Day 7 - One Week Down!

I know that in a previous post, I said that I did not purchase any candy because I normally do not eat any sweets.  Sometime mid-week, I did pick up a small bag of Lancaster Caramels.  While I have not come anywhere near consuming my weekly ration of sweets, I do find that it is a nice little treat once in a while. 

I wanted to recap my weekly rations.  There were two positive points in that arena:  (1) I did not go over on any of my rations for the week and (2) I also did not consume everything I was allotted so I have leftovers to put toward future use.

Item	1945 Ration Amount	Used	Remaining
Bacon or Ham	4 oz	0 oz	4 oz
Sugar	8 oz	0 oz	8 oz
Loose Tea	2 oz	0 oz	2 oz
Meat	1 lb 3 oz	1 lb	3 oz
Cheese	2 oz	.25 oz	1.75 oz
Preserves*	4 oz	2 oz	2 oz
Butter	2 oz	1 oz	1 oz
Margarine	4 oz	4 oz	0 oz
Lard	2 oz	0 oz	2 oz
Sweets*	3 oz	.25 oz	2.75 oz
Shell Egg	1	0	1

*In 1945 Preserves were rationed at an amount of 1 lb per month and sweet were rationed at an amount of 12 oz per month.  I took those amounts and divided by 4 to get my weekly ration amount.

In addition, 24 points were allotted every four weeks for tinned and dried food.  From what I have read, because Spam was not widely known in the UK in the 1940s, it went for about half the rate of other canned meats.  I have seen it listed as both 6 and 8 points so I went with the 8 points.  I have also read that dried beans went at a rate of about 2 points per pound.  Last week, I purchased one can of Spam and one 1-lb bag of dried beans so that would come out to about 10 points used for the month with 12 points remaining.

For next week, I used my entire meat ration on chicken.  Since I have been feeling a bit under the weather over the past few days, I have been desperate for some homemade chicken noodle soup.  Honestly, I have no idea if they ate chicken noodle soup in the UK in the 1940s (or if they even do it now).  My grandmother once told me that they had it in their house during the time my father was growing up so that is good enough for me.  A big pot of soup should hold me for the better part of a week. 

In addition to my chicken, I picked up some sausages because I read that they were not rationed in 1945.  It kind of felt like cheating a little bit, though, since I know that the sausages for sale in the latter part of the 1940s was not the quality of sausages sold in stores today.  Meat was incredibly scarce to sausages at that time used A LOT of fillers.  In fact, some people even said that sausages sometimes tasted more like bread than sausage because there was so much filler in them.  For that reason, I am going to limit the amount of sausages I consume and share the remaining portion with my husband.

 

Do you have a favorite food you like to eat when you aren’t feeling well?

It's All About the Meat

Somewhere in the neighborhood of midnight last night, I finally found myself feeling well enough to get off my duff and cook something.  I did not follow a special recipe.  I simply threw the stew meat I purchased for this week in a frying pan with my remaining mushrooms and browned them up with a bit of garlic.  I tossed a small amount of it on the top of a salad of red leaf lettuce and it tasted so good.

During the day today, I had another salad and topped it with a portion of the sausage roll which I had warmed up in the pan.  For dinner, I had a large baked potato with a tablespoon of margarine and piece of toast with one half table spoon of butter.  Later in the evening, I had a portion of oatmeal made with water and sweetened with raisins.

It is that special time of week again when I plan to go grocery shopping.  My list for this week is significantly smaller than last week.  As much as I hate to admit it, Spam is definitely on the list again.  I portioned it out a little at a time and it helped to stretch my meat ration for the week.  While it is not the healthiest food on my list, I have to believe that consuming it in small portions combined with fresh vegetables isn’t nearly so bad as living on frozen meals and take-out.

I saved my bacon ration for this week so I can combine it with the bacon ration for next week and use it to make a nice big pot of baked beans.  I don’t think I have ever had homemade baked beans so I hope they taste good.  I would hate to think that I have wasted two weeks of bacon rations on something that does not taste good!  There are several WWII era recipes for baked beans that are in the running.  The winning recipe will be posted here.

What is your favorite meat saving recipe?

Day 4 - Sticking With It

Did you ever have one of those days where you wake up feeling like you have been run over by a truck?  I had full intentions of cooking a new wartime recipe today.  Then I woke this morning feeling like squirrels had been hiding acorns in my throat.  My energy was zero and my will to get up and cook an actual meal matched that.  Fortunately, I was able to stick with my rations. 

 

I finished off the last slice of Spam today and sautéed some mushrooms in the same pan.  I also warmed up a piece of the sausage roll this afternoon and it almost tasted better today than it did yesterday.  My day ended with a bit of fish that my husband brought home.  Not super exciting but it worked.

