I ALWAYS look forward to Friday nights. Before I started eating 1940’s style it was because Friday is treat night in our household and for me that would invariably mean PIZZA and VINO and a movie on the box (TV)..
Now as I am eating a 1940’s ration diet 100% of the time means my treats have to come from my weekly ration. Would I have some of my sweety/candy ration- after all I still have half a bag of toffee’s in my cupboard that have been there for a week (I amaze myself!), or would I cook some cakes or make some mock cream to spread on a scone with a big blob of strawberry jam on top?
NO….I tell you what I was looking forward to more than anything (yes- even more than the bottle of English Style beer I had with it) and that was a simple EGG! Seriously and absolutely…I mean it! Eggs were rationed strictly to one fresh shell egg per week per person, during the 1940’s (you could get more by keeping your own chickens or by buying dried egg powder). Above all else I have found only having one egg per week the most difficult..
You see it is a big decision to make. By eating my one egg, for the rest of the week, I cannot use egg in any of my recipes. So having a freshly boiled egg mashed on top of three slices of hot buttery toast tonight, really was an extravagant treat!
And it tasted all the better for it!
It certainly does make you appreciate little things doesn’t it!
Are you in a position to be able to raise chickens? Would you want to?
This post reminds me of something I think about all of the time. Currently, people seem to expect food that is complex. I know that a lot of my cooking is very complex. We didn’t have a lot of money growing up and my Mom was a very basic cook. What you treated yourself to on Friday night would have been common in my house growing up but it is very uncommon for me now. Would I enjoy eating an egg on toast for dinner? Hell ya! Do I ever think to do it instead of going out to eat. Never. It is so very true when you say we have a lot to learn from that time period…
Hey Mimi- yes it does!
Chickens- I’d love to keep some again and will plan that for the spring once the snow goes- I have a small barn waiting for them with just a little conversion…
Interesting points you are making about expecting food that is complex. I too love more exotic foods and you kind of accept them as normal with them being so available these days..
The way I look at it, personally, I think the big stumbling block for me losing weight is that I have SO MUCH CHOICE (foods) that it is hard to keep focussed and to keep to an eating plan that allows so many wonderful foods. This excites the taste buds and gluttony kicks in for me..
I think I do well on the 1940’s diet because my choices are very limited and I have a set amount of food that basically I have to make last all week
This makes it easier (for me anyway) to keep to that thin blue line..
AND it works well for my limited budget too.
PS What is your FAVOURITE food??
I’ve read several articles that blame having a variety of foods on people overeating, so I think you are on to something! Those articles say that we are able to feel satisfied by food when there is no variety because we get tired of the taste and can concentrate of how our body feels so we know when to stop. If there is variety, the distraction of new delicious flavors causes us to keep eating past the point of satiety.
My favorite food? Pizza. I have been limiting it lately because it is really hard for me to stop at one or two slices.
Yes I think you are spot on!! Of all the times I have tried to lose weight over the last 10 years or so it was my attempt in 2006 sticking to wartime rationing that was the most successful and the one I felt the healthiest with- you are right about being able to concentrate on how are body feels with samey food!
Pizza- yes it’s truly the food of the gods! Like you- was almost impossible to stop at 2 slices- just ate until it was gone (grin)
C xx
Did I mention a book I am reading? It’s called the end of overeating by David Kessler M.D. It asserts that food companies and restaurants have us captivated by a combination of fat, salt and sugar. Pizza is definately a fat and salt combo and can have the sugar factor depending on the sauce/toppings. It’s a very interesting read.
I’m thinking that your diet may help clean things up because you are reducing some of the salt in your diet. You are rationed on fat and sugar. You are cooking from scratch so you aren’t being exposed to the perfect fat/salt/sugar recipes that make people go nuts for certain foods.
The trick will be taking what you learn this time around and keeping those habits. I’ve been slacking lately (which you could probably see from a visit to my blog) and my weight is insidiously starting to creep back up…I’m starting to get back into some dangerous old bad habits!