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Ration Book Experiment for one month starting soon.

It’s been 11 years since I lived a full year on 1940s WW2 rations as a social experiment to experience how families had to make do with basic foods and get by. I feel like I’m losing some of those experiences and memories and could do with a reminder. Of course nothing could compare to the real-life of those who had to endure not only these restrictions but the devastation of war, personal security, trauma, bereavement, grief and an unknown future.

I’m preoccupied with the state of the world right now, hopefully more than I need to be but nevertheless it’s on my mind every single day. I feel a need to start preparing for the worst and hope for the best and what better way than to have a practise run with returning to a WW2 ration book diet for 1 month.

However, in a world of abundance, most of us in the developed world never have to worry if there will be food in the shops to buy, and when we run out we simply pop out and stock up, no queuing, no anxieties.

Lets look at wheat as an example.

While we in the UK grow around 85% of our own wheat many other countries rely more heavily on imports and with Ukraine and Russia typically exporting over 1/4 of the worlds wheat the supply could be affected by the ongoing conflict either by Russia withholding supplies or raising prices.

News like this scares me a little…

The world has just 10 weeks’ worth of wheat stockpiled after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted supplies from the “breadbasket of Europe”.

The Daily Telegraph

What about wheat in the UK?

Imports account for only 15% of our requirements, and these come mainly from Germany and Canada. Therefore we are not anticipating any supply problem or availability issues. However, prices of wheat have risen steeply on all markets. Between 16th February and 3rd March, the quotation for wheat on the London futures market rose by 28%.

UK Flour Millers

While wheat may not be an issue for us in the UK it’s almost certain that we may experience rising prices and even some scarcity as the year rolls out for some of our supplies. The pandemic continues to still affect businesses, livelihoods and health in many countries throughout the world too. We can never be certain what this year and 2023 holds for us all.

What if I lost my job? What if I became ill and couldn’t work? What if my income halved? WHAT IF WW3 REALLY HAPPENS? Never say never, stranger things have happened.

And that is why I feel it may be prudent to really deep dive into experiencing living with less, not only because of my historical interest in the 1940s domestic/kitchen front but also that getting used to spending less and trying to set aside a little money every month to prepare for an uncertain future only makes common sense.

So from Monday the 13th June, I’ll be returning to living 100% by a WW2 ration book for a full month. I’d like to record the cost of living this way in depth, how suddenly having to do without my favourite foods impacts on my mood, I just need reminding. It’s been easy living for too long…

I’ll be using rations supplied to a vegetarian during WW2 and using homemade oat milk and plant-based cheese as the extra cheese ration given to those who didn’t eat meat. I will share my menu and supplies in depth this week as I put together everything I need.

Is there anyone else up for doing this? It would be great to share your experiences here too. I’d love to also do a live stream Q & A during the month of rationing.

Look forward to hearing from you, C xxxx

IMPORTANT UPDATE

Due to such interest in participating in this, I’m putting together some resources and a download so we can all have a bash at this together and share our experiences. This is so great and lovely to see so many people signing up. I will have something available online to download in a couple of days. C xxx

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June Update to the Pandemic Pantry Cookbook!

Another 8 recipes have been added in June to the FREE downloadable Pandemic Pantry Community Cookbook! You can download or view the latest edition by CLICKING HERE.

Recipes this month have been added from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, USA & the UK and recipes include Dump Cake, Strawberry Mousse, Coleslaw, Tray Bake Slice, Impossible Quiche, Esquites, Old Fashioned Bread Pudding, and Pasta Salad.

If your recipe has not yet appeared please be assured that it will be added over the coming months.

Thank you so much for the recipes and I will continue to add in several each month and have the newest edition FREE for you to download.

C xxxx

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Emergency Dumplings | Pandemic Pantry Series | Recipe No. 2

I tried the emergency dumpling recipe from the FREE Pandemic Pantry Community Cookbook. Thank you to Sara Thompson from the United States for submitting it.

