Betty Crocker and Me

I was in graduate school when my father died of heart disease.  Being very much like him, I decided that I couldn’t change my genetics but I could change my eating habits.  I researched all of the ways to prevent heart disease.  I have been a fan of vintage cookbooks for a very long time and I carefully revised the recipes to meet today’s “healthy eating guidelines.”  Within a few years I had gained almost 70 pounds and suffered through an extended illness!  That isn’t supposed to happen!  I was doing all of the “right” things!

Recently, I’ve been reading a lot of books and research that debunks the “low-fat, high-carbs” mantra.  As I was researching and writing about mid-century healthy-eating guidelines for my Modern Retro Woman blog, I came across The Basic Seven and also discovered that people were actually healthier during World War II than they have ever been.

Inspired by the movie “Julie & Julia,” I first decided to simply write my adventures in following The Basic 7 using mid-century Betty Crocker cookbooks.  But then my husband gave me The Encyclopedia of Cooking 24 Volumes by The Culinary Arts Institute (published in 1954) for my birthday.  And then I remembered The Green Box filled with my grandmother’s recipes that I had snatched from my mother’s apartment last summer.  And what about the other 75 or so vintage cookbooks in my collection that aren’t by Betty Crocker?  So, even though it is called “Betty Crocker and Me,” I decided that Betty Crocker would go back to her original symbol of being America’s favorite home cooking mentor.

Eat Your Basic 7 Every Day

For Health…Some Food From Each Group…Every Day!

Group 1

Green and Yellow Vegetables (Raw, cooked, frozen, or canned)

Green Vegetables: Artichokes, asparagus, beet greens, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, chard, chicory, collards, dandelion greens, endive, escarole, green peppers, kale, lambs-quarters, leaf lettuce, mustard greens, okra, parsley, green peas, snap or string beans, spinach, turnip greens, water cress, other greens

Yellow Vegetables: carrots, pumpkin, rutabagas, squash-winter or Hubbard, squash-yellow summer, sweet potatoes, wax beans, yams, yellow turnips

Group 2

Oranges, Tomatoes, Grapefruit* (or Raw Cabbage or Salad Greens)

Oranges, Tomatoes, Grapefruit: Citrus juices, grapefruit, kumquats, lemons, limes, oranges, tomatoes, tomato juice, tangerines

*Note from Dr. J: Grapefruit interacts with many medications.  Check with your pharmacist to see if it will interact with any of your medication before eating it.

Raw Salad Greens: Cabbage, chicory, dandelion greens, escarole, green and red peppers, lambs-quarters, leaf lettuce, parsley, water cress, other raw greens.

Group 3

Potatoes, Other Vegetables and Fruits (Raw, dried, cooked, frozen or canned)

Other vegetables: Jerusalem artichoke, beets, cauliflower, celery, corn, cucumber, eggplant, fresh lima beans, kohlrabi, leeks, mushrooms, onions, parsnips, potatoes, radishes, salsify-oyster plant, sauerkraut, summer squash, turnips-white; All vegetables not mentioned elsewhere

Other fruits: Apples, apricots, avocados, bananas, blackberries (the kind you eat, not talk into), cantaloupe*, cherries, cranberries, currants, dates, figs, gooseberries*, grape juice, huckleberries, loganberries*, muskmelon, mangoes, nectarines, papayas*, peaches, pears, persimmons*, pineapple*, plums, pomegranates, prunes, quince, raisins, rhubarb, strawberries*, watermelon, youngberries; All fruits not listed elsewhere

*Seasonal alternates for Group 2

Group 4

Milk and Milk Products (Fluid, evaporated, dried milk, or cheese)

Fluid-whole, fluid-skim, buttermilk, cultured milk, evaporated milk, condensed milk, dry whole milk, dry skim milk, cream, cheese–all kinds, ice cream

Group 5

Meet, Poultry, Fish, or Eggs ( or Dried Beans, Peas, Nuts, or Peanut Butter)

Meat, Poultry, Fish (Fresh, canned, or cured): Beef, veal, pork (except bacon and fat back), lamb, mutton, variety meats (–liver, heart, etc.), miscellaneous meats (–bologna, etc.),  poultry (–chicken, duck, goose, turkey, guinea, squab), rabbit, fish (–fresh or salt water, shellfish, other sea food), game, eggs (–fresh, dried, or frozen)

Dried Peas, Beans, Nuts: Black-eyed peas, cowpeas, field peas, split peas, Great Northern beans, kidney beans, Lima beans, navy beans, pinto beans, soybeans, other dried beans and peas, lentils, peanut butter, nuts

Group 6

Bread, Flour, and Cereals (Natural whole grain –or enriched or restored)

Breads: Whole-wheat, enriched white, pumpernickel (enriched rye), rolls or biscuits made with whole-wheat or enriched flour, oatmeal bread

Flour and Meal: Whole wheat, enriched white, whole corn meal, other whole grains

Cereals: Whole wheat, mixed whole grain, rolled oats, brown rice, prepared cereals–whole grain, restored

Crackers (Dr. J note–It just says “crackers” without any elaboration)

Group 7

Butter             Margarine (With Vitamin A added)

Foods Commonly Used but Not Included in the Seven Food Groups

In buying foods from this list, remember that they furnish mostly calories and few minerals, vitamins, or good quality proteins.

Milled cereals and products made from them: White flour (not enriched), white rice, white bread or rolls (not enriched), cornstarch, white corn meal, hominy grits, macaroni, squaghetti and other pastes, crackers (white flour not enriched)

Sugars, sirups: Sugar, candy, molasses, corn sirup, can sirup, maple sirup, sorghum, honey, preserves, jams, jellies

Other Sweets: Cakes, cookies, doughnuts, pastries, sheret

Fats and Oils (Other than butter and fortified margarine): Lard, salt pork or fat back, other shortenings, bacon, suet, mutton tallow, salad oils, french dressing, mayonnaise, other salad dressing, all other fats not included in other lists.