3 months now without hair dye and the silvers are pretty obvious. Feel quite liberated!
Yesterday, my meal planning was all over the place and in the end I spent most of the day consuming a big bowl of salad I made with bread and never got around to making the “Vegetable and Oatmeal Goulash” as I had hoped. Today is a little cold and rainy so I’ll be making that later this morning for lunch instead..
At the moment I am sitting here sorting out the services to the rental house in the UK. A British friend of mine, “R”, sent me a very long e-mail this morning which was extremely helpful to me and he had done some research on the best deals for electric and broadband etc as well as updating me on things I had forgotten about like the British TV License (I have to admit I wasn’t expecting that to still be around!).
Now I have until June 1st to pay my 6 months rent up front for the property (because I have no job) and I am hoping that my Canadian Visa Debit card from CIBC will work in the UK over the phone!
Plane tickets have been booked and with military precision (but also allowing for some degree of chaos) I have to work out train timings from Gatwick Airport to St Pancreas Station in London to travel to Nottingham so we can arrive at our destination on the afternoon of June 27, sign the rental paperwork for the house and get the keys so we have somewhere to sleep for the night…
In addition, tomorrow I return to Shingle Lake to finish clearing and cleaning the house for handover of the keys at the end of May.. several days work ahead..
Being so busy I really do hope for a decent weight-loss this week.
Looking forward to your food and weight loss updates… C xxx
Breakfast
Porridge
Lunch
Vegetable and Oatmeal Goulash
Dinner
Vegetable pasties served with kale and kidney beans
I think your hair looks great!
I have a good thrifty recipe for you…
When you peel your potatoes make sure the peeling are clean so I always really thoroughly scrub the potatoes before putting in fresh water to peel. Drain them and wrap in a towel to dry them as much as you can. Next put a little oil(tiny amount…dripping would taste even better but would prob need to be melted)and the peelings in a roasting tin, really use your hands to make sure all the peelings are lightly oiled & spread out, not too thickly.
Cook in hot oven and keep an eye, keep shaking & turning til they are really crispy.
Salt while hot then leave to cool if you can!
Cheapest crisps ever and I would imagine you could use other root peelings! We called them Scraffles when I was a kid!!
Day 9
Breakfast-toast, marg, jam & tea
Lunch-salad with aforementioned Scraffles!
Dinner-cant decide 🙁
Have to bake big loaves as whole family now eating my bread!
Good luck with your big move, you may wish to look at coach versus train brw as its usually drastically cheaper!
Xx
Lots of chaos but better to look at it as an opportunity to burn calories! Think how much you’ll be moving. We’ll be cheering you on!
Good luck with the last bits of administration (and blimey the move seems to have come around quickly!)
breakfast – none (drowsed until midday – blasted virus and pain!)
lunch – green salad, cherry toms, 1 oz cheese
dinner – Quorn and mushroom casserole with brown rice
drinks – water, black tea
You,re going to live in Nottingham yay thats not too far from me… 😉 and yes we still have to pay for the stupid TV licience in this country mind you i dont know what for lol … x
Carolyn, not only do we pay the licence but we now need a digital TV or a digital box so we can watch! Sure your friend will help you to sort it out.
Cereal for breakfast with blueberries.
Lunch bread and salad
Dinner not sure, had Woolton pie yesterday, think it will be pasta with your cheese sauce and salad
Think your hair looks great, really suits you 🙂
Hi Carolyn You are certainly going to be busy. In a way its nice you are coming back to the U.K. I live in Worcester in the Midlands so not a huge distance from me compared to the spaces you get in Canada….! I know you are coming back to a complete new start with a new house etc. and yes the blooming expensive T.V license but think of it as exciting. Now I know that you have been having a hard time financially and one that I have experienced as a single parent so I thought I would ask if you would consider being a internet trainer. I would love to learn how to put up video and photographs o line and run a successful blog like yours but I simply don’t know how. I have bought internet courses on how to do it but…Doh! cannot get my very middle-aged head around it all. My son has tried to show me but his fingers dance across the key board in seconds and he has expected me to have ‘got it’. Nope, I haven’t…I would pay you for a days or two days training and I am sure that others would too. Good luck with the move cheers Rosemary
I’d LOVE that! I love showing people how to do things like that and for anyone I’ve helped in the past, have provided step by step instructions to refer too after a tutorial
AWESOME!!!!
