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Ration Month	My self-imposed month of rationing is over. My reasons for wanting to do this were twofold. I really wanted to know, from experience, what it was like to live on forced rations, and for purely vain reasons, wanted to lose some weight as a result of my experience. Initially, as I began rationing, I had the excitement of doing something different to help get me going. The first week went well, and I followed my meal plans as shown below. Sunday Breakfast – 1 egg, 1 oz. bacon, oatmeal with sugar, 1 oz. butter, and 2 oz. milk Lunch – Veggies with 1 oz. cheese, bread with jam, tea with sugar Dinner – 2 oz. meat, veggies with reserved bacon fat, 1 piece of fruit Monday Breakfast – 1 egg, oatmeal with sugar, 1 oz. butter and 2 oz. milk Lunch – Veggies with reserved bacon fat, bread with jam, tea with sugar Dinner – 1 oz. bacon, veggies with reserved bacon fat Tuesday Breakfast – 1 egg, oatmeal with sugar and 2 oz. milk Lunch – Veggies with 1 oz. cheese, bread with jam, tea with sugar Dinner – 2 oz. meat, veggies Wednesday Breakfast – 1 egg, oatmeal with sugar, 1 oz. butter, and 2 oz. milk Lunch – Veggies with reserved bacon fat, bread with jam, tea with sugar Dinner – 1 oz. bacon, veggies with reserved bacon fat Thursday Breakfast – 1 egg, oatmeal with sugar and 2 oz. milk Lunch – Veggies with 1 oz. cheese, bread with jam, tea with sugar Dinner – 2 oz. meat, veggies Friday Breakfast – 1 egg, oatmeal with sugar and 2 oz. milk Lunch – Veggies with 1 oz. cheese, bread with jam, tea with sugar Dinner – Veggies with 1 oz. butter Saturday Breakfast – 1 egg, oatmeal with sugar and 2 oz. milk Lunch – Veggies with reserved bacon fat, bread with jam, tea with sugar Dinner – 1 oz. bacon, veggies with reserved bacon fat I knew as I began to enter into the second week that I needed to mix things up a little to help with the monotony of my eating. So, with the rations remaining the same, I moved foods around in order to make something more substantial and exciting. I also saved up some of my rations throughout the week in order to make a treat for the weekend. Doing this meant that there were days when I felt more hungry, as rations for that day were used for another day, but it was worth it to have one day where I actually felt satisfied and not still hungry after eating. Here are some of the recipes I made, which were from Marguerite Patten’s cookbook. Hard-Time Omelette Hard –Time Omelette Recipe This omelet was a nice change! Jam Rock Buns Inside Jam Rock Buns Rock Buns Recipe These were so delicious, and I plan to continue making them. I don’t know if my taste buds were just so excited to taste something sweet, but these were such a treat to eat, even though they were only lightly sweetened. Dark Sticky Gingerbread Dark Sticky Gingerbread This was okay, but not at all “sticky” as the recipe suggests. I don’t know if I did something wrong, or if I’m just so used to the dense, moist gingerbread my Mom has always made that this just fell so short of what I was expecting. As the gingerbread was actually a little on the dry side, I ended up breaking it up into bite sized pieces, poured some milk over all of it, and ate it with a spoon. It was actually quite good this way, so I had it for breakfast in this manner for several mornings. Here’s a picture of my gingerbread with milk. You can barely see the milk in the bottom of the bowl as the color of the milk was so close to being the same color as my bowl. Gingerbread with Milk Aside from enjoying these recipes from Mrs. Patten’s cookbook, I also made myself egg sandwiches and meat sandwiches. Along with those favorites, I had oatmeal quite regularly, bread and jam, lots of sautéed veggies, and salads. I was actually quite surprised at how small of an amount the meat actually was, which was why I preferred to have it in sandwich form whenever I could, as I enjoyed it the most that way. The hardest thing about the first week of rationing was my automatic impulse to simply grab something to eat. I did not eat anything I wasn’t supposed to, but had to constantly remind myself that I couldn’t just grab any food I wanted to when I felt hungry; that was hard. By the end of the first week, I was well into the habit of following my food plan and that automatic reaction had subsided. As the second week rolled around, I found a new difficult arise that I had not thought about…FOOD EVERYWHERE! As my hunger became a daily challenge, having food available to me but not being able to eat it was hard! As I did my grocery shopping, I realized a huge difference between the wartime homemaker and myself. The wartime homemaker did not have isles and isles of food available to her for the taking. She had what was rationed and what her points provided, and that was it. I began to feel that in that way I probably had a harder time. It seems as though it would have been easier for me if I was actually enduring real rationing without all that food surrounding me no matter where I was; if the food is not available, you can’t eat it. I had to constantly try to ignore the food that surrounded me and tell myself not to eat it. In my third week, I “cheated” a few time, and my fourth week went out the window. I just could not ignore the food I wanted to eat so badly anymore. Aside from the initial hunger issues, I felt really good while doing this. I’m sure all those vegetables were a real boost to my health and general feeling of well-being. On the vain side of all of this, I did lose 9 lbs. Weight loss aside, I intend to continue eating a modified version of the ration diet because of how good I felt. Overall, it was an eye opener to experience forced food rationing. Your mind begins to think about food in quite a different way; how to use it, stretch it, be creative with the little you have, and what you’re willing to give up in order to save for a later use. I never thought I’d have to ask myself, “Well, do I want butter for my oatmeal, bread, or save it to make something at the end of the week?”, because you don’t have enough to do all of those things in one week. So, how many of you plan to try rationing, even if for a week? PL
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My self-imposed month of rationing is over. My reasons for wanting to do this were twofold. I really wanted to know, from experience, what it was like to live on forced rations, and for purely vain reasons, wanted to lose some weight as a result of my experience. Initially, as I began rationing, I had the excitement of doing something different to help get me going. The first week went well, and I followed my meal plans as shown below.

