ECONOMY IN FOOD
ECONOMY IN FOOD
BY
MABEL THACHER WELLMAN
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND HEAD OP DEPARTMENT OF HOME
ECONOMICS IN INDIANA UNIVERSITY ; FORMERLY
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF DOMESTIC ECON-
OMY IN LEWIS INSTITUTE, CHICAGO
AUTHOR OF " FOOD STUDY ", A TEXTBOOK IN HOME ECONOMICS
BOSTON
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
1918
\
Copyright, 1918,
BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
All rights reserved
ECONOMY IN FOOD
The war is making us realize as never before how wasteful we have
been in our use of food materials. Here are some of the points
that we have found need of emphasizing.
A. ECONOMY IN BUYING
I. Cost and Food Value.
Examination of the Table of the Cost of One-hundred Calorie
Portions of foods shows at once that it is possible to pay widely
varying prices for amounts of food having the same fuel value. It
is entirely possible, then, to take this into account in selecting food.
Meat, for example, is costly, as is most protein food. The United
States Food Administration tells us that we eat, as a nation, 80
per cent more protein than we need. It is true that, except for
Australia, we have a larger per capita consumption of meat than
any other people. 1 It also tells us that too much protein is not
only unnecessary but probably distinctly injurious. Here is one
point to remember. Do not spend money foolishly in buying
protein it is unwise for us to have. For suggestions in cutting
down the use of meat, see the topic, " Economy in Planning
Meals ", on page 10.
Again, many vegetables and fruits are high in price compared
to their actual fuel value. Consider, then, how much they are
actually needed, and select as far as possible those which are less
costly and supply the same elements. Include either a vegetable
or a fruit in each meal, but not necessarily both.
Remember, however, that a certain amount of protein 2 and
mineral salts, 3 as well as vitamines, 4 are absolutely essential to
health, and that to buy food solely from the standpoint of cost
1 See Wellman's " Food Study", pp. 181, 187.
2 See Wellman : " Food Study ", pp. 155, 186, and 298.
3 See Wellman : " Food Study", pp. 65-66 and 298-299.
4 See Wellman : " Food Study", p. 157.
1
382088
2 . CON< MY IN FOOD
would be a 'fatal mistake. Renaember that, while the amount of
these necessary substances required "is not very great, the need for
them is absolute.
Do not forget that whole milk is very necessary for children, 1
if they are to grow and develop properly, and that a liberal amount
should be included in their diet.
II. Marketing.
Go to the market and grocery yourself, if possible, especially for
perishable goods. But first look over your ice-box and supplies, and
have a general plan in mind. Be prepared to change it if market
conditions make it desirable to do so.
III. Amount to Buy.
A. Ask for definite amounts by weight or measure. A bag,
bottle, pail or bucket, jar, basket, or " five cents' worth ", are all in-
definite terms. Make your butcher give you price per pound and
weight of meat bought. Buy package goods which are clearly
marked with the quantity they contain.
B. Buy only in quantities that you can use before deterioration.
Buy, however, in as large quantities as you can plan to use without
monotony, especially where by so doing you save a few cents or
even a fraction of a cent; but it is not economy to buy an extra
amount and have some to throw away. Non-perishable goods
are cheaper bought in quantity. Note the net weight of package
goods in relation to cost. A larger package is often much better
value than a smaller.
IV. Buy Seasonable Food.
Some people use canned goods when they can buy fresh foods
actually at less cost. Others buy hot-house products out of season.
V. Food Sold in Bulk instead of in package form is usually
cheaper. If the food is to be reheated it is economy to buy it in
the cheaper form. If it cannot be sterilized or properly cleaned by
washing, it is true economy to buy the package form.
VI. Cooked Foods bought at delicatessen stores, etc., are usually
expensive, as both fuel and labor are included in the price.
VII. Checking up Quantities Bought.
Housewives should see that they get the amount of material paid
for. It is necessary to have a pair of scales and weigh often enough
to be sure that your dealer is not sending you short weight. If he
is careless and gives you now too little, now too much, tell him
1 See Wellman : " Food Study/', pp. 275 and 278.
ECONOMY IN BUYING
you prefer to deal with some one who is more accurate. Don't be
afraid of your store man.
If you buy by measure there are definite weights you should
receive. You can obtain a table showing the weight of a bushel
of various food commodities by applying to your State department
of weights and measures. Divide those weights by 4, to find the
weight of a peck. If the housewife prefers, she can keep standard
measures and measure such goods as are not sold by weight. Re-
member that the liquid pint and quart are smaller than the cor-
responding dry measures.
VIII. Specific Suggestions in Buying.
1. MEATS.
Learn the cuts of meat, 1 the price paid per pound, and also the
price per pound of edible meat. Apparent cheapness is often
deceiving. Cheaper cuts are often more nutritious than more ex-
pensive ones.
Here are some figures given in Bulletin 158, University of Illi-
nois Agricultural Experiment Station, 1912. While the present
prices are not the same, nevertheless the figures show relative values.
BEEF
RETAIL PRICE
PER POUND
COST OF EDIBLE
MEAT PER POUND
Steaks :
Porterhouse
25
27 2-28 9
Club or short
20
226
Sirloin
20
20 6-24 2
Flank
16
16
Round
15
15.3-16.0
Chuck
12
13 1-14 1
Roasts :
Prime rib, 1st cut
20
22.9
Prime rib, last cut
16
188
Chuck
15
17.3
Rumn .
12
128
Boiling and stewing prices :
Round, pot roast
10
10.1
Shoulder, pot roast ....
Brisket
10
8
11.6
8.7
Vane
7
7.7
Flank, stew
7
71
Fore shank, stew
7
7.0
Neck
6
70
Wellman's "Food Study", pp. 171 and 176-179.
4 ECONOMY IN FOOD
2. EGGS.
Many people are prejudiced against cold-storage eggs. 1 At
certain times of the year it is necessary to use them in order to
have a sufficient egg-supply. While their flavor may not be so
delicate for eating, they are good food, and at such seasons should
be preferred for use in cooking, for they are much less expensive.
3. MILK.
Sour milk is valuable for making cottage cheese, or in baking,
and should never be thrown away. Use it before it molds.
Skimmed milk and buttermilk, if they can be bought, cost less
than whole milk. However, children need whole milk to drink,
for they need the fat in the milk which contains a vitamine neces-
sary to growth.
Canned milk keeps well and is sometimes cheaper for a small
family.
Milk powder may also be used in cooking. It is made from
skimmed milk.
Money spent for milk 2 gives a good return, for milk contains
all the food principles as well as valuable mineral salts and
vit amines.
4. TEA, COFFEE, and COCOA.
Tea and coffee have no fuel value except for the milk, cream or
sugar added. Do not serve them oftener than necessary, and never
to children. Black tea is probably less harmful than green. Coffee
and tea bought in bulk are less expensive than in a carton or can.
Cocoa is cheaper bought in bulk than in tin. Unsweetened
cocoa is better value than cocoa containing much sugar.
5. SUGAR.
Sugar often sells for a certain number of cents and a fraction of
a cent. It is economy to buy a number of pounds which will make
the cost an even number of cents.
6. CEREALS.
Flour usually costs the same in twenty-five pound sacks as by
the barrel. Bought in ten-pound packages or less, the price is
higher.
Bulk cereals, macaroni, and spaghetti, are less expensive than the
package goods. Broken rice is as nutritious as whole rice, and
less expensive.
1 See Wellman's " Food Study", p. 48.
2 See Wellman's " Food Study", p. 275.
ECONOMY IN BUYING 5
Ready-to-eat cereals are more expensive than those which have
not been cooked. If fuel must be burned merely to cook the cereal,
that is another matter. However, a fireless cooker will solve that
difficulty.
Home-made bread, if the baking or making is not included, is
cheaper than baker's bread. Weight for weight, they are about
equally nutritious.
7. YEAST.
Dried yeast is much cheaper than compressed. Liquid yeast
is still less expensive ; see p. 26.
8. FATS.
Butter is an expensive form of fat. Substitute other fats for it
whenever possible. Keep all meat fats (ask the butcher to send
home the trimmings) and try them out. This may readily be done
by chopping them fine, putting them through a meat-grinder
and heating them over water. When the fat has melted, pour it
off. Strong fats may be made less strong by heating with a little
milk, about a cup to a pound. Sour milk may be used. Strong
fats may be flavored with onions, apples, bay leaves, sage, thyme,
etc.
Butter can be made to go farther by churning it with milk. Put
the butter into the milk, allowing a pint of milk and about one-
half a teaspoonful of salt for a pound of butter.
Place the churn containing the milk in a pan of rather warm water,
not too hot. Add the salt and the butter cut in thin slices. When
the butter is thoroughly soft (but not melted), remove the churn
from the warm water and beat until the butter has absorbed the
milk. This should take only two or three minutes. Then place the
churn in a pan of cold water and beat a minute or two longer. To
mold the butter, pack it in a cake-pan lined with buttered paper
and put it in a cold place to harden.
The butter should double in bulk. However, as a family tends
to use rather more of this mixture than of the butter alone, it does
not save half of the butter. Of course, the food value is not the
same.
