bro same! I don't know how I ended up on this channel. I'm a vegetarian, health focused, leftist anime nerd. What's going on here?!!?!!
Recommendation: if rice or pasta is going in the sauce, skip the boiling separate step. Allow the pasta or rice to absorb the sauce or broth and the flavor along with it. This will keep the pasta/rice from being as bland. Also the starch from the pasta will thicken the sauce. You do have to mind the liquid level as it absorbs to make sure the food does run dry, and burn, or not cook all the way leaving it chewy. In a survival scenario those calories from the starch are pure energy, and if water is inz short supply you just saved some of it.
As I was watching this, a year and a half after posting, I decided to do a running tally of the current cost of ingredients. It came to $4.72 or $0.59 per serving. Still an extremely viable option for those with depression level income. :) Thank you for sharing. It gave me some great ideas for making similar dishes.
2 years after the posting of this video, the running tally is now $6.28 or about 79 cents a serving. This is in Northern Indiana pricing, I would hate to see what these ingredients would cost in California.
Growing up in the mountains of Kentucky, my grandmother would make "Goulash." It was in no way actual goulash. It consisted of a diced onion, minced hamburger, elbow macaroni and ketchup. Brown the onion and meat, cook the pasta, then mix everything together and add enough ketchup so that it wasn't a dry nasty mess. Young me loved it
That Actual my kids and I would like! We like stuff like that,even tho it sounds weird to others. You should make it and add some other stuff to it.reinvent your moms recipe .😇
We here in eastern europe eat goulash all the time
We had something like that, except canned tomato in place of ketchup and a can of peas were also added.
My family use to make a type of goulash it was hamburger meat pork and beans and ketchup
Yeah my mema called it goulash that’s exactly what I was gonna say lol from OKLAHOMA
I'm 68 yrs old. When I was a kid, my dad would make this and called it Hobo Stew. He didn't cook too often, bit when my mom was out of town or incapacitate. we loved his Hobo Stew.
I am the same age. When my dad was still in the Navy we were on a really tight budget. My mom, instead of making this, would make hot dogs, fried potatoes and onions. She would then make what we called ranch stew, which was somewhat similar to this except we had hamburger meat. Also Salmon cakes.
Sadly the great depression today is in the head so the government need to pay people so they can feed themselves and their families but they are depressive people so cheap cooking is not on their menu's. Is incredible what you can do with 5 dollar's.
Went went to a church who did that stew every year during their festival. Big hit. They used ground beef in theirs.
This made me smile
I can see how this could be a winner for kids, considering its relatively bland. Nothing weird and easy to eat and digest.
A small change one could make is to reserve 1-2 cups of the pasta water to replace the clear water you add later. The starch in it should help with thickening the broth a bit.
My grandma used to make this with chicken or sausage to make it "fancy". I never realized that this was a recipe from the Great Depression, it was just something that my grandma cooked. She also had a twist where she would throw a bunch of different canned veggies into a pot along with some chicken stock and the macaroni and called it veggie stew.
I've made this as a poor student, I thought I was just good at cooking on a budget. Turns out I was reliving the annals of history.
Well, those two things don't cancel out... So nice budgeting.
Id get a 1$ bag of lentils and 2$ worth of onion and garlic then boil it with salt and pepper as my college food source, that 1$ 1 pound bag lasts a few days so ye
I bought one can of the cheapest tomato I can find, and that immediately blew the allotted budget for this meal.
You guys heard about RICE? Its much cheaper.
Anals?
The noodles WILL naturally separate, but if you don't stir it they can stick to the pan.
The only downside to stirring is you have to stir xD
Yep, if I don't stir it's basically guaranteeing that there'll be a few burnt macaroni on the bottom when I drain it.
Pasta 101: No stirring means lots of stuck together clumps. Mmmm clumps...
My brother is a chef and he says you should ALWAYS stir for about 15 to 30 sec to work off some starch so it wont all stick together or stick to your pan.
You should always give them a quick stir occasionally while cooking, because if they stick together during cooking, they'll be unevenly cooked. A wooden spoon is your friend.
My version of this includes the following: 1 pound of pasta (any kind works, but elbows seem traditional) 1 pound of chopped hotdogs 1 large yellow or purple onion, chopped as you like. 1 tablespoon (or more, if you like) of minced garlic 1 can of condensed tomato soup (no water needed). I sometimes substitute tomato paste; the variety with basil, garlic, and oregano. Grated cheese (or shredded, if you prefer). I like "The Stinky Three" (Asiago, Parmesan, and Romano) bacon fat (or salt pork fat) . Saute the onions and hot dogs in the bacon fat. In a separate pot, cook the pasta and drain when done. Add the onions, hot dogs, and soup to the pasta, stirring until well mixed. If you didn't use tomato paste or flavored tomatoes, add whatever herbs and seasonings you like. Top with the cheese and enjoy. This used to be one of my Sunday evening "comfort" meals. I even had a couple nights when I was so hungry that I ended up saying, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing!" . Other (optional) items are canned tomatoes, either in place of the soup or tomato paste, or to augment it; diced bell peppers; RoTel tomatoes with diced green chilies (for some heat); and if you don't want hot dogs, find yourself some of the fattiest salt pork, cut it into cubes, fry it (using the grease afterwards to cook the onions and peppers), and add the fried salt pork at the very end, so it stays crispy. . My mother and father both were born just prior to the Depression (my father in 1926 and my mother in 1928). Also, my next door neighbor was from that time period as well. Both had large families (I'm the youngest of 9 and my neighbor had 7 kids and was widowed). One of my neighbor's economy meals was to cook up 5 pounds of pasta in an old washtub, adding just butter, salt, and pepper, if she had nothing else.
Perfect!! For a change to this, leave out the hot dogs & add some canned tuna (in oil) drain some oil into the pasta water while cooking.
