Cereal breakfast foods,
Bread,
Crackers,
Macaroni and other pastes,
Cakes, cookies, starchy puddings,
Potatoes, other starchy vegetables,
Bananas.
GROUP 4.--FOODS DEPENDED ON FOR SUGAR.
Sugar,
Molasses,
Syrups,
Dates,
Raisins,
Figs.
GROUP 5.--FOODS DEPENDED ON FOR FAT.
Butter and cream,
Lard, suet,
Salt pork and bacon,
Table and salad oils,
Vegetable, nut, and commercial cooking fats and oils.
If from each of these groups the housekeeper, when buying, chooses
the lowest-cost food, she will provide the necessary nutriment for the
least expenditure of money. In war time such marketing is essential.
Other causes of waste in food purchasing may be enumerated as follows:
Ordering by telephone. This permits the butcher or grocer, who has
no time to make selection of foods, to send what comes ready to hand;
whereas if the housekeeper did her own selecting, she could take
advantage of special prices or "leaders"--food sold at cost or nearly
cost to attract patronage.
Buying out-of-season foods also makes marketing costly. Through
lack of knowledge concerning the periods at which certain fruits and
vegetables are seasonable, and therefore cheaper and in best flavor,
housekeepers frequently pay exorbitant prices for poor flavored,
inferior products.
Buying in localities where high rental and neighborhood standards
compel the shopkeeper to charge high prices, the consumer pays not
only for the rent and the plate glass windows, but for display of
out-of-season delicacies, game and luxury-foods. Markets should be
selected where food in season is sold; where cleanliness and careful
attention prevail rather than showy display.
Many a dollar is foolishly spent for delicatessen foods. The retail
cost of ready prepared foods includes a fraction of the salary of the
cook and the fuel, as well as the regular percentage of profit. The
food, also, is not so nourishing or flavorsome as if freshly cooked in
the home kitchen.
Buying perishable foods in larger quantities than can be used
immediately. Too frequently meats, fish, eggs, vegetables, milk and
cream are purchased in quantities larger than needed for immediate
consumption, and lack of knowledge of use of left-overs causes what is
not eaten to be discarded.
Buying non-perishable foods in small quantities instead of in bulk.
Food costs on an average 50 to 75 per cent. more when purchased in
small quantities. Select a grocer who keeps his goods in sanitary
condition and who will sell in bulk; then do your purchasing from him
on a large scale and extend the sanitary care to your own storeroom.
Buying foods high in price but low in food value. Asparagus, canned
or fresh, is not as nourishing, for instance, as canned corn or beans.
Strawberries out of season do not compare with dates, figs or raisins
which are to be had at all times.
Buying without planning menus. By this carelessness foods are often
purchased which do not combine well, and therefore do not appeal
to the appetite, and so are wasted. Unplanned meals also lead to an
unconscious extravagance in buying and an unnecessary accumulation of
left-overs.
Buying foreign brands when domestic brands are cheaper and often
better.
Leaving the trimmings from meats and poultry at the butcher's. Bring
these home and fry out the fatty portions for dripping; use all other
parts for the stock pot.
Having purchased for nutriment and in sufficiently large quantities to
secure bulk rates, careful storage is the next step in the prevention
of waste. Flour, cereals and meals become wormy if they are not kept
in clean, covered utensils and in a cool place. Milk becomes sour,
especially in summer. This can be prevented by scalding it as soon
as received, cooling quickly, and storing in a cold place in covered,
well-scalded receptacles. Sour milk should not be thrown out. It
is good in biscuits, gingerbread, salad dressings, cottage cheese,
pancakes or waffles, and bread making.
Meats should not be left in their wrappings. Much juice soaks into the
paper, which causes a loss of flavor and nutriment. Store all meat in
a cool place and do not let flies come in contact with it.
Bread often molds, especially in warm, moist weather. Trim off moldy
spots and heat through. Keep the bread box sweet by scalding and
sunning once a week.
Cheese molds. Keep in a cool, dry place. If it becomes too dry for
table use, grate for sauces or use in scalloped dishes.
Winter vegetables wilt and dry out. Store in a cool place. If cellar
space permits, place in box of sand, sawdust or garden earth.
Potatoes and onions sprout. Cut off the sprouts as soon as they appear
and use for soup. Soak, before using, vegetables which have sprouted.
Fruits must be stored carefully so as to keep the skins unbroken.