9. VEGETABLES AND FRUITS.
Fresh vegetables 1 and fruits should be bought in small quantities
only ; otherwise there is much waste from spoilage.
1 See Wellman's "Food Study", p. 147.
6 ECONOMY IN FOOD
B. ECONOMY IN STORING FOOD
Keep food in a cool cellar or in a refrigerator to avoid dust. Do
not allow it to stand around in the dining-room or kitchen.
1. MEAT.
Meat requires constant care as it spoils easily. It should be
kept in a cool place, and not left wrapped in paper. If it is placed
directly on the ice, much juice is lost.
Meat in danger of spoiling can be kept longer if it is even partially
cooked; or it may be saved by canning, 1 smoking or salting. In
many cold climates meat may be preserved by freezing.
Cooked meat keeps rather better than its gravy; therefore it
is best, especially in warm weather, not to put it away in the gravy.
2. EGGS.
Eggs should not be washed until they are about to be used, be-
cause the natural mucilaginous substances in the outside of the
shell help to preserve them. They should not be kept with strong-
smelling foods because they absorb odors.
To keep the yolk of an opened egg, cover it with cold water. To
keep the white, cover closely and put in the ice-box.
Eggs, when cheap, should be " put down " in water glass 2 to
preserve them for future use. One gallon of water glass will make
enough solution to cover fifty dozen eggs. Boil and cool the water
used before mixing. Scald the jars used in storing, and cover
them tightly. Keep in a cool place. The eggs selected should be
clean and fresh, but they should not be washed.
3. MILK.
Milk will readily absorb odors and should be kept away from
other foods.
The souring of milk can be delayed by heating, and cooling
rapidly. Milk may be pasteurized by placing it in the capped bottle
on a rack in a kettle full of cold water deep enough to surround the
milk entirely. Heat until the water is 140 F., and keep it at this
1 Use cold-pack method. See p. 10, Wellman's " Food Study."
Omit cold and hot dip. Allow J tsp. salt to each pint. Do not add
water. Sterilize 4-5 hours after water begins to boil, if raw meat is
used. Or meat may be cooked and stock used to fill up jar. Steri-
lize three hours. Examine carefully before using canned meats, and
discard if there is any sign of the materials having spoiled.
2 See Wellman's " Food Study ", p. 49.
ECONOMY IN STORING FOOD 7
temperature for twenty minutes. Remove the bottle, cool
quickly, and put in cold water.
Milk may be kept cool by wrapping it completely in a wet cloth
and letting it stand in a draft. The cloth must be kept wet.
4. COFFEE AND TEA.
Both coffee and tea retain their flavor better if packed in tightly-
covered cans or jars rather than in paper bags.
Coffee bought unground in reasonably small amounts keeps
satisfactorily. Only a little of it should be ground at a time.
5. SUGAR.
Sugar keeps well. Molasses and syrups will ferment if kept in
too warm a place.
6. CEREALS.
Cereals and flour keep well except in warm weather, when there
is danger of weevils developing. Buy them in smaller quantities
during the summer.
7. FATS.
To keep fats, store them in a cool place, away from light and air.
Stone crocks or tin cans are good containers.
Meat fats should be rendered before storing because they keep
better than the animal tissue.
Butter that must be kept a long time should be melted slowly
until it ceases to sputter and the fat separates from sediment and
scum. If used in this form its flavor is not so good, but it keeps
much better. It may later be churned with fresh milk before using.
Butter that is strong can be re-worked or washed in cold water,
or it can be melted with a little soda ( J tsp. of soda to the pound).
Churning with milk, so as to double the volume, also improves the
flavor of poor butter. See p. 5.
8. VEGETABLES AND FRUITS.
Vegetables or fruits, in danger of spoiling, should be cooked.
Corn, peas, and other vegetables which lose their sweetness on
standing, should be cooked at once. They can be reheated in a
double boiler, and are much better then than when cooked after
standing.
Celery, lettuce, cucumbers, radishes, etc., should be kept wrapped
wet in paper, or put in tightly-covered jars in a cool place.
8
ECONOMY IN FOOD
Many winter vegetables can be kept in a cool cellar, buried in
sand.
To prevent lemons from drying, keep immersed in cold water.
Vegetables and fruits may be canned for later use. This may
be carried out by any of the three following methods :
1. Open-kettle Method.
For process, see Wellman's " Food Study", p. 7. This method
is quicker than the second, but must be carefully carried out or the
materials will spoil. It must be used for making preserves, jellies,
etc., which require long cooking and condensing. Vegetables
canned by this method must be cooked until tender in salted water.
It is fairly satisfactory for acid vegetables.
2. Hot-water Bath Method.
For this process, see Wellman's " Food Study ", p. 8. If vege-
tables are being canned, blanching (or scalding) in hot water first
is necessary to clean, soften skins, or shrink material. The length
of time depends upon the vegetables used (see time of sterilization
below). They are next plunged in cold water. This is supposed
to set the color. One tsp. salt to 1 quart jar is allowed ; the jar
is packed tightly and filled up with water. The time of steriliza-
tion varies with the fruit or vegetable. Intermittent sterilization is
safer than a single long period.
Such goods should be emptied from the jar and reheated before
using. Discard if they appear to be spoiled.
3. Pressure-cooker Method.
This is the same as the hot-water method except that a pressure
cooker is used instead of the water bath. It saves tune and fire,
but the pressure cooker is expensive.
TIME OP STERILIZATION
Hot-water Bath
Method
Five Pounds Steam
Pressure Method
Fruits
1. Berries
20-30 minutes
30-60 minutes
20-30 minutes
Ij 4 minutes
8-10 minutes
10-20 minutes
10-15 minutes
40-90 minutes
2. Larger fruits . . .
Vegetables
1. Acid
2. Non-acid ....
ECONOMY IN STORING FOOD 9
4. Cold-water Method.
This applies only to very acid fruits, such as cranberries, rhubarb,
tomatoes, etc. The washed fruit is packed tightly in a jar, which
is then put under a faucet and the cold water is allowed to run in
for a few minutes. The jar should be immersed in water while it
is sealed, to exclude all air.
JABS OR CANS
In any of these methods tin cans may be used in place of glass
jars without danger if the contents are emptied as soon as the cans
are opened. The first cost of the tins is less, but since glass jars
can be re-used an unlimited number of times, the glass is really
more economical. Of course, tin cans are more easily shipped
than glass jars, and so are more often used commercially.
DRYING
Fruits and vegetables may also be preserved by drying. They
should be absolutely fresh, young and clean, to give satisfactory
results. After washing, put vegetables into a wire basket or cheese-
cloth bag and plunge into boiling water ; drain, and dry with a
towel as well as possible. Spread in a thin layer ; stir or turn several
times during the drying. If heat is used, be careful not to scorch.
Begin drying at 110 F., increased gradually to 145 F. If an oven
is used, have the door open. Open trays made of wire are ex-
cellent for this use. They should be protected by cheesecloth or
paper, if acid fruits are dried.
Dried fruits and vegetables should be carefully stored. Paper
bags with necks twisted and tied with string make good containers.
They should be brushed over with melted paraffin. Air-tight tins
or buckets are more easily used.
Dried fruits and vegetables should be soaked in cold water before
cooking.
SALTING
Greens, like spinach, kale, dandelions, beet greens, and string
beans, as well as corn, may be preserved by salting. Use fine salt,
one-third to one-fourth the weight of the vegetables. Pack in a
clean bag or stone crock in layers about 1 inch thick, sprinkling
each layer heavily with salt. Cover with a clean cloth and use a
cover or a board on the top. Freshen before use. Corn preserved
10 ECONOMY IN FOOD
in this way should be cooked on the cob and cut off before packing.
It has a finer flavor than canned corn.
Salted vegetables should be freshened by soaking in water before
cooking.
C. ECONOMY IN SERVING FOOD
In general it is more economical to pass food at table and let
people serve themselves to what they want. Make children under-
stand that they may have more later if they desire it, but that all
they take must be eaten. It is perhaps better to serve sugar than to
pass it, if leaving sugar in the bottom of cups is to be avoided.
It is economy to cut bread only as needed. The loaf on the table
is an old-fashioned custom, worthy of preservation.
D. ECONOMY IN PLANNING MEALS 1
Dr. Langworthy has made the suggestion that a well-balanced
meal should include one food representing each of the following
groups :
Group I. Foods rich in Protein. Dried beans, peas, eggs, nuts,
meat, poultry, oysters, fish, milk, cheese, bread.
Group II. Foods rich in Starch. Cereals, potatoes, tapioca, maca-
roni, crackers, bread.
Group III. Foods rich in Sugar. Sweet cakes and desserts, honey,
molasses, syrups, jellies, dried fruits, grapes, candy.
Group IV. Foods rich in Fat. Butter, oleomargarine ; nut butter,
cream, chocolate, nuts, olive and cotton-seed oils, lard, salt
pork, suet and other cooking fats, rich cake and cookies.
Group V. Foods rich in Regulators. Mineral salts and acids.
Fruits, vegetables, salads, milk.
PROTEINS IN THE DIET
Protein in the form of meat is expensive, so it is wise to know
just how far from necessary it is.
