'Hoover Stew' of the Great Depression - How to Feed 8 People for $3.74 - The Struggle was Real

hey everybody welcome back to the wolf pit with another episode of eating on a budget today's meal was truly a struggle meal during the great depression which lasted from 1929 to 1933. the great depression devastated both rich and poor countries here in the united states the unemployment rate rose 23 percent and up to 33 percent in other countries and as we all know when there's no jobs available there obviously is very little to no money coming in to buy food so during the great depression people still needed food just to live just like they did before the great depression but during the great depression they had to be very creative and use whatever they had on hand and figure out ways to make the food they had stretch as much as possible so today 92 years later we're making hoover stew that will serve eight people for three dollars and seventy four cents or forty seven cents a serving so just imagine how inexpensive it was to make hoover stew 92 years ago during the great depression they might have stretched that eight servings into more servings just so everyone had something to eat so let's get started with a large pot of boiling salted water and add 16 ounces of elbow macaroni then give it a good mix and cook for half the time the directions say on the box now in the last video i did someone left a comment to not stir the noodles and that they'll naturally separate which is correct but i replied to them what does it hurt to stir i didn't receive a reply back and i wasn't trying to disagree with them i just wanted to know what's stirring her what say you the people am i missing something about stirring noodles after the elbow macaroni has cooked about 50 percent drain the water and do not rinse and then set aside in the same pot add two 15-ounce cans of diced tomatoes just for a little bit of extra flavor i got the italian style tomatoes that had basil garlic and oregano in them you can use any kind of canned tomatoes you like i think stewed tomatoes will be my next option i love stewed tomatoes and i could eat a whole can right out of the can do you the people like stewed tomatoes next add a 15 ounce can of corn with the juice then a 15 ounce can of cannellini beans with the juice now you'll notice we're not draining any of the vegetables the juices in the can of vegetables is what's going to make the broth now if you happen to have a bouillon cube laying around it sure wouldn't hurt to toss it in for a little bit of extra flavor and then give it a good mix then we added the half cooked elbow macaroni and gave it another good mix last but not least add eight cut up hot dogs and then of course give it another good mix i just cut up the hot dogs right out of the package but if you're not lazy like i am you could have also pan fried them or grilled them for a little bit more flavor now back to the hot dogs for a second and i don't know if this is still a thing or not and if kids still do it our adults do it but when i was a kid we'd open up the fridge pull a hot dog right out of the package and eat it like that does anybody still do that or do you remember doing it as a kid i loved them back then but now the thought of putting a cold slimy hot dog in my mouth and eating it almost makes me want to gag but then again i'm not a huge hot dog fan anymore after mixing it looked like it needed more water so i added a cup of water the recipe didn't call for any seasonings but i did add a little bit of salt and pepper and then we gave it another good mix now bring it back up to a simmer and let it simmer for five to seven minutes until the elbow macaroni is tender and the hoover stew is heated through while the hoover stew was simmering i decided to add just a little bit of granulated garlic and granulated onion now i basically followed the standard hoover stew recipe except for the italian style tomatoes and the seasonings but you can add anything else you like or omit anything you don't like you can use different types of beans different pasta different vegetables more seasonings etc and you can even use leftover meat or vegetables you have use your imagination and what you have on hand i bet a lot of you the people already have a bunch of these ingredients or similar ingredients that you can make this right now just for fun if you want to if you have the ingredients to make your own version of hoover stew in your house make a pot and post a picture or a video if you're so inclined to the wolf pit facebook page every one of you who post a picture or a video will receive a lifetime subscription to the wolfpit youtube channel after about seven minutes our macaroni was tender and now we're ready to eat and there you have it a piping hot bowl of hoover stew that'll feed eight people for three dollars and 74 cents or 47 cents a person while i was making this hoover stew it was in no way visually appealing to me it looked like a pot of bland food however once i took a bite i was very pleasantly surprised it actually had some flavor and i was enjoying it it was delicious consider the ingredients used whether during the great depression or if you're really struggling right now or even if you're not struggling right now this is a really good fulfilling meal that'll warm and fill your belly i enjoyed it so much i had a bowl of it for lunch the next five days straight a couple of those days i sprinkled some cheap parmesan cheese on top which made it even better so that's the end of today's video if you have any sort of struggle meals you'd like me to make please let me know and i'll do my best to try to get it done thank you all very much for watching and i'll see you soon you

Channel: TheWolfePit

Views: 539,108

Rating: 4.9193563 out of 5

Keywords: budget, meals, dinner, soup, stew, great, depression

Id: esj9iZZUNgQ

Length: 7min 53sec (473 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 26 2021