Unemployment was up, benefits were down and we had advice for the living cheaply.
NZ Listener June 3, 1991
June 3, 1991, and because “unemployment is up and benefits are down”, the Listener had advice for making our dollars go further from Valerie Davies. “It’s easier to cut back the food budget than other areas,” said Davies. “Most New Zealanders eat more protein than most people in the world, and yet we’re not the healthiest people in the world.
“During World War II in Britain the weekly meat ration was on 140g per person. But Britain was never healthier than during the years of rationing, which went on into the early 50s.
“So it helps to know that a cheap food like porridge, lentil soup, or beans on toast can be as nutritious as a plate of roast beef, meaning that they contain the essential amino acids from protein necessary for good health. It also helps to know that the cheap and humble potato is packed full of minerals essential to health, especially when baked in its skin, which is why the Irish were considered to be the best fed peasantry in Europe before the potato famine (and maybe why Irishwomen were famed for their beauty). We also need carbohydrates such as potatoes, pasta, rice and wholegrain breads for energy – particularly children.”
Davies’s list of Dos and Don’ts:
“DO eat muesli. But make your own using a large pack of porridge oats, dried banana slices and peanuts bought from the bulk bin supplies in supermarkets, and add a handful of sultanas to taste. Mix all the ingredients together, and it will make five-six times the amount in a large packet of commercial muesli for the same money. Packet cereals cost a lot and supply less nutrition in comparison to oatmeal.
“DO make jam and bottle fruit in season. It’s cheaper and tastes better.”
“DO make soups. A basic recipe of several onions and carrots softened in butter, plus any other chopped up vegetables, like a couple of leeks or parsnips, potatoes, sticks of celery, pumpkin, pieces of cauliflower and kumara, added to the pan with stock or chicken soup cube and water, makes a filling and nourishing soup. If you add dumplings, made with 110g or flour, 60g shredded suet, mixed herbs, salt and pepper all mixed with enough water to bind them, and dropped in small balls into the boiling soup for 5-10 minutes, you have a filling meal.”
“DON’T forget old standbys made with the cheapest ingredients – apple pie, apple dumplings, baked apples, stewed apple, apple crumble. One of these with a cheap filling soup will go a long way towards satisfying healthy appetites.”
“DO eat protein once a day, even if it’s only breakfast porridge, muesli or eggs.
“DO eat lentils, another cheap form of protein. The same goes for haricot beans in a parsley sauce or rich homemade herb and tomato sauce.
“DO buy a whole chicken instead of chicken pieces. One large frozen chicken at around $10 can provide meals for three days.
“DO plan your menus for the week ahead so you can work out what to buy and what leftovers you can make the most of.
“DO buy what sounds like an exotic cheese. A hunk of parmesan goes three times as far as the same amount of cheddar in sauces and over pasta and rice. Always use a fine grater, as big pieces of parmesan go rubbery.
“Do buy cheap tins of pink salmon at $2.50ish. Stir into macaroni cheese for a cheap, delicious change.
“DO gather from your own neighbours’ over-loaded trees any extra grapefruit, lemons and oranges. Squeeze the juice and freeze in the ice cube box. Then use for hot or cold drinks – cheaper and healthier than endless cups of tea or coffee.
“DO buy loose tea and make pots instead of using expensive bags.
“Do treat yourself and your family to a nutritious sweet on days when the meal isn’t very exciting.
“Do whip an egg into the mashed potato if you think there isn’t much protein on the menu that day.
“DON’T waste money buying tins of food except for things like baked beans, salmon, corned beef, tinned herrings. Fresh vegetables are a better bet.”
On the health front, Davies suggested a remedy that was “the most infallible preventive method in the house I grew up in. Gargle night and morning every day with a solution of warm water and salt. It knocks the infection before it can get started.” She was concerned about chemicals and gases released by everything from carpets to toothpaste, and the amount of household cleansing products that are flushed away, but are “rarely neutralized through the sewage treatment and end up polluting the water”. Pre-empting Shannon Lush, the alternative cleaning product was “vinegar, apparently. Alone or mixed with water, vinegar can be used for everything from shining the kitchen floor and deodorising the toilet to removing mould and mildew from the shower, washing the windows and freshening the air.”
In the pre-TradeMe era, Davies urged us to “comb through the local newspapers, trade and exchange publications for household goods you need. You can furnish a house on a shoestring this way.” Tatty or boring furniture or cabinetry could be spruced up with a lick of paint.
To keep warm, Davies advised, curtains should be full-length as they provide a little more insulation. “Make warm cuddle rugs from scraps of wool trousers, skirts, coats etc, and line the back with an old sheet.
“At night it doesn’t matter how many blankets you have on top, it’s the ones underneath that keep you warm. Find as many layers of wool, sheepskin, quilts or crochet blankets underneath as you can spare. On top, duvets and continental blankets bought cheaply at department stores are cheaper than blankets and provide more warmth for the money.
“One of the snuggest ways to keep warm in bed, having done the best to supply warm bedding, is to wear track suits instead of nighties or pyjamas. Don’t forget the good old-fashioned hot-water bottle, and an even more old-fashioned method of keeping warm – cuddling!”
NZ Listener June 3, 1991
Elsewhere in the magazine, Brett Riley profiled Ros Heinz, who was retiring from her position as principal of the alternative school Hagley High in Christchurch; Lloyd Geering wrote about the Gulf war; Gordon Campbell interviewed CTU president Ken Douglas as part of an investigation into the new Employment Contracts Act; Joseph Romanos profiled Kevin Fallon, who had just moved to Tauranga to coach the Mount Maunganui team; and Shelley Howells wrote about the transformation of a 20-year-old woman into The Boy from Andromeda. Pictures by John McDermott.
How they made The Boy from Andromeda, June 3, 1991