My son brought his woman to introduce us before they married. I was making what we kids called "Mom's 'end of the money'" meals-- this recipe I just learned as Hoover Stew. OK. What's in a name, I ask... anyway, she loved it. My son grew up on it at home and at aunts and uncles homes -- Mom never made it after we kids left home-- and between them, the entire pot full vanished in minutes. Shucks-- I didn't get the usual left-overs, which are better the second time around.
My grandma called it slumgullian.
@@hairywitch4063mine did, too.
If you haven’t watched it, I highly recommend “Great Depression Cooking” with Clara. Unfortunately she passed away about 8 years ago but, thankfully, she recorded some great videos about the meals she used to cook back in the depression. I’ve tried some of her recipes and they are quite good and very filling. It’s awesome, to me at least, that someone who lived through that time was still with us long enough to have a UTube channel.
That's heartwarming and slightly tragic she passed away though
It was her grandson,Jonathan that thought of filming her..he was very close to her and misses her dearly...
Awww I just discovered her today! I wish I could’ve thanked her while she was here but I’m also glad she was able to make and pass this on to others.
Clara is awesome. Buy her cook book for even more great things! I wish I would have done something similar with my last grandmother. She was very smart but her body failed her. She died last year at 91
I love Clara's channel.
a depression meal? damn i mean i thought i was just getting fed growing up.
@@JohnDoe-jk3vv probably a bit fresher ingrediants.
Same haha! Fried eggs & potatoes was VERY big at our house as well 2 or 3$ eat for days
When I was growing up this is what rich people ate!
Me too. My mom made this when I was a kid. She was born in 1927.
you must have had a feast! LAUGHS IN POVERTY
Sad to say this but the struggle is real, again! Many people are struggling at the moment and recipes like this will definitely be helpful.
I have had a package of kielbasa in the freezer for a while. I think I'll make this and use the kielbasa instead of hotdogs! I love anything with macaroni and tomatoes!
When I was growing up, we ate just plain macaroni and tomatoes all the time (seasoned with just some bacon grease, salt and pepper). Bacon grease makes everything taste better. Sometimes we would have cornbread with it, and sometimes maybe a fold-over bologna sandwich, but we liked it just as well without anything else. We ate it up then, and I still love it, now that I am almost 70! When I visit my sister and she asks me what I want her to fix for dinner, I always say macaroni and tomatoes. Still as good as ever.
@@jonnaosborne1832 My mom used bacon grease that sat in a jar on our stove. She would even pop popcorn in it! It does make everything taste better!
Note to all making this dish for only 1 person: DO NOT mix the entire bag of macaroni into the soup. Cook it separately according to how much you would like to eat at that time. Overnight macaroni will just absorb all the water and inflate it, making it too soggy. Thanks for the recipe!
Rinse the macaroni in cold water immediately after draining it; that will stop the cooking. Then it won't restart absorbing liquid unless you bring it up to boiling temperature. This also works when making pasta salads.
that's what the cooks want for bad time like then, inflated food fills more tummy.
FINALLY the soup hack!!!
@@711jastin I mean it's just absorbing the excess liquid. Not like you're getting more food from nothing.
@@jimmygreenspan8832 my grandpa and my father had been through hard times, they used to have porridge instead of rice for a long time. Maybe nutrition is not more than rice but it filled more belly.
I’m a noodle stirrer. I’m not a fan of losing noodles to the bottom of my pan, or risking noodle-clumps.
I fucking hate noodle clumps and my dumbass berates myself because I let it get to that stage. :(
You and Wolfe are stirrin' up trouble.
Chuck m in, stir once, and you're good to go for most of the cooking time. Check if it needs a little stir towards the end and done
I'll stir my noodles however I want, and none y'all can stop me, fools.
@@johnathanstoker7145 for president.
When I looked up the recipe, I found this stew was actually extremely nutritious, despite looking unappealing.
I don't want to eat something that's designed to clean toxins out of your body.
@@itiswhatitis141 I don't see how this couldn't be nutritious or what this has to do with liver. It's vegetables, meat, and pasta. I really don't know what else you would need to add. Sure, it's stretched with the pasta. But that's how you have to live when you're poor.
It actually looks pretty good. Probably could do with some more seasoning, but if you're on a budget, you make do.
I was raised on a farm where we raised about everything we ate, I loved macaroni with Mom's canned tomatoes cooked with them. It was a side dish and nothing else in them. They started their marriage in the Depression era. They told me all about it and always were frugal even when they did not have to be in their later years.
These low-cost meals are so apropos for these times. There are so many people out of work and out of money. I truly appreciate that you show meals that can feed several people for not much money. Thanks Larry!
Face diapers and fake viruses are causing that
@@Chilling4Shillings Apparently you haven't lost anyone you love to Covid.
@@robylove9190 Neither have you. You lost them to the flu and underlying health issues. Covid isn't real. It's just the flu with a new name
@@Chilling4Shillings i'm sorry for you, being born with no brain is a very rare disability
I got a letter from my insurance company saying they were billed for me having corona virus from a clinic I have never been to so even if it is real they lie about the numbers I also know several people that did go to the doctor for other things and the doctors just added corona as a diagnosis with no testing for un related issues so there is some food for thought 🤷♀️
One raw hot dog, a slice of bread and a slice American cheese, fold in half. Yes I stir pasta.
@Thomas Hellberg that was good ish
@@joysoyo2416 It was better than the peanut butter by a light year, hehehe.
Same but the sliceof cheese was for weekends when you wanted to spice it up
This gets a major upgrade if you throw the hot dog in a pan to brown it first and butter the bread and toast it in the pan next to it, then melt the cheese on the warm bread so it sticks to the hot dog when you roll it up
Keeping a good supply of seasonings will make any meal you make that much better and help avoid food fatigue if you really only have a couple of pantry items. Beans and rice can be quite boring after eating them so much. Consider soy sauce, ramen noodles, garlic, salt and pepper, oregano, etc. Whatever your favorites are. Hot sauce and Worchsire sauce also amazing additions.