C xxxx
Oh my goodness Carolyn, how organised are you! I think Rosemary has a great idea. I was just chatting to some other mums from my daughter’s school this morning and we were saying what total luddites we are!
Today’s menu:
Breakfast: 2 slices of soda bread toast
Lunch: butternut squash and tarragon soup with soda bread
Dinner: Black pudding hotpot with white cabbage
I’m starving and I have an hour to wait til supper. The soda bread is looking very inviting…….
Hi Carolyn,
My, my, you are busy! I wish you all the best in your move, hope it goes smoothly. I’m a little green with envy that your going to live in England, always wanted to go there but will never get to. Your hair looks great by the way.
I don’t have a scale so have to go to my daughters house (will be going there this weekend) We’re going camping with the babies. The black bears are on the move so it should be interesting.
Breakfast, tea and toast
Lunch, leftover potato and carrot roll and fruit
Dinner, rice and squash casserole and glazed turnips
Tea and potato scones
Silver Fox!! You look great! I’m sorry that you have to move, but I think starting new will bring exhilarating new opportunities for you. I do hope you will continue to blog about your experiences because I so enjoy reading your entries.
My menu for the day (not all war foods)
Breakfast: toast and tea with an apple
Lunch: large salad with toast and cheese slices
Dinner: vegetable pie and tomato/cucumber salad
Snack: popcorn and asian pear slices (i could not resist the yummy pop corn I made for the kids!)
Weigh in today, 240, two pounds lost since last week.
Ooo Marina… we are a similar weight!!
When I first had a go at this experiment on my 40th birthday (7 years ago).. I wasn’t vegan and one of my biggest problems was controlling the amount of cheese I ate. It was like a drug to me… could easy eat 1/2 lb of cheese a day.. lost 57 lbs in 6 or 7 months so I know it works for non-vegans and vegans alike.
I think you are doing wonderfully!!
C xxx
I like the silver in your hair. It matches my own. And it is nice not to have to bother with dyes. I think your new house will be lovely and that you will adjust nicely to your old country. And to be able to see your parents again must be a thrill.
So far so good with the WW2 way of eating – 5 pounds down in 10 days.
I am trying to stick to a simple regimen – no baking other than bread. Even though there are many baking recipes that do not require egg or milk they all require sugar. I will save the margerine and sugar ration to bake something once a month – perhaps the last day – as a celebration for completing the month .
On Mon Tue Thu, Fri and Sat I eat a bowl of salt porridge made from 1/4 cup oats and 1/2 cup milk for breakfast with a thin slice of bread and a teaspoon of jam as a mid morning snack.
For Wed breakfast I am having a one egg omelet with a little cheese with a thin slice of bread and butter and an apple for a midmorning snack. On Sunday a toasted bacon sandwich with tomato and a couple of stewed prune plums as a mid morning snack. This uses up my one egg, my bacon and all but 1/2 cup of the 6 cups of milk rationed. I used the half cup remaining to make hot cocoa on Friday night as a treat.
Lunch is a bowl of vegetable soup of some kind with a slice of bread. I add beans for protein and once a week I eat half the cheese ration with a big salad.
Tea is a slice of bread with jam or honey or a bit of butter and cucumber or tomato on it.
Dinner is basically a small bit of protein (fish, meat or ham ration) and lots of vegetables. Tonight it is a bit of poached cod with vegetables in a curry sauce.
If I do get a craving for something sweet I eat a tablespoon of raisins or currents.
I drink coffee (1 cup in the morning ) and tea or water through the day.
If I am hungry in the evening I eat an apple or a pear.
Not using the sugar seems to take away the craving for sweets.
Wow well done Denise!! I love the fact that it appears we naturally lose weight NOT calorie counting but eating lots- I guess it’s what we eat that makes the difference.
I’m LOVING reading everyone’s experiences!!!
C xx
It really is the food you eat that determines weight. Ten years ago I lost 110 pounds and kept it off for 6 years just by limiting portion sizes but choosing veggies, fruit, whole grain, some dairy and lean fish and some meat. No sugars and very few fats.
Unfortunately the cancer drug that I had to take came with a warning to expect a 20 to 40% weight gain. Well I fought that but gained back about 30 pounds. If people do not think that the weight struggle is very important and difficult to a person all I can say is that when the doctor was telling me that I had incurable cancer all I could think about was – “darn it, I could have had that piece of chocolate cake last night!!” That still makes me laugh when I think about it.
