I’m giving Vlogtober a bash this year! What is Vlogtober I hear you ask? Vlogtober is basically a month when YouTubers create a daily video that incorporates parts of their lives on the run up to Halloween. Vlogtober is kind of the practise run for Vlogmas which is the same thing except it ends with Christmas!
Every day I’m trying to create a video (long form or YouTube shorts) which is pretty challenging due to my full time job and carers responsibilities BUT I love communicating and sharing and if anything this will help me improve my skills AND become quicker plus the fact I get to hopefully share more 1940s recipes and other related content.
As my year of living on WW2 rations draws to a close in early January 2024, I really want my Christmas on wartime rations to be memorable and amazing but also as authentic as possible. From now until Christmas, I’m going to re-create and film several wartime recipes before deciding on which ones to use on the big day!
At precisely 5:22 a.m. this morning, I awoke abruptly with one thing on my mind…MURKEY (Mock Turkey). I had dreamt of it last night and knowing that I had all the very simple ingredients, I was in my kitchen a little after 7 am, brandishing my trusty wooden spoon and wearing my 40s pinny, to have a bash at making one!
Despite the severe shortages, I am sure people would have done their damned best during wartime to have a centrepiece to their Christmas table and if there was no turkey or goose available, or no money to buy one, then this delicious homemade stuffing, turkey-shaped creation would have helped bring a few smiles to the faces sat around the table? You would have tried to make the best of it I’m sure…
Mock Turkey Ingredients
I used half the ingredients below to make a small mock turkey but at Christmas, I will use the full measurements below!
1 lb of breadcrumbs
1 lb of sausage meat (I used vegan sausages)
2 onions
2 apples
Fresh sage to your own taste (dry sage would work too!)
lots of salt and pepper
streaky bacon (or a carrot – see my video recipe above)
two parsnips
Method
Make breadcrumbs from the bread (I used a food processor) and chop up the sausage, apple, onions, and sage finely (you can grate too or use a food processor.)
Mix all the ingredients together, they should stick quite well together, and on a greased baking tray, form them into a turkey shape.
Trim the parsnips and place them into the mock turkey to form parsnip turkey legs.
Glaze the turkey with a brown sauce and melted margarine mixture (optional). This will help hold it together.
Add bacon rashers (or thinly sliced carrot) to the mock turkey and glaze again.
Cover loosely with foil and place at 180 C in the oven for 30 minutes then remove foil and cook for a further 30 minutes or so until lightly browned.
Remove from oven and stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Cutting my hair was going to be symbolic of losing 100 lbs this year BUT I have been hating my hair so much it has been painful to live with it. To me it is reminding me daily of emotional pain, I couldn’t deal with that for 1 day longer. The hot weather gave me the final shove and today I discarded that pain, 14 inches of it!
Out with the old, in with the new and today I’m 62 lbs down since January!
C xxxx
PS: This length hair will be a lot easier for 1940s hairstyles too!
THANK YOU to everyone! I just wanted to let you know that thanks to YOU, I’ve finally been able to to move my blog off a FREE WordPress platform (after over 10 years!!) to a proper WordPress business hosting platform.
The kind donations through PayPal that I have received via my blog over the past year have paid for nearly 50% of this new plan and this enabled me to convince myself to go for it!!!
What does this mean? Although you won’t notice any differences right now, it does mean that over the next few months I can completely move my blog over to a more up to date professional theme on a staging site and hopefully have the new look website go live at Christmas (when I next have some time off!). Also it will allow the website to have a LOT more functionality and look a lot nicer.
Special shout out to the following supporters who made this happen: Emma, Kim, Kaye, Gwyeth, Irene, Sue, Lisa and Shirley AND to everyone who reads my blog or watches my YouTube channel. You have all helped enormously!
And of course a lovely warm thank you to the wonderful group members over on Facebook for sharing such wonderful daily updates and 1940s recipes and all things 1940s! The group has grown to almost 4500 members in such a short time and truly is a wonderful area for escapism.