47 going on 48 and still eating weiners straight from the package. I love it still. I even eat them frozen straight from the freezer. Love your recipes! Brings back a lot of good old memories.😊
My parents weren't rich but my brother and I were never hungry. They grew up in the depression and knew how to get the most out of a dollar. Even when money was short my mom would always buy a bag of potatoes and onions. I love fried potatoes and onions.
And always have leftovers. Better than the first time. I am amazed at how many people I know do NOT keep leftovers. What a terrible waste of good food..
thats comfort food
Each stir infuses the dish with just a little more love.
Good content😁💙
Don't talk nonsense here, Sheila. 😂
I think your recipes are absolutely fantastic! My husband and I are starting to struggle with the inflation, but a lot of "cheap" recipes out there are just cheap and nasty. Thankyou for your recipes!
My mom made this but used egg noodles instead of macaroni. I loved it as a kid and still cook it at least once a month.
Hey, hold on there! Hot dogs right out of the package? As a kid - hell yes! As a 75 year old - hell yes!!
i hope you have a good day today
I used to put it on a fork and cook it on the burner... then I'd get in trouble by my mom for ruining her forks
My 8 year old LOVES cold hot dogs. 🤣 some things do not change!
65 and I still love cold hot dogs. Just had one on Tuesday night!
Yes! But at 79, I've been reduced to no nitrates, low salt. But I still do grab one anyway. You only live once!! Almost as good as drinking milk from the jug. With the refrigerator door open! Wheee
My grandfather (grew up through the depression) helped raise me. He was the most resourceful man I've ever met. He could make anything from anything. He put macgyver to shame.
My grandparents were the same way. They sure don't make people like that anymore, that's for sure.
@@renastone1270 They were a different breed back then. Tough, no nonsense, people. Both the men and the women. My grandfather lied about being 18 (he was 16), so he could fight in WWII. A poor farm boy from Oregon became a pilot in the army air Corp, and fought in Guadalcanal and the south Pacific theater.
@@Seth-mu3wo My grandfather did the same thing, only he was 15 and got caught. He was always so angry about that.
@@renastone1270 Right. They were upset they couldn't volunteer, and go fight the axis across the globe. When I was 16, I know I wouldn't have wanted to do that. Hell, 20 years later I still would prefer not doing that. Even those that didn't or couldn't fight still helped the effort back home.
Great now I want your grandfather's food and if he'd give to me if I pay him for it that I'd do that!
I remember in the 1950s going to the Swedish deli with my Nana. The butcher(and owner) would give me a raw hot dog or potato salad to keep me busy. My father traveled across the country in 1936. He learned to make "Mac Pot". It was a pot of macaroni with a couple of cans of Campbell's Pepper Pot soup mixed in. We used to make it on Boy Scout camp outs. It was very popular with my patrol. Good video. Good Luck, Rick
Stumbled across your channel and tried this recipe tonight. The whole family enjoyed it and had 2 bowls each. Thank you so much.
Growing up on a dirt farm in Washington state (50s/60s) we were too poor for hot dogs so most of what we had was raised on the farm. That meant that things such as store-bought things like macaroni, spaghetti and rice were considered luxury items that we didn’t get more than once or twice a month. Our version was to start with a couple onions (almost everything started with onions) which would get sautéed in lard. If there was any meat scraps left in the fridge those would go in but most of the time it was around 1/2-3/4 lb of hamburger (just enough to flavor it a little. Then there were a few scoops of home canned tomato paste, quart jar of undrained corn and in the summer/fall mom would toss in cubed zucchini since we were always trying to use that up. Then the macaroni would be added. This was enough to feed us 6 kids plus parents. If some of the kids up the road wandered down (alcoholic parents) mom would toss in a quart of green beans to stretch it a little further. That plus home made bread which mom baked once a week would keep us happy and full.
I am from Spokane, where you from?
I can relate. I had divorced parents and lived with the alcoholic dad ( my drug addict mom left when we were little) and my dad did tree trimming and sold firewood in the winter to get by. After beer money and weed etc. not much left for food so we ate whatever my dad could get for how ever many days but I remember back the you could get 4 loaves of bread for 1.00 and that blows my mind today. We ate potatoes a lot, beans, cabbage, oats, big pots of things like potato soup and beans for days were just how it was and I was just happy I had something to eat. I swore my kids would never know what that felt like! Thank goodness they ever have. We did get free lunch so we had that meal we could count on during the school year, it’s so vitally important that kids have a good school lunch as it may be the only well rounded meal they get each day! I would love to see schools that could provide a meal like that over the school breaks for families in need.
@@notasb4 yes, my mother was a functional alcoholic meaning she did what she had to before she would drink. Fortunately she brewed or fermented most of what she drank. Growing up in that environment blesses you with lots of stories. But in spite of that, she always made sure we had a roof over our heads and food in our bellies.
@@janedoe3095 I learned a great deal indeed and as a parent raising my own I’m certain times were very difficult for my parents as they didn’t have the resources we now have, I don’t feel they knew near as much about addiction and treatment, the family and what that environment can do to children etc. I don’t have my father anymore, I feel like he did the best he could do at the time with the limited knowledge he had and the difficulties he was faced with. I’m glad your mother always had her children as her priority.
Respect to your Mim for taking care of the neighbor kids, that's pretty sweet.
Kielbasa instead of hot dogs would really bring this to another level.
Kidney beans instead of canellini beans
No!
@@cleaner817 maybe
@@BushBoy_7567 perhaps?
@@cleaner817 please?
My ex-husband made an awesome dish he named Gilligan Stew. A can of chili with beans, a can of Spanish rice and a can of spam(diced and browned in the pot before adding the other ingredients). Our children still love it.
