Week One of following World War 2 Rations went surprisingly well although we did run out of rations early on. Learning about rations and how to cook hearty meals from set ingredients has been interesting and trying at times. Some days I was frustrated on what to cook within our rations, and until I decided what to cook, that meal was sometimes skipped, so Week Two will require a bit more planning.
You can read all about the ration system, Victory Gardens and more in Following World War 2 Rations for 1940s Days. Let’s get to how each day went this week!
“Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential.”
— Sir Winston Churchill
Day 9
Today, I pinned my hair up and placed a hairnet in. I like using the hairnet to keep my hair together without using a scrunchie. The hairnet works a lot better when the curls are “fresh” out the curlers rather than after a few days, but I still like using it.
Started the day with tea…we tried a new kind – “Wonders of Tea” Alice in Wonderland in French vanilla flavor. It was good but I like our “usual” tea better!
Breakfast was fruit and tea.
Lunch was salad, pickled beets, whole wheat bread and potato scramble – potatoes, onion, peppers and Spam.
This afternoon we had Earl Grey tea with cookies.
We sliced some of the potato candy that we had made a couple days ago. It’s very sweet, but quite good.
Supper was fresh bread, pasta & meatballs with spinach. It was so good! Though white flour was banned in 1940, I did decide to use up some white flour I had.
Day 10
Today I set my hair in curlers again so I’ll have curly hair for a few days!
Breakfast was oatmeal with raisins, cream and some strawberry sauce I made a few days ago. The raisins added a lot of sweetness to the oatmeal!! Tea today is Lady Grey.
Lunch was leftovers that I turned into a fried rice, spam and bread. I also made a jar of iced coffee.
Afternoon tea was also Lady Grey tea (my favorite!) with a cookie and some potato candy. I find the potato candy so sweet so not very much is eaten!
Supper was veggie pasta with halloumi and garlic bread. I realize this type of garlic bread is not ‘40s, but we needed to eat it up!
This evening I decided to do my nails…a little tricky with red, but it looks better in person. I’ll have to do another coat which will make it nicer too! I can’t decide if I just like the clear polish or the red!?!
Tomorrow we’ll divvy up the rations for the week which I’m looking forward to!
Day 11
It was such a relief to take those curlers out! Sleeping in them was more than uncomfortable!! It’s hilarious to see my hair when I take the rollers out, but once I comb the curls and style it, I always love the look I get from the foam rollers!
Breakfast this morning was fruit, tea and a piece of crust leftover from the loaf I baked the other day!
Mid-morning I had iced coffee with a bit of whipped cream and caramel drizzle. I didn’t think until a few hours later that the caramel in my coffee was probably not a ‘40s thing!
Lunch was yesterday’s leftovers.
Supper was pearl couscous with chicken seasoned with shawarma seasoning and roasted veggies (zucchini, onion, potato and bell pepper) dolloped with a lemon garlic dill yogurt dressing and fresh bread. I also had Lady Grey tea.
I measured out my girls’ and my rations this afternoon and I’m looking forward to cooking this week’s meals! Video of us measuring out our rations can be watched Here!!
Potato production increased during the 1940s and 5 pounds of potatoes were allotted per person per week. Potatoes are a great filler, energy-filled carbs, packed with vitamins and minerals and were also affordable. It was a crop that could be easily grown in Victory Gardens too.
Here’s this week’s rations for one person. I use these rations to feed my girls and myself as well as their meat and egg rations.
My daughter and I made another batch of Brownies from the 1940s because they’re simply heavenly!! Here’s the Recipe for Brownies from the 1940s! I had tea with the brownies for dessert this evening. They’re so good! It’s well worth the rations!
Day 12
I wore my skirt and a sweater. No brooch today. I pinned part of my hair up and left the rest curly.
Breakfast was leftover oatmeal, with milk & blueberries and Red Rose orange pekoe tea, which truth be told, I’m not a fan of.
Lunch was bread and potato soup from the Great Depression. It was actually quite delicious though it did need a bit more salt. I’d gladly eat this any day! It did use half of one person’s potato rations.
Supper was bulgur, chicken, onions & bell peppers with salsa since I didn’t have any fresh tomatoes and yogurt. I also used a bit of my cheese ration. And of course I had buttered bread with it. I was trying to make a quick meal because I was so hungry, but this meal just was not that good.
I was quite hungry today and everything was filling and delicious except supper!! Next time I’ll make chicken stew or chicken soup instead or try a different war ration recipe.