 

Oh, what I wouldn’t do for a big pot of homemade chicken noodle soup right now!

 

What do you like to eat when you aren’t feeling well?  Could you make it work with rationing in the 1940s?

Day 3 - Sausage Roll

I am not really sure what I thought this was going to turn out like.  As I was making it, I couldn’t help but think how much it is like the meatloaf my family ate when I was growing up.  As far as I can tell, the only two differences in ingredients were:  1-In my family, we used oatmeal instead of bread crumbs and 2-We used an egg to bind instead of milk or stock.  (And we baked it instead of steaming it.)  

It is understandable why bread crumbs would have been used and it was bound with milk or stock.  Nothing went to waste during the ration years in England.  Simply, it was better to make use of the dried up remnants of a loaf of bread than throw them away.  Additionally, eggs were in such limited supply that people were only allowed one shell egg per week and one package of powdered eggs (which was equal to 12 eggs) per month.  Eggs would have been put to better use in baking than to bind a meatloaf.

My sausage roll was not exactly a roll.  The original Ministry of Food recipe instructed that the meat mixture be placed into a cocoa tin with a lid then steamed.  This would have made the finished product come out like a roll.  I did not have a cocoa tin or can.   A few years ago when I was rereading a lot of Charles Dickens, I decided to make plum pudding for Christmas.  I did not have a pudding tin so I used a Bundt pan covered in foil instead.  Since the method for steaming the sausage roll is essentially the same as when I made plum pudding, I went ahead and used my Bundt pan covered in foil again and it worked perfectly.

For anyone who has never steamed a pudding, or a sausage roll for that matter, it really is not difficult.  All you need is a large stock pot, a trivet or a scrunched up ring of foil that will fit inside your stock pot, a pudding tin, a cocoa tin or a Bundt pan, and a bit of foil if you are using a Bundt pan.  You place the trivet in the bottom of the stock pot and put enough water in the pot to go half way up the outside of your pudding tin or Bundt pan when it is set inside.  Make sure to use the trivet because you do not want the pan on the inside to rest on the bottom of the stock pan.  You do not want that pan on the direct heat source.  After that, all you have to do is let the water simmer for the amount of time indicated in the recipe.  Make sure to check it occasionally to make sure that there has not been too much water evaporation.  If you feel like the water level has dropped too much, add a little more.  Easy Peasy.

 

Sausage Roll

Serves 4

 

 

Ingredients:

8 oz sausage meat (I used ground beef)

2 tablespoons finely chopped onion or leek

1 tablespoon chopped pickle (I did not have any so I skipped this.)

1 -2 cloves fresh garlic, chopped or minced (not in original recipe but I had some on hand so I added it.)

3 oz bread crumbs

Pinch of mixed herbs

Pinch of pepper

1 ½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons stock or milk

 

Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.  (I find it is best to do this by hand.)
2. Turn into a greased tin and cover with lid.
3. Steam 1 ½ to 2 hours.
4. Drain drippings then turn out onto plate and serve.

 

 

Since I only used an 80/20 grade of ground beef, there were a lot of drippings when it was finished cooking.  I keep mine in a glass jar in the refrigerator for use in cooking and flavoring other recipes.  This was not uncommon practice in the 1940s as cooking fats were extremely limited.  If you do not intend to save your drippings, please make sure that you dispose of them properly.  Dumping them down the drain could cause a clog. 

 

The end result of this recipe may not have been the prettiest thing I have ever eaten but is smelled good cooking and the flavor was wonderful.  In addition, it stretched the ground beef I had on hand.  I only purchased 8 ounces of ground beef this week and this recipe stretched it to 4 servings.  I served mine with a salad of locally grown red leaf lettuce and spinach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you ever used the steam method of cooking?  If not, what would entice you to try it?

 

Day 2 - Return of the Vegetable Turnover

Tea for two and two for tea!

OK.  First, I have to admit that I was incredibly hungry last night.  I generally keep rather odd hours and eat one of my meals very late at night so it came as no surprise to me that I found I was hungry somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 p.m.  I didn’t want to prepare anything that took a lot of effort.  I ended up grating a small potato and tossing it in a pan with the drippings left from the Spam I had for dinner last night.  It wasn’t a lot but it got me past that hunger.

The vegetable turnover recipe that I made yesterday made four turnovers.  I ended up having my second turnover for breakfast today and I have to say that I thought it tasted much better the second day than it did on the first day.  I am not going to lie, I ate around the parsnips.  This is something that a person in the 1940s probably never would have done.  I simply could not stomach them, though, and I did not want to waste the turnovers.  Fortunately, there was not a lot of parsnip in each turnover so I did not have to waste much.  And worry not, none of the parsnip went into the garbage.