Mistaken Notion of Value of Meat in the Diet.
Most people regard meat as an indispensable article of diet.
They think that meat is necessary to make people strong and well.
We read of the vigor of the old English yeomanry and how their
sturdiness was due to the beef and ale of England. We have surely
dropped the notion of ale or beer as strengthening, so we believe
1 See Wellman's " Food Study ", pp. 293-296.
ECONOMY IN PLANNING MEALS 11
perhaps more firmly than ever in the meat. But any one who
studies the real conditions of English life during the Middle Ages,
knows that the poorer classes were fortunate if they had meat once
a week. Doctors and others who are experimenting on the subject
say that many of the ills which were formerly believed to be due to
insufficient protein in the diet, were really due to lack of mineral
salts and vitamines.
Vegetarian Notions.
Scientists are ready to admit that the vegetarians are right to
this extent, we can live and thrive without meat. However, to do
so means most careful planning to include sufficient proteins in the
diet, and as meat is admittedly a source of easily-digested protein
we probably do well to use it in moderate amounts.
How Much Meat Do We Need?
A meat meal once a day is enough for a man at hard manual labor.
It is a maximum amount for an ordinary adult or business man.
The ordinary adult will not be at all harmed by omitting meat for
several days a week, even if no special " protein " meat substitute
is provided. As the people of the United States eat more meat per
capita than the people of any other civilized nation except Australia,
it surely will not hurt us to reduce our use of meat. What is needed
is a hearty dish to take its place.
Do Growing Children Need Meat?
Mrs. Rose in " Feeding the Family " advises against giving
meat to children until they are seven or eight years old. She says
they not only do not need meat earlier, but that if they are given
meat at an early age they are likely to acquire a taste for it and
refuse to drink milk, which is much more necessary to them. Most
authorities do not forbid meat to children, and perhaps withholding
it to this age is extreme, but the opinion is cited to show that meat
is not the absolute necessity so many people believe.
Why Too Much Meat is Bad.
It is claimed that the undue eating of protein is a strain on the
kidneys which must excrete the nitrogenous products from the
body. This cannot be proved, perhaps, but we know that certain
diseases, either the result of uric acid production or of putrefaction
in the intestines, seem to occur more often in the people who have
eaten large amounts of protein in meat. We also know that eating
meat tends to reduce the alkalinity of the blood, and that if meat
replaces too much fruit and vegetables this may be a source of
12 ECONOMY IN FOOD
danger. People who eat less protein seem to show more endurance
than those who eat large amounts of protein; they tire less easily
and do not get nearly so stiff and sore after severe exercise.
Other Advantages in Using only Moderate Amounts of Meat.
Meat is a very expensive part of our diet. A large share of the
total amount which is spent for food is paid for meat. In normal
times, they tell us, this should not be more than one-sixth of the total
expenditure for food.
At the present time meat is usually high and scarce because of
the recent epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease which destroyed
so many cattle. Without the war, we are told, it would take from
seven to ten years to get our herds into condition and back to normal
size again. With the Argentine in the same condition from the
same cause it is evident that we must reduce our consumption of
meat. Now it is very probable that we shall never have very cheap
meat again, because, as the large ranges of western land are brought
under cultivation, there is less area for free feeding, and food for
cattle becomes expensive.
Make Changes Slowly.
People who are used to meat like its flavor and miss it if suddenly
deprived of it; therefore, in reducing the meat in this diet, make
changes slowly. Work first to supply the flavor with less actual
meat.
Making a Little Meat Go a Long Way.
Every housewife knows what to do if the chicken she buys for
dinner is too small to roast. Cut up and stewed, with plenty of
rice and gravy, the "flavor is extended" with the use of less meat.
Such devices are one way of being economical in the use of meat.
SUGGESTIONS.
1. Stews and Fricassees and Casserole Dishes made with
plenty of rice or hominy or dumplings or baking-powder biscuits
or vegetables. If made of meat already cooked, chop and add just
long enough before the rest is done to warm thoroughly, otherwise
meat is toughened.
2. Meat-loaf, and Meat Cakes when mixed with plenty of bread
crumbs. Moisten with water before cooking or meat will be dry.
These may be served with white, brown, onion or tomato sauce
which will make them still more appetizing. Use tried-out meat fat
for the fat in these sauces.
3. Hash made with potatoes and saute*d in meat fat ; or hash
warmed and served on toast without or with gravy.
ECONOMY IN PLANNING MEALS 13
4. Creamed Meat served in white, brown, or tomato sauce,
made with meat fat. Serve on toast, in toast boxes, or patty shells,
or in nests of potato, rice, hominy, or spaghetti, etc. ; then meat will
go still further.
5. Meat Piss made either with pie crust or mashed potato crust.
Vegetables may be added.
6. Scalloped Meat, that is, chopped and baked, covered with
" buttered " crumbs. Use beef fat or butterine for the crumbs.
Meat may be mixed with chopped vegetables and go still farther,
or put in alternate layers with rice, macaroni, or spaghetti. Gravy
or tomato sauce may replace the white sauce.
7. Meat Souffle. Meat chopped and mixed with thick white
sauce and beaten egg, then baked in moderate oven. The meat
may be mixed with chopped vegetables of all kinds, or with rice.
8. Stuffed Meat, as stuffed heart, veal birds, etc. Thin slices
of meat may be spread with stuffing, rolled, and baked in casserole.
9. Meat served with Yorkshire Pudding, or Southern " Spoon
Bread." *
Yorkshire Pudding.
1 c. milk or water 2 2 tsp. baking powder
J c. corn meal 1 egg beaten slightly
J c. flour J tsp. salt
Grease a very hot shallow pan with beef fat ; baste with fat from
the pan in which beef is roasting. Cut in squares for serving.
10. Croquettes. Rice, hominy, etc., may be mixed with chopped
meat, rolled in " buttered " crumbs and baked in oven instead of
being fried. Or chopped meat may be added to fritter batter and
fried in deep fat.
11. Meat Salads made with a little meat and plenty of vegetables.
12. Scrambled Eggs and Omelets, with chopped meat stirred or
folded in.
13. Meat Soups made with cereal, (rice, hominy, oatmeal, barley,
etc. ; left-over breakfast foods of all kinds may be added) and almost
any vegetables.
14. Cream Soups and Chowders. Cream soups made with half
milk, half water in which a vegetable has been cooked, containing
some fat and thickened with flour, or milk chowders, are very
hearty dishes with which to begin a meal and make it possible
to serve much smaller portions of meat following them. Almost
any vegetable or combination of vegetables can be used. If the
flavor is not strong enough merely from using the water, a little of
the vegetable chopped up fine or rubbed through a sieve may
1 See Wellman's " Food Study", p. 183.
2 If sour milk is used, substitute J tsp. soda for all the baking
powder,
14 ECONOMY ifr FOOD
be added. This is an excellent way to use up small amounts of
vegetables. For example, a good cream-of-pea soup can be made by
boiling the pods in water and adding a few cooked peas, milk,
etc. Water in which vegetables are cooked should be saved
and used in soup, because of the salts which are extracted from
the vegetables and which would otherwise be wasted. The liquid
in which vegetables are canned may also be used in soup.
For each cup of soup allow 1 tbsp. of flour if the vegetable itself
(cabbage, onion, cauliflower, etc.) has not thickening power, but
only \ tbsp. if much of a starchy vegetable is used (potato, corn, peas,
beans, etc.). Be sure the soup actually boils after the flour is added
or its full thickening power will not be given and there will be a raw
taste.
These dishes have an additional advantage because cheaper cuts
of the meat or left-overs may be used in their preparation, or even
meat already used for soup. The latter is still nutritious but needs
flavor to make it palatable. If properly made, any of these dishes
will be delicious. They furnish scope for originality and skill in
the cooking, and add greatly to the variety of the diet.
Use Every Scrap of Meat, Fat, and Bone.
Bones of uncooked meat, of roasts and chops, etc., after cooking,
bits of gristle, etc., can all be utilized to afford flavor and gelatine
for soups and gravies. Any meat used in making soups should
be eaten afterwards, for very little of anything but its flavor is given
to the soup. Remember that the fat in meat stock should be
removed and used in other ways, also that all the " trimmings "
cut off after the meat is weighed at the butcher's belong to the
purchaser.
Meat bought in larger quantities is cheaper. If you use in-
genuity in preparing it in various ways, the same kind of meat
can be used for some time without monotony. In cities, the butcher
will sometimes corn a portion of the beef you buy and keep it back
for you until asked to deliver it.
Cheaper cuts of meat are often better flavored and more nutri-
tious. Good cooks can make cheaper meat appetizing. This is
where French cooks excel.
We have unjustified prejudices against certain cuts of meat,
or certain kinds of meat. Kidneys are in little demand here, but
are considered a delicacy in England. Try broiled beef kidneys
and fried heart, as well as the new kinds of fish coming in the market.
Many people will not eat rabbit, a cheap and really delicious dish.
We have grown used to the idea of pork and veal and chicken, but
if we eat pigs we surely have no excuse for being squeamish,
ECONOMY IN PLANNING MEALS 15
Let us learn to be citizens of the world and eat what the world
eats. It is usually the provincial person who is finicky.