The nice thing is that the recipe really uses whatever you have. We’ve used leftover instant ramen seasoning packets. We’ve made broth with ginger, garlic, and other seasonings. To me, it’s the perfect recipe for emergencies. I originally got this recipe from the www.townsends.us cooking channel. They are a great small company that does a lot of work preserving history..

Sara Thompson

Because the dumplings are made of just plain flour and vegetable broth with no fat or no raising agent such as baking powder (or you could use self-raising flour) the little dumplings were quite dense but this recipe undoubtedly shows that even if you just have a bit of flour you can add energy to your soup or stew and fill a tummy, cheaply and quickly. I added my dumplings to some soup (for breakfast can you believe!)

I made medium sized dumplings and they took around 15 minutes to simmer and cook. The beauty of this emergency recipe is that it is quick, cheap and with the 1 cup of flour I used I was able to make 10 dumplings and all in one cooking pot. If the power is out then things you can cook in one saucepan over a camping stove are very useful!

You can download the recipe for FREE in the Pandemic Pantry Community Cookbook.

C xxxxx

PS: I’d LOVE IT if you would subscribe to my YouTube channel. I will be adding a new WW2 video recipe, Pandemic Pantry recipe and Crisis cooking recipe every month (I’d do more if I had the time!)

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Oat Milk | Crisis Cooking Series | Recipe No. 1

With everything that is going on right now, especially the cost of living, I’m going to do a YouTube series on “Crisis Cooking” that will hopefully find alternatives to some of our favourite foods that cost less during difficult times.

I think if the world has taught us anything these past two years, it’s that we can never truly know what the future holds and so looking for ways and preparing to adapt to a change in circumstances is prudent. Whether the crisis is a medical one, loss of employment, ongoing pandemic effects, the soaring cost of living, or world conflict, working out how to reduce costs and bridging those gaps during times of change or hardship, hopefully will be helpful to some degree.

Please join my premiere on YouTube tonight at 7 pm where I go through the process of making my very first homemade oat milk. Being a vegan I buy my oat milk and at between £1.25-£1.75 per litre its far from cheap! Will making my own save me money and what will it taste like?

I will have LIVE chat open during the premiere, so please pop in and say hello and I look forward to hearing from you.

Lots of love, C xxxx

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Savoury Potato Biscuits | WW2 Series | Recipe No. 198

It’s been quite a while since I last created a wartime recipe and I’ve never actually filmed a WW2 recipe in my kitchen here in Swindon, so after I finished work today I thought it was now or never, grabbed my mobile phone, and a potato and set to work.

Anything with potatoes in has already won me over. Add to that simple and inexpensive and a bit strange then it’s a done deal. This recipe is from the Ministry of Foods Potato Leaflet No. 27.

Please note that the recipe DOES NOT make 24 x 3 inch biscuits. Mine made 16 x 2.5 inch (I measured my biscuit cutter) so whoever wrote up the recipe made a boo boo or was just trying to get people to eat more potatoes by promising more food out of so little. Either way, these little biscuits were pretty tasty and you can hear my full verdict on the video I created.

Ingredients

  • 2 oz. margarine
  • 3 oz. plain flour
  • 3 oz. cooked mashed potato
  • 6 tablespoons of grated cheese (I used vegan Violife)
  • 1.5 teaspoons salt (1 tsp would be enough!)
  • Pinch of cayenne or black pepper

Method

  • Rub the margarine into the flour.
  • Add the potato, cheese and seasoning and work to a stiff dough.
  • Roll out thinly, cut into shapes and bake in a moderate oven for 20 minutes.
  • This makes 24 x 3 inch biscuits (no it doesn’t!)

Hope you enjoy making these!

C xxxx

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A Story of Wartime England

This just popped up on SAGE LILLEYMANS YouTube channel, a fascinating interview with Beryl (Granny) about life during WW2 including rationing in Coventry, England.

Absolutely fascinating and what a wonderfully articulate woman. More from Granny please!

C xxxx

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New weight-loss channel on YouTube

Hi there,

I’ve decided to keep most of my weight-loss struggles off my regular 1940s Experiment YouTube Channel as I will be focusing on creating some WW2 recipe videos this year. I need to be more focused on what I do, I just find that quite difficult at times as life is so full and exciting!