Dear all, I hope everyone is teaming up for a lovely long bank holiday weekend!
I am hoping to get some filming and a recipe done early tomorrow morning with the hope of posting the video MONDAY night but this will all depend on a number of things! This time I am creating a FREE downloadable information leaflet to accompany the video as I know it might help a few other people like me who have struggled, really, really struggled with overeating and weight gain. I want this to be a REALLY helpful video and resource for people so if it takes longer it will.
Today I am working on personal stuff which could be life changing and I only have a short window to complete so my focus is on that today with the inevitable back log of chores to complete as well as cleaning out my guinea pigs!! I’ve had a hearty breakfast of toast topped with fried vegetables and I’m going to make another large stew to use up all the veggies in the fridge!
YESTERDAY I managed to get out of the house for a while (day off work) and visited Avebury and the standing stones. My packed lunch was a sandwich and a cold baked potato! I’ve been living on wartime rations nearly 8 months now, dropped 56 lbs and feeling a little happier and healthier EVERY SINGLE DAY.
Dear all, I’ve recorded a video regarding my thoughts and feelings around my weigh-in at 7 months living on WW2 rations.
There is so much to say, less time to write but I do promise to try and get more writing done. I have been keeping extensive personal diaries on this year and hope to share parts of them starting during my Christmas break. I hope the content will help people who are struggling with their weight or food addictions like me, or struggling with the cost of living too. This year has been such a journey for many, many reasons. So many of you have been such a support to me. Thank you.
Also please take a moment to check out Sues Blog “A Smaller and Simple Life” – it’s a delightful blog and Sue will have WW2 rationing content coming up which I know will interest you!
I had run out of bread so was baking a loaf and really fancied a simple soup for lunch to accompany the freshly baked bread. This recipe was pretty quick and very easy to make. Add lentils or beans for extra protein (or some left over meat trimmings/bones).
Blitz Soup Ingredients
1 carrot
1 turnip
1 leek or onion
1 or 2 potatoes
A few bones
1 stick celery
4 tumblerfuls of stock or water
Meat or vegetable extract
Salt & Pepper
Method
Mince all the vegetables or cut them very small (unless you like them chunky like me!)
Place in pan with stock or water with seasoning (and bones) and simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour
When almost cooked add meat or vegetable extract and extra seasoning if required
This is an authentic wartime recipe for Baking Powder Milk Rolls which I found in “Health for All – Wartime Recipes” by Margaret Y. Brady.
I had run out of bread and wanted bread quickly without going to the shops OR spending hours making, proving and baking a loaf! This recipe took about 10 minutes to make then about 20 or so minutes to cook so 30 minutes from beginning to end! Oh and the rolls worked out as costing 4p each for the ingredients BUT more in energy! I did use the hot oven to bake potatoes too so don’t feel quite so guilty!
Ingredients:
8 oz self-raising flour ( or 8 oz of plain flour and 1.5 tsp baking powder )
1 tsp salt
1/4 pint of milk (I used oat milk)
Method:
Mix ingredients together, gently knead on a floured board, divide into 4, and make 4 rolls, place in moderate oven at 180C – 200C for 20-30 minutes. Set aside to cool before serving.
The first 6 months, overeating and bingeing before
How am I feeling in myself?
Weigh-in, measurements, comparison photos and blood test results
Talking about my results
I nearly forgot!
I am thrilled to share with you the results of my 6-month weight loss journey (so far) following a WW2 Ration Book Diet. Join me as I reveal the transformation my body is undergoing and the impact rationing has had on my overall well-being. I am also supporting this journey with scientific data using blood tests, a food diary, ongoing daily monitoring of physical activity, body measurements, blood pressure, and other vitals. Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe to my channel to stay updated on my future videos.
I use Thriva and my GP surgery for my blood tests. You can receive £20 off your first test with Thriva by using my discount code here: https://thriva.co/?discount_code=CEWPGS
