The Weekly Rations
All this weeks food rations were weighed out last night ready for a new Monday start. It felt all wrong running from Friday to Friday just because the first of January was a Friday, so now I have switched to Monday to Monday.
You will notice one glaring thing wrong with this photo and it's a roll of modern ready rolled Puff Pastry. To use this up I decided that this week I would forfeit the rest of my fat ration, so no 2oz of oil or 2oz vegan suet (or similar) just my 4oz of spread in the butter dish and the pastry will be considered as having taken the rest of my fats along side 8oz of unrationed flour.
If things need using up I will be using them instead of wasting them and this sort of compromise will no doubt happen for quite a few weeks as I shop from home and use things up.
Off the Ration
My not on the ration shopping this week up to now has included bread, potatoes and a round lettuce.
Not my usual sort of lettuce at all as I am an Iceberg fan through and through, I just love the crunch it gives to a salad or a sandwich, but they come from Spain at this time of the year ... a big no-no for me during rationing ... and round lettuces are grown in the UK all year round. I need to go to the shops late at night when it's quieter and I can have a slower, better look at all labels to see what else is grown in the UK all year round these days as these items will all fit into my modern rationing plan.
I still have half of last weeks cabbage, most of the leek and all but one of the carrots. I do need to do so much better at piling my plate up with vegetables.
Sanity Saver
My sanity saver this week is a carton of ready made custard. It was at the back of the fridge and it's date was up at the start of December ... it should be fine and will be used on an apple pastry that I intend to make later. Hot apple pastry and cold custard ... yummy 😋
My next job today after another coffee and a spot of blog hopping is to make up this weeks menu plan and take a photo of it for you to peruse.
Sue xx
Out-of-season/high mileage produce is the bane of my life...lol. I don't ever want to be buying it but, sadly, unless I want us to have scurvy by spring, I do have to make concessions. It doesn't help that our labeling laws here in Canada are a bit misleading....produce can come from elsewhere, but if it gets put in a bag in Canada, it can be labeled Product of Canada. Exasperating. I'm dribbling a bit over that oatly custard....xo
ReplyDeleteOh gosh you definintely don't want to risk scurvy ... sadly something that has re-occurred here in the UK in recent times thanks to kids being fed junk food and not being encouraged to learn to love fruit and veg. Here in the UK products are labelled for where they are packaged and where they are produced usually so I have been reading labels carefully.
DeleteMost of the food in your photo I could eat in one day I am a comfort eater and as stress levels are through the roof at the moment like so many people's are , it wouldn't take me long. Having a retired husband at home all the time has interfered with my " must eat or hit something routine " so I have to smuggle thing past him ,down trouser legs , in pockets, tucked in between clean laundry to take to the airing cupboard, all places he wouldn't look, ( especially down my trouser leg ! ) , this can fail if he finds crumbs in his socks !!! Do you ever get a longing or craving and if so how do you cope you are a lot stronger than me I bet :)
ReplyDeleteOh Chrissie, what a picture you paint there! You have brightened MY day up at least, thank you ;) I find that I feel so on edge some days that I don't want to eat at all. What a pair we are...lol...
DeleteAbsolutely brilliant Chrissie, you had me in stitches!! I too have been known to smuggle a tasty 'last biscuit' or some such out of the room in the past so Alan can't get his thieving hands on it ... never down my trouser leg though I hasten to add :-)
DeleteDon't forget with the rations I also have lots of foods that were never rationed, so lots of potatoes, carrots and other veggies and at the moment I do have the advantage of having the things that were in my cupboard to use up. I do have one pack of shortbread biscuits that I will be buying with next months points, slightly larger than would have been available at ANY time during the war but something I will be treating myself to for my 'pack of biscuits = 2 Points' ... if of course they last that long ;-)
PP. I know what you mean, I literally have days when I want to eat everything in sight and then days when I don't want to eat at all. There's so much strangeness in the world at the moment ... a bit like the war years I guess.
DeleteNow I would have cold apple pasty and hot custard!
ReplyDeleteYes, it would work that way too, but this particular custard is creamier and nicer cold, so it will have to be hot pasty and cold custard this time round.
DeleteMe too for cold apple pasty and hot custard please!
ReplyDeleteIt just has to be a mix of the two doesn't it, I think cold crumble is gorgeous with piping hot custard. I hated it at school dinners that it was hot pie and hot custard ... that had always gotten to just lukewarm while I was eating my first course.
DeleteI am the exact opposite of you Sue - Iceberg lettuce is the last one I would choose - it's just water to me and rather tasteless compared to so many others. I actually really enjoy Kale, Romaine and something they call Spring Mix here - which is a nice variety of greens. I also frequently buy a bag of mixed Kale or broccoli with cabbage and shredded brussels sprouts - lovely crunch - but that would probably conflict with your "buy local" criteria. It is certainly challenging to follow those strict rules.
ReplyDeleteLast night "84 Charing Cross Road" was the late film and I always love the parts where the bookstore employees open and share out the gift boxes of food that the American customer sends them during and just after the war - and how so much of the contents came from Denmark - something I didn't know - so interesting.
I am feeling very, very lucky at the moment as I look at all the wonderful (and colourful) fruit & veg that I have on hand to eat over the next couple of weeks.
Ooh, no 'buy local' and in-season would include all of the greens you mention. I have all of those growing in my polytunnel at the moment. I love kale, but usually in a smoothie or pasta dish so I will continue to use it that way during the Challenge. I will try not to buy things in bags where possible but obviously some leaves do need to be delivered to stores ready packaged as they do wilt surprisingly quickly, even if they haven't travelled far.
DeleteThe fruit and veg aisles in the supermarkets do look magnificent don't they and can be very tempting, but up to now I am actually enjoying having more limited and seasonal choice.
I'm sure I used to have 84 Charing Cross Road on disc but I can't find it anywhere, I'll have a look on Netflix and see if it is available there, it sounds good.
Oh apple pie hot or cold, yum. My favourite though is apple crumble. You mentioned Bettys Wartime diary, I think she was a most interesting lady and didn't seem to let things get her down. Looking forward to this week's menu and learning some of your tips for no waste.
ReplyDeleteOh yes ... apple crumble over pie any day :-)
DeleteYes, I am really enjoying reading Betty's Wartime Diary, she is a real optimist and says it like it is, and she seems such a busy person. Helping out in the pub, cooking and cleaning and waiting on sometimes at the large house, baking for the local shop and generally rallying to help everyone that needs it. I'm up to the part where she has just been given a little pup called Monty, a brilliant wartime name if ever there was one.
Living in Canada, nothing is really grown here year round unless it is in a heated greenhouse. Then the price is sky high.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing your menu.
God bless.
Do lots of people do home preserving themselves when produce is available, or is it literally always grown under glass? We do have lots of heated greenhouses here in the UK these days and as this is a year of modern rationing I will allow myself to buy some produce if it is produced in the UK as some of these greenhouses are literally only a few miles away. AND they grow tomatoes!!
DeleteI haven't had apple pie and custard for years. It sounds so good. Mmmmmmm
ReplyDeletexx
I think custard is going to be a mainstay for me this year as cream wasn't allowed during the war years. Although I do have two tubs that need using up this month so I will have to have them as my Sanity Saver I guess to bring them into play.
DeleteAck! Cream is one of my compromise items (nice way of saying a cheat) because I “need” it for my coffee. I swapped a pint of my milk ration for a pint of cream.
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