Just curious who else is living super frugal

[MoonShadows]

It is only when we live without, either by circumstance or choice, that we can truely appreciate what we have. How in the world can we appreciate when we are lost in the sea of all the world's trappings? They only serve as a numbing distraction from what is real in life and what life is all about. Our focus becomes the trappings and not life itself. This is what the majority of our society has chosen, or been duped into, and this is why our society is as bankrupt as it is today. Back to basics does not mean deprivation; it means back to life!

 

[DennisK]

There was an old horse drawn hay rake that was near where I live. I climbed up on its seat and tried to imagine how it felt to be a farmer back in the old horse drawn days. Those of us who know horses know that they are not machines – they have a mind of their own. Thinking of this, as I was looking down under my seat at those deadly looking tines, gave me a small glimpse at how it felt to live and work during that period. With those cook books, you-all have a wonderful portal through which you can experience what things tasted like during those times. We are like children trying to wear our parent’s big shoes. But in doing that, there is much we can learn – things we may need to know.
3riverschick, I have never heard of spelt. This will give me more to explore. I would like to learn how your Toll House Cookies turn out using spelt.

 

[jbirds2012]

My Mom gave me her 1946 edition of The Settlement Cookbook. It was the first one she ever had. She is spry at 94. Picked it up to read a couple of weeks ago. What a revelation! Here we are trying to figure out how to eat with less eggs, milk, and sugar. It is all in this cookbook, whose recipes hearken back to the 1930's. I tried the molasses oatmeal cookies using a half sugar /half Splenda blend. Just yummy. if anyone here has read Wheat Belly, they know that the first wheats were hybridized in 1950. Between 1700 and 1950, we pretty much used the same wheat called "spelt". So I was wanting to cook with spelt and got to thinking, any cookbook published before 1950 would be using spelt in the recipes. That was an eye opener. As a child in the 1950's, I started making Toll House Cookies out of my Mothers( now mine) 1951 Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook ( a classic). They were delicious. Yet, over the years, they became less so, until in the 1990's, the recipe simply no longer worked. The cookies just didn't mix, bake or taste the same.
Coincidentally, this parallels the rise of the intelligent oven and the continued hybridizing of wheat. Now the original 1938(?) recipe for Toll House Cookies is different from the one you see today. It has a difference in the amount of water and cooking time. I wonder if that has to do with the hybridized wheat? I am going to get a copy of the original and make it with Spelt. I think it will be really good. What has all this to do with living super frugal? Simply that we don't need all these expensive, processed ingredients to make good food. Yes, the spelt is more expensive, but it is not Twinkies, smile. I am finding these old recipes from the 30's and 40's a real eye opener about how food can be simple and good without the latest fancy mushroom, exotic nuts, fancy lettuce or expensive fancy sugars in them. The recipe for the molasses oatmeal cookies can be found at http://www.allrecipes.com under "WWII oatmeal cookies". . They don' say it, but it's the one from the Settlement Cookbook.
Next I am going to try out some recipes from the 1941 Rumford Cook Book, that should be fun.
Best,
Karen

my mom gave me grandma's cookbook about 10 years ago. it is so nice to look through and cook from, to think about my grandma and mom and aunts as little girls helping to make the recipes. what a great window to back when.
back when food was made from scratch.
to quote Tim McGraw

" I miss back when "

 

[MoonShadows]

Watkins. They're a great company. They started in 1868, and they are still around after all these years. I love their products.

http://www.jrwatkins.com/jrwatkins/index.cfm

 

[jbirds2012]

Watkins. They're a great company. They started in 1868, and they are still around after all these years. I love their products.

http://www.jrwatkins.com/jrwatkins/index.cfm

yea ! cool huh ! we saw it on the shelf awhile back and bought their brand on purpose. DH's great grandfather used to make a living selling Watkins products door to door.

 

[deserthomestead]

It is only when we live without, either by circumstance or choice, that we can truely appreciate what we have. How in the world can we appreciate when we are lost in the sea of all the world's trappings? They only serve as a numbing distraction from what is real in life and what life is all about. Our focus becomes the trappings and not life itself. This is what the majority of our society has chosen, or been duped into, and this is why our society is as bankrupt as it is today. Back to basics does not mean deprivation; it means back to life!

That is so beautifully spoken. Perfectly describes the frugal mentality!

 

[MoonShadows]

A real Watkins door-to-door guy. Wow! Target sells their soaps and lotions....maybe a few other things.

They made a movie a while back about a Watkins door-to-door salesman who had cerebal palsy...true story...very inspiring. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0274468/

 

[MoonShadows]

Quote:
Thankyou. I wrote that a few minutes after I woke up this morning with my first cup of coffee at about 4 am. Wrote it real fast, and when I re-read it, I thought, hmmmm, that came from me? Sometimes we surprise even ourselves, or perhaps the spirit of frugality was working through me this morning, and I was just the instrument that typed it.

 

[DennisK]

A real Watkins door-to-door guy. Wow! Target sells their soaps and lotions....maybe a few other things.

They made a movie a while back about a Watkins door-to-door salesman who had cerebal palsy...true story...very inspiring. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0274468/

I remember my great grandfather, Roy, took me on his Watkins route occasionally. That was back in the 40’s. I was just a little’un then. I cherish my memories of him and my great grandmother, Lily. Together, they built a beautiful home, and they lived a life that was full of grace. What I find astonishing, is that they did it on the simple wages of a door to door salesman. I have never been able to duplicate that sense of grace, nor have I seen it in any of those of us in my generation and those that followed. I think we have lost something that was very important, and I am not even sure what it is! Perhaps it has something to do with dept – nationally and individually. When I retired, I got rid of my credit cards and all of my depts. The result was a calmness in my life that I don’t plan on giving up ever again! True, I can no longer buy things on a whim, but that is a very, very small price to pay. Perhaps if I would have done this when I was younger, I would have been able to build a life that would do my great grandfather proud.

 

[3riverschick]

I also have inherited old cookery books and find them absolutely fascinating. I have many of the war time recipes when food was in seriously short supply and fiercely rationed. I believe each person's ration was 2 oz of sugar a week, not a lot to cook with. Everyone was forced to live very frugally then and I find the recipes, and the stories people tell of those so much harder times, inspirational.

Remembering they are using spelt, I found the sections on egg, milk, and wheat-free cooking really intriguing. For instance, Settlement says, "A standard recipe requiring leavening may be made egg-free by increasing the required amount of baking powder by 1 teaspoon for each egg omitted. Avoid baking powders containing egg white.".
Not only did I not know that, I didn't know BP ever contained egg white. I wonder if some of them stil do? there are 9 recipes for Wheat-Free; 4 recipes for Milk-Free; 9 recipes for Egg-Free; 3 recipes for Wheat, Egg, and Milk-free foods.
Here's a secret recipe from my Grandmother Ruth Zwissler ( born circa 1897) which was tucked in the Setlement on a piece of paper. She and Grandpa John retired in Southern California where dates were plentiful and cheap. I remember eating this as a child at Christmastime, so delicious.
Date Pudding : 1 cup sugar ; 1 egg; 1 cup milk; 1 Tablespoon flour; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1 cup nuts; 1 cup dates (diced).
Put dates in bottom of pan and add nuts. (doesn't say whether to grease the pan or not) Pour batter over this and bake 40-50 minutes at 350 degrees or until top is crusty and light tan.
Best,
Karen