My husband and I normally dine out once a week and even though I have decided to undertake my WWII rationing experiment, I did not want to put an end to that.  I know that in the US, during WWII, people were urged to eat fish and save other meat for.  I also know that in the United Kingdom, fish and chip shops were still open.  Therefore, when we went out for dinner tonight, I opted for a lovely order of fish and chips.  It was delicious and I felt like I was staying true to my experiment.

The following is a list of what I ate on day 2 of rationing.

Lunch:  Two slices of Spam browned in the pan, one vegetable turnover with a bit of leftover Bisto gravy and water to drink.

Snack:  Apple.

Dinner:  Dined out – Fish and chips with tea to drink.

Evening:  One slice of toast with a smear of jam.

Supper:  One potato shredded and browned in Spam drippings and water to drink.


After dining out tonight, my husband and I stopped by one of our local thrift shops.  Now I know that I said before that I do not like shopping in any way, shape or form.  I guess that was a little bit of a lie since I do like to make an occasional stop by the local thrift shop to see if I can get a good deal on a hidden treasure.  My mission tonight was to find a breadbox that I could clean up and refurbish but that was not to be.  What I did find was a couple of nice little teacups and saucers.  I don’t believe that they are worth anything but I thought they were pretty.

When my sisters got married, my mother bought them china as wedding gifts.  Some of them also ended up getting antique china which had been in the family for years.  I, on the other hand, never got any china – new or antique.  (Not a surprise since my mother and I have never been on good terms.)  For a long time, I was offended that my sisters got china as wedding gifts and I never did.  In recent years, however, I have changed my mind about that.  I am the kind of person who likes to color outside the likes.  I do not like things in perfect sets.  I would rather buy my china in ones and twos when pieces catch my eye and build a wonderfully eclectic set that is pure me than pick a boring matching set.  (Plus, it is much easier to find something that works with my china should I accidentally break a piece than it is for my sisters to find a perfect replacement piece if they break one of theirs.)

All in all, it was a lovely day.  At the end, I don’t find myself hungry and though I have eaten Spam and potatoes as well as fish and chips today, I feel like my homemade fare is better for me than if I was drinking soda and eating potato chips, fast food, frozen meals and Spaghetti-O’s.

Tomorrow I am going to try to make a steamed “sausage” roll.  I did not buy any sausage but I do have some ground beef so I will use that instead and I will just season it with some spices I already have in my cupboard. It should be interesting as I have never made or consumed any sort of steamed meat.  I did make plum pudding one Christmas, though, and the method can’t be too different from making that.  Wish me luck!


Are you a fan of your local thrift or antique shops?

 

Day 1 - Vegetable Turnovers

Do you remember being a child and looking forward to Christmas with such excitement that it seemed as though the days were just inching by?  Then, all of a sudden, Christmas was upon you?  That is what it has been like for me.  I have been looking forward to day one of rationing with such excitement and anticipation, a million thoughts spinning through my mind.

Am I going to be able to make it a full 30 days?  I know I can stick with this for a week for sure but 30 days is a long time.  What if I make a recipe that uses some of my rations and it turns out truly horrible?  Oh-my-gosh!  I am so looking forward to these vegetable turnovers I keep reading about and Lord Woolton pie.  I bought some parsnips and turnip to use this week because I know they are vegetables that would have stored well in a root cellar and made it to this time of year.  I have never eaten either of them, though, and what if I think they are disgusting when I do eat them?  I can’t just eat potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, lettuce and spinach for my vegetables this week, can I?  I mean, I have seen quite a number of recipes that call for turnips and parsnips.  Will I lose any weight by eating on the ration system in the next month?  If I do, that will be nice and it will prove my point about over consumption of processed foods.  Is my husband going to think I am off my rocker for doing this?  Will anyone think I am odd if I just drink water now and save my tea rations for warmer weather?  (In my mind, I see myself sticking with this experiment for a very long time.)  I am freaking nuts to do this.  How disagreeable is it going to be cooking ration food for myself and regular food for my husband who has some strange vegetable phobia?  What if I hate it?  What if I love it?  Mmm, vegetables…and bacon…

See?  My mind is a very noisy place.  While I do have a few valid concerns, most of the thoughts rolling around in my head are just codswallop. 

At any rate, the following is a list of what I ate throughout the day on day 1 of rationing.

Breakfast:  One toasted slice of honey wheat bread with a smear of strawberry preserves.

Lunch:       Vegetable turnover with a bit of Bisto gravy (recipe for turnover is below).

Dinner:       2 slices of Spam browned in a pan, one baked potato and steamed mushrooms.

