I enjoy learning about history, especially food history. The 1940’s was quite a challenging time from coming out of the Great Depression and into World War 2, people dealt with food insecurities and going from little to no food, to foods then being rationed. It was a trying time. I read and researched wartime rations and I have learned a lot. Rations were enabled so everyone had the right to a fair amount of food.
Read all about Following World War 2 Rations and the amounts of rations we measured and followed.
White flour was banned during wartime because it was thought that white flour wasted too much of the grain, and whole wheat provided more nutrients. So, we made this Whole Wheat Bread from The Great Depression all throughout the month. It’s a good, hearty and delicious whole wheat. After a week, my girls actually enjoyed the whole wheat more than regular homemade white bread! I think that’s great!
At first, avoiding sugar was not easy. We ate most of our sweets rations early in the first week, and really wanted something sweet. So we tried these Brownies from the 1940s which turned out great and they hit the spot without being overly sweet.
We had a bunch of mashed potatoes, so we decided to give this Potato Candy from The Great Depression a try. It was definitely sweet and not the easiest to make, but it’s a candy the whole family can make and have fun doing so!
Ground meat was used a lot in the 1940s because a little ground meat could easily be stretched out to make a meal for the whole family! That’s how meatloaves were first introduced. My gramma often made hamburger gravy when we visited. It was a simple but hearty meal that fed many hungry bellies. So I made Pork Sausage Gravy since I had ground pork to use up and it was delicious! A meal I’ll definitely make again.
Week One of Following Wartime Rations shares what we wore, what we ate as well as prepping the week’s rations. Measuring rations became something I looked forward to.
Five pounds of potatoes were allotted per person per week. Potatoes were considered an important carbohydrate since it’s a high-energy food source, nutritious because of the vitamins and minerals and because they were readily available since they didn’t need to be imported. Potatoes were encouraged to be eaten in place of wheat. Sounds good to me — my family loves potatoes! This Potato Soup from The Great Depression is a deliciously hearty potato soup that filled us up!
Week Two of our 1940s Days recaps the week. I share what we ate, and more, including prepping the week’s rations.
Mock Goose was a wartime recipe we tried and one that was actually quite good. It uses no meat – just lentils, stale bread, onions, water or broth and seasonings. It’s a filling meatless meal and one I’ll definitely make again. Meatless days were encouraged since meat was not always readily available.
And what goes better with mock goose than Potato “Scones” from the 1940s!! These “scones” are not traditional scones and much more like potato farl or potato pancakes. They’re easy to prepare and a good way to use leftover mashed potatoes. So good!
Some weeks we had a lot of bread to eat up, and there’s a plethora of meals to be made so bread would not go to waste. Food simply was not wasted during wartime – “stretch what you have and waste nothing” was a popular adage. These Bread Pancakes are delicious and one of our favorite meals using stale bread!
Most mornings we had toast and jam for breakfast but I was craving muffins! These Bran Muffins from the 1940s are great with butter or jam and easily fits into rations.
Spam was not rationed during wartime. Soldiers and civilians alike enjoyed this canned meat which was used in an array of recipes like these Spam Fritters. We really enjoyed having Spam this way.
Welsh Rarebit was a way to use up stale bread and was thought to be a peasant dish. Cheese sauce atop toast is a simply yet delicious meal.
Week Three of 1940s Days recaps the week. I share what we ate, what we wore, how our rations went and of course prepping the week’s rations.
Mock Apple Pie is a yummy dessert we enjoyed. It took three weeks to save up enough sugar to make it and though we made a few errors, it was still delicious and a pie we liked having for dessert for a few days. Who would know this yummy pie had no apples!?!
Cabbage & Mince Scramble is a recipe that comes from a wartime leaflet that was to help home cooks better cook with their rations. It was a familiar meal and we gobbled it up!!
We had more stale bread, so what a better way to eat it than having a Bread Omelet from the 1940s for breakfast. I saved our bacon rations to have with it along with dried eggs which I reconstituted and scrambled them. It was a great wartime meal.
I heard a lot about water pie, but what about milk pie!?! I made Poor Man’s Pie also known as milk pie in which you make a tasty vanilla custard, pour it into a pie crust and bake it in the oven. It was delicious! A little sweet, but very good!
And that brings us to Week Four of 1940s Days and an end to our 1940s Days. It was tough at first but as time went on, it was easier to follow wartime rations. It made me think about what I was cooking, what rations I was using (I never noticed just how much sugar we were actually consuming) and we focused more on good old fashioned cooking. All the meals we had were really good. I am actually looking forward to extending our 1940s Days next week after a few “fun” days we have planned.
I hope you enjoyed 1940s Days as much as we did. I have so many more recipes that I want to try, so stay tuned for 1940s Days – Extended!
Have you tried any of these meals? I’d love to know how they turned out for you. Which were your favorites?
enjoy from Our City Homestead to yours