In 1917, Isabel Bevier, a professor of household science at the University of Illinois, shared a clever meal-planning method with The Day Book college course in home economics. She showed how just four everyday foods — beef, cabbage, apples and potatoes — could be turned into 12 different dinner menus. It was a simple system designed to keep meals interesting without adding extra shopping or work. This approach offered a solution to the problem of dinner monotony, which Bevier called an “unnecessary evil” in home kitchens.
The menus she outlined are a fascinating peek into the dining habits of the era. One night, a family might have corned beef with boiled cabbage and potatoes, ending with a comforting apple pudding. Another evening could bring shepherd’s pie, creamed cabbage and a fluffy apple soufflé for dessert. The menus rotated through cuts of beef like porterhouse steak, short ribs and flank steak, while potatoes and cabbage were endlessly reimagined — mashed, stuffed, escalloped or served in a tangy slaw. Apples finished nearly every meal, transformed into pies, puddings, dumplings or cakes topped with cream.
This approach to easy meals reflected the practical cooking style of the early 20th century, when grocery trips were less frequent and seasonal ingredients were central to meal planning. With a few pantry staples and a little creativity, home cooks could deliver variety and flavor without wasting food or spending money on extra ingredients.
Below, we’ve collected the original menus and images from this 1917 home ec lesson to show exactly how cooks of the past mastered the art of easy meals. Have a scroll — you might even find inspiration for your own kitchen today.
Easy meals: How 12 menus may be made with 4 articles of food (1917)
Monotony is the bane of many tables. This is an unnecessary evil. As an example of what may be done in the way of planning meals using only four ordinary articles of diet, the following 12 menus were worked out by Isabel Bevier, Ph M (Department of Household Science, University of Illinois), and is given here as another lesson in The Day Book college course in home economics.
The following menus show the use of four common foods — beef, cabbage, apples and potatoes — for 12 meals, differently prepared each time. This is a satisfactory and feasible way of obtaining a pleasant variety.
Number 1. Porterhouse steak, mashed potato, cabbage salad with nuts, baking powder biscuits, apple pie, coffee.
Number 2. Tongue, cabbage and potato salad, popovers, apple turnovers with cream, tea.
Number 3. Roast ribs of beef, baked potatoes, cabbage salad (sour cream dressing), plain bread, baked apples with cream, coffee.
Number 4. Creamed dried beef, stuffed potatoes, creamed cabbage with peppers, graham muffins, brown betty with cream, coffee.
Number 5. Shepherd’s pie, white muffins, creamed cabbage, apple souffle with whipped cream, cocoa.
Number 6. Corned beef, boiled potatoes, boiled cabbage, butter rolls, apple pudding, coffee.
Number 7. Short ribs, French fried potatoes, steamed cabbage, apple dumplings and cream, graham gems, coffee.
Number 8. Rolled stuffed steak, browned potatoes, hot slaw, baked apples, cream, jelly, nuts, coffee.
Number 9. Hamburg steak, riced potatoes, escalloped cabbage, graham bread, apple tapioca, coffee.
Number 10. Corned beef hash, potatoes with butter and parsley, cabbage au gratin, entire wheat muffins, Dutch apple cake, lemon sauce, tea.
Number 11. Pan-broiled flank steak, escalloped potatoes, fried cabbage, French rolls, apple shortcake and cream, cocoa.
Number 12. Beef loaf, creamed potatoes, cold slaw, nut bread, Dutch apple cake with cream, coffee.
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