Broken spots in the skin cause rapid decay. Do not permit good fruit
to remain in contact with specked or rotted fruit. Stored fruit should
be looked over frequently and all specked or rotted fruit removed.
Sweet potatoes are an exception. Picking over, aggravates the trouble.
See that these vegetables are carefully handled at all times; if rot
develops, remove only those that can be reached without danger of
bruising the sound roots. Sweet potatoes may also be stored like fruit
by spreading over a large surface and separating the tubers so that
they do not touch each other.
Berries should be picked over as soon as received and spread on a
platter or a large surface to prevent crushing and to allow room for
circulation of air.
Lettuce and greens wilt. Wash carefully as soon as received and use
the coarse leaves for soup. Shake the water from the crisp portions
and store in a paper bag in a cold refrigerator.
Lemons when cut often grow moldy before they are used. When lemons are
spoiling, squeeze out the juice, make a syrup of one cup of sugar and
one cup of water, boil ten minutes and add lemon juice in any amount
up to one cup. Bring to boiling point and bottle for future use. This
bottled juice may be used for puddings, beverages, etc. If only a
small amount of juice is needed, prick one end of a lemon with a fork.
Squeeze out the amount needed and store the lemon in the ice-box.
When we come to waste caused by careless preparation we may be
reminded of the miracle of the loaves and fishes--how all the guests
were fed and then twelve baskets were gathered up. Often after
preparation that which is gathered up to be thrown away is as large in
quantity and as high in food value as the portions used.
Vegetables are wasted in preparation by too thick paring, the
discarding of coarse leaves such as are found on lettuce, cabbage and
cauliflower, discarding wilted parts which can be saved by soaking,
throwing away tips and roots of celery and the roots and ends of
spinach and dandelions. All these waste products can be cooked tender,
rubbed through a sieve and used with stock for vegetable soup, or with
skimmed milk for cream soup. Such products are being conserved by
the enemy, even to the onion skin, which is ground into bread-making
material.
Throwing away the water in which vegetables have been cooked wastes
their characteristic and valuable element--the mineral salts. Cooking
them so much that they become watery; under-cooking so that they
are hard and indigestible; cooking more than is required for a meal;
failing to use left-over portions promptly as an entree or for cream
soups or scalloped dishes--all these things mean an appalling waste of
valuable food material. Good food material is also lost when the water
in which rice or macaroni or other starchy food has been boiled is
poured down the kitchen sink. Such water should be used for soup
making.
Fruits are wasted by throwing away the cores and skins, which can be
used for making sauces, jams and jellies, the latter being sweetened
with corn syrup instead of sugar.
Rhubarb is wasted by removing the pink skin from young rhubarb, which
should be retained to add flavor and color-attractiveness to the dish.
Raw food in quantity is frequently left in the mixing bowl, while
by the use of a good flexible knife or spatula every particle can
be saved. A large palette knife is as good in the kitchen as in the
studio.
* * * * *
The next step in food preparation is cooking, and tons of valuable
material are wasted through ignorance of the principles of cooking.
Bad cooking, which means under-cooking, over-cooking or flavorless
cooking, renders food inedible, and inedible food contributes to world
shortage. Fats are wasted in cooking by being burned and by not being
carefully utilized as dripping and shortening. The water in which salt
meat, fresh meat, or poultry has been boiled should be allowed to cool
and the fat removed before soup is made of it. Such fat can be used,
first of all, in cooking, and then any inedible portions can be used
in soap making.
* * * * *
Tough odds and ends of meat not sightly enough to appear on the table
are often wasted. They can be transformed by long cooking into savory
stews, ragouts, croquettes and hashes, whereas, if carelessly and
insufficiently cooked, they are unpalatable and indigestible. Scraps
of left-over cooked meat should be ground in the food-chopper and made
into appetizing meat balls, hashes or sandwich paste. If you happen to
have a soft cooked egg left over, boil it hard at once. It can be used
for garnishes, sauces, salads or sandwich paste.
* * * * *
Use all bits of bread, that cannot be used as toast, in puddings,
croquettes, scalloped dishes or to thicken soup.
* * * * *
Don't throw away cold muffins and fancy breads. Split and toast them
for next day's breakfast.
* * * * *
Foods that survive the earlier forms of waste are often lost at table
by the serving of portions of like size to all members of the family.
