Still Learning.....

We made it through our first week of depression cooking! I have to admit, I cheated a bit. I have been spring-cleaning which has left little time for food preparation. We ate out more times than we normally do :( Tonight I made homemade macaroni and cheese with left over chicken. As I was transferring all of the ingredients from separate pots, I realized that this probably was not the way they cooked in the depression. The ingredients were low-cost, but the way I was cooking them was not.

Energy costs were just as important as food costs during the
depression. One of the reasons that pasta was a good staple was because it was easy to cook without using a lot of energy. Once the water boils, you can put a cover on the pot and turn off the stove. The pasta will continue to cook and soften without using energy. I also thought about washing the dishes as I placed 3 pots into the sink. Depression cooking used one pot as much as possible. In the next week, I will try using less energy as well as cooking more cost-effective foods. This photo is of my apple curry chicken. After I cooked it I realized it had too many ingredients to be considered a depression era meal. It was low-cost for me because I had all the ingredients in my pantry. Here is the recipe:

Apple Curry Chicken

1 lb of pork or chicken cubed

1 apple peeled and diced

1 onion peeled and diced

1/2 c orange juice

1 tbsp curry powder

1 tsp sage

1 tsp thyme

2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

4 tbsp flour

2 tbsp cold water

Rice ( prepare as directed on package) and vegetable of your choice


Cook the meat all the way through with apples and onions. Add the orange juice and all the spices, simmer on low for about 15 minutes. Add the cold water. Sift flour evenly over pan, stir until smooth and flour is melted. Simmer another 10 minutes. Serve on warm rice