School lunch (a Friday) 1953 ..Corpus Christi

[SoCalDem]

Of course the salmon salad probably had mayo in it, but it probably was not a huge portion.

This site located lunch menus from old newspapers.. It's interesting to see how lunches changed over the decades..

LUNCH MENU 1953 - FRIDAY, American
http://www.retro-housewife.com/lunch-menus.php
Menu Items

* Salmon Salad on Bun
* Lettuce and Tomato Salad
* Ice Cream Cup
* Milk

SCHOOL LUNCH MENU 1953 - THURSDAY, American

Menu Items

* Beef and Brown Gravy
* Whipped Potatoes
* English Peas
* Hot Rolls
* Butter and Honey
* Milk

[SPedigrees]

1. Yep I remember those lunches. Healthy food

before McJunkfood took over school cafeterias. The mayo and ice cream of that era did NOT contain HFCS back then either. A federal mandate to return to school lunches of this nutritional content (throw the FDA 'food pyramid' out the window and restore the 4 food groups) would vastly curtail the obesity epidemic among school children and restore normal calcium levels, ie dental health.

[SoCalDem]

2. we always had salmon patties

canned salmon, beaten egg & soda crackers (crushed).. I still like them & so did my 3 boys:)

[Art_from_Ark]

30. Oh, I hated salmon patties

with a purple passion. They always made me throw up, so I just tossed them out or gave them away. I positively couldn't eat them at all. Or the sloppy joes. Or the lima beans.

[jwirr]

3. School lunches were good back then and many of us in small communities

knew the cooks. Some of us that was the best meal we got to eat. I washed dishes in the kitchen so my brother and I could have hot lunch. At home we were very poor. Ate a lot of eggs and spaghetti at home. Once dad retired and started gardening it was different.

[SoCalDem]

4. our school had the market cornered on lima beans

the ONLY vegetable I LOATHE.. well except for okra :)

[Erose999]

5. We got a lot of that rectangular pizza

it was like cardboard smeared with ketchup. Shallsshburry Shteakshhh. Baloney sammiches. Spaghetti with meat sauce (perpared far, far past Al Dente of course). Fish fillets (like a big minced fish stick)

We also got vegetables, but they were almost always of the canned commodity sort. Sometimes we had the option of a hot lunch or salad bar, but it wasn't a regular or consistent thing.

School lunch is basically a clearing house for the USDA. They pay farmers subsidies to overproduce and pawn the leftovers on the kids.

[Poboy]

9. I do not cre for lima beans but how about fried okra?

Ever try it? Love okra myself, but fried is pretty tasty-

=======

Even those who detest okra in most forms relish these crunchy fried nuggets.

So before rejecting okra, try it in it’s best light. Here, then is the numinous fried okra.

Southern Fried Okra
Serves 4.

1 lb okra
1 c cornmeal
1 tbsp salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 c buttermilk
vegetable oil

Choose okra that is an even green color and 2″ – 4″ long. Trim stem ends from okra and cut into 3/4″ lengths. Soak in buttermilk for 15 minutes.

Mix cornmeal, salt, and pepper in a plastic bag. Add okra and toss to coat.

Heat 1/2″ oil in a 10″ skillet (cast iron is traditional) over medium high heat. When oil begins to shimmer, sift excess cornmeal mixture from okra and add to skillet. Cook, turning occasionally, until golden brown. (Stir gently to avoid losing coating.) Drain on paper towels and salt again if needed.

These delectably crunchy bite-size morsels are perfect with grilled pork chops, barbequed chicken, fried chicken. Or just about any other Southern treat you can imagine.

----
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.seriouslygood.kdweeks.com/2007/08/fried-okra.html&h=398&w=400&sz=61&tbnid=cme2Hi7Eot9JYM:&tbnh=123&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3DFried%2BOkra&usg=__s0JJB5fBJM6Gh2CrmNar8zvqSjo=&sa=X&ei=DfE8TO2nMIfs9gSi1d38DA&ved=0CC8Q9QEwBQ

[SoCalDem]

10. whiskery & slimy all at the same time?

no thanks:)

[Poboy]

12. You've got it all wrong.

The fuzz fries away, and as the article states, fried okra isn't slimy. Oh well, your loss.

My grandfather had a small farm. Creole tomatoes, eggplant, and okra.
Good food.

[SoCalDem]

13. oooh I forgot about eggplant..another slimy one

I guess I'll just pass on those :)

[senseandsensibility]

17. Those are good

Of course, I've only had the ocra once or twice. But it was great. Too bad I'm too lazy to deep fry anything now. Actually, my waistline thanks me even if my tastebuds don't.

[Heidi]

31. Grew up in Oklahoma. LOVE fried okra.

:thumbsup:

[Lars39]

18. When fried til a little bit burnt, it tastes a bit like popcorn.

Also, the best okra is the small, tender ones. :)

[Maine-ah]

22. lol SoCal...

when I was a kid, my father had a garden. He loved lima beans. The rest of us called them "poison beans". We couldn't take it any more and we trampled all of his plants. I know some will say that was a rotten thing to do, but you'd have to understand my family a bit. Dad was not all that angry about it, thought it was rather amusing that all four of us kids ganged up and did that.

[SoCalDem]

23. That sharp "skin" always guaranteed a gag or two & the interior of the bean

had the consistency of wet sawdust:(

[Arkansas Granny]

6. When the small rural school I attended started serving lunches back

in the mid-50's, one of the first cooks was a local woman (who everyone referred to as "Aunt") who was accustomed to cooking for field hands. Homemade yeast rolls every day and I can still remember how her chocolate cake tasted. Even in high school we ate good, balanced meals. There were no tacos, nachos or pizzas on the menu and no soft drink machines.