The individual food requirements differ according to age, sex,
vocation and state of health. Each should be considered before the
food is served, then there will be no waste on the plates when the
meal is over. The following table, showing the daily requirement of
calories for men and women in various lines of work, illustrates this
point:
WOMEN CALORIES
Sedentary work ... 2,400
Active work ... 2,700
Hard manual labor ... 3,200
MEN CALORIES
Sedentary work ... 2,700
Active work ... 3,450
Hard manual labor ... 4,150
Although the serving of food should be carefully planned so as to
prevent waste, care should be taken that growing children have ample
food. It is a mistake to suppose that a growing child can be nourished
on less than a sedentary adult. A boy of fourteen who wants to eat
more than his father probably needs all that he asks for. We must not
save on the children; but it will be well to give them plain food for
the most part, which will not tempt them to overeat, and tactfully
combat pernickety, overfastidious likes and dislikes.
The United States Food Administration is preaching the gospel of the
clean plate, and this can be accomplished by serving smaller portions,
insisting that all food accepted be eaten; by keeping down bread
waste, cutting the bread at the table a slice at a time as needed; by
cooking only sufficient to supply moderately the number to be fed, and
no more. It is a false idea of good providing that platters must leave
the table with a generous left-over. Waste of cooked food is a serious
item in household economy, and no matter how skillfully leftovers are
utilized, it is always less expensive and more appetizing to provide
fresh-cooked foods at each meal.
One would think that with the various uses to which all kinds of
foodstuffs may be put that there would be little left for the yawning
garbage pail. But the Secretary of the United States Department of
Agriculture is responsible for the statement that $750,000,000 worth
of food has been wasted annually in the American kitchen. Undoubtedly
a large part of this wastefulness was due to ignorance on the part of
the housewife, and the rest of it to the lack of co-operation on
the part of the employees who have handled the food but not paid the
bills.
According to a well-known domestic scientist, the only things which
should find their way to the garbage pail are:
Egg shells--after being used to clear coffee.
Potato skins--after having been cooked on the potato.
Banana skins--if there are no tan shoes to be cleaned.
Bones--after having been boiled in soup kettle.
Coffee grounds--if there is no garden where they can be used for
fertilizer, or if they are not desired as filling for
pincushions.
Tea leaves--after every tea-serving, if they are not needed for
brightening carpets or rugs when swept.
Asparagus ends--after being cooked and drained for soup.
Spinach, etc.--decayed leaves and dirty ends of roots.
If more than this is now thrown away, you are wasting the family
income and not fulfilling your part in the great world struggle. Your
government says that it is your business to know what food your family
needs to be efficient; that you must learn how to make the most of
the foods you buy; that it is your duty to learn the nature and uses
of various foods and to get the greatest possible nourishment out of
every pound of food that comes to your home.
The art of utilizing left-overs is an important factor in this
prevention of waste. The thrifty have always known it. The careless
have always ignored it. But now as a measure of home economy as well
as a patriotic service, the left-over must be handled intelligently.
The following recipes show how to make appetizing dishes from products
that heretofore in many homes have found their way to the extravagant
pail.
In these recipes, sauces are prominent because they are of great
value in making foods of neutral flavor, especially the starchy winter
vegetables, and rice, macaroni and hominy, as attractive as they are
nutritious; salads are included, since these serve to combine odds
and ends of meats and vegetables; gelatine dishes are provided because
gelatine serves as a binder for all kinds of leftovers and is an
extremely practical way of making the most rigid saving acceptable;
desserts made of crumbs of bread and cake, or left-over cereals, are
among the major economies if they are worked out in such a way that
they do not involve the extravagant use of other foodstuffs. All the
recipes in this economy cook-book have been thoughtfully adapted to
the conditions of the time, and will show the practical housekeeper
how to supply wholesome, flavorsome food for the least cost.
* * * * *
SAUCES MAKE LEFTOVERS ATTRACTIVE
WHITE SAUCE
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup fat
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1-1/2 cups milk
Melt fat. Add dry ingredients and a little of the milk. Bring to
boiling point. Continue adding milk a little at a time until all is
added. Serve with vegetables, fish, eggs, meats.
WHITE SAUCE WITH CHEESE
1/2 cup cheese (cream or American) added to
1-1/2 cups white sauce
Excellent to serve with macaroni, hominy or vegetables.
WHITE SAUCE WITH SHRIMPS
1/2 cup shrimps
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup white sauce
Serve on toast, or with starchy vegetables.
WHITE SAUCE WITH HORSERADISH AND PIMENTO
1/4 cup horseradish
1 tablespoon chopped pimento
1 cup white sauce
SERVE WITH BOILED BEEF, HOT OR COLD, OR WITH COLD ROAST BEEF.