LOVE these quick, cheap, tasty meals. THANK YOU
It's practically pasta e fagiol' (literally pasta and beans). Any Italian that grew up financially challenged would recognize this. Only we make it soupier (no corn, maybe carrot, celery, onion) and would use a different pasta shape and sausage or maybe just a beef or pork bone for flavor. Serve it with bread and it will carbo load a whole family with leftovers !
Thai here, sausage as you know it are not cheap here but bologna, chicken cocktail sausage and frankfurter are plentiful, same for spring onion and yellow onion, and main type of beans around here are long beans and sweet peas sold in pods. Would that work with this dish? By the way, do you think many of those American Italian dishes were invented by immigrants trying to make do when traditional ingredients weren't there until after the War? Heck, we common Thais did not know what pasta was until the G.I. brought them over during the Vietnam War.
@@thanakonpraepanich4284 Hi there! Yes I do think that the immigrants used what ever reasonable substitutions they could find in America to make a filling soup. I know my own family made substitutions when ingredients weren't available or were too expensive. I love Thailand! I visited in the 90s. Spent a decent amount of time in Chanthaburi and Bangkok. A pork bone and some minced pork would work nicely in this. You can add any vegetable you like- peas, long beans, cabbage are nice. You can also add cooked black beans or azuki beans if you want more protein. You can really add anything that you like and it will be good.
I love pasta fagioli - in the crockpot - pasta, can of diced tomatoes, browned ground beef, white and red beans, carrots, celery, onion, marinara sauce and beef broth. Salt pepper and Italian spice. It was so good with parmesan. My favorite pasta to use was ditalini. Would eat leftovers for days sooo good!❤
My dad grew up in an orphanage during the depression and I remember him telling me how he would eat nothing but hoover stew from months at a time sometimes. He even fixed it for us a couple of times. This pretty much is the same recipe except he added onions and used stewed tomatoes.
Bless your dad
@@nicolelovesjesusgod7673 how about Mohammed
@@abdullayaser700 no, i don't think so
@@abdullayaser700 uh. What do you mean? Ps: im a muslim
4:30 here here! Used to love it as a kid. Hell! I made one sliced sausage inside of peanut butter sandwich with nuts. But, now I don’t anymore because it felt different. I finally know how to make a big meal now thanks to you and family. When ever I come back to work, my brother and sis ask what’s for dinner
Thank you man, I made this dish today and it was even better than I expected! This video saved my life, literally. :)
My grandmother lived through the Depression and it changed her life. she never forgot it and lived her life extremly thrifty. She was an AMAZING baker though. Thanks for making this video, people who lived through that time were HARD! Maybe we can all get something uplifting from this
Mine too. She would wash, and reuse sheets of aluminum foil. She made the best chocolate chip cookies!
My grandparents lived through the depression and would never waste a thing. Grandma used everything, bones from roast chicken for soup stock, every part of the pig, even pigs feet and etc.... she called some depression food. Sometimes you got to be grateful for all the things we have because we live in America.
My Uncle Ray, R.I.P. .... Also lived through the great depression era....As well as the child slave labor/textile era. Where kids quit school to help the family make ends meet...Worked in slave labor factories (U.S. jobs...Now in China...With Slave labor....) practically chained to the machines...1 lbs block of Hershey's chocolate bar cost ©.25 ...They sometimes received like a free comb from some of the factories they worked at...Super right....
Mine too. When she died, we had to check every single book page and coat pocket because she would hide money there.
@@samanthafahrney @ My Uncle and my grandfather. My uncle had 1000s of $ in quarters and change. My grandfather (mom's side.) Ran a racket with deposit 5 cent cans and aluminium recycling. He to died kind of wealthy without really knowing. $1000s- $10k stuffed in mattresses and storage cans!
This 47 cent meal straight up looks like the $10 minestrone from olive garden, but with hot dogs. Probably tastes better too
Well, that makes sense. I think the going rate for restaurant food is basically 3x the cost of raw materials plus a few bucks extra. So if it costs $3-4 for the ingredients, then there you go. Don't know why I felt the need to explain this but yeah
Olive Garden is like Italian fast food vs. the real deal.
Please try the pasta, it has an excellent profit margin. BAM!
@@Tommymad1 This costs close to nothing for restaurants because they buy in bulk from suppliers.
@@georgemanize no he absolutely nailed it. 3x the cost is usually the model. You simply haven't even considered peoples salaries and rent.
The flavors are excellent. I love these budget meals. Thanks for posting.
I had depression era grandparents.. 4 of them and both families were Midwest farmers. What you made here I grew up on.. and elbow Mac goulash. My absolute favorite comfort food. Hi to everyone in the upper Midwest ! Thanks great recipe
I spent years making Hoover Stew without even knowing that the dish had an actual name or the history behind it... Only differences are that I keep the pasta water and use peas instead of beans.
That's the beauty of making soup like that, you don't even need to read the labels on the cans. Grab five or six cans at random, dump them in a pot and bring to a simmer. You got soup.
When I was in college, you filled your belly however you could. There was an Aldi nearby and when items reached their expiration date, they sold them for almost nothing. It was the first thing I did when I got there. A can of baked beans for .25 cents? So beans and weenys for dinner that night! You can come up with some crazy combinations trying not to starve
Canned food can last for decades, an expiry date of 2 or 3 years is half the time it's still good - as long as it's not getting puffy or really dented that is. If you really looked around you'd probably find stores that just throw out their old food, like the ol' _freegans_ do. Really have to be careful with stuff that's unsealed though, or actually going/gone bad...
@@skyeblue5669 I am not going to hold that against the current generation. I refuse to be the "....well, I had to walk 5 miles to school each day, uphill in snow when I was a kid..." or of course the "get off my lawn" guy. No one had any kind of smart phone technology of any sort prior to 1990. And there are many who don't have those luxuries today even. Yes, many do. But I know a family that eats Kraft Mac & Cheese twice a day so they have full bellies. What bothers me are the ones who are buying steak and lobster with their food stamps and driving home in their Lexus. People taking advantage of the system and making it harder for people who need it to get it.
