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Urban/rural survival food


Bosco-d-gama

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Recent dialogues have migrated into some curious topics. One conversation morphed into ‘what did you eat’ to survive a rough stretch in life? So this is the purpose of this thread. We’ve all had ‘lean’ times that we survived........ so some degree. What did y’all eat when down to pocket change?

 

For me it was during college. 1st time out on my own....... working but paying rent, car expenses, college expenses, etc. Not a lot of $ left over for food. There was the tried and true boxed Mac-n-cheese for carbs. I ate bologna sandwiches pretty routinely........ heavy on the mayo with sweet pickles. For a real treat I could buy a quart of fried chicken gizzards from KFC for 0.50.  I used to make brown rice with eggs and hot dog chunks in huge batches that was yummy hot or cold. It was cheap, portable and easy. Got that recipe from my uncle.
 

Tough times demand resiliency. Surviving them builds self confidence and strengthens the character. What did you use for calories during your struggles?

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"Kung Fu" noodles from the asian food store. Potatoes and macaroni. Jasmine rice a long time favorite with lots of eating from a 50# bag. Split Pea soup. When we first moved to Tennessee and were really broke Bambi worked just fine too.

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9 minutes ago, CECAA850 said:

Mac and Cheese (from a box)

 

Made from scratch...(boxed Macaroni though)

 

Crumble some saltines on top and eat it straight up or make larger amount, pop into oven for a casserole that would last me about 2-meals (LOVED (and still do) the casserole version)

 

 

 

 

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Thinking about food and the way things were around here some time ago. My neighbor has a large log smoke house he says may go back to the mid 1800's. Big Yellow Poplar logs can do that by the way and not rot away. So when people HAD to rely on themselves smoking and salting gave them food for lean and good times. Another neighbor of mine had what was left of an old Kerosene refrigerator. No electricity and it worked off a small flame. From the 30's which were lean times.

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It's an interesting topic. We always had lots of homemade food as a kid (80's). My folks were just 20 somethings themselves, so not exactly rolling in it. We had lots of homemade from scratch meals (and clothes and things and beater cars always being worked on, etc).

 

Saturday was always clean out the fridge day, so that meant a big batch of fried potatoes and eggs and then whatever leftover meats were still in the fridge from the week prior. Lots of soups and stews too, with the same goal - cooking up the veggies and meats that were still around and probably on the edge. We also at things like liver and chicken gizzards and spam, for sure. I don't resent my childhood, but it certainly made me seek out name brands and materialist things as I became my own adult.

 

Since migrating towards a "homesteader" lifestyle with my little family of four, however, we've adopted a lot of the same childhood cooking habits and attitudes. We've even gone further and tried to resurrect old depression era norms.

 

So even though we still eat out at restaurants and haven't fully supplanted the grocery store we do:

 

Have chickens and collect eggs.

Grow our own poultry and meat (goats, pork).

Make breads from "ancient grains."

Canning and freezing of items for later use, such as broths and stocks, complete soups, etc.

Food scraps either get fed to the animals, composted, or made into soup stock.

I'm working on getting our garden going, but have a farmer friend with whom we trade meat and eggs, and mulch from time to time.

I'll be putting up a set of reclaimed laundry line poles in time for summer.

Save glass and plastic containers for reuse.

Make gifts and things we need.

Buy clothes and homeschool materials second hand whenever possible.

Buy things that can have multiple use applications.

 

 

This whole ordeal has certainly made its impact in our lives already, but we're far better prepared than many and really not all that inconvenienced. We're a single income household and homeschool our girls - that difference alone has spared us from what has become a massive disruption in the lives of our peers and young families.

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Lived in a  car  for a month at ripe age of 18  and ate  Ramen Noodles  everyday for that  same month................Grew up Poor  Ate Govt Cheese, had a lot of cabbage & Potatoes, as well  as  pinto beans and fried potatoes........................and then  there was what  we  called Goo-losh   All leftovers  thrown  in a pot reheated , belly up  and fill your  bowl  😃  Aah the good ole days

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14 minutes ago, CECAA850 said:

Man, I haven't thought about that since I was little.  Thanks for the flash back.

Dont forget where you came from...

 

What you learned as a child..

 

Will always help you... I'm sure your grandparents taught you well...

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1 hour ago, CECAA850 said:

Mac and Cheese (from a box)

Ramen Noodles

Baked Beans

Fried Bologna sandwiches

 

If it was a good week I'd have hamburger helper.

All favorites!

There was also the generic store version of hamburger helper... I use half the meat called for or I'd add a bunch of spaghetti noodles and extra water to make it go farther.   In fact, that's what I cooked just a couple of nights ago and it was good for 2 meals for 6 of us.  We lived it up with ACTUAL hamburger helper and Oldtimer's hotsauce.  

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