Am back to rationing, and as crazy as it sounds, I feel like I am coming home!
Starting yesterday (January 12th) I am committed to following the allowances during rationing (in 1940) for as long as it takes to write and publish my >>>WW2 Ration Book Recipe Cook Book<<<
I will also commit to doing short touch ins on my blog and social channels during this journey but also do weekly long form video updates on my YouTube channel at >>>www.RationBookRecipes.tv<<< and a full weekly update on my blog too!
I haven’t planned recipes this week because
- I am literally still using up stuff the best way I can before they go “off” so this week I am mostly eating stews!
- Next week I start cooking, baking and photographing the recipes for the cook book so my focus for planning is with that (I’ll be sharing glimpses)
It was fun the other day to work out in today’s prices, here in the UK, what it would cost someone to purchase their full WW2 food ration. I’ve enclosed some screenshots from my notes below! NOTE: I am going to be using a pea protein meat substitute (its processed but far from ultra processed) some weeks so I can create MEAT RECIPES that look authentic for the recipe book. Most weeks I will be using extra dried beans/legumes.
Tomorrow I’ll talk about my weight and some of the food I’ve been eating!
But for now here is the “Kale and Haricot Bean Stew” I’ve made myself for lunch (and hopefully there will be enough for tomorrows lunch too!)
Much love, C xxx
Hey, first reply! 🙂 I’m excited for you, and this new phase of life! I hope everything goes smoothly.
I can relate to the feeling of coming home. I am doing a modified rations challenge for the foreseeable future. The UK rations drove me slightly batty, so I basically cut down the amount of foods I get on points. I may have made my meat allowance more complicated than it has to be… But I’ll figure it out! Basically, I am using 8 red points from the American system. I made a list of what things cost (approximately). The idea is, something like pork tenderloin is high point, but bone-in chicken breast is low point. I am rationing poultry, since I eat it a lot more than red meats, and it is commercially available more than it was in the 40s. So, for fairness!
Tofu and plant proteins I am taking off ration, since I am also a meat-eater.
Fun fact, they had yogurt and tofu in 1940s Britain, but people were very suspicious of it. If you weren’t, it seems you could get it off ration in reasonable supply!
I think I have 12 oz of fat… I increased the butter to 4 oz to allow me to make pastries more easily. Also because in Canada we had 4 oz of butter. But also no margarine… it was a weird time…
Frozen fruit I have on the ration, since it feels fair. Frozen vegetables no, because then I would have very little vegetables to eat. There just isn’t a lot of variety right now, that is local. Even winter squashes tend to get imported. Anyways, so far, I have been cooking lots of vegetables, using the full fat ration I set out, and eating a lot of yogurt and fruit. My cravings have turned from baked goods to healthy chocolate pudding made with yogurt?
Today I will be making an avocado pudding as well, since we got some avocados on the turn. I cannot tell you the last time I bought avocados… It feels illicit! (Also, bananas. they used to be a staple of my diet. now they feel like a serious treat!)
Oof, sorry for the ramble! It is that time of the morning, I suppose. Rambling time!
Oooo what a wonderful comment to read! How interesting!!! One of my favourite WW2 cook books is a very simple recipe book created around health and that mentions some quite obscure things (like NUTTER which is a nut butter) that were typically only available in health food shops during the 1940s (and these were pretty rare!). I know packaged tofu and yogurt didn’t become commonplace until the 70’s here so like you say, if people saw tofu they must have been really suspicious!!! (unless you were Asian). I love tofu!! I imagine in my head that yogurt may have been made on farms for home consumption? It’s an ancient food, you really don’t hear it mentioned in the 40s here though. Loved hearing about your plans!! I don’t blame you for sticking more to Canadian rations!! C xxxx
I’ve just found a delicious recipe on Utube- basically cabbage and lentils with spices. Did they have access to all the spices that we take for granted nowadays ?
Hi Alison, imported spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, curry powder etc became harder to get hold of as the war progressed but people could and would grow their own herbs such as rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley, mint etc. xxx Oooo would love to see that recipe! C xxxx
Is your pea protein similar to TVP?
Happy birthday C, and what a beautiful gift hamper from your friends! I’m not embarking on a full ration diet like you, but I’m on a weight loss journey and I am using some of the ration recipes to help me save money and discover different ways of cooking.
A while ago I bought 500g egg powder (that was the smallest bag I could find at the time) and I fully understand the distaste for it! I’ve found it tastes okay in the egg cutlet recipe from the Ministry of Food leaflet on eggs, and in baking. I found a 1946 cake recipe with 5 variations (possibly on your blog?) and I’ve made it 3 times, always in a loaf pan – plain, fruitcake and ginger cake. The ginger cake with uncrystallised ginger added (and admittedly, extra sugar and butter) is amazing. I sliced it thinly and froze it so I can take out 2-3 slices at a time. So yummy toasted, with or without extra fat.
Today I made crumb fudge from the leaflet on using up everything in your larder. Instead of putting it in a pan and slicing it though, I pressed it into silicone ice cube moulds so I can have tiny bits of cake when I feel like it. Hot tip: do NOT walk away from the pan, it needs to be just melted, but not more because it loses moisture quickly. A splash of water helped me.
Those sound lovely! I know what you mean about the dried eggs! I remember buying some several years ago and never again. I mean they actually cooked up in recipes well but the smell of the egg powder made me feel sick🤣 – take care C xxx
I have had an idea today – let me know what you think.
Reading through literature and comments about people buying extra things using points, I remembered that sometimes people would join a queue without knowing what was at the other end, and buying it regardless of if they really wanted it because their points would expire and because they’d waited so very long. Also lots of commenters pointed out that just because you could buy something with points coupons, it didn’t mean the things were always available.
So, in order to have a real feel for things “not being available” (even though we live in overabundance nowadays) I propose that you only be allowed to spend points on items that are half-price (does this make sense? Because not everything is always on half-price sale). With a few exceptions such as the cheapest bag of rice that never goes on sale because it’s already so cheap (for example).
I also think it would be a good (but very hard) challenge to change your points and rations each month according to what they really were during that month in a set year.
What vegetable selection would you suggest to buy?