Rationing Challenge - Day 2

With sugar and jams rationed, people had to find other ways of sweetening their food. The use of honey as a sweetener increased during the war, as it wasn't rationed. Beekeepers were given extra sugar rations, officially to use to feed the bees, but coincidentally, the number of beekeepers in the UK increased! Bees are also important for pollination, which was of a greater necessity with all the extra crop growing going on. Today we've used honey instead of some of our jam and sugar.

Breakfast 

Porridge with jam/honey

Cup of tea for me; milk for the girls

Mid-Morning

The girls shared an apple; I had another cup of tea. 

               

We did some more baking today - honey biscuits, which are quite delicious. 

Lunch

Marmite, cheese and spinach sandwiches; 2 flat peaches between us; a honey biscuit each. 

Milk for the girls; tea for me. 

Dinner

Mince & gravy; baked potatoes; radishes roasted with a little lard; leftover broccoli and cheese & vegetable bake from yesterday. Followed by a piece of shortbread each. 

Milk for the girls; tea for the Hubby and me. 

The girls really enjoyed dinner, which is a far greater vote of confidence than an adult opinion. But I can tell you, it really did taste good. 

Mince & Gravy 

- made enough for at least 3 meals, each serving 2 adults and 2 under 5s with healthy appetites. 

1 tsp lard

500g (17.63oz) beef mince

Dried onion

4 large mushrooms 

Thyme

3 carrots

1/3 swede

1/3 cup oats

M's marmitey crusts and crumbs left from slicing the bread

A splash of Worcestershire Sauce

Stock cube

Mug of cold tea

Gravy powder (eg.Bisto) 

Brown the mince in the lard. 

Add the dried onion and the mushrooms, chopped as small as you like. Season. 

Cover and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Add the thyme, carrots and swede, and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. 

Add oats, leftover bread bits, Worcestershire sauce, stock cube, tea and enough water to cover (a mug and a half for me).

Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to as low as possible, cover and cook for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally.

The oats will make the sauce thicken up. 

About 10 minutes before you want to eat, mix the gravy powder with cold water and add to the pan, stirring constantly. 

Boil, stirring, until it reaches the consistency you want. 

This would be perfect in a slow cooker - just use less liquid. 

Supper

1.2oz of our sweets ration; honey biscuit: 1/4 pint milk each. 

In all, a far more successful day today. I didn't feel starving like yesterday, and dinner was a great deal more tasty. However, we had a disaster at lunch, when B knocked over half her milk. I can't believe the panic that rose in me, when I realised that we couldn't just replace that. I had to remind myself not to cry over it, and then I was thankful that we are doing this by choice and not out of necessity. Nevertheless, I decided that I will forgo that milk in order for B to get her full ration - something that mothers did frequently during the war: going hungry so that their children could eat. I am in awe of those women, who worked so hard with so few ingredients to keep their families going strong. A truly remarkable generation!

Remaining Rations 

Sugar - 2lb 30oz 28.8oz

Margarine - 1lb 12oz 9.5oz

Bacon/Ham - 12oz 11.75oz

Cheese - 11oz 9oz 7.05oz

Lard - 6oz 4.8oz
Vegetable suet - 2oz

Tea - 4oz 3.9oz 3oz

Meat - 24oz 7oz

Butter - 8oz 7.5oz 7.25oz

Milk - 20pints 18.25pints 16pints

Sweets/Chocolate - 12oz 11.8oz 10.6oz

Marmalade - 1lb 14.5oz

Jam - 8oz 6.95oz 6.7oz

Eggs - 8