[AnArmyVeteran]

7. School districts constantly throw kids under the bus for more corporate money

I know this happens in both liberal and conservative areas but I live in a very right wing area and the school district sold out to corporations by installing soda machines and junk food machines in school hallways. It makes one wonder how schools got by without selling out kids in the past. The right wing school board in my district also built a multimillion dollar administration building even when classrooms were leaking and exposing kids to mold. Water actually dripped down on students but the classrooms were left unrepaired as the huge administration building was being built. Btw, the existing administration building was still good.

I ran for a position on the school board to restore fiscal responsibility and sanity but I was defeated by a right winger who worked for a company that owned the bank where the school district kept its money. It was a huge conflict of interest but the voters didn't care. The number one question I was asked at meetings and forums for the candidates was 'do I believe we should have prayer in school?'. How can you fight such a deep level of ignorance?

I've noticed how conservatives 'say' they want lower taxes, but they are really only talking about income taxes. My state is completely dominated by republicans and not one state fee, sales tax, property tax, license fee or any other local taxes have been lowered. It is a myth about republicans lowering taxes and fees for anyone other than the extremely rich. I'm always baffled at how democrats keep letting them get away with that lie and also the lies about being the 'party of god', 'family values', 'fiscal conservatism' and 'personal responsibility'. When in the hell are democratic leaders going to wake up and fight back?

[SoCalDem]

8. What happened was that when taxes get cut, there is less money for school districts

as the feds send less money, and when property taxes get out of sight, people vote down school bonds, and school districts still need money, so the vultures "volunteer" assistance...but in exchange for that money, the schools just need to do a few teeeeeensy little favors, like:

soda/candy/snack machines every 50 ft
name their athletic teams/stadiums after their "sponsor"

and that's when kids start eating "lunch" at the machine, so lunch food goes begging, and another "sponsor" steps up to offer tacos, pizza...mission accomplished:(

[AnArmyVeteran]

15. Reaganomics was all about taking from the poor to giving it to the rich

Under Reaganomics almost every state in the country had huge shortfalls in money after Reagan gave huge tax cuts to the rich. And to make up for that loss of revenue every state increased their sales taxes, state fees, license fees, property taxes and every other fee and tax they could raise and ALL of those fees and taxes hurt the poor and middle class. During Reaganomics my Dad had his car license renewal go from $15 a year to $60 a year. He was on a fixed income so that mean he had to do without something. That $45 in additional state fees doesn't hurt a rich person at all, but it deeply cut into the pockets of a lot of people who were barely making it.

Republicans have no souls. They hate working people. It is beyond comprehension how anyone could vote republican unless they were extremely rich. And conservatives extremists like the tea baggers lap up every drop of that capitalistic drool that flows from the mouths of right wing radio and Faux Noise. Good god they are stupid.

Under Reagan the greatest transfer of wealth occurred from the bottom of the economic ladder to the very top and it stayed there. It never did trickle back down, because it was never intended to flow back down. It's a conservative wet dream to gut our country and give it all to the very rich.

[sufrommich]

11. I remember those lunches. Most school systems don't

have cooks anymore, they get the lunches from food distributors which the lunch lady then "cooks".

[Gaedel]

14. In Detroit in the 1940s and 1950s

they really used to "slop the glop".

Most lunches were stuff like spaghetti & meatballs, chili, hash, stew, pot pie, and other caserole type dishes.

I was a confirmed brown-bagger.

[WolverineDG]

16. The food was also prepared on site

not sure who would have supplied the salmon in CC (would make more sense for them to use flounder or trout, readily available from the Gulf), but the rest of that food came from local farmers & dairies.

dg

[SoCalDem]

20. probably canned salmon

That's what I always used for salmon patties..and it used to be quite cheap too.

[depakid]

19. Portland Oregon K-8 doesn't look too bad

http://www.nutrition.pps.k12.or.us/.docs/_sid/f2e3a0e0459709d50354ec6f35e602ff/pg/10250

[SoCalDem]

21. I hope those are blueberries & not raisins

Raisins are teeth killers:(

[Hawkowl]

24. Blueberries!

Blueberries are in season right now. I have gone two weeks in a row to a U-pick farm. 30 pounds for $28!

[SoCalDem]

25. wow.. a little basket around here is almost $4.00

probably not even a pound:(

[Journeyman]

26. I'd not heard that before. . .

Why do you call raisins "teeth killers"?

[SoCalDem]

27. Theyh are so full of sugar & they lodge in between little kids' teeth

if they don;t brush immediately after eating them, they'll get cavities . I thought I was being a "super Mom" when our first was little. I always gave him raisins..until the pediatric dentist chewed me out:) Luckily he did not have cavities, but the dentist said not to give him too many of them because they were worse than candy..

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/nutrition/i/05_kids_raisins.htm
Most people think of raisins as a healthy snack for children. In fact, you have likely heard of them referred to as "nature's candy" or "the world's healthiest food."

If you ask a Pediatric Dentist though, you will likely get a different story. Since they are sticky and have a lot of sugar in them, raisins are also frequently high on the list as a risk factor for children getting cavities.

So while some people might have handed out small boxes of raisins on Halloween as a healthy alternative to candy, for example, other parents might have lumped them in with all of the other Halloween candy that they wanted their kids to avoid.

edit.. lately, doctors are backing off this warning, so who knows anymore about medical advice.. In my husband's baby care book given to my Mother in law, they advised smoking to take off the "baby pounds":rofl:

[Journeyman]

28. I suspected that's what you meant. . .

Thanks for the info. I'll be certain to mention the "baby weight" remedy to my daughter, a new mother whom I'm sure will get a kick out of that. But I'm also certain she'll appreciate the info on raisins more.

[SoCalDem]

29. There was even an ad for Chesterfields in the booklet..

Our sons laughed their asses of when they saw that:)