MEAT SUBSTITUTES
Most people who are used to eating a great deal of meat declare
that they are hungry if they try to do with less. They fail to realize
that this is always the result of any sudden change of diet. Even
when some men who had been vegetarians all their lives were
induced to begin eating meat, their complaint was that it was not
satisfying and they felt hungry. All changes, then, must be made
gradually. If your family is used to meat three times a day, don't
expect them to be satisfied if they are suddenly cut down to meat
only once or twice a week.
Going without meat is often popularly understood to mean no
change in the meal except the omission of the meat. Of course,
to be satisfying, something else must be provided to take its place.
This should be what is known as a hearty dish, one that "stays
by " you. It need not necessarily be protein, or even largely protein,
because in an ordinary mixed diet, such as we Americans eat, the
proportion of protein is usually very high anyway.
MEAT SUBSTITUTES HIGH IN PROTEIN
I. EGGS
Eggs make a good substitute for meat, and are often cheaper.
Since their value will be discussed under the heading " Economy
in Recipes", only ways of using them directly as a substitute for
meat will be listed here.
1. Eggs " boiled " or " dropped " easily digested dishes.
2. Eggs fried, especially when served with bacon or salt pork.
3. Eggs as omelets. These may be flavored in a great many ways.
Try using orange- juice with a little lemon in place of the liquid, and
folding in sliced orange. Add sugar as desired. Sweetened omelet,
with jelly folded in, is delicious. Omelet may be made with fewer
eggs if either flour or bread crumbs are added. Omelet will go
farther if served with a medium white sauce, a cheese white sauce,
or a tomato sauce folded in and poured around.
a. Omelet with Bread Crumbs.
Add bread crumbs soaked in milk or water.
For each egg allow 2 tbsp. bread crumbs and 2 tbsp. milk.
k
16 ECONOMY IN FOOD
b. Omelet with Flour.
Use a medium white sauce or a tomato sauce.
For each egg allow one cup of white sauce.
4. Scrambled Eggs.
One tablespoon of water or milk, or J c. white sauce or tomato
sauce or canned tomato for each egg, may be added before cooking,
or grated cheese may be mixed with it.
5. Eggs in Potato Nests.
Eggs dropped, without breaking, into mashed potato (this may be
beaten with pimento rubbed through a strainer).
Season with salt and pepper and place in oven until cooked to suit
taste.
6. Baked Eggs.
Break an egg in a buttered cup, cover with " buttered " crumbs
or white sauce seasoned with cheese and pepper, and bake till firm.
Eggs may also be placed in small tomatoes scooped out from the
stem end, seasoned with " buttered crumbs ", and baked.
7. Stuffed Eggs.
Cut hard-cooked eggs in half. Remove yolk, season with J tsp.
vinegar, a little salt, pepper, and mustard. Mold into ball with J
tsp. melted butter or oleo, and replace. May be served with white
sauce poured over, or mixed with white sauce and "buttered crumbs"
and baked until crumbs brown.
8. Creamed Eggs.
Hard-boiled eggs cut and served in white sauce.
Cheese may be added, or cooked macaroni, rice, etc. The whole
may be covered with " buttered crumbs " and baked.
9. Hard-Cooked Eggs on Toast.
Slice eggs lengthwise and put on toast. Pour over a white sauce
to which have been added boiled onions rubbed through a sieve.
10. Egg Croquettes.
Chop hard-cooked eggs and add enough white sauce to shape.
Dip in egg and crumbs and fry in deep fat. Serve with this white
sauce, cheese sauce, or tomato sauce.
II. CHEESE
Nutritive Value and Cost
Cheese is a very nutritious food, 1 and very cheap when compared
with meat. An inch cube of American cream cheese is more than
equal in total food value to an egg, or to an ounce of porterhouse
1 See Wellman's " Food Study", p. 284.
ECONOMY IN PLANNING MEALS 17
or sirloin steak, and supplies as much protein as the latter. To
put it in another way, one pound of cheese is equal to almost two
pounds of such meat, and costs less than half as much.
How to Cook Cheese
Cheese should never be exposed to extremely high temperatures.
Therefore, it is better to grate it, or break it up, and stir it with
white sauce just as the latter is taken from the fire, or to cook it
over water. If a dish is to be scalloped with cheese, the cheese
should be mixed through, rather than sprinkled over the top where
it is exposed 'to the full heat of the oven. The hard crust will be
prevented from forming on top of such dishes as macaroni and
cheese, if the dish is covered with " buttered crumbs."
1. White Sauce Welsh Rabbit.
Stir into a medium white sauce which is still very hot, some cheese,
grated or cut l in small pieces. Pour on toasted bread or crackers
and serve at once.
2. Cheese and Cereal.
Cooked cereals, such as hominy, rice, macaroni, etc., may be
stirred with milk in a saucepan. When hot, add cheese grated or
cut * into small pieces. Serve as soon as cheese is melted. For one
cup of cereal allow J Ib. cheese, add milk as needed. Thin white
sauce may be used in place of the milk.
The cereal, cheese, milk, or white sauce, may be placed in alter-
nate layers in a greased dish, and covered with " buttered crumbs/'
then baked until crumbs are brown.
3. English Monkey.
Heat bread crumbs in milk in a sauce pan. When hot, stir in
cheese and season to taste. May be served on toast. Use 1 tbsp.
cheese to each cup of crumbs.
4. Creamed Potatoes and Cheese.
Heat boiled, or baked potatoes cut in cubes, in white sauce.
Just before serving, stir in a little cheese. Allow 1 or 2 tbsp. cheese
for each cup of potatoes.
5. Cheese Pudding. 2
This is a delicious lunch or supper dish, and is very hearty. It
is an excellent way to use up stale bread.
1 Fresh cheese may be easily broken up by rubbing it through a
coarse strainer or frying-basket.
? See Wellman's " Food Study ", p. 281,
18 ECONOMY IN FOOD
6. Cheese Souffle.
To each third cup of thick white sauce add 3 tbsp. grated cheese
and the yolk of one egg. Fold in the white, beaten stiff, pour in a
greased dish and bake in a slow oven until firm. Test with a knife ;
when the knife comes out clean it is done. Serve at once.
Egg and Cheese Dishes are given under Eggs as Meat Substitutes.
III. FISH
Nutritive Value and Cost l
Fish * is somewhat, but as a usual thing not much, cheaper than
meat pound for pound, and is only slightly less nutritious. How-
ever, its use is to be recommended because it makes an acceptable
meat substitute and it spares the demand on meat. Moreover,
our supply of fish can be more easily increased than our supply of
meat. If the cheaper fish is purchased, considerable saving can
be made. Most shellfish are expensive. Oysters are costly for the
amount of nutrition or protein obtained from them, but flavor
often makes them welcome in place of meat.
Cheaper Fish
There are many fish being put upon the market now for which
there was little demand a few years ago. Remember that demand
usually means acquaintance, and let us not be afraid to try new
kinds. Tuna fish was once scorned. Try carp and shark and all
the rest, and see for yourself how good they are. Remember how
many things children learn to eat.
No general recipe for fish, oysters, etc., will be given, except a
few suggestions of how to make a little go a long way.
1. Fish Hash.
Left-over fish may be mixed with cooked potato, seasoned, and
sauted in suet or pork fat until brown on both sides.
2. Creamed Fish and Scalloped Fish.
Left-over fish may be served in white sauce on toast, or in
toast boxes, or the fish may be mixed with " buttered crumbs."
Chopped parsley may be stirred in for flavoring. If the fish is
at all rich, no fat need be used in making the white sauce if whole
milk is used; or skimmed milk with fat will be good. If the fish
is strong flavored, as salmon or tuna fish, it can be mixed with
i See Wellman's " Food Study ", pp. 203-206.
ECONOMY IN PLANNING MEALS 19
a generous amount of bread crusts. Chopped hard-boiled egg may
be added.
3. Fish Balls.
Fish mixed with equal parts of potato. Season, add beaten egg
and fry in deep fat.
4. Fish Croquettes.
Mix fish with thick white sauce. Allow about twice as much
flaked fish as sauce. Dip in eggs and crumbs and fry, or roll in
"buttered crumbs" and bake. If fish is strongly flavored, add
bread crumbs.
5. Scalloped Oysters.
Oysters go farthest served scalloped. That is, placed in a greased
baking-dish in alternate layers with " buttered crumbs ", soaked and
moistened with the liquid and a little added milk. Do not have more
than two layers of oysters and do not over-bake.
6. Oyster Stew and Creamed Oysters.
The oysters used in making an oyster stew may be warmed and
served next day as creamed oysters on toast. Make by adding
oysters at the last moment to an equal amount of oysters creamed in
the usual way.
7. Fish Salad.
Salmon and tuna fish, bought canned, are often served as salads.
But almost any fish is excellent served in this way. It may be mixed
with chopped celery, or chopped cucumber, or chopped tomato, or
with a combination of them. It is good served in a nest of chopped
spinach or other greens, or mixed with chopped hard-boiled eggs.
