First, I got together my basic weekly rations, I am following the vegetarian rations with some tweaks as I am vegan. See the FAQs for more information.
Weekly Rations
4oz Violife Mature Cheddar Cheese
6oz Dairy Free Spread in lieu of 2oz Butter and 4oz Marg
2oz Oil in lieu of lard
1 litre of Milk
8oz Sugar
2oz Coffee in lieu of tea
2 Meat Free Sausages in lieu of one egg
4 slices of Vegan Ham in lieu of the other egg given to vegetarians
2oz Sweets
The weekly rations are supplemented with fresh foods that were not on ration, and mostly available in the shops or grown at home throughout the war years. For my fresh supplies I am making sure that I try my best to buy only in-season British grown foods as would have been available during the war years.
My Monthly Rations
1/2 lb Onions
An extra litre of milk in lieu of Dried Milk
4oz of Instant Coffee in lieu of Camp Coffee ... this made me ill the last time I tried it
Jam and all other preserves were rationed at 1lb per person for two months.
So, my one month's supply is 4oz of Jam and 4ozs of marmalade.
My First Months Points Shopping
For more information about the points system see
The Points System page at the top of the blog.
How my store-cupboard looked before I added the rations to it.
After a bit of research, I decided to leave in my cupboard those foodstuffs that would have been in daily use in the 1940's as most people did not start the ration years with completely empty cupboards.
As you can see it's mostly flavourings and custard!!
Also, anything that has been home-produced was allowed to stay so the various pickles and beetroot.
I also added back in my vitamins and Omega 3.
I am not allowed to use the large supply of homemade jams and marmalades ... except when allowed on the rations, but I have no other space to put them in.
So, my store-cupboard is looking quite healthy now and the forbidden jams etc are neatly hidden behind the Weetabix. 😀
Now I am starting to put together my menu for the whole month. I am using a few modern meals and a lot of the wartime recipes that I am finding in my books. There's just one more thing I would like to say, I first said it when I tried to start this Rationing Challenge back in 2020 but it is worth repeating.
Finally ...I really want to re-iterate here loud and clear that I am in no way making fun of or belittling the hardships that people went through during the Second World War. I am of a generation that has heard first hand experiences from both my parents and my grandmothers of what they went through during this time. I have nothing but pure admiration for each and every person that came through this dreadful period of our country's history in whatever way it happened for them.
This Challenge is dedicated to them and all that they have taught us.
Sue xx
It's a bit of a job to get my head around the points system but your photo of fresh veg looks lovely, everything looks so fresh and delicious.
ReplyDeleteTimes were certainly hard during the war years and things can only get tougher here now, so your challenge is particularly relevant. Brilliant!
It does take some thinking about, but the basics are easy once you get your head around it. A set of points per person and foods had points values. You could spend your points at any time in the month they were issued, and families points were all combined. So, two of you with 20 points each would have 40 to spend on anything available in the grocers at that time to top up your weekly rations. Of course, you did have to pay with cash too.
DeleteI'm looking forward to following your journey, Sue. And I just want to say thank you for the books you showed the other day....I ordered them straight away. The blue one 'Food Facts for the Kitchen Front' I found particularly interesting and helpful, it has some wonderfully simple but imaginative recipes for a new vegetarian like myself.
ReplyDeleteI think if I only had one book to cook from for this Challenge it would be the Food Facts book, it is full of good recipes and very useful information. I found the breakdown of the vitamins needed each day and the amount of the required foods that you need to eat to provide them, particularly helpful for me.
DeleteI can't imagine anyone thinking you are belittling the hardships of the war years, actually I see it more of a mark of respect, the fact that people nowadays waste so much food is an insult to the memory of those times and we could all benefit in many ways from being more careful with and respectful of the food we have access to. Good luck ,you certainly know what you are doing and as I said before I look forward to pinching some of your ideas :)
ReplyDeleteNobody has up to now, but I have learnt over my years of blogging to anticipate the occasional remark that is very negative. I usually catch and delete the absolute twizzoks.
DeleteGood luck to you Sue in your challenge. My mum and Dad used to talk about rationing and there wedding cake in 1945 was tiny i side a splendid cardboard cake that the photographer used for all the brides. Catriona
ReplyDeleteThank you. I have seen photos of the cardboard wedding and celebration cakes, what an ingenious idea.
DeleteI've been working hard on bringing the cupboards down to a more manageable level of stock over this past month both by eating through things and giving away on Olio. It was nice to have the space to put all my rations on their own shelf and still not having the other shelves looking cramped.
ReplyDeleteHuge admiration Sue, for all the research and planning you are doing, and for even contemplating the challenge in the first place. With a few tweaks I would love to try this but as I also have to cater for another - who will not even consider such a project - I know I don't have the brain power or bandwidth to run two completely different menus.
ReplyDeleteAs for the "twizzoks" - there's always one who takes umbrage either because they don't properly read what you are describing, or just looking to be confrontational. It is obvious to any of us who know you that you have nothing but respect for the women who had to go through this for years, whether they wanted to or not.
Alan really enjoyed doing a Wartime Rationing Challenge when we did it together a couple of years ago. I think it was the Spam Fritters that swung it for him, he loved them.
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