Soup!!
The diet during these decades was not the best; considering factors like war rationing and the great depression, people had to make do with what they had, stretching every dollar. Things like soup kitchens were popular, because soups could be prepared at a low cost with cheap ingredients, like potatoes, and easily feed lots and lots of people.
Often people could visit soup kitchens, a way to make lots of soup at once and distribute it.
A popular soup to make at the time was the "Hoover Stew", named after President Hoover. It included:
- Cooked Macaroni
- Hot Dogs
- Stewed Tomatoes
- Corn or Peas
Simmered in a pot.
Other foods
Some other meals existed as well, especially with cheap, and nutritious potatoes. People could make potato soup, or potato pancakes for cheap meals.
Potato pancakes were made by shaping cooked potato into patties, adding other optional ingredients, and cooking them in oil.
Another food that was utilized a lot was meatloaf, this, obviously is meat, in a loaf. It was a way to eat the cheap meat that you could get.
Desserts
Even in trying times, Americans still wanted some dessert, this was in the form of things like tomato soup cake, or "Mock" apple pies, made with ritz crackers and sugar.
Victory/Thrift Gardens
In order to aid in their diets, it was also popular to grow "Victory Gardens" which would be backyard gardens where people could grow their own food, this was good because it was more food without having to use your rationing stamps.