8. Fish Chowder.
This is a dish too often considered a shore dish, but it can be deli-
ciously made from fish to be obtained in any part of the country.
To make, cut some salt pork into cubes and fry. Then in the
tried-out fat, fry some onions. Add water (or if fish used furnishes
head, tail, and backbone, put these into cold water, bring to boil,
and simmer twenty minutes ; use this stock in place of the water)
and diced potatoes and cook until nearly soft. Then add fish cut
in small pieces, and milk. Simmer ten minutes to cook the fish.
Season and add the pork cubes, and crackers if desired.
IV. PEAS AND BEANS
Peas and beans are high in protein and are hearty foods as well,
so that they make good substitutes for meat. Bought dry they are
usually inexpensive food even when the fuel necessary to cook them
is counted. Various kinds of dried legumes are to be had, all
20 ECONOMY IN FOOD
inexpensive; white beans, lima beans, navy beans, kidney beans,
black beans ; lentils, split white, yellow, or split green peas, whole
green peas, and black-eyed peas, are all common.
One pound of these dried legumes is more nutritious than a
pound of most meat. Lima beans are the least likely to cause
digestive disturbances.
People who have gas stoves can often cook such foods as this on
the ledge inside the furnace. If placed in a fireless cooker without
a soapstone, it usually takes two heatings to get them thoroughly
done.
To prepare the dried legumes, soak them overnight, and start
cooking them in plenty of cold water. Usually about three hours
of cooking is necessary to make them tender. Split peas cook in
a little less time, and navy beans take half an hour longer.
1. Boiled Beans with Tomato.
Beans of any variety white, navy, kidney and black-eyed
peas are good boiled, with canned tomato added during the last part
of the cooking. Onion may be used for seasoning if desired. Rice
or macaroni may be added.
2. Creamed Beans.
Lima beans and kidney beans are good served with white sauce,
or tomato sauce.
3. Bean Loaf.
Cooked beans of any variety, mashed and mixed with grated
cheese, with enough bread crumbs added to make a roll, should be
baked in a moderate oven, basting with hot water and fat. Allow J Ib.
cheese for 1 pint cooked beans. Serve with tomato or onion sauce.
Kidney beans are especially good prepared in this way.
4. Lima Bean or Pea Salad.
Cold beans, if not sweetened in cooking, make excellent salad, as
do cold peas. Lima beans, alone or with chopped celery, and French
dressing, are especially good.
5. Baked-bean Soup.
Allow 1 c. baked beans for each pint of water.
Bring to boiling, then simmer 30 minutes. Thicken with 1 tbsp.
flour stirred in a little cold water. More fat may be added, and
tomato or onions may be used for seasoning.
6. Legume Soups.
Any of the legumes, or combinations of them, make excellent
hearty soups. Corn, tomatoes, or onions may also be combined with
them. The vegetables may be left whole or rubbed through a
strainer.
ECONOMY IN PLANNING MEALS 21
Soak dried legumes for 8 to 10 hours. Drain and boil in twice
their bulk of water until soft. Thicken with flour. Allow about
J c. of dried legumes for each cup of soup.
V. OTHER HEARTY DISHES
Since it is not at all necessary that the protein needed in the diet
be supplied by meat, it is entirely possible to use substitutes which
are not especially high in protein and to supply the protein in other
ways, as, for example, in desserts to serve at dinners furnishing meat
substitutes which are not markedly high in protein.
1. Vegetable Souffle.
Allow 2 eggs and J c. of chopped vegetables to each cup of thick
white sauce, mix the beaten yolks with the white sauce, and chopped
cooked vegetable; then fold in whites, beaten stiffly. Bake in
greased baking-dish, set in a pan of water. It may be covered
with " buttered crumbs." Cut with knife to test when done. Knife
should come out clean.
This is an excellent way to use small amounts of vegetables. Mix-
tures of vegetables may be used.
2. Scalloped Vegetables.
Mix canned corn, boiled macaroni, cooked cabbage, or almost any
other vegetable, with white sauce. Place in a greased baking-dish
and cover with " buttered crumbs." Heat in oven until crumbs are
brown. Cheese may be added to the white sauce and increase its
food value as well as its protein.
3. Meatless Stew.
Fry onions in a little meat fat beef drippings, salt pork, or
bacon. Add diced potatoes, carrots, and turnips. Simmer until all
the vegetables are tender. This may be thickened with flour.
More fat may be added and small pieces of crisp bacon or salt pork.
This has a delicious flavor and avoids the tough stringy pieces of meat
usually found in stew. It may be served with dumplings. Maca-
roni may be added, or any other cereals.
4. Jungle Stew.
A similar stew may be made with beans, macaroni or rice, and
tomatoes. Fry onion as before, add beans (already cooked) with
cereal and tomato (which may be canned).
5. Turkish Pilaf without Stock.
Wash rice, cook in a little fat until brown, add boiling water, and
steam. When water is absorbed add canned tomato and cook until
rice is soft. Onion may be added.
To J c. rice allow 1 c. boiling water and 1| c. of tomato.
22 ECONOMY IN FOOD
6. Bacon.
With the advanced price, this is often considered a high-priced
food. While this is true if the bacon is used as an accessory, it does
not follow if it is used as a meat substitute. Even when a pound of
bacon costs forty cents, it is only twice as expensive, say, as round
steak costing perhaps twenty cents, but it furnishes over five times
as much nutrition, pound for pound. Since in serving it goes a good
deal further than meat, it should be considered a cheap substitute
for expensive meat, and a possible one for cheaper meat. However,
it is probable that war prices will make it necessary to buy little bacon
of any type. Bacon " strips", the odd-shaped pieces cut from the
side in trimming, are less expensive than regular bacon.
Bacon should be sliced very thin. If it is too salt, dip the slices
for a moment in warm water. Bacon is most easily cooked on a
rack placed in a pan in the oven. If no rack is used, pour off the
melted fat as it accumulates during the cooking.
7. Salt Pork and Gravy.
Salt pork, fried crisp, served with gravy made from the tried-out
fat, flour and milk, makes an unusual meat substitute, and a very
cheap one.
8. Baked Bananas.
Remove skin, slice lengthwise. Dot with fat and sprinkle lightly
with sugar. Bake until brown. Lemon juice may be added.
9. Fried Bananas.
Cut in quarters and fry. Sugar may be added.
10. Banana Salad.
Cut in half lengthwise. Serve on lettuce with boiled dressing.
Sprinkle with ground peanuts.
11. Banana Fritters.
Cut in pieces, sprinkle with sugar, add lemon, if desired, drop in
fritter batter and fry in deep fat. For batter, for 1 c. liquid use f c.
flour, | egg, and J tsp. salt.
12. Corn Fritters.
Sift flour, baking-powder, salt and pepper, together. Add
canned corn, preferably chopped. Add beaten egg, and drop by
spoonfuls in a hot greased frying-pan or griddle. Turn when brown.
For one can of corn, allow 1 c. flour, 2 tsp. baking-powder and
1 egg.
13. Fried Cereal Mush.
Pack warm cereal mush in a pan or can. When cold, cut in slices,
dip in flour, or in flour and egg, and fry. Serve with syrup.
Hominy, corn meal, oat meal, etc., are all suitable for use in this
way.
USES OF LEFT-OVERS 23
14. Cereal Cutlets.
Mold cereal and slice as for frying. Roll in " buttered crumbs "
and bake in quick oven until brown. Serve with butter or syrup.
STARCHES AND SUGARS
Starchy food should make up the bulk of the diet if the whole
is to be inexpensive. Cereals and starchy vegetables are excellent
food and cheap.
Sugars, 1 while desirable, are not necessary in the diet because
starch, in digestion, is changed into sugar and so supplies the body
with the same material. However, sugar is quickly digested and
is usually not expensive.
VEGETABLES
Vegetables should be used somewhat freely, if possible. Pota-
toes are inexpensive and valuable food. Too often the housewife
prepares these in only one or two ways. Variety should be secured
by using more methods. 2
Much valuable mineral matter is lost 3 if vegetables are boiled and
the water is discarded. Such water should be used in making sauces
or soups, or added to gravy.
If the water cannot be used, the vegetables should be baked,
steamed, or sauted for variety.
FAT
The Federal Food Administration tells us that we eat and waste
about 240 per cent more fat than we need. Saving this waste is
one way of economizing. Another consists in not using expensive
fats where cheaper ones will serve. So far as we know, all pure
fats have equal food value.
E. USES OF LEFT-OVERS
With skill, left-overs may be made as pleasing as the original dish.
Too often they are put away in the ice-box until they spoil and are
then thrown out. This is not economy.
1 Wellman's " Food Study ", pp. 160-161, 163-167.
2 Fannie M. Farmer: Boston Cooking School Cook Book, Re-
vised ed., pp. 309-321.
8 Wellman's " Food Study ", p. 149.
24 ECONOMY IN FOOD
Almost anything, except left-over desserts, can be used in soups ;
undesirable, gristly meat, left-over portions, vegetables, water in
which vegetables or meats have been cooked, hot water that has
been used to rinse out the pans in which meat has been cooked or
vegetables served, grains, cereals, even the well-washed parings
of vegetables, may be added for flavor and for their mineral
salts.