WHITE SAUCE WITH EGG
1 cup white sauce
2 sliced hard-cooked eggs
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1/8 teaspoon salt
Excellent for spinach and vegetables, or fish.
BROWN SAUCE
1/4 cup fat
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon of cayenne
1-1/2 cups brown stock, or
1-1/2 cups water and 2 bouillon cubes
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Melt fat until brown. Add flour. Heat until brown. Add liquid
gradually, letting come to boiling point each time before adding more
liquid. When all is added, 1 teaspoon kitchen bouquet may be added if
darker color is desired.
BROWN SAUCE WITH OLIVES
1 cup brown sauce
3 tablespoons chopped olives
Make brown sauce as given in foregoing recipe, then while it is hot
stir in the chopped olives, and serve.
BROWN SAUCE WITH PEANUTS
1 cup brown sauce
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
1/8 teaspoon salt
A good sauce to serve with rice, macaroni, hominy or other starchy
foods. It supplies almost a meat flavor to these rather insipid foods.
MUSHROOM SAUCE
1 cup brown sauce
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
Add mushrooms to fat and flour before adding liquid. If fresh
mushrooms are used, cook for two or three minutes after adding liquid.
VEGETABLE SAUCES
1/4 cup fat
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
2 cups vegetable stock,
or
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup milk.
Vegetable stock is the water in which any vegetable is cooked. Make as
white sauce.
DRAWN BUTTER SAUCE
1/3 cup butter substitute
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Make as white sauce, reserving 2 tablespoons of the fat to add just
before serving.
TOMATO SAUCE
1/4 cup fat
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
1 teaspoon onion juice
1-1/2 cups tomato
Melt fat; add dry ingredients and gradually the liquid, letting sauce
come to boiling point each time before adding more liquid.
FRUIT SAUCE FOR PUDDING
1/4 cup fat
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla, or
1 tablespoon brandy
1 cup mashed cooked fruit
Mix thoroughly. Let chill and serve with steamed or baked pudding.
COCOANUT SAUCE
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cocoanut and milk
2 tablespoons corn syrup
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix ingredients. Bring to boiling point over direct fire. Cook over
hot water 20 minutes. Use with leftover stale cake, baked or steamed
puddings. If canned cocoanut containing milk is used, plain milk may
be omitted.
MOLASSES SAUCE
1 cup molasses
2 tablespoons fat
1 tablespoon flour, plus
1 tablespoon cold water
1-1/2 tablespoons vinegar
Mix together. Bring to boiling point and serve with any pudding.
FRENCH SAUCE
1 cup (crystal) corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
Beat egg light. Pour on gradually the hot corn syrup and water,
beating egg with eggbeater. Add cream and vanilla. Serve at once.
SPICE SAUCE
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Mix corn syrup and spices. Add beaten yolks and milk. Cook over hot
water until thick. Add vanilla and beaten whites. Serve hot or cold.
MAPLE SPICE SAUCE
3 tablespoons fat
1/3 cup maple sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk
Cream fat, sugar and spices. Add beaten yolks and milk. Cook in double
boiler until thick. Add vanilla and beaten whites. Serve hot or cold.
TOMATO SAUCE WITH CHEESE
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup grated cheese
Add cheese while sauce is hot and just before serving. Do not boil
sauce after adding cheese.
MEXICAN SAUCE
To one cup tomato sauce, add
2 tablespoons chopped green pepper
3 tablespoons chopped celery
3 tablespoons chopped carrot
HARD SAUCE
1/3 cup butter substitute or hydrogenated oil
1/3 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon flavoring
Cream all together. This method reduces the necessary sugar
two-thirds.
LEMON OR ORANGE SAUCE
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 tablespoon fat
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon rind
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons orange rind
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon water
Mix ingredients. Bring to boiling point and serve.
CRANBERRY SAUCE WITH RAISINS
1 cup cranberries
1 cup water
1 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup raisins or nuts
2 tablespoons fat
Cook cranberries in water until they are soft and the water is almost
entirely absorbed. Add other ingredients and cook about 20 minutes
slowly until thick enough to use as sauce.
THE USE OF GELATINE IN COMBINING LEFTOVERS
LEFTOVER FRUIT MOLD
2 tablespoons cold water
2 tablespoons gelatine
Let stand until gelatine is soft. Add 1 pint boiling water, or fruit
juice from canned fruit.