@@user-ut9ln4vd5m I agree on the printed date on cans, and consider it a "best by" date. Being careful is very important, you don't want a poor choice to make you or your family sick from a bad can or jar. I've found using your nose is a good detector of spoilage, but it isn't foolproof. Cooking your recipe good and hot can do well to destroy food borne bacteria. I would pass on unsealed canned goods. Best of luck!
Canned food, without any damage will usually last twice as long as the date claims. It's more of a marketing gimmick to keep "more products" selling. No companies want products to "last for years" because they can't make money. It's why they tell us that a can of green beans in water/salt will expire in 2 years & you'll have to buy a different can. The United States prides it self on "shelf stable" food. If you want to eat always fresh.. you will be paying a high premium & have to do some serious traveling. Even in the "fresh" section of grocery stores.. it's not really the freshest. It's disgusting how much food is wasted & how world hunger is still a thing.
One time when I was in college I was flat broke and the only thing in the fridge was a jar of mustard. Ate the whole thing! One of the best "meals" I ever had! Yum!
Love stewed tomatoes. I loved hot dogs right out of the package, especially the ones in the natural casings, that "popped" when you bit them.
Man I am struggling right now and I appreciate this more than you know.. God bless...
Always stir your noodles... That's how you keep them from burning and sticking to the pan, and macaroni noodles definitely tend to stick together when cooked without stirring
This kinda reminds me of the dish I made which my buddies named "Nuclear Waste". End of the month , no money , so I pulled out the big pot and cleaned out the pantry . Canned veggies , soup , pasta or rice , whatever I had went in the pot . Add hot dogs and jalapeños and bake a can of biscuits . Everybody made fun of it but nobody turned it down ! Love the channel 👍👍
Reminds me of power outages in the south after a hurricane. Clean out the iceboxes and make a stew feast on the outdoor stove !
Gotta start making biscuits. Looks easy, use a cast iron deep dish pan as mimi oven. PTL
I’m about to do this. Thanks for the idea.
I do that when a unexpected bill or something comes, it usually comes out good.
Fun fact : Australia does not have Biscuits in a can that we cook in ovens that look more like scones to us .
I essentially doubled this by using 2lbs of noodles, and larger cans of stewed tomatoes. I also found that the cheap Hunts-brand of pasta sauce stretches the sauce more. One can substitute luncheon meat instead of hot dogs (more expensive but they keep on the shelf for years), works basically the same. Now I have an 8-qt pot almost completely full of Hoover Stew.
i love your efficient cost cooking. This stuff is my newest passion and it came just in time for how things are going
This might be a depression era recipe, but I eat like this now. I was brought up to eat what is available or starve!
@WWEG1WGA i could tell my mom to cook me something else, but nothing taste better than a hot cup of ramen in my opinion, there’s one time i have some slice beef to go with it, but i make an excuse to not eat that and just eat the ramen with nothing, i eat them so much it’s hard to go on a day without one cup lol
Same The great depression never left rural oklahoma anyhow
Same here, I'm actually cooking something similar to that but with a fancy natural casing smoked sausage, trying to enjoy it while I still have money to spare, but I'm pretty sure it would be just as tasty and filling with a package of good ole dogs for less than half the price when the poo poo finally hits the fan.
Same here,ever eat eyeball tacos?. I'm not joking here,you get the eyeballs of a cow,bull or horse and just mash it until it's a slimy paste and put the slop on a tortilla with the works and chow down. My folks are Mexican native and I had to eat that whenever I'd visit my abuelo because he's an old school hardcore rancher who says "fast food is for soft which folk"
@@vladimir-savage72 soft rich folks you mean, that kinda gross though, eating eyeballs. I'm poor and barely eat fast food but i'd never eat eyeballs, maybe out of desperation for food i'll eat them but that's it.
1:50 Yes you are, stirring the noodles not only helps it to cook faster and more evenly, it also prevents the noodles at the bottom from burning and sticking to the pan.
I need you to write a cookbook of these struggle meals so I can have a hard copy in hand!! Love these
Made this tonight. Substituted 1 can Hot Rotel for 1 can tomatoes, and upgraded the Hot Dogs to Ball Park Angus. Still cost $10.37. Not bad. Can easily feed 6 to 8 folks. Mine looks just like yours with a little extra kick
Stewed tomatoes... My Dad who grew up during the great depression would often heat up a can of stewed tomatoes and put a tablespoon of white sugar over them as a snack...they were delicious, still have them from time to time myself
Momma did exactly this and added broken up dry bread, called it bread stew. It was a great meal for our family.
my grandpa called it tomato and bread pudding.
I make a dish with stewed tomatoes & crushed Crackers & Sugar& Butter.& Bake 25 minutes.Real Good!
Does it taste like ketchup?
My mom made stewed tomatoes in a frying pan, with a bacon strip or two...we ate it over rice with fresh baked biscuits....delicious!
My granpappy used to say "Any man that doesn't stir his noodles is a damn fool."
"Stir the noodles bro." -Abraham Lincoln
My pappy said "Son, you're gonna drive me to drinking if you don't stop driving that hot rod Lincoln."
"Stirring noodles is evil" Kim Jong Un
"Two vast and unstirred noodles lie in the desert, whose frown, wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command which those passions read, The dryness that mocked them and the broth that fed, And on the cheese crust these words appear: Should've mixed them noodles, ye mighty, I want a divorce. Nothing besides half-eatan cup noodles 'round that colossal wreck, the lone and level sands stretch far beyond."
I pity the fool that don't stir his noodles!