Left-over meat and fish may make chowder, stews, pies, hash,
souffies or salads, or they may be served minced or creamed. Rind
of bacon and salt pork may be cooked with green vegetables or
used to flavor soups.
Left-over vegetables make delicious salads, or may be mixed
with each other to appear again as a " vegetable." For example,
peas and carrots may be mixed, etc.
Soft-boiled eggs, left over, can be cooked hard and used for cream-
ing, or garnishing; or they may be chopped fine and added to
vegetables or chopped meat.
Left-over cereals may be fried, made into griddlecakes, added
to muffins, put into soups or gravies, mixed with meat or vegetables
for pies, or scalloped dishes, stews and souffles. They may also
be sweetened, mixed with fruit and spice, and appear as puddings.
Slightly dry bread or biscuits may be freshened by moistening
the crust and reheating in a covered pan. Toast, milk toast, cream
toast, tomato sauce toast, fried toast and croutons may all be made
out of dry bread. Scalloped dishes all call for bread crumbs. Finely
ground bread or cracker crumbs may be used in place of flour
in making griddlecakes, muffins, cake, etc., or as thickening in
soups.
Unless bread has been thoroughly dried in the oven it should not
be kept in a closed jar or tin. Store it in an open bowl or paper bag
in a cupboard away from dust. If stored while it still contains
moisture, it will acquire a stale, musty taste.
F. ECONOMY IN RECIPES
Many people do not realize that is it often possible to use an
expensive or a cheap recipe for the same dish with little difference
in result. Otherwise desirable recipes that are extravagant can
readily be modified by a little thought. Of course, if we have less
rich concentrated food, we shall need more food, but the probability
is that this will be all the better for our digestions. Here are some
suggestions :
ECONOMY IN RECIPES 25
FAT
Do not use butter in cakes, cookies, and pies. Try cutting down
the amount of fat used in a recipe until you are sure you have used
as little as possible. If pure fats are substituted for butter use
four-fifths of the amount of the butter to get the same result.
Fat from stock or from cooking meats should be saved. Beef and
chicken fat, tried out, may be used in cakes, cookies, gravies, soups,
etc. ; bacon fat is good in corn cakes, meat sauces, and soups
made from legumes, and meatless stews; sausage fat is useful for
spiced cookies, gingerbread, and poultry stuffing. Any of these
can be used in sauteing vegetables, or in basting. Fat unusable in
cooking should be sold or made into soap, not thrown away.
EGGS
The number of eggs in a recipe can usually be cut materially or
even omitted entirely. For eggs used as leavening, substitute a
teaspoon of baking powder for each egg omitted, but here some
egg must be used. The egg may often be omitted if a food is to
be dipped in crumbs or meal, and fried. If the egg is used, allow
two to three tablespoons of water to each egg.
Dried egg powders are sold. They may be used in baking, in
muffins, griddle cakes, etc., or whenever they are not depended
upon for leavening. They are a great saving.
MILK
Water may be used as the liquid in place of milk in all muffin
and cake mixtures. Skimmed milk may also be used.
CREAM
Cream, whipped, goes farther than plain cream. Stiffly-beaten
white of egg, when eggs are cheap, may be beaten into whipped cream.
Some kinds of cream-whips will whip thin cream. It is more eco-
nomical to use one than to beat heavy cream with an egg-beater.
SALAD-DRESSING
Olive oil is expensive, cotton-seed and corn oils less so. The latter
make a good substitute in mayonnaise if too much salt is not added.
These are, however, more expensive than boiled dressings thickened
partly with flour, partly with egg. Sour cream, sweetened with
sugar and flavored with vinegar, makes an excellent dressing.
26 ECONOMY IN FOOD
SUGAR
Very sour fruits may be sweetened with less sugar if a little soda
is added. Fruit preserves may be made with far less sugar if salt
is used. They must be kept a few days before using, so that the
salty taste is no longer distinguishable. Allow three-fourths of a
cup of sugar and one and one-fourth of a teaspoon of salt to one
pound of fruit.
JELLIES AND JAMS
The more expensive fruits may be used for flavor, and the bulk
of a preserve or jelly made out of less expensive material. For
example, rhubarb may be added to blackberry, strawberry, or rasp-
berry jam; carrots may be added to conserve, and apples used
in fruit jellies.
If only one extraction for jelly is made, the pulp makes good
marmalade.
Watermelon rind makes excellent pickle; orange and grape-
fruit peel are good candied.
YEAST
Dry yeast is cheaper than compressed. If dry yeast is used,
bread must be made by the " long process."
If bread is frequently made in large quantities, it is economy to
make liquid yeast.
LIQUID YEAST
4 medium-sized potatoes 1 cake dry yeast, softened in J cup of
warm water, or
1 quart hot water 1 cake of compressed yeast
1 teaspoon salt J cup sugar
Wash, pare and cook the potatoes in the water. Drain, mash
and return to the water. Make up to one quart. Add the sugar
and salt and allow the mixture to cool. When lukewarm add the
yeast. Keep at room temperature (65 to 70 F.) for 24 hours before
using. If kept for a longer time it should be poured into a sterilized
jar and put in a dark, cool place.
J c. liquid yeast may be used in place of J compressed yeast cake
and J c. of water in a bread recipe if the " short process " is followed.
If the bread is made by the " long process " use 2 tbsp. of the liquid
yeast for f compressed yeast cake.
ECONOMY IN FUEL 27
G. ECONOMY IN FUEL
Economy in fuel is also worthy of consideration. Unless the
cook stove is also used for heating, it is costly to run it unnecessarily.
A fireless cooker soon pays for itself under such circumstances,
especially if gas or electricity is used for cooking. A serviceable
one may be made at home. 1
With a gas stove, if the family is small, it pays to use a small
portable oven 2 over a burner on the top of the stove.
In general, care should be taken that a burner is not lighted before
one is ready to use it, and that it is turned out as soon as possible ;
also that the flame be turned as low as possible in boiling vegetables
after actual boiling has begun.
Much can be done by planning to bake several things at once
when the oven must be used.
1 A free bulletin may be obtained from U. S. Dept. of Agriculture,
Farmers' Bulletin, 100, 298, " The Fireless Cooker."
2 See Wellman's " Food Study", p. 113.
28
ECONOMY IN FOOD
TABLE OF COST
loo-CALORIE PORTIONS OF FOODS
AND FACTORS FOR CALCULATING THEM
The prices used in this table are those that foods were sold for
during 1916 or 1917, and are intended to show the usual relative
cost of food from the fuel-value standpoint.
To bring up to date, multiply the factor given in column III by
the present price per pound (or per dozen, quart, etc., if so stated)
and use the result obtained in place of the one given in column IV.
The foods are grouped to bring out the comparative cost of
like foods.
If the commodity is sold by the pound the factor in column III
is obtained by dividing one cent by the number of 100-calorie portions
in one pound. This is equivalent to dividing 100 by the full value
per pound.
When the commodity is not sold by the pound, the factor is ob-
tained by dividing one by the weight, expressed in pounds, of the
quart, peck, or dozen, and then dividing that by the number of 100-
calorie portions in a pound.
I
II
III
IV
V
COST OF
IOO-CALORIE
NAME OP FOOD
FUEL
VALUE
PER
POUND
FACTOR
TO BE
MULTIPLIED
BY PRICE TO
OBTAIN V
SPECIAL PRICE
USED TO
OBTAIN COST
GIVEN IN V
PORTION AT
PRICE GIVEN
IN IV, EX-
PRESSED IN
CENTS AND
FRACTIONS OP
A CENT
Berries :
Blackberries . .
262
0.278 1
18 1 per qt.
5.00
Cranberries . .
212
0.472
150 per Ib.
7.08
Currants . . .
259
0.280 l
180 per qt.
5.04
Raspberries, red
247
0.294 *
20^ per qt.
5.88
Strawberries . .
168
0.432 1
12J0perqt.
5.40
Bread :
Boston Brown .
1026
0.097
50perlb.
0.49
Graham . . .
1189
0.084
5^ per Ib.
0.42
Rye ....
1153
0.087
50perlb.
0.44
White ....
1174
0.085
50perlb.
0.43
Whole wheat
1113
0.090
50 per Ib.
0.45
Butter (see Fats)
L Calculated on the basis that one quart of berries weighs 22 ounces.
TABLE OF COST OF 100-CALORIE PORTIONS OF FOODS 29
I
II
III
IV
V
COST OF
IOO-CALORIE
NAME OF FOOD
FUEL
VALUE
PER
POUND
FACTOR
TO BE
MULTIPLIED
BY PRICE TO
OBTAIN V
SPECIAL PRICE
USED TO
OBTAIN COST
GIVEN IN V
PORTION AT
PRICE GIVEN
IN IV, EX-
PRESSED IN
CENTS AND
FRACTIONS OF
A CENT
Cereals (see also
Bread) :
Barley, Pearl
1615
0.062
lOffperlb.
0.62
Corn meal . .
1620
0.062
6^ per Ib.
0.37
Corn flakes . .
1631
0.061
20^ per Ib.
1.22
[10 for 8 oz.
pkg.]
Cornstarch . .