Anyways the WW2 ration system worked to promote weight loss and good health because it did concentrate on providing the best foods and leaving out the bad stuff we love to love. You can eat an amazing amount of the right food and still lose weight.
Exercise is just a long four letter word to me so I concentrate on walking. I got to really love it and you don’t have to walk huge distances. I would usually take two or three 15 to 20 minute walks with the dogs and then hour long walks on weekends. That is how I kept the weight off for so long while eating really well with bi-weekly treats. No gas or use of personal cars and reduced bus routes forced people in WW2 to walk more as well.
Well I’m most of the way through day 10, had lunch out with a mate, and suddenly realised that when faced in a cafe with big trays of hot foods and mountains of fried stuffs…..I didn’t want them. I had a salad sandwich, no butter and loved it. More cheese on it than I would at home due to my rations, but even the sweet drinks didn’t entice me. I agree that not having the sugar has removed the craving for sweet foods. And I find I get full quicker as well now.
Couldn’t wait to get home and have a decent pot brewed tea, no dunking of a bag in a cup!
Toast for brekkie to day, salad s’wich at lunch and then for dinner I’m doing the bacon/cheese cauliflower with cabbage and carrots. Made a small cake on sunday so have been having a little slice after dinner with a cuppa.
So far so good, still well within my 4 pints per week beer ration! Saving 2 pints for Friday night.
Hey Kim- are you in Australia??
C xx
I certainly am Carolyn, hence being slightly forward shifted with the days of the experiment, and having vegemite on my morning toast! Although I am going to be in UK in exactly 54 days and 30 minutes. Not that I’m counting……
Morning all! It’s funny that although I was born in 1963 and not anytime near the war this way of eating transports me back to childhood. We were never deprived as kids(2 older brothers and myself) but also had very few sweets/chocolate. Money was just well looked after I think, all down to both my parents (84 now) being children during the war years of austerity. My Mother was a wonderful cook, they had proper dinner parties with long dresses & dinner suits in the 1970’s and nothing was ever wasted-especially with the 3 of us ready to eat the leftovers! Weight was never an issue for any of us, I gained weight after my children & had health issues.
What I’m trying to say, badly, is that I feel great nostalgia eating sensibly and frugally-and having deprived myself of bread for years I am loving it! Sugar doesn’t seem to be a problem for me, I don’t use it for anything other than proper puds or biscuits(cookies) where the wartime recipes don’t use much anyway.
Am I alone in my nostalgia? I just wondered…
XXX
Your post has just transported me back to my childhood! Those 70s dinner parties my parents used to throw. I was never a good sleeper, so I used to creep downstairs to look at the pretty dresses. I have (and have worn) a beautiful 70s dress of my mother’s. It was a long dress on her, but mid calf on me! My parents were born in 1932 and 1935, so there are memories of rationing. I was brought up with great food as both my parents were/are great cooks, although my mum no longer cooks due to dementia. I made my Dad try lambs hearts recently and judging by the look on his face, it didn’t transport him back to a great memory. He said it was one of the few things he really disliked eating and over 75 yrs later, that opinion hasn’t changed! lol
Not alone at all!! I find it very comforting and like you my sugar ration is more than plenty and I never use it all up as I don’t take sugar in tea and probably only bake desserts etc a couple times a week. I guess setting it aside is good for special occasions likes birthdays and Christmas and of course preserving.
xxxxx
I find I don’t go through my sugar ration either, even with a little bit of baking. My daughter, happily, doesn’t really ask for sweets, chocolate or cake. A British scientist, John Yudkin, wrote a book called Pure White & Deadly about sugar in the early seventies. He was largely ignored as a crackpot, but I think his views are coming back to haunt the food industry and health professionals. Sugar, and sweet additives like aspartame which tell the brain to still crave sweet things, and the large amounts consumed in junk food/drinks are causing major problems.
Carolyn, have you come across a cookery book by the NYC bakery Babycakes? I use the British version for cakes when I’m not on WW2 rationing. It uses agave syrup, coconut oil, baked applesauce and mostly gluten free flours. Lovely cake recipes and I think it’s vegan suitable.
Carolyn and Daisy Mae, have you read Robert Lustig’s recent book, “Fat Chance: the Bitter Truth About Sugar”? It’s absolutely life-changing and revolutionary. I have always had a sweet tooth but not any more; I’m far too concerned about preventing diabetes. Plus, once you realise that it’s the sugar and refined carbs that make you put on weight, not the fat, you are free to eat enough fat to keep you going all day long without wanting to snack. I easily go without eating between meals these day and hardly ever feel hungry. I have recommended this book to loads of people and I’m sure you both would find it interesting.
