Old Fashioned Frugality

1942 War Ration Book

Last week on Tammy's website she posted about her frustration with keeping her grocery budget low. A lot of people are struggling with the sub-prime lender problems, unemployment (I live in Michigan which has the highest unemployment rate in the country right now), rising gas costs and higher grocery bills. I had a conversation with my grandma who is my biggest mentor about how hard it is right now. She always has a gentle way of reminding me that things have been worse and that they will get better again. My grandma told me the story of growing up during the Great Depression and marrying in 1942 during the height of the war. She told me how tight her grocery budget was and some ideas of what her and my grandpa ate. It seemed to be a lot of humble and cheap meals, but they were homemade and she always found a way to save her rations for a special treat. I have a large cook book collection and my favorite ones are the really old ones. I also came across this war ration book at a garage sale. I do not know the person who originally owned them. I also have a few old fashioned "saving stamp" booklets. I remember my mom using S & H Green stamps growing up. The biggest lesson about them is delayed gratification. You had to SAVE UP your stamps to earn items that you wanted. You didn't just go and charge them. So my real "tip" for this week is to remind everyone that we all have different reasons for the things that we buy based on what is important to us; ie: allergies, food preferences, number of family members etc.. Just do your best and cook from scratch as much as possible. I have also included two frugal recipes. Even though my grocery budget is pretty tight, I'm grateful that I can go to the store and purchase anything that I like without restrictions. For more great tips check out Tammy's Recipes.

Inside the ration book- notice how they had dated each line to split it up through the month.

Back cover of ration book.


Ration book and stamp saving books.

Front cover of a war ration cookbook from 1941. I imagine it was given out for free or with a purchase of Swans Down flour or Calumet Baking powder.

Grandma DeKraker's Eggless Chocolate Cake

2 squares Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate
1 cup milk
1 3/4 cups sifted flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening (during wartime they often used lard)
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine chocolate and milk in top of double boiler and cook over rapidly boiling water for 5 minutes, stirring occcasionally. Blend with rotary egg beater; cool.
Sift flour once, measure, add soda, salt and sugar, sift three more times. Cream shortening; add flour, vanilla, and chocolate mixture and stir until all flour is dampened. Then beat vigorously for one minute. Bake in two greased and lightly floured 8-inch layer pans for twenty minutes or until done.
My grandma states that she usually sprinkled the top with powdered sugar to make it pretty.

No-Flour Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients together. Mixture will be thick. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Flatten with a fork. Bake at 300 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Do not over bake. Let cookies stand briefly before removing to cooling rack. Yields 2 dozen.

Here is the cookbook open. Notice there is an eggless chocolate cake recipe there and other ones that have been modified to reduce rationed items.That recipe uses "soured milk" in it. My grandma states that chocolate cake recipes were the most popular because everyone still had birthdays and celebrations.

Say No To Kraft Dinner

For a simple and quick dinner my family loves Tex Mex food. My little ones like to eat the meat without the tortilla, but some of them are coming around. We like to serve them with a rice and salsa. It tastes like it came from a restaurant and it does not include all of the salt and chemicals that a fajita mix includes.

Kelly's Fajita's

~For chicken: 4-5 small ckichen breasts
~For beef: One flank steak or sometimes called skirt steak

For the marinade:
~1/2 cup to 1 cup olive oil
~one medium onion sliced into thin rings
~1/2 bunch cilantro chopped
~1/2 cup to 3/4 cup soy sauce or Tamari
~3 cloves of garlic minced or 1 to 2 tsp. of garlic powder
~ 1 tsp. cumin powder
~juice of one or two limes plus slice one and put it in the marinade
~1/2 tsp. black pepper
~1 tsp. of salt (this is optional and I don't use it without any loss of flavor)

Put the meat into a container with a tight fitting lid or a Ziploc bag. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. I usually marinade it over night. The lime juice can start to cook the meat so don't marinade over 8-12 hours. It will taste the best if you grill the meat, but you can cook it in a frying pan or on an oven pan. Let it rest before slicing and then squeeze lime juice over the top.
Tip: try not to put the cilantro or onion on the grill with the meat as it will burn.


We serve it with:
~slice onions and saute until soft
~slice red and green peppers and saute until soft
~mushrooms sliced and sauteed

~salsa

~sour cream
~cheese
~fresh onion and jalepeno slices
~tortillas or make your own with this recipe from Tammy.

Simple Cheesy Spanish Rice

~2 cups cooked brown rice or white rice
~1/2 stick butter or 1/4 cup olive oil- but it tastes different
~one small onion diced
~one small can of petite diced tomatoes (about 15oz.) *you can use the one with onions in it*
~1 tsp of garlic powder
~1 tsp. cumin powder
~ 1 can of diced green chiles or 1 fresh cut up
~1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese or more to taste

Cook the rice and set aside. Melt butter in medium sauce pan. Add onion and cook until slightly browned. Add the rest of the ingredients in the order listed. Cook until the cheese is melted. Serve right away. This will be sticky compared to Rice-a-Roni type.

