Healthy eating and 1950’s menus often don’t get recognized as going hand in hand. We are conditioned to think that everything from the 1950’s was simply smeared with butter and lard (Actually not bad for you in moderation and better than processed oils) when actually portion control and raw vegetables were a normal part of 1950’s diets.
I thought today I would share this fun little meal plan including fish to see how healthy this actually can be.
I also appreciate this approach to entertaining children at the table. Of course, before 1950’s the idea of ‘entertaining the child to eat’ was all but unheard of. You were given food, told to eat it and you had better do so or starve. Nutrition wasn’t a choice but a lesson much like don’t touch the hot stove and look both ways. Today, I often hear, “Oh, Sally only likes fish sticks” or “Oh, he won’t eat vegetables”.
In this instance, rather than bright packaging of some current popular video game or cartoon character to entice the child to sugary breakfast treats, we see wholesome oatmeal made ‘tempting’ with very good fruits such as prunes (full of fiber) and apples and the like. I think this a darling set up and possibly even a busy mother could make up such a thing quickly, I don’t know. I know there are probably many kids and parents today who have never even eat a prune. They are delicious.
This week’s Vintage Weekly News also deals with 1950’s food and nutrition. It can be accessed HERE or simply click the link on the upper right. I am still, yes STILL, dealing with my rental property and therefore have not has as much time as usual for my posts. I hope you will accept my apology on that one and have a lovely day. And, of course, Happy Homemaking.
Yes prunes are delicious! I enjoy some every day.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can document your cleaning and organising of the rental property, now that the bulk of disgustingness would be eliminated. It inspires us to do the same to our homes, making them fresh and lovely.
Happy homemaking to you too 50sgal. Linda
Thanks for the tips an the link (and sending you a prayer). We have gradually moving towards a 1950s diet, as not only was it healthy, it was economical! I even tried cooking hearts a few weeks ago, which they now sell so cheaply. I haven't tried brains yet though, which were really popular here in the 50s.
ReplyDeleteWe have tinned prunes, apricots or peaches (or bananas if they are under $10kg) on either porridge (oatmeal) weeties or, my favourite, all bran, through winter and the juice the fruit is packed in is deliciously sweet - my children call it sugar juice. We have also moved from cake or biscuits after school to another bowl of cereal and fruit- easy and healthy. Mrs Beeton's 19th century cookbook had children eating oatmeal for breakfast and tea, with dinner (lunch)as vegetables, bread and a little roast meat. My kids don't know what fish sticks are and always eat their vegies!
Thank you for continuing to post thru such a stressful time in your life!! I LOVE prunes and growing up in the 60's I would beg my mom for them :o) Dee
ReplyDeleteHa, prunes! I love them but tend to eat too many and then have unlady-like digestive problems so I rarely buy them. My mother always gave them to us when we had another kind of digestion pain. Kind if made not feeling well a treat.
ReplyDeleteSarah
Forgot to mention- it's always been my theory that regular 1950's fare, or even 1960's for that matter, must be healthier than our current typical American diet. I think our collective weight gain says it all.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the recipes!
Sarah
Start a movement ...Eat a prune!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely healthier although I would skip the Monosodium glutamate (MSG) when preparing the fish fillets!
ReplyDeleteMmm, I love prunes. I haven't bought them in ages, been enjoying dried apricots on my oatmeal and quinoa. Maybe next time I will pick up some prunes instead.
ReplyDeleteTake care!
-Cedar
I think mockery of the '50s diet comes from calling a "dash of pepper" piquant.
ReplyDeleteWe're rather fond of prunes and other dried fruit in our household. Unfortunately I've had to give a lot of that up while pregnant because of the sugar. It will be nice to have that back on the menu after the baby comes!
Obsession with "healthy eating" wasn't near so prevelant mid-20th century as it is today. Of course they had weight-loss diets & diet-related health problems -- almost all societies have, especially modern Western ones -- but it is a bit odd that we're at our unhealthiest (in relation to diet & unusual weight gain)now that we supposedly are so much more nutritionally sophisticated.
ReplyDeleteI was always warned against eating too much shellfish and butter and such as it would be sure to raise my blood cholesterol levels. In reality, I use butter and eat shellfish frequently at home... but my cholesterol levels have dropped since I started cooking at home rather than eating fast food for every meal.
I'm not sure a "spooky prune face" staring back at me at six o'clock in the morning would make me "happy."
ReplyDeleteI love to read my collection of Pillsbury Bake-off Cookbooks from the 1950s. The taste combinations were unusual (an entire lemon, peel and all, ground up in a cake with dates) and so were the color combinations (pale green frosting was popular.) You're right, the perception of 50s meals is they were unhealthy. But portions/sizes were smaller, they weren't so laden with fat-infused ingredients (think 7-layer bars), and muffins were more like bread than cake. That's because they didn't need to stay fresh for two weeks because another batch would be baked soon.
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