I’ve set up a new YouTube channel for anything to do with middle-aged weight-loss struggles, menopause and health and you can see a couple of examples here. Please feel free to SUBSCRIBE if anything like this interests you.

This week below I share a very embarrassing flirting experience and briefly talk about loss of sex-drive during menopause. Maybe that is why I am so happy being single right now. Anyway, it would be good to hear your thoughts and experiences.

Much love, C xxxx

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First Sage Harvest of 2022

How wonderful it was to have spent a couple of hours in the garden this afternoon after completing some of the chores that have waited for me all week. After doing some washing up, a few loads of laundry, cleaning the kitchen and dining room and hoovering a couple of rooms it was time for lunch and a coffee in the garden.

The few little sage plants I put in last summer have grown massively this spring. Their aroma is pungent and exhilarating (yes I love sage!) and they have grown so much that it was already time to harvest some of the stalks that were tumbling over the pathway.

I will use some fresh sage this weekend in a recipe or two but then will dry the rest and add to jars, I don’t think I will need to buy more sage for years especially as I bought 4 more tiny sage plants this spring, two of which are purple sage and variegated. I just can’t get enough!

Another delightful thing I noticed this afternoon was that the bees are visiting the cotoneaster in abundance. Red-tailed bumble bees, white-tailed bumble bees, and common carder bees are just some of the bees I have been able to identify.

I’ll leave you with a quick little video of a beautiful bumble bee on the cotoneaster.

Have a wonderful day,

C xxxxxxx

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Pandemic Pantry cookbook ready to download.

FINALLY the “Pandemic Pantry Community Cookbook” is ready to DOWNLOAD.

Before you dive in I’d first like to say that this first version contains 38 of the nearly 200 recipes already submitted during the pandemic BUT my life is hectic, my home circumstances right now are challenging and if I didn’t do it this way it would NEVER get finished.

I’ve decided that on the 1st day of each calendar month there will be a NEW version of the cookbook FREE to download. It will be much easier for me to add in 10-20 new recipes every month and update the book with valuable resources and links to keep it current. If you do not see the recipe you submitted please know that it will be added, just download your new version every month. The Pandemic Pantry cookbook will ALWAYS be free and if anyone would like to send any frugal recipes through please do so to carolynekinsuk@gmail.com.

I sincerely APOLOGISE for the time it has taken me. I sometimes feel like I am trying to climb a greasy pole to complete things as I am time challenged and the last few years, well, what can I say, we’ve all been coping with many things in different ways.

I really want to say THANK YOU to those who sent through their recipes, at last count I was up to 180 something so there will be lots to add over the coming months.

Sending much love and safety to all during these times of uncertainty, whether its medically, economically or with the recent war in Ukraine and the worry of escalation into neighbouring countries, I sincerely wish you all the very best.

C xxxxx

PS: I’ll be doing some of the Pandemic Pantry recipes on my YouTube channel now and again so please subscribe HERE! Thank you.

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Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! Wishing everyone a very happy and of course healthy 2022.

Love this time of year as it can feel like a good time to set positive goals. The first one on my list for 2022 is to finish the first version of the ‘Pandemic Pantry’ cookbook. I’m still busy adding in your recipes and laying the pages out. It is more time consuming than I imagined but I’ve made great headway and I hope to have every single submitted recipe in and laid out nicely by the end of the day. Tomorrow I’ll need to write up a few pages, add in some conversion charts (as we have recipes that have been submitted from different continents) and finally proof read it all then upload it to my website.

3rd JANUARY UPDATE: It really is taking me longer than I thought. I'm putting in quite a few hours each day but it takes me around 20 minutes to lay out a recipe. I have another 20+ to do plus write up and charts. In the end we will have around 70 in total. I'll put in another few hours today, I'm back to work tomorrow and will just do my best and realistically aim to get this completed by the end of next weekend.

It will always be an evolving community cookbook throughout this year as I will always be adding in extra pages if anyone else submits recipes or I add a few more myself.

Thanks once again for all who have sent me through recipes for inclusion. C xxxxx