Meatless Recipes for Hard Times


This morning I was looking through a recipe book that was written during the First World War like this one. It contained a number of meatless recipes that are designed to serve as a substitute when you were short of meat. One thing I like about these recipes is that they were not soy-based and with a little imagination, could be easily modified to fit the supplies that you have available.

Hominy Croquettes

  • 1-cup cooked hominy
  • ½-cup nuts
  • 1-tablespoon corn syrup
  • 1-teaspoon of salt
  • -teaspoon of pepper
  • 1-egg
  • 1-tablespoon melted fat

Mix and roll in dried breadcrumbs and bake in oven for 20 minutes

Meatless Sausage

  • 1 cup soaked and cooked peas, beans, lentil, or lima beans, your choice.
  • ½ cup dried breadcrumbs
  • ¼ cup fat or oil
  • 1-egg
  • ½-teaspoon salt
  • 1-teaspoon sage

Mix and shape as sausage. Roll in flour and fry. As you can see from the meatless sausage recipe, you can substitute almost any legume in the recipe.

Rice and Nut Loaf

  • 1-cup boiled rice or potatoes
  • 1-cup peanuts
  • 2/3-cup dried breadcrumbs
  • ¾-cup milk, can be powdered
  • 2-teaspoons salt
  • 1/8-teaspoon pepper
  • 1/8-teaspoon cayenne
  • 2-tablespoons fat or oil

Mix well. Bake in greased pan for 30 minutes

You will notice that in these old cookbooks they do not give temperatures like in the new ones, because so many people were still cooking on wood or kerosene stoves just as they did back in pioneer days, as I discussed in this article.

I am always looking for good meatless recipes. It is not because I don’t like meat, but because I feel that there are situations where they can be in short supply.

See also  Making Pilot Bread or Hardtack

Howard

A Must Read
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

8 thoughts on “Meatless Recipes for Hard Times”

  1. Women and quite possibly men knew how to use cooking equipment without controls. If we would just stop and think, we would not need directions for controls in every recipe. What I mean is that many things cook at 350 F degrees in the oven. We already know how to cook in a skillet, so indicating the exact stove eye setting is not something many people need. Of course, I do know people that could not fry a piece of bologna without specific instructions.

    Not using soy is a plus for me.

  2. So I went looking for the book you referenced and found this book from Project Gutenberg. Foods That Will Win the War And How to Cook Them.

    https://preparednessadvice.com/recipes/meatless-recipes-hard-times/#.U5qedq1OWAI

    It contains 47 recipes for the making of war breads; 64 recipes on low-cost meat … 54 recipes for sugarless desserts; menus for meatless and wheatless days, …… The American woman has her share in this great world struggle, and that is the …

    1. The recipe for Hominy Croquettes looks interesting. I’m in Australia what is Hominy. I have never heard of it. It might be another name for beans I have already

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top