120 Ways to Save on Food Part II "Meat Extenders"

 I was going through some items that had been my parents and came across boxes full of media from the late 30's through the 70's. One pamphlet that I found was printed in 1942 and suggest on "Ways to Save and Serve" during the wartime effort.

I enjoyed reading this and thought that other P4P'ers might enjoy the read and get a better handle on what their parents or grandparents went through during WWII.

120 Ways to Save on Food

MEAT "EXTENDERS"
The biggest way to save on meat costs is to get your money's worth through waste elimination.

These tips will help:
1. Not only because you want our fighting men to have all the meat they need, but to save money and maintain a balanced diet-at meat conservatively and get more of the other foods into your diet. Authorities hold that four ounces of lean meat per day are enough for average protein needs.

2. Unwrap meat and store in your refrigerator the moment you bring it home. The bacteria that cause spoilage grow rapidly when raw meat is closely covered, but cooked meats should be covered.

3. Chopped meat spoils more readily than plain cuts. Use as soon as possible after purchase.

4. Uncooked smoked meats will stay fresh and sweet for a long time if you do this: Saturate a clean cloth with vinegar, wring out, and wrap the bacon or ham in this damp vinegar cloth. Then wrap again in waxed paper and store in your refrigerator.

5. Use meat trimmings to add flavor to dressings, stuffings and casserole dishes.

6. To make a little meat go a long way, combine it with meat extenders, such as rice, macaroni, spaghetti, noodles, crumbs, vege¬tables and ready-to-serve cereals.

7. Simmer meat bones to make stock for soups, gravies or sauces.

Use pork or lamb liver instead of beef or calf liver, and pocket the difference. The only reason you pay so much more for calf liver is the greater demand for it. Food value is the same.

Bones from smoked meats such as ham hocks can be made into a yum-yummy soup stock for lentil, navy bean or split-pea soup.
When buying meat, ask for the trimmings and "collect a bonus." Simmered with vegetables and well seasoned, they make delicious, nourishing soups.

If you have small amounts of leftover meat and vegetables, grind them together and mix with mayonnaise for a tasty, nutritious spread.

Here's another meat-saver:

 After using the grinder for meat, run two or three crackers or stale bread through, to force out meat particles that cling to the knives.


Add leftover sausage meat to plain pancake batter, or combine with leftover mashed potatoes, form into patties and brown in a heavy frying pan.

Roast meats at moderate temperature and reap these rewards:

More servings per pound because less shrinkage of meat. More sav¬ings on fuel (20% less consumption). More and better flavor.

Save meat drippings; strain, clarify and store in the refrigera¬tor. Use for frying and sauteing and for making gravy.

Expenditures for fat can be de¬creased by saving and using the fat from bacon and other meats. Bacon fat, which is highly flav¬ored, should be used sparingly but, in many sauces and in some soups, it high flavor adds a desirable piquancy.

Save bacon fat for flavoring other . dishes. Remove impurities and meat particles by adding water to make the fat rise to the top. It will solidify as pure bacon fat.

Uh-uh Don't you throw that bacon rind away! Clean, then save it for flavoring soups and vegetables.

One way to conserve butter is to use bacon drippings on top of cas¬seroles, instead of butter. Same goes for frying potatoes.