Evening star., 1948-08-11
FOOD BUDGET.

on her food budget (Mrs. c. M. h:
I'd say a food budget of SIS for five
people is almost impossible these
DAYS, but perhaps I can help with a
few suggestions. Living in the coun-
try will be help. :,
With your squash, beans and
tomatoes, you have the start OF
GOOD vegetable plate, with the ad-
dition of a couple boiled or devlled
eggs or few slices of bacon or link
sausage if your family must have
meat.
If you have no fruit or berries on
the farm, let the children forage
nearby for berries, nuts and fruit IN
season.
The good old system of barter can
still be carried on in the country to
the relief of the budget. Maybe you
can swap milk and butter with a
farmer who has no COWS, for some
food he raises and you don't. A
friend of mine living in the country,
a widow with two children and
very small income, swaps baby care
in her own home with nearby farm
mothers for farm produce. She cares
for six children so the mothers can
get a regular afternoon of for
club meeting every other week, or so
the parents can get an evening OH
together. One family supplies her
milk and butter each week for regu-
lar hours of child care. A large por-
ton of her food is gotten in this
way.
Preserve as much of your beans
and tomatoes as you can, a nome
canned supply of fruit and vege-
tables, and even chicken Is big
help in the winter when other bills
are so high to.
Maybe the children would like to
raise rabbits for food. In spite OF
high feed costs. rabbits are the
easiest and least costly meat you can
raise. They are easy to care for,
and all they say about rabbits
multiplying fast is true! Rabbit
has more than twice as much meat
on it per pound than chicken has,
and tastes very similar. They are
easy to sell if you have more than
you can use.
Study the food advertisements in
the paper, and budget articles in
magazines. The August issue OF
Womans Day has some good sug-
gestions.
Brown eggs have the same food
value as white and are cheaper.
When making chicken broth, add
the scraped and skinned feet; even
restaurants do this, BIS one owner
of a prominent Washington restau-
rant told me.
1 hope these suggestions help you.
] haven't attempted to give you any
mem IS food habits and tastes
difTc ! much; and even foods that
used to be cheap aren't any longer.
The papers and radio tell us to
buy the low-priced meats and
variety meats. I would, but where
can they be had? I love OK tails,
kidneys, etc, but when you ask the
butcher for them he acts as II he
never heard of them, or as If you
were crazy. What happens to the
so-called variety meats?
wish you good luck and success
in your effort to balance the budget.
Let us know how you make out!
from Mrs. V. H. p, Washington
For Mrs. C. M. H, Clarksburg:
The American Woman's Cookbook,
copyright 1912, has a section under
Wartime Cookery" entitled How
to Feed a Family of Five on SIS
per Week. I have not tried the
entire weeks menus offered therein,
but imagine with todays prices, even
these menus would be impossible
for five people. We find a higher
budget is necessary for three people.
However, several good suggestions
are given, and I quote a few:
Everybody must eat all food pre-
pared good cooking means con-
serving all the food values, minerals
and vitamins. Buy staples in guam
titles and fruits in season. . i.
The woman who does her own mar
keting will have all the advantage
over the woman who telephones or
sends a child Make a check
list in your kitchen and then stick
to it. . Don't overbuy one week
in the hope of making it up the
next If there is a little cash left,
buy eggs or fruit. Bake your own
bread, cakes and cookies, and be
sure to buy enriched flour for extra
vitamins. Irradiated evaporated milk
adds extra vitamin D."
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HELPFUL HINT.