"Stretching your meat dollar" was an important financial phrase during the Depression. Food-rationing in World War II brought back "stretching," but in the '40s it wasn't the money as much as making the ration points go further.
Cooks all over the nation stretched their imaginations plus small amounts of meat, cheese and eggs combined with pasta, bread, rice and whatever else was ration-free.Stretching loomed again in the '70s when food prices and inflation skyrocketed. Price freezes were clamped on almost everything. Supermarkets added soy protein to ground beef to help keep the cost of this popular food as low as possible. Food industry people put out reams of information on holding the food budget in line.
More recently it has been government agencies and health professionals telling us to eat less protein and more carbohydrates. Stretching again.
Our recipe files don't go back to the Depression, but they do contain some booklets put out by various cmpanies during World War II. Patriotic titles such as "Victory Meat Extenders" and "Meat Point Pointers" printed in red, white and blue offered many suggestions for getting the most from meat.
Lots of hash, stuffings rolled up in meats or baked atop pork chops, stews, soups, meat loaves, rings and patties adorned many menus. One of the popular main dishes was Spanish rice that called for just a bit of bacon or ground beef and plenty of home-canned tomatoes from victory gardens.
Biscuit dough rolled around less meat, poultry or fish than ordinarily needed for a meal was a great wartime extender. The Hamburger Pinwheel was one of my favorites from the late '40s.
Recipes using up leftover meat, especially large roasts, were in abundance, but not the type of dishes we're looking for today - low in saturated fat, cholesterol, sugar and sodium.
Pasta always was the perfect meat extender, either for main dishes or salads, but it's more accepted now than in the '40s. Cooks then were encouraged to save all dried-out bread for crumbs or for making French toast. Crackers and cereals didn't contain preservatives, and a damp day meant you had to dry those foods in the oven or use them quickly in cooking. Cereal, especially the high fiber ones, make healthy extenders of meat in loaves or patties these days.
Dried beans and peas have long been used to stretch little pieces of leftover or fresh meat and poultry.
Rice is a good buy as well as a competent protein stretcher. Cook up a batch every so often and divide it into small or family-size servings, label and freeze. Do the same with pasta.
Grow sprouts on your kitchen counter to extend the protein in salads and sandwiches. Mung bean and soybean sprouts lend extra nutrition, texture and flavor to salads and stir-fry dishes. Alfalfa sprouts do the same for salads and sandwiches.
Put on a cook-a-thon every few weeks or so. Gather several healthy recipes, make large batches and divide them into individual or family-size portions. Label and freeze. This saves time as well as money, and dinner is almost ready when you get home from work.
Here are some recipes that make use of the stretching strategy.
Scripps Howard News Service
Braised Round Steak and Beans
1 pound beef top round steak, cut about 3/4-inch thick
2 tablespoons oil for browning
1 teaspoon salt (or less, if desired)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon savory
1/4 cup water
1 (about 16-ounce) can red or pinto beans, drained
1 1/2 cups julienne strips celery
1 medium onion, sliced
1 large green pepper, cut in rings Brown meat in oil. Pour off drippings. Combine salt, sugar, pepper and savory and sprinkle half on the meat. Add water, cover tightly and cook slowly about 45 minutes. Check several times and add more water, if needed. Turn meat; add beans, celery and onion and sprinkle with remaining seasonings.
Cook slowly, covered, 30 minutes. Stir in green pepper and cook 15 minutes or until meat and vegetables are tender. Makes 6 servings.
Makes-Its-Own-Gravy Beef Casserole
1 pound lean beef chuck, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup red wine (or water)
1 (10 1/2-ounce) can consomme, undiluted
Salt, as desired
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup fine, dry whole-wheat bread crumbs
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place meat in a Dutch oven. Add wine (or water), consomme, salt, pepper and onion. Stir together the bread crumbs and flour. Add to the meat and mix well.
Cover and bake about 3 hours, stirring several times. Serve with rice, noodles or mashed potatoes. Makes 6 servings.
Caraway Bacon Rice
6 slices bacon
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 green pepper, coarsely chopped
1 small clove garlic, minced
3 cups cooked rice
1 (8-ounce) can sauerkraut, drained
1/2 teaspoon caraway seed
Salt and ground black pepper\ Cook bacon in a large skillet over low heat until crisp. Drain on absorbent paper. Pour off fat; return 2 tablespoons to the skillet. Add onion to skillet and cook until soft.
Add green pepper and garlic. Cook until pepper is tender-crisp. Stir in rice, drained sauerkraut and caraway seed. Heat thoroughly. Crumble bacon and add it. Season to taste. Makes 6 servings.
Oven Barbecued Salisbury Steaks
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
2 cups cooked rice
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup prepared mustard
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons apple jelly Combine meat, rice, onion, eggs, garlic salt and pepper. Mix well and form into 9 steaks, about 3/4-inch thick. Arrange in a greased or sprayed baking pan, about 9-by-13-inches.
In a small saucepan, mix together the ketchup, mustard, soy sauce and apple jelly. Brush each steak with sauce. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, brushing with sauce, if needed. Turn patties, brush with sauce and bake to desired doneness (about 10 to 15 minutes). Serve with any remaining sauce. Makes 9 servings.