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Depression Era Eats

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Congratulations! You have been to to Ship Full O' Pirates over 100 times! Just thought you'd like to know.

Are we calling it a depression yet?

Many times, what makes a dish frugal is our willingness to make it from scratch.  Willingness to make it from scratch is often married to how easy it is to accomplish.

Here are a couple of really simple family favorites.

Carrot salad is a very frugal side dish and carrots are usually fairly cheap in the Autumn.

Carrot Salad

  • 6 – 8 nice big carrots
  • 1 cup mayo or Miracle Whip
  • 1 – 2 tablespoons milk

Peel and grate your carrots, stir in the white stuff of your choice.  The rest is optional, don’t let the absence of any of these items prevent you from making this dish.  It’s yummy with extras, but not dependent on them.

  • ½ cup – 1 cup raisins
  • 1 small can crushed pineapple, drained
  • ¼ cup (or so) chopped walnuts
  • 1 apple, diced

Just mix it all together and cover it and set it in the fridge for an hour or so before supper.  You could eat it right away, but the extra time lets the carrots soften a bit.

This next one is a recipe my granny used to make for me.  It’s my favorite of hers.

Sweet Rice

  • 2 cups medium grain white rice
  • 4 cups water
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 cups milk
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • cinnamon and sugar

Prepare the rice according to the package instructions.  Once the rice is done stir in the milk and sugar and continue cooking for about 15 minutes, until most of the milk is absorbed, but not all.  Pour into a serving bowl and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.  You really need to let this sit for at least ½ an hour, otherwise it’s like eating lava.  (ask me how I know)  It’s also very good cold.

I tell my Pirates that this is what they serve in Heaven.  Yup, it’s that good!  They know I’m kidding.  Don’t they?  Maybe I should explain “tongue in cheek” to my sheltered homeschool Pirates. :D

Now you know I love ya, ‘cuz I’ve just given away my most valuable family recipe!

Please go visit Rocks in My Dryer for Works for Me Wednesday to learn a jillion other handy-dandy helpful ideas.

But first you should go enter my GIVEAWAY!

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21 Comments

  1. MotherHen says:

    Hi Anna, that sounds delicious. I love lentils! :D

  2. anna says:

    Hi, don’t know if you take unsolicited advice from blog lurkers but I know you have posted about beans and rice before, so have you ever tried mujadrah? My fam is lebanese so we used to eat it a lot – its basically fried onions with lentils and rice, served with plain yogurt. Try googling it, might have a different spelling because it is a transliteration… anyways whatever.

  3. Kristin says:

    Wow – am I glad I found you today – Thanks for posting on WFMW. I have always wondered about that carrot salad, but always when it wasn’t easy to rush off to google to search for it & having such a short memory, it never got accomplished. I have never ever heard of that rice dish. I’m game!!

    Thanks so much!!
    Kristin

  4. The sweet rice sounds wonderful. I ‘ve been making a rice pudding recipe that uses chocolate chips and it’s yummy. Bet this one is just as tasty. Thanks for sharing.

  5. Julie says:

    I’ve saved the sweet rice recipe. It sounds wonderful! Thanks!

  6. Allie says:

    yummy thanks for the sweet rice recipe… i can’t wait!

  7. mama2tlc says:

    Found you via WFMW! Love the recipes… I have found that my kiddos will eat carrots when there is no fruit in the fridge, and since they are so cheap, they are a frequent snack here!

  8. Jackie says:

    Oh I love sweet rice. That was a special treat we got as children.

  9. MotherHen says:

    Hi Melissa,

    I just sprinkle the cinnamon on the sweet rice, but that’s how I like it. If you like a really cinnamon-y taste then try it that way. It’s just on the top, if you don’t like it you can scrape it off, or you could just try it on one serving.

    Enjoy!

  10. Melissa says:

    I’m not so sure about carrots, but that rice recipe sounds fabulous! How much cinnamon do you use? Enough barely to flavor it, or does the whole dish taste a lot like cinnamon. I think if I were doing it, I’d coat it with cinnamon and sugar… like a churro. Maybe that’s not the point though… :-D

  11. Brooke says:

    pasta salad is a favorite of mine for lunch and it costs $3 for a weeks worth – $1 for the pasta, $0.50 each for a green pepper and a cucumber, around $1 or less for the italian dressing i use, but the small amout of italian seasoning i use.

  12. Ames says:

    They certainly would be serving that in my idea of heaven! Thanks for sharing :)

  13. Jerri says:

    I love carrot salad! Thanks for sharing.

  14. Tonya says:

    Any rice down here in Louisiana better have gravy on top!! LOLOL

    TFS

  15. Sherry says:

    I love making things from scratch. They always seem to taste better and you know what is going into them. THanks for sharing your recipes!

  16. Dana says:

    Mmmm. Carrot salad. Haven’t had that in forever! Thanks for the recipe. I wouldn’t have guessed it was that simple.

  17. Melinda says:

    This carrot salad recipe sounds wonderful! I just found your blog today and really enjoyed it. I’m sure I’ll visit again.

  18. Kim says:

    In my family we always had warm rice with cold milk poured over and sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon sprinkled on top. It’s so tasty! I’m going to give your method a try =)

  19. Grammy says:

    Sounds yummy and easy to make thanks for the recipes. Have a great day.
    Grammy

  20. Jack's Mommy says:

    What neat recipes! I’m always looking for basic frugal eats.. :-D

    I’ll def be trying the rice one…

    thanks!

  21. There’s nothing better than a homemade meal from scratch. At least that is what I tell my kids when I say no to McDonald’s. :)