Sunday

Breakfast – 1 egg, 1 oz. bacon, oatmeal with sugar, 1 oz. butter, and 2 oz. milk

Lunch – Veggies with 1 oz. cheese, bread with jam, tea with sugar

Dinner – 2 oz. meat, veggies with reserved bacon fat, 1 piece of fruit

Monday

Breakfast – 1 egg, oatmeal with sugar, 1 oz. butter and 2 oz. milk

Lunch – Veggies with reserved bacon fat, bread with jam, tea with sugar

Dinner – 1 oz. bacon, veggies with reserved bacon fat

Tuesday

Breakfast – 1 egg, oatmeal with sugar and 2 oz. milk

Lunch – Veggies with 1 oz. cheese, bread with jam, tea with sugar

Dinner – 2 oz. meat, veggies

Wednesday

Breakfast – 1 egg, oatmeal with sugar, 1 oz. butter, and 2 oz. milk

Lunch – Veggies with reserved bacon fat, bread with jam, tea with sugar

Dinner – 1 oz. bacon, veggies with reserved bacon fat

Thursday

Breakfast – 1 egg, oatmeal with sugar and 2 oz. milk

Lunch – Veggies with 1 oz. cheese, bread with jam, tea with sugar

Dinner – 2 oz. meat, veggies

Friday

Breakfast – 1 egg, oatmeal with sugar and 2 oz. milk

Lunch – Veggies with 1 oz. cheese, bread with jam, tea with sugar

Dinner – Veggies with 1 oz. butter

Saturday

Breakfast – 1 egg, oatmeal with sugar and 2 oz. milk

Lunch – Veggies with reserved bacon fat, bread with jam, tea with sugar

Dinner – 1 oz. bacon, veggies with reserved bacon fat

I knew as I began to enter into the second week that I needed to mix things up a little to help with the monotony of my eating. So, with the rations remaining the same, I moved foods around in order to make something more substantial and exciting. I also saved up some of my rations throughout the week in order to make a treat for the weekend. Doing this meant that there were days when I felt more hungry, as rations for that day were used for another day, but it was worth it to have one day where I actually felt satisfied and not still hungry after eating. Here are some of the recipes I made, which were from Marguerite Patten’s cookbook.

Hard-Time Omelette

Hard –Time Omelette Recipe

This omelet was a nice change!

Jam Rock Buns

Inside Jam Rock Buns

Rock Buns Recipe

These were so delicious, and I plan to continue making them. I don’t know if my taste buds were just so excited to taste something sweet, but these were such a treat to eat, even though they were only lightly sweetened.

Dark Sticky Gingerbread

This was okay, but not at all “sticky” as the recipe suggests. I don’t know if I did something wrong, or if I’m just so used to the dense, moist gingerbread my Mom has always made that this just fell so short of what I was expecting. As the gingerbread was actually a little on the dry side, I ended up breaking it up into bite sized pieces, poured some milk over all of it, and ate it with a spoon. It was actually quite good this way, so I had it for breakfast in this manner for several mornings. Here’s a picture of my gingerbread with milk. You can barely see the milk in the bottom of the bowl as the color of the milk was so close to being the same color as my bowl.

Gingerbread with Milk

Aside from enjoying these recipes from Mrs. Patten’s cookbook, I also made myself egg sandwiches and meat sandwiches. Along with those favorites, I had oatmeal quite regularly, bread and jam, lots of sautéed veggies, and salads. I was actually quite surprised at how small of an amount the meat actually was, which was why I preferred to have it in sandwich form whenever I could, as I enjoyed it the most that way.

The hardest thing about the first week of rationing was my automatic impulse to simply grab something to eat. I did not eat anything I wasn’t supposed to, but had to constantly remind myself that I couldn’t just grab any food I wanted to when I felt hungry; that was hard. By the end of the first week, I was well into the habit of following my food plan and that automatic reaction had subsided. As the second week rolled around, I found a new difficult arise that I had not thought about…FOOD EVERYWHERE!

As my hunger became a daily challenge, having food available to me but not being able to eat it was hard! As I did my grocery shopping, I realized a huge difference between the wartime homemaker and myself. The wartime homemaker did not have isles and isles of food available to her for the taking. She had what was rationed and what her points provided, and that was it. I began to feel that in that way I probably had a harder time. It seems as though it would have been easier for me if I was actually enduring real rationing without all that food surrounding me no matter where I was; if the food is not available, you can’t eat it. I had to constantly try to ignore the food that surrounded me and tell myself not to eat it. In my third week, I “cheated” a few time, and my fourth week went out the window. I just could not ignore the food I wanted to eat so badly anymore.

Aside from the initial hunger issues, I felt really good while doing this. I’m sure all those vegetables were a real boost to my health and general feeling of well-being. On the vain side of all of this, I did lose 9 lbs. Weight loss aside, I intend to continue eating a modified version of the ration diet because of how good I felt. Overall, it was an eye opener to experience forced food rationing. Your mind begins to think about food in quite a different way; how to use it, stretch it, be creative with the little you have, and what you’re willing to give up in order to save for a later use. I never thought I’d have to ask myself, “Well, do I want butter for my oatmeal, bread, or save it to make something at the end of the week?”, because you don’t have enough to do all of those things in one week. So, how many of you plan to try rationing, even if for a week?