Both of my parents grew up in large families with tight funds, whose parents were at least touched by the Depression as kids, if they weren't adults during. I guarantee one way to stretch this for more than 8 people would have been simply adding the rest of the ingredients directly to the pasta water when the noodles were half-cooked (if not just from the beginning), relying on the bulk taken up by water, serving a thinner soup than stew, to help fill bellies. It was truly a humble time for many, which shaped American cuisine and culture significantly.
So I just made this today. Very different but not bad, I rather like it. I did add 1 white onion that I sauteed, and a chicken bullion cube. Substituted great northern beans for the cannellini. It came out great. Total cost was $4.10, $0.59 per serving of 2 cups, 7 servings total (made 14 cups total). I'm thinking I may splurge and use Italian sausage instead of hot dogs next time.
I love struggle meals. I love the evolution of them over history.
Same, honestly. People always think of the arts and sciences when it comes to human ingenuity, but seemingly never when it comes to things like this, when you have practically nothing but have to find a way.
Woah I've seen you in 3 videos lmao
If you haven't seen it yet, there's a channel of someone cooking what they used to have/cook during the great depression.
I’ve always called them “poverty meals” but I think I like “struggle meals” better. To remind me of how my elders struggled to put food on the table, and how much love it shows. I believe my folks could have made a meal out of anything really. We were taught to gratefully and graciously eat anything set in front of us. And I also realize the value of having a garden, making use of everything, and canning and preserving foods.
@@theafellacomposer I loved that channel, I was sad when she passed away.
I just got here and this dude is so wholesome. "Do you, the people, like stew tomatoes?"
I like them fresh unless it's chili then that tastes amazing.
Justmade this for supper tonight. It came out better than I expected. Thank you for sharing.
I remembered this video from a while back today after realizing that I had having some easy ingredients around the house, so I decided to try a somewhat different version of what was shown here. Instead of pasta, I used a bunch of leftover cooked long grain rice that I had taken home from a Saturday lunch we had at work. I also used canned Green Beans instead of Cannellini Beans since I wanted some more vegetables in my stew. Finally, I used the same seasonings you did but also added some Smoked Paprika and crushed Red Pepper for some extra kick (I like spicy foods a lot). Other than what I mentioned, everything else was the same as what was used in the video. After everything was done, the final product was honestly really good. I probably would've preferred the pasta instead of rice, but since the rice was free and I had a bunch of it leftover I figured that was a perfect reason to use it here. Naturally, more of the liquid got absorbed by the rice than it would've by any pasta I would've used but it was still a nice experience considering how cheap the overall product was. Thanks for being an inspiration for my dinner tonight as well as a few of my lunches at work for next week.
"dont stir the uncooked macaroni" is like saying dont stir all the ingredients you added before the macaroni. "it will just get mixed later" stirring the noodles while cooking will only help them cook more evenly by being exposed to more hot water
Yeah, but it doesn't really feel like "poor food" if you don't have poorly cooked macaroni.
@@wyssmaster facts
It's just basic knowledge tho, poor or not, most normal people stir their noodles lol. The ones on the bottom of the pan won't get stuck and burn if you stir it
No disrespect to your method, but I'm just saying I've never cooked noodles without stirring them. Guess I wasn't raised that "poor" 🤷🏻♂️
I always stir mine as well but I have heard that stirring them releases more of the starch into the water which causes more of the noodles to stick together
There are a lot of Depression Era foods like this, our Grandmothers had no choice but to learn how to stretch a dollar. My Grandma made many meatless dishes that were surprisingly good, she made mostly soups though, because the ingredients were pretty much whatever you had on hand, and she made enough to feed an army.
It's still rather common in the third world. My grandmother has raised three entire generations, by doing virtually the same. Suffice it to say, there are certain combinations that make for some good soups.
Soup is the most efficient way to make meals. It captures all the juices and nutrients.
How were your grandparents health wise? Just wondering bc ppl say the cheaper processed food makes us sick.
@@ah-ss7he They really didn't have processed food back then except maybe canned soups. My Grandmother made everything from scratch, bread, noodles, and all of her soups were made from scratch. She lived to the age of 86, so I guess she led a pretty healthy life.
@@cunard61 yeah I guess I was wondering about the carbs as well. She lived a long live! Was she slim?
I love how you included .."the struggle was real"...sure prices have increased a bit now, but it's nothing compared to true hardship. My granny was a young mother of 3 in the 30's and knew firsthand what it meant to struggle.
Where I shop the prices have gone up greatly in price. Look at the price of gas now. Gas is cheaper than a pound of good ground beef.
Super chill! Very much appreciate the clear & pleasant audios of your posts.just a suggestion for your other viewers out there- 1 bottle of Worchestershire Sauce will give a huge "bang for the buck" in flavor for many pots of food. Even Dollar Tree has it, though it now costs $1.25! Not very much more for the larger bottles in the grocery stores. Just a little bit will go a long way. My Mom learned to use this in WW2 when meat was unavailable & depression/struggle meals came back due to war rationing.
I've been there. I recollect a bad time years ago having to feed two people and three dogs, keep the utilities from getting shut off, with a tiny amount of money coming in. Needless to say there was a lot of beans and other odds and ends getting cooked in the crock pot. We didn't eat in style, but we never missed a meal.
I've noticed during my 92 year lifetime that the worse off people are financially, the more dogs they seem to have. It costs the same to feed a 60 pound dog as to feed a 60 pound child.
Well we had the dogs before the rough patch and after we worked our way clear, so I can't say much either way about that hypothetical correlation
Used to go to my sister-in-law's father's house, which was across the road in Crosskeys, Virginia. He grew up in West Virginia and as the old saying goes, was so poor they didn't know there was a depression. Despite being poor, they always fed anyone who came to their house. So whenever anyone went to his home he would cook them something to eat, despite being in his mid seventies. Often it was hotdog soup, just the same dish as in this video. The other thing he often made was SOS with chipped beef.
I remember SOS. My mom made creamed chipped beef in white sauce added can peas and put it on toast. Is that what you guys had? Think I'll make it again.