1632
0.061
10^ per Ib.
0.61
Cream of wheat
1641
0.061
15^ per Ib.
0.91
Flour, barley
1603
0.062
8 per Ib.
0.50
Flour, buckwheat
1577
0.063
10 j per Ib.
0.63
Flour, Graham .
1628
0.061
4< per Ib.
0.24
Flour, rye . .
1588
0.063
4^ per Ib.
0.25
Flour, white . .
1603
0.062
4f per Ib.
0.25
Flour, whole
wheat . . .
1630
0.061
4^ per Ib.
0.24
Grapenuts . .
1683
0.059
20^ per Ib.
1.18
[15 for 12 oz.
pkg.]
Hominy, un-
cooked . . .
1608
0.062
6^ per Ib.
0.37
Macaroni . . .
1625
0.062
10^ per Ib.
0.62
Noodles . . .
1625
0.062
lO^perlb.
0.62
Oatmeal, Rolled
Oats ....
1803
0.056
6.7f5 per Ib.
0.38
[lO^forlJlb.
Pkg.]
Oatmeal, steel cut
1811
0.055
6^ per Ib.
0.33
Popcorn . . .
1826
0.055
10^ per Ib.
0.55
Rice ....
1591
0.063
10^ per Ib.
0.63
Shredded wheat
1660
0.060
16 per Ib.
0.96
[12^ for 12 oz.
Tapioca, Minute
1608
0.062
20^ per Ib.
1.24
[lO^forSoz.
pkg.]
Cheese (see Dairy
Products)
30
ECONOMY IN FOOD
I
II
in
IV
V
COST OP
IOO-CALORIE
NAME OF FOOD
FUEL
VALUE
PER T
POUND
FACTOR
TO BE
MULTIPLIED
BY PRICE TO
OBTAIN V
SPECIAL PRICE
USED TO
OBTAIN COST
GIVEN IN V
PORTION AT
PRICE GIVEN
IN IV, EX-
PRESSED IN
CENTS AND
FRACTIONS OP
A CENT
Chocolate and Co-
coa (see Sweets)
Crackers :
Boston crackers
1837
0.054
S^perlb.
0.43
Graham crackers
1904
0.052
15 p per Ib.
0.78
Oatmeal crackers
1920
0.052
10 per Ib.
0.52
Oyster crackers .
1914
0.052
KMperlb.
0.52
Saltines . . .
1952
0.051
10^ per Ib.
0.51
Soda crackers
1875
0.053
8^ per Ib.
0.42
Water crackers .
1790
0.056
IS^perlb.
0.84
Cream (see Dairy
Products)
Dairy Products
Butter (see Fats)
Buttermilk . .
166
0.278 l
6 i per qt.
1.67
Cheese, American
1994
0.050
'25^ per Ib.
1.25
Condensed,
sweetened . .
1480
0.068
40^perlb.
2.72
[20for8oz.]
Condensed,
unsweetened
757
0.132
20^perlb.
2.64
[lO^forSoz.]
Cream, thin
(18%) . . .
880
0.058 2
40 per qt.
2.32
Cream, thick
(40%) . . .
1727
0.029 3
60^ per qt.
1.74
Skimmed milk .
166
0.278 4
5 per qt.
1.39
Whole milk . .
314
0.148 6
10^ per qt.
1.48
1 Calculated on the basis that 1 qt. of buttermilk weighs 2 Ib.
2.6 oz. or 980 g.
2 Calculated on the basis that 1 qt. of thin cream weighs 1 Ib.
15.6 oz. or 896 g.
3 Calculated on the basis that 1 qt. of thick cream weighs 1 Ib.
15 oz. or 880 g.
4 Calculated on the basis that 1 qt. of skimmed milk weighs 2 Ib.
2.6 oz. or 980 g.
5 Calculated on the basis that 1 qt. of whole milk weighs 2 Ib.
2,4 oz. or 976 g.
TABLE OF COST OF 100-CALORIE PORTIONS OF FOODS 31
I
II
III
IV
V
COST OF
100-CALORIE
NAME OF FOOD
FUEL
VALUE
PER
POUND
FACTOR
TO BE
MULTIPLIED
BY PRICE TO
OBTAIN V
SPECIAL PRICE
USED TO
OBTAIN COST
GIVEN IN V
PORTION AT
PRICE GIVEN
IN IV, EX-
PRESSED IN
CENTS AND
FRACTIONS OF
A CENT
Eggs without shell
672
0.114 1
f50^ per doz.
5.70
< 35^ per doz.
3.99
[25 i per .doz.
2.85
Fats (see -Oils) :
f60^per Ib.
'l.74
Butter ....
3488
0.029
MS^perlb.
1.31
[35^ per Ib.
1.02
Cottolene . . .
4082
0.024
18^ per Ib.
0.43
Cotton-seed oil .
4082
0.132 2
50 i per qt.
6.60
Lard ....
4082
0.024
20^ per Ib.
0.48
[50^ per Ib.
fl.45
Oleomargarine .
3410
0.029
\35tperlb.
n.02
[25 per Ib.
[0.73
Olive oil ...
4082
0.132 2
100 j per qt.
13.32
Salt pork . . .
3575
0.028
25^perlb.
0.70
Suet, beef . . .
3425
0.029
15^ per Ib.
0.44
Fish:
Bluefish . . .
206
0.485
23^ per Ib.
11.16
Codfish, steaks .
329
0.304
12^ per Ib.
3.65
Codfish, salt . .
515
0.194
20^perlb.
3.88
Halibut . . .
457
0.219
SO^perlb.
6.57
Herring, smoked
731
0.137
25jper Ib.
3.43
Lobster, canned
382
0.262
70^ per Ib.
18.34
Oysters . . .
222
0.300 3
40^ per qt.
12.00
Salmon, fresh
582
0.172
20jper Ib.
3.44
Salmon, canned .
660
0.152
lO^perlb.
1.52
Sardines . . .
924
0.108
40^fperlb.
4.32
Tuna ....
560
0.179
34.3^ per Ib.
6.14
[30^ for 14 oz.
can]
Whitefish . . .
315
0.314
15^perlb.
4.71
Flour (see Cereals)
Fruit (see Berries) :
Apples, fresh . .
214
0.037 4
60^ per pk.
2.22
1 Calculated on basis that 1 dz. eggs without shell weighs 1 Ib.
,5 oz. or 50 g. per egg.
2 Calculated on the basis that 1 qt. of oil weighs 1 Ib. 13.7 oz.
3 Calculated on basis that 1 qt. of oysters weighs 1 Ib. 8 oz.
,* Calculated on basis that 1 pk. of apples weighs 12J Ib.
32
ECONOMY IN -FOOD
I
II
III
IV
V
COST OF
100-CALORiE
NAME OF FOOD
FUEL
VALUE
PER
POUND
FACTOR
TO BE
MULTIPLIED
BY PRICE TO
OBTAIN V
SPECIAL PRICE
USED TO
OBTAIN COST
GIVEN IN V
PORTION AT
PRICE GIVEN
IN IV, EX-
PRESSED IN
CENTS AND
FRACTIONS OF
A CENT
Fruit Cont.
Apples, dried
1318
0.076
10*perlb.
0.76
Apricots, dried .
1260
0.079
25*perlb.
1.98
Bananas . . .
290
0.345
7^ per Ib.
2.59
Cherries, candied
1578
0.063
50* per Ib.
3.15
Cherries, canned
407
0.246
16*perlb.
3.94
[40* for 2ilb.]
Citron ....
1487
0.067
30* per Ib.
1.41
Currants, dried .
1459
0.069
15*perlb.
1.04
Dates, dried . .
1416
0.071
10*perlb.
0.71
Figs, dried . .
1437
0.070
20* per Ib.
1.40
Grapes. . . .
328
0.051
20 * per bas-
1.02
ket [6 Ibs.]
Lemons . . .
140
0.286 l
25* per doz.
7.15
Olives ....
993
0.067 2
40 per qt.
2.68
Oranges . . .
169
0.148 3
40* per dz.
5.92
fO.013
(200 4 per bu.
[2.60
Peaches, fresh .
153
{
{ [50 Ib.]
[0.217 4
[ 30* per doz.
[6.51
Peaches, canned
213
0.469
10* per Ib.
4.69
[25* for 2 Jib.
can]
Pears, fresh . .
245
0.408
1.5* per Ib.
0.61
[75*abu.
(50 Ib.)]
Pears, canned .
344
0.290
10* per Ib.
2.90
[25* for 2 Jib.
can]
Pineapple, canned
696
0.144
lO^perlb.
1.44
[25*for2ilb.
can]
Prunes ....
1161
0.086
15*perlb.
1.29
Raisins, seeded .
1563
0.064
12*perlb.
0.77
Raisins, layer
1407
0.071
30*perlb.
2.13
1 Calculated on basis that 1 doz. lemons weigh 2 Ib. 8 oz.
2 Calculated on basis that 1 qt. olives weighs 1 Ib. 8 oz.
3 Calculated on the basis that 1 doz. medium oranges weigh 4 Ib.
* Calculated on the basis that 1 doz. peaches weigh 3 Ib.