Day 13
I feel so different when I do my hair and throw on a little make up and dress somewhat ‘40s-inspired. It makes me think of that time era, how everyone was always put together and of my gramma, whom always wore skirts or dresses and did finger waves in her curly hair.
Today I pinned my hair and tossed it in a hairnet. I wore my favorite skirt, a blouse and cardigan. I’m wearing a flower brooch today. I’m wearing red lipstick since we finally purchased a couple different reds. I usually do not wear lipstick, maybe some lip gloss so this has been very different for me.
Breakfast was skipped.
Lunch was the rest of the potato soup, spam and bread.
Supper ended up changing on me, so I made baked beans, pan fried potatoes, sweet and sour chicken (modified for rations) and fresh whole wheat buns. It was delicious.
I’ve used up another egg from our rations, leaving us with one left. Almost all of the 5lbs of potatoes from one’s rations are gone. Otherwise, we still have quite a few rations remaining.
Day 14
Today, I pinned my hair up and left my slightly curly hair down. I wore a sweater and pants.
Breakfast was a bun with double cream and jam and cheese on the other half. We had tea as well.
Lunch was skipped. We ran errands, went to the butcher shop for a few items so lunch was missed.
Supper was yesterday’s leftovers.
Day 15
Today I wore a hairnet since my curls are all over the place!! That’s what happens when I brush out my curls set from rollers! I wore a skirt, blue shirt and cardigan. I wore a pretty flower brooch and ladybug earrings my girls made me for my birthday a few years ago. Super cute!
For breakfast I had tea and bread with double cream and jam. I didn’t finish it.
I spent a good part of my day cooking us a delicious meal, and of course doing all the endless dishes!!! I roasted a chicken, and made lazy cabbage rolls which used up our bacon rations, mashed potatoes which I ate with some cheese from my rations, yogurt and green onions and my girls put gravy on theirs. I have now used up one person’s potato rations and half of another this week. We also had natchinka, stuffing, and buttered bread. Our egg rations are gone as well.
I have been drinking this morning’s tea all day as iced tea. I added some fresh orange to it and it’s refreshing and delicious!!
We were stuffed, so supper was cream of wheat porridge and a glass of milk. I added homemade strawberry puree to my milk to make strawberry milk (which is absolutely delicious) and some brown sugar and plain milk to my porridge.
It was all so delicious!!
Day 16
My hair is definitely losing its curl and volume! I pinned it up and left the rest down. I wore a green blouse for St. Patrick’s Day!
I wasn’t feeling well this morning, so I did skip breakfast.
Lunch was leftovers. I just had a chicken sandwich which was delicious! My girls had chicken dinner leftovers.
Supper was beef roast with potatoes & carrots, gravy, corn and Irish Soda Bread.
Dessert was a St, Patrick’s Day Tea Party and not on rations!! We made the 1940s Brownies but made them with mint chocolate chips and minty frosting. We made vanilla custard, chocolate chip mini Bundt cakes, and I took barmbrack out of the freezer (though I don’t recommend freezing it), along with Dark Christmas Cake, Fruitcake Cookies from Day 11 and Lebkuchen from Day 12 of the 12 Days of Cookies that I had placed in the freezer back in December (we cooked just a few so they were fresh) — they were so delicious!!
I cleaned the kitchen again because it sure gets messy from all the cooking and baking! I also worked on some blog posts and chilled with my girls watching sewing and fabric shop tours on YouTube!! I’m looking forward to sewing again and watching these videos is getting me inspired to make a quilt of sorts. It seems all I have been doing lately is cooking! So doing something fun will be great! And that was my day and the end of week 2!
For our rations, we had a lot leftover! We have never consumed all of the tea, so we do have tea rations left as well as coffee rations. We have sugar rations and our sweets rations left. We all had milk left. We had just 5 lbs plus 4 potatoes left, my girls had their jam, but I didn’t. They had their cheese, but I didn’t. They had butter and margarine, but I didn’t. I often use my rations when I cook. We did have lard leftover. Our meat rations were gone as well as our egg rations and oranges. I didn’t want to run out of rations so quickly, so I was more careful this time and put a little more thought into what I was cooking. We all saved more of our rations this week compared to last week – we used them a bit more sparingly!
I am looking forward to Week Three since I have a little more experience on how to cook from rations now. It’s definitely tricky at first, but with a little planning, it is definitely doable!
enjoy from Our City Homestead to yours“If you don’t try, you’ll never know what you’re capable of.”
— Anonymous