For more great ideas check back to Stephanie's blog at Keeper of The Home.

Homemade Remedies

Kitchen tip Tuesday is hosted by Tammy at Tammy's Recipes. My kitchen tip this week is a few "recipes" for homemade remedies using ingredients from your kitchen. I have five kids and this past week they were all sick with either the stomach flu or a bad cold (or Both). Here are some cheap and safe remedies that work for us. My children hate the taste of pedialyte but will tolerate the homemade version. Why pay $5.00 for a bottle that's loaded with chemicals when you can make it for next to nothing?

You can make your own remedies with just a few ingredients.

~Homemade Pedialyte Type Drink

1 cup apple juice (I use grape juice or punch that's 100% juice to hide the salty taste better)
2 cups water
1/2 to 1 tsp. salt (I use light salt or fine sea salt; and only 1/2 tsp. for kids)
Juice from one lemon or lime

Combine all the ingredients in a pitcher and store in the refrigerator. Tastes best very cold. Please see the comments section for more info on using the lite salt.



~Stomach Soothing Tea (also good for morning sickness)

1 cup boiling water
1 tsp. dried peppermint
1 tsp. dried camomile
1/2 tsp. minced fresh ginger * optional*

In a small pan, pour boiling water over all the ingredients. Cover and steep for 10 minutes. Then strain into a teacup.



~Mustard Plaster (for chest congestion)

1 T. mustard powder
2 T. flour

In a small bowl, mix the powder with the flour. Add enough water to make a paste.
Spread the paste over half of a dish towel. Fold the towel in half over the paste then apply to the chest. Don't apply directly to skin without a towel. Check often to make sure there is no irritation to the skin.


~Fever Spray

1/4 cup rubbing alcohol
1/4 cup witch hazel
3 drops peppermint essential oil
2-3 drops lavender essential oil

In a clean spray bottle, combine all the ingredients in the order listed. Shake to mix and then chill in the refrigerator.
Spray onto pulse points to reduce fever, avoid eyes and mouth.
This feels cool and soothing when you have a fever. It smells nice too.


~Chest Rub

12 drops eucalyptus essential oil
8 drops hyssop essential oil
4 drops peppermint essential oil
2 T. almond or olive oil

Mix essential oils into carrier oil in a small bowl. Rub onto chest. Cover chest with a cotton towel and place hot water bottle on top.

You should be able to find all of the ingredients at the grocery store and a health food store. If you cannot find some ingredients you can purchase online here, here and here.

As with all home remedies; please use caution and common sense while using them. If you or your child has health problems, you should check with your doctor first before trying them.

Square Pizza???

It's easy to cut a square pizza into strips for toddlers.

Why square pizza you ask? Well, number one it's tradition for our family. My Aunt Ruth started the tradition back in the 70's when we were kids. I always remember her homemade pizzas with her canned dill pickles. Yum. Number two is the fact that you can get more slices from square pizza and my five kids devour both pizzas that I make. Number three is the fact that it's really easy to cut the slices into strips for my toddlers. They seem to find it easier to pick up and eat.
Friday night is pizza night in our house. We like to order out of course, but have you ever added up the cost per month of take-out pizza? When you spend $15.00-$20.00 dollars you don't think of it as $60.00-$80.00 dollars a month. I can make two pizzas for about $4.00 depending on which toppings we use. Here is my recipe for pizza crust. I buy my sauce for now.

Kelly's Pizza Crust

1pkg. dry yeast (or if you use bulk yeast follow label for equivalent)
1 cup warm water
3 cups flour
1tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup oil (I use olive)

Dissolve yeast in warm water, add sugar, salt, and oil, mix thoroughly. Add 1/2 of the flour and beat until no lumps. Gradually add remaining flour. Knead for 5 minutes. Cut in half and pat into 2 pizza pans. Brush tops with oil, add sauce, cheese and toppings. Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

I'm Addicted...Frappuccino Recipe

I have to admit that I'm addicted to these little drinks. They are not as expensive as some of their other drinks, but the prices by me have gone up to as much as $1.99 each. I usually make this my treat when I go out to run errands. I realized that it was breaking my budget so I set out to make it myself. It tastes just like the real thing.






Here's my recipe:

1/2 cup strong brewed coffee (can use double strength) *see note below
2 1/2 cups 2 % milk
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Dissolve sugar in hot coffee then cool it. Combine coffee mixture with milk. Stir or shake and serve really cold. Store in pitcher or covered container.

Notes: 1. To make "mocha" flavor add a pinch of cocoa powder (1/16 of tsp.) before combining.
2. To make mixture thicker like the real thing add 1 T. of dry pectin. It does not add any flavor and can usually be found near the canning products. I don't add it because it just adds expense.
3. If you really like a strong coffee flavor use 1/2 cup espresso instead of coffee.

This recipe makes 24 oz. each little bottle contains 9 1/2 oz. and can be made for less than a dollar depending on which coffee you use.