Good afternoon! It’s been a good week in EVERYTHING and I can’t wait to create a video next week and share it!
Friday afternoon (after I finished my working week), I cleared out my understairs cupboard. I have quite the stockpile of storable food supplies and this is now officially my “WAR STORE”. Essentially it’s my back-up plan if anything in life goes horribly wrong and I need to “cut my cloth” to make ends meet! Don’t you just love those old phrases!
Also my “war store” has a few goodies (mostly canned fruit) that will be a nice treat when rationing gets a bit samey! In fact, this morning, after I’d been shopping at Aldi’s, I treated myself to a whole can of peaches in juice for breakfast! I haven’t had peaches in a can for years. Oh the lovely nostalgic childhood memories of peaches from a can with hot custard poured over the top! While I didn’t have custard for breakfast, the tinned peaches were such a nice reminisce.
I’m still finalising what rationing will look like for me for 2024. There are a few reasons to return to WW2 rationing (even though there will be a few modifications).
1. Finish what I started in regards to losing weight and getting healthier. My highest weight ever has been around 345 lbs. My lowest weight since reaching my highest weight has been around 219 lbs. Last year I lived on 100% authentic WW2 rations for 10 months and lost 70 lbs. Since then I gained almost 30 lbs. I’m currently 19 st 5 lb (271 lbs/ 123 kg) on the doctors scales and I’m weighing in on these once a month. I need to lose at least 100 lbs (much more according to the Devine formula below). My first goal however will be to get below 200 lbs (14st /90 kg) and stay below that number for the rest of my life.
2. Financial challenges and uncertainty. I’m sure I’m not the only one struggling right now especially where there is only one income coming into the house. The cost of living is absolutely CRAZY and house rental prices have sky rocketed. Unfortunately most peoples income hasn’t kept up with these prices. I’m looking to cut my grocery expenditure down by £100 per month by returning to rationing.
3. The possibility of WW3 and global instability. Global instability/ geopolitical uncertainty, can often lead to fluctuations in the economy. Protracted conflict can lead to food inflation so there is always the possibility that we may see prices rise further for certain commodities. While we all hope that WW3 will never happen, we never truly know what our future holds so in my mind, improving my skills in making meals out of limited supplies prepares for the unknown or for more difficult times ahead.
What are your thoughts?
I’m looking forward to enjoying some of these dishes again. I’ve kind of missed them!!
Have a wonderful weekend!
C xxxx
is there a recipe for colcannon.
Hi Kenneth, here it is https://the1940sexperiment.com/2013/09/04/colcannon-recipe-no-124/ xx C
I totally agree!! Learning to be frugal as well as cut out unhealthy/preservatives/high calorie/processed foods is always a positive in my book!! I lost lots on the ration, and am back on it after a short break due to work etc. I love it, plus you motivate me!! Your meals look scrummy too. Good luck!! You can do it. Look forward to more handy tips….xx
Totally agree Justine! Cutting out the majority of highly processed foods seems like a good thing to do for sure! C xxxxx
I just might join you this time around. 🙂
That would be wonderful!!! See you soon 🙂 C xxx
A good time to reboot with so much fresh local produce coming in. Good luck!
Thank you Dorothy! I am back to rationing Monday the 27th May to correspond with a week off work so I have the time to truly get right back into it xxxx C
My larder is gradually being stocked with shelf stable items as who knows if/when supply chains will be interrupted? I already drink shelf stable milk and juice out of preference so there won’t be any difference in taste.
I am very interested in your ration diet and must look into it further. As a child born in southwest England 10 years after WWII to a working class family very many of our meals were plain and simple fare, with ingredients stretched as far as they could go. Good luck!
Hi Linda. Thanks for your comment xxx There is something to be said for simplicity…I also think stocking larders like you have been doing is always a good thing! C xxxx
Will be joining you again as I really need to knuckle under!
Look forward to it Dawn!! C xxx
Protein, eggs, water, walking, whole fruit & vegetables. A good breakfast helps me manage my food choices for the day, don’t eat after 6pm if that works in with you schedule, even one day per week of fasting
Thanks for your thoughts Claire! C xxxx
I’ve been having a lovely time perusing and researching US rationing for the last few days, inspired by this blog and the FB group. Coming from old-timers and housewives for relatives, I was taught to keep a well-stocked pantry to get through several months to a year. Because I finally settled down on a small town acre, I was able to grow fruit trees, have nut trees, get laying hens, and although we are too wooded for gardens, grow wild perennial edibles in a food forest.
Looking at how simply we eat as it is (no packaged foods, really), I calculated that my husband and I would have been able to buy the cheese, butter, fats, and most of the meat we already eat now on the US WWII rationing system. Because we buy so little tinned or packaged food, we would have had way more blue coupons than we would have needed. Nothing much would have changed for us due to rationing.
We would have had to be MUCH more creative if we used the UK rationing and would likely have had to keep a small dairy animal and go deer hunting and/or barter more with local folks with a focus on producing rather than consuming.
War? I would be surprised if it didn’t happen eventually. I’m old enough to know the US has been at war somewhere all but about 25 years of its existence. And now the world has been divided on issues of the US petro-dollar, Ukraine, and Israel.
Stock up. Learn to can, dehydrate, ferment, grow or produce food. Need less. And gather with good friends and family who will be your community.
Brilliant blog! Good on ya!
A small town acre sounds like heaven! There is so much one can do with a little bit of land, I envy you! (in the nicest possible way!). I think my idea of a good life would be to be able to have the time to devote to a degree of self sufficiency and have the space to do that. Will look forward to hearing all your updates! C xxxx
A Third World War..? No, it’s unlikely to happen. All the recent and somewhat trendy scaremongering on anti-social media really needs to stop.
And no one in the East or West will risk a nuclear first strike, even localised, as it would ultimately lead to a full-scale exchange and the prospect of MAD, and they know it.
However, the continuing ‘tightening of the screw’ in East/West relations may well start to cause volatility in food and commodities internationally.
Regardless, let’s all Keep Calm and Carry On, and if I may, quote Franklin D. Roosevelt…
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Since I downsized to a flat I don’t have much room but my food store is in 2 wooden drawers under my bed. I have always kept some food in reserve. I’ve never stuck to wartime rations but do mostly cook from scratch and lots of veg and pulses. I agree it helps with health and finances. It would be interesting to see if I could manage on the wartime rations.