Evening:    1 slice of bread with a smear of strawberry preserves.

 

Vegetable Turnovers

Serves 4

Filling Ingredients:

3 - 4 scrubbed diced medium potatoes with skins

2 medium carrots diced

1 small onion, chopped

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Herbs to taste

 

Pastry Ingredients:

12 oz of whole wheat flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 ½ tablespoons margarine

1 ½ tablespoons meat drippings (can use all margarine instead of dividing)

½ cup + 2 tablespoons water

Directions:

1.       Preheat oven to 400°F.

2.       Clean and dice potatoes, carrots and parsnip.

3.       Cook potatoes, carrots and parsnip together in a pot of water until carrots and parsnip are medium soft.

4.       Sauté the onion in a small amount of drippings or margarine.

5.       Drain potato mixture well.  (The WWII woman would have saved the vegetable broth to use in other recipes!)

6.       Carefully mix the onions in with the other vegetables

7.       Season vegetables with salt, pepper and herbs to taste.

8.       Sift the flour then add salt and cut in the margarine and meat drippings.

9.       Add the water and work into a dough.  (If your dough is too dry, add water 1 tablespoon at a time.  If it is too sticky, add a bit of flour.)

10.   Divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll out each into a round on a lightly floured surface.

11.   Place pastry onto baking pan, scoop vegetable mixture into the middle of each round.

12.   Wet the edges of the pastry with water, pull one side to the other and press or fold edges together.

13.   Prick the top of each pastry with fork tines then brush with a small amount of milk.

14.   Bake at 400°F for 25 – 30 minutes or until pastry is crisp and lightly browned.

15.   Serve hot or cool.  (I like mine hot, topped with a bit of gravy.)

 

For the record, I thought that this version of the vegetable turnover was just OK.  For me, the parsnip really brought this dish down.  It turns out that I am just not a fan of the flavor or parsnips.  In the future, I will use only half of a small onion, omit the parsnip altogether and add locally grown mushrooms.  (Mmm, fungus!)  In the end, though, I ate an entire turnover which was full of fresh veg and my tummy was full.  I cannot complain about that!

What are your favorite and least favorite vegetables?

 

 

Grandma's Honey Wheat Bread

I do not know for sure if my recipe is authentic to the 1940s or not.  While it is not identical to those found in the wartime cookbooks I checked out from the library, there are similarities.  I think that it certainly would have been acceptable to use this recipe in the 40s in the US.

Before I give up the recipe, I have to say that as a child, I spent a lot of time with my paternal grandparents.  The bread recipe I used is one of very few that I got from my grandmother.  She was born in 1912 in rural Wisconsin.  Grandma was the eldest child in her family so instead of helping out her mother in the kitchen, she spent her days helping her father with the farm work.  She was always a hard worker and she certainly saw some hard times as well as many good times in her life. 

Because Grandma spent her days helping with the farm work instead house work, she never picked up the cooking skills other girls her age did.  She never did a lot of baking but one thing I do fondly remember baking with her when I was growing up was fresh bread.  There is just something magical about being a little girl standing next to grandma in the kitchen.  If I close my eyes, I can still smell the yeasty loaves as they sit rising.

Ingredients:

2 cups warm water

2 cups white flour (can replace this with whole wheat)
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup honey
1/3 cup shortening – melted
5 cups whole wheat flour

Directions:

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water.
2. Add honey and mix until honey is dissolved.
3. Add white flour to yeast mixture and stir gently.  Allow to rest for 5 minutes.
4. Melt shortening.
5. Mix salt into whole wheat flour then add melted shortening.
6. Combine whole wheat flour mixture with yeast mixture.  If mixture is too dry, add a tiny bit more water.  If it is too sticky, add a small amount more flour.
7. Knead for about 10 minutes.  (Make sure to knead for the full 10 minutes as this is important to the structure of the bread.)
8. Once dough is smooth and elastic, place in a greased bowl and cover with a damp cloth (or oiled plastic wrap).
9. Let rise in a warm place until dough has doubled in size – about 45 minutes to an hour.
10. Punch dough down then divide in half and shape into two loaves.
11. Place into two lightly greased and loaf pans and allow to rise until dough is 1 – 2 inches above the lip of the pans - about 45 minutes -- The less time you let them sit during the second rise, the better your chances of them not falling in the oven..  (Mine are 9" x 5" pans.)
12. Bake loaves in a preheated 375°F oven for 25 – 30 minutes.

Makes two loaves – 12 to 14 slices per loaf.

 

Unfortunately, I keep the thermostat in my house set quite cool and I got impatient waiting for the second rise.  It tastes wonderful all the same.  Next time, I promise to let it rise fully before baking!