Yes I used sugar when I stewed some rhubarb which I then bottled for emergencies! I love rhubarb so I look forward to it when it’s no longer in season.
Yesterday I had no choice but to bake more bread as my whole family are loving it! Since they are not strictly on rations I can’t say too much, I’d rather they ate good, fresh, additive free bread than sliced shop-bought! I make white(with wholemeal or oats sort of slipped in :-)) for son and youngest daughter but proper wholemeal for my eldest daughter and me. So…. Just went to the cupboard and lo and behold no white bloomer!
I am now waiting for the dough to prove for the 2nd time to bake another so packed lunches can be made tomorrow. That’s the only difficulty I’m finding, I am the only one actually rationed although they don’t realise how much I’m restricting their diet too. Haha! Dastardly!
I felt so full after my tea & toast this morning that I didn’t want anything until this evening when I had a plate of veg with meaty gravy and a thin slice of bread.
Oh and btw Daisymay my Mother absolutely hates cabbage since having it as a child during the War. Her Father was quite a cruel man so when she refused to eat it he made her sit for hours on end until she was sent to bed. Then the same plate of, now cold, cabbage was served to her at every meal til she ate some. Then she’d be sick, then fresh hot cabbage would be on the menu again…..
As a child I never had cabbage as my Mother (still) refuses to have it in the house! I LOVE it! Mad. She also refuses tinned tuna as it reminds her of a Tinned fish available in the war called Snook which apparently was horrible. I can’t imagine her enjoying heart!
I love hearing everyone’s stories and meal choices xx
Joss, I will try and get the book from the library. Louise, I remember deciding not to eat salad which my parents took exception to. I was served it for lunch, dinner and then breakfast the next day until I had taken a mouthful – scarred me for years afterwards. Luckily as an adult I love all things salad. A bet you were told you had to clear your plate too. Most people I know whose parents grew up during rationing insisted on plate clearing. The only problem I have as a legacy from that is that even when I’m stuffed to the gunnels, if there’s food left on the plate I have to eat it! lol
I do hope your move back to the U.K. goes smoothly. I’m sure you will soon get back into the swing of things again. ‘One door closes and another one opens’ as they say. Wellcome back!
I live in Northamptonshire in the U.K. and I will most certainly be following your blog very closely. By the way I’ve just taken on my second allotment, how’s that for enthusiasm!
Hi Carolyn I live near Gatwick Airport and the gatwick express runs to st pancras approx every 15 mins. the train from st pancras to nottingham if i recall right is about half hourly. My MIL lives in wellingborough and it is the nottingham train I put her on at st pancras . Hope this helps
Wow thank you Eileen!!! That has put my mind at rest!! Basically I am pretty good to go no matter what time I land in the morning! Phew!! Thanks!!!
On the point of being forced to eat everything on the plate as a child. I too was in this situation. I was a child through the 70’s and my parents were born 1941 and 1944. I fondly (not) remember filling my face with everything I disliked then rushing to the toilet to spit it all out. My dad found out and I got a right good leathering (yes with a belt). My parents formative years as children were spent during the latter stages of rationing. I still do not like cabbage, or sprouts (sorry Carolyn). Strangely enough, both my sister and I have sprouts on christmas day. My children take great delight in watching me eat them ‘cos I have too!!’. Actually mashed sprouts aren’t too bad – but this is seen as cheating. ‘So one at a time if you please’
My mother died 26 years ago, and I have lost contact with my father. Strange how these customs still carry on though.
Carolyn if you want to check on the trains yourself , just for peace of mind. the train from gatwick to st pancras is run by first capital connect and the one to nottingham is east midlands trains
Hi Carolyn. Just so you are aware….you do not need a TV licence unless you are watching live TV. We only watch catch up (through our PS3) Thus saving £145.50 a year. Most things are now available on catch up and some minutes after they have gone out live. Its not like in the old days where you had to have one even for a radio.
Don’t pay it until you check it out plz. To not have one is a saving of £2.79 a WEEK!
Hoping the rest of the move goes okay and is certainly better than the last week has been for you
regards Rebecca
from the TV site: You need to be covered by a valid TV Licence if you watch or record TV as it’s being broadcast. This includes the use of devices such as a computer, laptop, mobile phone or DVD/video recorder.
It costs £145.50 for colour and £49.00 for a black and white TV Licence.