1/4 cup lemon juice
2/3 cup corn syrup, or
1/2 cup sugar
Stir until gelatine is dissolved. Add 1 cup leftover fruit. Place
in mold which has been dipped in cold water. Stir occasionally while
hardening so fruit does not settle to the bottom. Or a little gelatine
may be poured in mold and allowed to grow almost hard; then some
fruit arranged on it and more gelatine poured in. Repeat until mold is
filled; then chill, and turn out carefully.
MOLDED VEGETABLE SALAD
1-1/2 cups boiling tomato juice and pulp
2 tablespoons cold water
2 tablespoons gelatine
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups of any one vegetable, or of mixed vegetables
Soften gelatine in the cold water. Add other ingredients and chill.
Stir once or twice while chilling so vegetables do not settle to the
bottom.
MOLDED MEAT OR FISH LOAF
2 tablespoons gelatine
2 tablespoons cold water
1 cup boiling gravy, tomato juice, or 1 cup boiling water into
which 1 bouillon cube has been dissolved
1 cup left-over meat or fish chopped fine
1 cup chopped celery or cooked vegetable
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
Soften gelatine in cold water. Add other ingredients. Stir until
gelatine is dissolved. Pour into mold dipped into cold water. Chill.
Stir once or twice while hardening so meat does not settle to the
bottom. Serve with salad dressing.
RICE IMPERIAL
1 cup cooked rice
1 cup corn syrup
1 tablespoon gelatine
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup cherries or other cooked fruit
1/2 cup nuts
1/2 cup juice of fruit
Chill and serve.
CREAM SALAD MOLD
1 cup cooked salad dressing
2 tablespoons gelatine
2 cups any left-over fish, meat or vegetables
2 tablespoons cold water
Use any well-seasoned salad dressing. Soften the gelatine in the cold
water. Dissolve over boiling water. Add to salad dressing. Add other
ingredients well seasoned and chill.
CHEESE MOLD
1 pint cottage cheese
1/2 cup pimento or green pepper
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
2 tablespoons granulated gelatine
4 tablespoons cold water
Soften gelatine in the cold water. Dissolve over hot water. Add all
ingredients. Mix thoroughly and place in mold which has been rinsed
with cold water. When firm, serve as salad.
FRUIT SPONGE
2 tablespoons gelatine softened in
1/3 cup cold water
1 pint clabbered milk, or fruit juice
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup crushed fruit
2 egg whites
Mix gelatine with milk. Add sugar. When it begins to thicken, beat
with rotary beater. Add vanilla and fruit. Fold in egg whites and
turn into mold. Apple sauce, strawberries, rhubarb, pineapple or
raspberries may be used.
ORIENTAL SALAD
1 tablespoon gelatine
2 cups boiling water
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup grated cocoanut
2 cups apples, chopped
1 cup celery
1/2 cup chopped nuts
3 pimentoes
1 tablespoon grated onion
1/3 teaspoon salt
Soften gelatine in 2 tablespoons cold water, then dissolve in the
boiling water, but do not cook after gelatine is put in. Add all other
ingredients. Mold and chill. Serve with cooked or mayonnaise salad
dressing, plain or on lettuce leaves.
SALADS PROVIDE AN EASY METHOD OF USING LEFTOVERS
MIXED VEGETABLE SALAD
1 cup cooked potatoes
1 cup cooked carrots
1 cup cooked peas
1 cup cooked beets
Make a French dressing of
1/2 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vinegar
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
Mix dressing thoroughly and pour over the vegetables. If vegetables
are kept in different bowls instead of mixed together, the flavor
of the salad is improved. Any vegetable may be used in this way. Let
stand 30 minutes. When ready to serve, place each portion in a nest
made of two lettuce leaves or other salad, green. If desired, cooked
dressing may be mixed with the vegetable in place of French dressing,
or may be served with it.
EGYPTIAN SALAD
1 cup left-over baked beans, cooked dried peas, or beans or
lentils, or cooked rice, rice.
1 cup chopped celery
3 tablespoons chopped pepper
3 tablespoons chopped pickle
1 cup cooked salad dressing
Mix ingredients thoroughly and let stand 30 minutes to blend flavor
thoroughly.
CABBAGE, PEANUT AND APPLE SALAD
2 cups chopped cabbage
1 cup peanuts
1 cup chopped apples
1 cup salad dressing
Mix ingredients and serve with French dressing. This salad looks very
appetizing when served in cups made of hollowed out red apples, the
pulp removed being used in the salad.
CHEESE SALAD