TABLE OF COST OF 100-CALORIE PORTIONS OF FOODS 33
I
II
III
IV
V
COST OF
IOO-CALORIE
NAME OF FOOD
FUEL
VALUE
PER
POUND
FACTOR
TO BE
MULTIPLIED
BY PRICE TO
OBTAIN V
SPECIAL PRICE
USED TO
OBTAIN COST
GIVEN IN V
PORTION AT
PRICE GIVEN
IN IV, EX-
PRESSED IN
CENTS AND
FRACTIONS OF
A CENT
Fruit Cont.
Rhubarb . . .
62
1.613
50perlb.
8.07
Watermelon . .
57
1.754
30 per Ib.
5.26
Gelatine . . . .
1662
0.060
2400 per Ib.
14.40
[150 per 1 oz.
Meats :
P g-J
Bacon ....
2597
0.039
250 per Ib.
0.98
Beef, dried . .
760
0.132
400 per Ib.
5.28
Beef, heart . .
1277
0.078
12J0perlb.
0.98
Beef, liver . .
539
0.186
100 per Ib.
1.86
Porterhouse
steak . . .
1075
0.093
280 per Ib.
2.60
Beef, rib, roast .
1078
0.093
250 per Ib.
2.33
Beef, round, lean
652
0.153
220 per Ib.
3.37
Beef, sirloin . .
960
0.104
250 per Ib.
2.60
Beef, tenderloin .
1290
0.078
750 per Ib.
5.85
Beef, tongue
530
0.189
150 per Ib.
2.84
Chicken, young .
289
0.346
350 per Ib.
12.11
Fowl ....
751
0.133
250 per Ib.
3.33
Ham, fresh . .
1302
0.077
250 per Ib.
1.93
Ham, smoked .
1621
0.062
350 per Ib.
2.17
Ham, deviled
1738
0.057
1050 per Ib.
5.99
[180 for 2|oz.]
Lamb, loin chops
1274
0.078
250 per Ib.
1.95
Lamb, leg . .
844
0.118
250 per Ib.
2.95
Mutton, leg . .
874
0.114
200 per Ib.
2.28
Pork, chops . .
1231
0.081
220 per Ib.
1.78
Pork, tenderloin
874
0.114
300 per Ib.
3.42
Sausage, pork .
1642
0.061
220 per Ib.
1.34
Sausage, beef
525
0.190
180 per Ib.
3.42
Sausage, Wiener-
wurst . . .
1439
0.069
150 per Ib.
1.04
Turkey . . .
1043
0.096
300 per Ib.
2.88
Veal, cutlets . .
671
0.149
250 per Ib.
3.72
Veal, leg . . .
569
0.176
300 per Ib.
5.28
Milk (see Dairy
Products)
34
ECONOMY IN FOOD
I
II
in
IV
V
COST OF
IOO-CALORIE
NAME OF FOOD
FUEL
VALUE
PER
POUND
FACTOR
TO BE
MULTIPLIED
BY PRICE TO
OBTAIN V
SPECIAL PRICE
USED TO
OBTAIN COST
GIVEN IN V
PORTION AT
PRICE GIVEN
IN IV, EX-
PRESSED IN
CENTS AND
FRACTIONS OF
A CENT
Molasses (see
Sweets)
Nuts:
Almonds, shelled
1615
0.062
70 per Ib.
4.34
Butternuts . .
417
0.240
200 per Ib.
4.80
Chestnuts . . .
920
0.109
150 per Ib.
1.64
Cocoanuts, fresh
1369
0.073
200 per Ib.
1.46
[10* for Jib.
nut]
Cocoanuts, pre-
pared . . .
3028
0.033
800 per Ib.
2.64
[100for2oz.]
Peanuts, butter .
2741
0.036
200 per Ib.
0.72
Peanuts, shelled
2487
0.040
300 per Ib.
1.20
Peanuts,
unshelled . .
1877
0.053
200 per Ib.
1.06
Walnuts . . .
859
0.116
200 per Ib.
2.32
Oils (see Fats)
Soups, canned:
Celery, cream of
243
0.412
100 per Ib.
4.12
Chicken gumbo .
191
0.524
101 per Ib.
5.24
Corn, cream of .
265
0.377
100 per Ib.
3.77
Pea, cream of
261
0.383
100 per Ib.
3.83
Tomato . . .
179
0.559
100 per Ib.
5.59
Vegetable . . .
62
1.613
100 per Ib.
16.13
Sweets :
Chocolate . . .
2772
0.036
. 450 per Ib.
1.62
Cocoa powder .
2256
0.044
450 per Ib.
1.98
Doughnuts . .
1942
0.069 l
100 per doz.
0.69
Fig bars . . .
1619
0.062
200 per Ib.
1.24
Gingersnaps . .
1848
0.054
150 per Ib.
0.81
Honey ....
1480
0.068
22.90 per Ib.
1.56
[200 for 14 oz.]
Marmalade,
orange . . .
1550
0.065
500 per Ib.
3.25
[250for8oz.]
1 Calculated on the basis that 1 doz. doughnuts weigh 12 oz,
TABLE OF COST OF 100-CALORI^
OF FOODS
I
II
III
IV
V
COST OP
IOO-CALORIE
NAME OF FOOD
FUEL
VALUE
PER
POUND
FACTOR
TO BE
MULTIPLIED
BY PRICE TO
OBTAIN V
SPECIAL PRICE
USED TO
OBTAIN COST
GIVEN IN V
PORTION AT
PRICE GIVEN
IN IV, EX-
PRESSED IN
CENTS AND
FRACTIONS OF
A CENT
Sweets Cont.
Molasses, cane .
1300
0.077
6.30 per Ib.
0.49
[15*5 for 2 Ib.
6 oz.]
Sugar, white . .
1814
0.055
90perlb.
0.50
Sugar, brown
1724
0.058
60 per Ib.
0.35
Syrup, maple
1160
0.031 1
35 per qt.
1.09
Vanilla wafers .
1990
0.050
250 per Ib.
1.25
Vegetables :
Asparagus, fresh
101
0.990
100 per Ib.
9.90
Asparagus,
canned . . .
82
1.220
250 per Ib.
30.50
Beans, baked
canned . . .
583
0.172
125perlb.
2.06
[15* for Hlb.
can]
Beans, dried . .
1564
0.064
100 per Ib.
0.64
Beans, Lima,
fresh . . .
250
0.400
150 per Ib.
6.00
Beans, Lima,
dried . . .
1586
0.063
100 per Ib.
0.63
Beans, Lima,
canned . . .
350
0.286
120 per Ib.
3.43
[150forHlb.
can]
Beans, string,
fresh ....
176
0.568
80perlb.
4.54
Beans, string,
canned . . .
93
1.075
120 per Ib.
12.90
Beets ....
167
0.599
20perlb.
1.20
Cabbage . . .
121
0.826
50 per Ib.
4.13
Carrots . . .
159
0.629
40 per Ib.
2.52
Cauliflower . .
138
0.725
100 per Ib.
7.25
Celery ....
68
1.470
100 per Ib.
14.70
Corn, canned
445
0.225
120 per Ib.
2.70
Cucumbers . .
68
1.470
100 per Ib.
14.70
Lentils ....
1581
0.063
150 per Ib.
0.95
Calculated on the basis that I qt. of maple syrup weighs 2f Ib,
33.
ECONOMY IN FOOD
I
II
III
IV
V
COST OF
IOO-CALORIE
NAME op FOOD
FUEL
VALUE
PER
POUND
FACTOR
TO BE
MULTIPLIED
BY PRICE TO
OBTAIN V
SPECIAL PRICE
USED TO
OBTAIN COST
GIVEN IN V
PORTION AT
PRICE GIVEN
IN IV, EX-
PRESSED IN
CENTS AND
FRACTIONS op
A CENT
Vegetables Cont.
Lettuce . . .
72
1.389
100 per Ib.
13.89
Mushrooms . .
203
0.493
750per Ib.
36.98
Onions ....
200
0.500
4^ per Ib.
2.00
Parsnips . . .
236
0.424
40 per Ib.
1.70
Peas, fresh . .
251
0.398
50perlb.
1.99
Peas, canned . .
251
0.398
120 per Ib.
4.78
Peas, dried, split
1612
0.062
100 per Ib.
0.62
Potato, chips . .
2596
0.039
600 per Ib.
2.34
[15 i for
4 oz.]
Potato, sweet .
447
0.224
50per Ib.
1.12
Potato, white
302
0.331
30perlb.
0.99
Pumpkins . . .
59
1.694
H0perlb.
2.54
Spinach . . .
109
0.917
60per Ib.
5.50
Squash. . . .
103
0.971
H0perlb.
1.46
Tomatoes, fresh
104
0.962
f!50per Ib.
\ 50perlb.
/ 14.43
{ 4.81
Tomatoes, canned
103
0.971
7i0per Ib.
7.28
Turnips . . .
124
0.806
30per Ib.
2.42
THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE
STAMPED BELOW
AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS
WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN
THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY
WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH
DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY
OVERDUE.
171933
JUN 9 1941
JUN 23 1941
LD 21-50m-l,'33
382088
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