My grandmother told me something similar. When you were already dirt poor, and mostly self-sufficient from the farm, you didn't really feel the Great Depression.
Yah - my family is from Oklahoma - my grandfather was a bum that rode the railroads and did odd jobs in the 20's - and after he got married in the 30's was a sharecropper - mostly on land owned by his cousins or his wife's relatives - literally, in Oklahoma, things were so hard they didn't notice that the Depression had started - my father grew up in that time - and he said, things were hard, but they never went to bed hungry - they knew there were people in this country that went to bed hungry - but they never did - it may have been nothing more then beans and fried potatoes and cornbread that they had to eat - but they always had enough of it -
You wouldn't cook that much any more; only one company still making dried chipped beef and the price is about $3.50 an ounce.... over $50 a pound. But shaved roast beef at the deli and dice or simply shred and cook cheap ground beef.
@@JimForeman It's funny how things that used to be poor people's food are now a luxury item, ox tail, corned or chipped beef, etc. Store bought chipped beef is to spendy to buy but a good way of preserving a lot of meat quickly is corning it. If one shoots a moose or a couple of caribou then I usually corn some, and that is close enough to the chipped beef.
Thank you for sharing!
This looks like good, nutritious food. Will have to try some of your recipes!
When I moved out at 19, I didn't know how to cook so I began experimenting. I came up with "stuff," as I call it. Browned ground beef, tomato sauce or stewed tomatoes, and whatever veggies I had--onions, peppers, carrot, whatever. Top with cheese to serve. Pretty darn tasty.
sometimes the best meals you come up with is when you get creative and throw things together. once i added sour cream to my tomato sauce to make it stretch a little further and it was absolutely delicious.
I'm 53, know how to cook well, have enough money and STILL do this! It's my experimental meals. Some are great. Some not so much but it's a wonderful way to play in the kitchen.
I would eat that.
Gosh Im glad I grew up with youtube There's literally enough recipes to fill an entire library So there's no chance im ever having a nasty meal
@@lizzielouuu92 that's what Mexicans do to Mexican spaghetti
With how things are going lately, we'll all be back to eating meals like this out of necessity in like five more years.
I grew up poor... So i was doing this before hand... But i really started doing it again in 2020.
Five? That's generous. I grew up poor, so I'll be fine. But a lot of people today won't be able to cope... Too entitled.
Many people today don't know how to survive on a limited budget both young and old a like.
I'm actually eating ramen right now and thinking it's gourmet
@@BlankName88 They'll learn.
I grew up on eating macaroni and tomatoes but never thought about adding hotdogs and veggies, I'm going to try it. Thanks for posting.
My kind of people. It’s rough out there but food like this brings us together.
When I was a kid we'd go to my grandma's after school of course this was when Grandpa was still around he used to wear put his hot dogs on a fork and grill them over the stove because it was gas and that's the only way to go
We did that too. Also, we used to make s'mores over the stove. 😎
Sounds cozy
oh god, that's giving me flashbacks My father would do something similar with ice fishing heaters and kielbasa when we went ice fishing on Lake Erie.
My mom hated when I did that, but it sure improved the taste of the dog.
This meal is called : All I found in kitchen.
I would consider it a form of goulash.
@@logik316 That's my favorite recipe.
Isn’t it “everything but the kitchen sink?”
My husband is 13 years older than me, born in 1967 and he says he used to eat the kosher beef hotdogs just like that out of the package. Born and raised in the Bronx, NY the hotdogs were fresh right from the meat market.
Just made this tonight and it really is surprisingly good. It's not the best thing I've ever had, but it's certainly not bad at all. I seasoned mine with a bunch of Cajun seasoning. Really gives it some kick. Going to add this to my cheap work lunch recipes. Thanks Larry!
This meal doesn't look so bad, it actually looks appetising
Looks alot better than when I was in college and tried to make spaghetti out of top Ramon and catch-up packs.
@@JohnGalt916 LOL I remember them days
Looks good
My kids love this one: 2 boxes of Kraft Mac n Cheese, a bag of mixed frozen veggies, and a pack of sausage. Make the Mac N Cheese as directed. Slice and sear the sausage in a pan, then add the frozen vegetables and cook until ready. Combine into one pot and serve. Helps get kids to eat their veggies.
My mom makes a nice meal using canned tomato sauce, milk cream, fresh onions, cilantro, cooked pasta and hot dogs (sometimes she used sardines too). It tastes delicious.
Frozen vegetables have little to no nutritional value whatsoever, so kids aren’t really’’getting their vegetables’’ ,lol. You need to read up on what nutrition is.....
@@papermoon4129 Oh yeah cus freezing someone takes 100% of the nutrients out of something. Makes perfect sense to me. "Frozen is a great, healthy alternative to fresh, especially if your fresh produce isn't so fresh anymore," says Dr. Michelle Hauser, a clinical fellow in medicine at Harvard Medical School and a certified chef and nutrition educator. "But if freshly picked produce is easy for you to come by, then it may be slightly higher in nutrients than its frozen counterparts." Key word SLIGHTLY higher. Maybe you take that stick out of your ass and quit being passive aggressive over youtube comments for an ego boost. You aren't better than anyone else because you only eat fresh veggies.
hmmm get your serving of veggies next to your processed pasta and powdered cheese topped off with mystery meat sausage how healthy
I pit mixed vegs in everything. Canned or frozen. I never have freezer room, always have cans of mx vegs. Very versatile.
Gosh all these recipes are what I grew up on and man do they look good. I crave this stuff. Reminds me of home.
The same, in Iowa, almost 60 years ago, Gramma's goulash...stewed tomatoes, ground beef, onion, macaroni, and a slice or two of kraft american cheese. Still one of my favorite meals
We still eat that now but without the cheese. 😃
My bro in law makes goulash similar to that only he uses a jar of spaghetti sauce and adds in some canned green beans along with the meat and pasta and other ingredients.
my mother used to make this but she used boxed macaroni and cheese. it is so good that i make it myself as a comfort meal to this day.
Same. But Velveeta.
@@misst1586 i bet that's real good.
Inflation is a beast. I just went to the regular grocery store here in the Fort Worth, TX area and purchased all generic ingredients and this still came out to $6.05 (comment made Nov 15, 2021).
Thats almost DOUBLE!! WTF?!
Write back next year.
Not surprised I have been doing alot of the grocery shopping and majority of the cooking. We finally finished the basement and have a much larger basement pantry. Now I am stocking it with various items for months now rather than buying all at once. I have noticed the prices are rather sharply going up. Yes I am prepping by doing this and no I am not doing so for a zombie apocolaypse. But with current shortages in the supply chain and or a unexpected financial setback. It wouldn't hurt having like a few months worth of food on hand. Just been scouring the internet for recipes to make things from scratch rather than already made. It can be a huge money saver as compared to ordering out all the time.
Likely doubled again now in 2022 pack of hotdogs a month ago was 5 dollars
That’s probably because you didn’t go to Walmart. Everything he used is still the same price in my area (NC 1/28/22) except for the Gwalney hot dogs which aren’t sold at our Walmart. The closest comparable product sold is BarS classic franks at $1.00 per 8ct/12oz.
Thank you. I need this now for the first time in my life.
Those depression people were built different. My grandma knew how to make delicious food for close to nothing, and til the day she died she kept EVERYTHING she could reuse.
My family called it tomato soup and noodles and I asked for it 5 days out of the week as a child ‘ loves it so much that I learned to make it myself. Elbow noodles and Campbell’s tomato soup.
I grew up on this! If things were going well we'd also add ground beef in.
Add American cheese mixt until cheese is melted and u have Mac and cheese
We called it macaroni and tomato sauce. We didn't have corn or beans in ours. Just macaroni, tomato sauce (no chunks) and hot dogs. Later we added parmesan and the last thing we introduced to the recipe was Old Bay seasoning. We still eat it. Not out of necessity but as a comfort food.
If you ever have left over Mac and Cheese, The next day add a can of Campbell's tomato soup to a "Cool Whip" sized bowl of bowl of mac and cheese, that is so good on a cold day!
Danielle Even loves her noodles 🍝
My grandmother grew up in the in the 1930s. She could make a salad out of the plants growing wild. Wish I go back and learn from her.
My dad spent a lot of time teaching me what was and what wasn't edible. We lived in the tall grass area of Texas where I also learned how to shoot wild game like prairie chicken and cottontail rabbits with my .22 rifle. Then the dust bowl days came, wiping out the tall grass and nearly all the small game disappeared.
Dandelions
There's people who can teach you how to do that. Check with local universities and agriculture for your county.
This is what we had growing up. I still make this or something similar. I make this now with potatoes and onions. Still eat hot dogs in dishes and right out of the package. Hey, when you're hungry just about ANYTHING tastes good! ✌️
Needed more today than ever.
When I was a kid, my mom would occasionally make "macaroni and tomatoes" which was a jar of home canned tomatoes and juice with cooked elbow macaroni. You can season to taste with anything you have in your spice cupboard. That bowl full of macaroni and tomatoes will always be a fond memory I had growing up.
Watching this video reminded me of your same tomatoes and macaroni. I now realize it was one of the depression era meals my mom grew up with and fixed for us in the 50s and 60s. Did your family do a "depression salad" and the only "dressing" was the juice from the chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper? It is still my fav.
@@lesliegierke6456 Depression salad? How about with dressing from the jar a sweet pickles?
My grandma always made "Steak, Noodles, and Tomato". Basically one of her depression-era dishes. Basically, you use leftover roast or steak cut into chunks and stew it in a pan with cans of stewed or diced tomatoes, or fresh tomatoes from the garden if you had any. Then you ladle it over egg noodles, or whatever noodles you have on hand. Done. Salt and pepper if you have it and you can add sauteed onion and garlic and thyme--maybe a bay leaf. Most people didn't have the money for all kinds of spices or extras so all you need is leftover beef, tomatoes, and noodles. My mom always made it simple but added salt and pepper and I loved it as a kid. If you got a loaf of French or Italian bread and some butter the meal goes a long way, for your whole family. Theoretically, you could use chicken or pork too. My grandma didn't like pork though.
I made a similar dish but also added browned ground beef and onions, cubes of cheese and some thyme, then baked in oven for 20-30 minutes or so.
My grandma made a similar dish using rice instead of macaroni. Loved it!
If we end up in another Depression where food is scarce, my wife and my youngest son will starve to death. I can eat just about anything, but those two are about the pickiest eaters I've ever known.
they will adapt hopefully !
Hunger is the best spice known.
Man im int he same boat.
3 days with no food, they'll be eating out of a dumpster like everyone else!
My brother eats only meat and starchy foods. He will die.
just made this yesterday. the great thing about this is just using what you have on hand. no matter what you have as far as meat vegetables and noodles it is always a big hit. another fast and easy meal we enjoy is frying up a pound of ground beef with Obrain potatoes.
When I was a young girl back in the late 50s early 60s my mom had us 3 kids and was a single parent. We lived in the projects and my mom would get welfare food in cans. Canned meat, peanut butter, canned veggies plus she has booklets of food stamps. Toward the end of the month my mom and our neighbor who also was getting same as my mom would run low on food so they pulled all their food together and made what we called SLOP POT SOUP. Any leftovers and cans of whatever we had would go into this huge pot and somehow they made it taste good and we ate it everyday for a week. SLOP POT SOUP. Memories ... thank you mom.
My grandma raised 9 children, teens., during the depression. This looks a lot like Saturday lunch. Since we are Mexican American rice snd beans were a huge part of the family diet. Thanks for the reminder huu is w families always help each other and somehow get by.