Os Daily Tues 19th June 2007

Penny-Pincher!!

thriftlady wrote: »

:hello: Good morning everyone,
I haven't posted on this thread for ages- sometimes feel it's difficult to keep up with what everyone's doing.

I'm trying a little experiment this week which I might carry on with if it goes well -I'm feeding my family on wartime rations. I'm probably not doing it at all accurately but we're having a bash.
For 2 adults and 3 children we're allowed:
16½ pints of milk -we have whole, unhomogenised milk to be more authentic and 'cos I like my food to be as unmucked about with as possible;)
15 oz cheese -English cheese of course
30 oz butter- OK, I'm cheating here it would have actually been 10 oz butter and 20 oz marge but I don't allow marge in the house I figured that since the calories of butter and marge were the same we'd go for the more natural wholesome option.
15 oz-cooking fat -I'm using a mixture of lard/dripping and oil.
20 oz-ham or/and bacon
2½ lbs sugar -don't think we'll use all this
4 eggs + the equivalent of 12 eggs in dried egg powder-because dd is allergic to eggs we're not taking her ration;) I'm also not using dried egg as there seems little point seeing as it isn't cheaper than fresh. We won't use all of our eggs as we can't use them in dishes for all of us because of dd
approx 10 oz sweets/chocolate -this was 12 oz per person per month and is a lot more than me and OH eat and way more than the kids are allowed, but I may buy it in chocolate form.
approx 3½lbs meat-we'll manage this no problem.
I'm only buying home produced and local food as far as possible -although we are having imported apples at the moment as the kids can't manage without their apples. And we are having frozen British peas. So cheating quite a bit really:o

Yesterday we had leftover roast pork in gravy with fried mashed potatoes (to incorporate some leftovers) and veg. Raspberries and top of the milk for pud.

Today the kids are having porridge and toast (and orange juice -probably more than was available at the time)

Their lunch is cheese and carrot sandwiches, carrot cookies and strawberries.

Supper tonight will be the remains of the roast pork either as a hash with potatoes and veg or as rissoles with salad. I think I'll make a Duke Pudding for the kids (breadcrumbs and carrots with dried fruit -surprisingly good)

Obviously I'm not including alcohol in this experiment - well, that would be obsessive wouldn't it ?:rotfl: I'm also not giving up coffee or rationing the tea. I'm doing it out of fascination for the period and a hope that the reduction in fat and in the full-on flavours and sheer variety and ease of contemporary food will help me lose weight.

Anyway you could do a daily diary on a seperate post ...I think alot of us would be very interested in how you manage and what ways you stretch food. BTW, what period does that food cover...a month or week?

Pretty please:D

PP
xx

charlies_mum

Morning all :wave:

Late this morning, I usually make the first page, but had a little lie-in

Lovely and sunny today, so will put the wm on after breakfast. I have been given half a dozen free range eggs, so breakfast is boiled egg. Not sure about lunch yet, and DH is in on a course, so nothing with garlic for dinner

Hugs :grouphug: to Penny Pincher, hope you feel better soon.

Off to Lidl later as they have childrens thermometers for £2.49, and then want to check a set of Royal Doulton pans in Netto.

Hope everyone has a good day x

anniebooklover

Good morning everyone,

I'm another one who had a terrible nights sleep. Don't understand why as I exercised yesterday, did lots of physical work and had a long Governors' meeting last night. Was exhausted when I went to bed and still couldn't sleep. Oh well, I can try again tonight.

Pen-Pen congratulations on the hatchlings
dlb hope all goes well with the funeral today. These things are never easy.
scuzz definitely sounds as though you need a new job. Life is too short to spend so much of it in a workplace that you hate.
LowRob hello and welcome. Don't worry about the mess too much - there are plenty of us on here at the moment who are in the same boat.
Pen-Pin OUCH!! that abcess sounds so painful. Hope the dentist can work miracles for you tomorrow.
((((hugs)))) to all those who need/want one. You know who you are.

Off to school in a while as I really need to look at the PTA books and get them up to date. Only five more weeks....... :j After that, I seriously need to get a grip on my kitchen. It looks like the proverbial bombsite.

Time for tea. Have a tremendous Tuesday. xx

Miss_Cinnabon

Thriftlady - i would be interested too in how u get on, sounds a great idea, let us know how u get on, i also just use butter, cant stand the taste of marg and at least we know what is in butter!:D

Susie

thriftlady_2

Penny-Pincher!! wrote: »

Anyway you could do a daily diary on a seperate post ...I think alot of us would be very interested in how you manage and what ways you stretch food. BTW, what period does that food cover...a month or week?

Pretty please:D

PP
xx

I'll do that PP but bear in mind that it isn't going to be very authentic, but I'll do my best.

I'm not sure about the timescale -as long as I can stand it

Edit: sorry in answer to your question the rations I've listed are for one week. Children had extra milk (even more if they were under 5). Meat was rationed by cost rather than weight enabling you to buy more cheap meat or less expensive meat. As a general rule though it was equivalent to 12 oz of mince/stewing meat. you could of course pool the family's ration and buy one joint.

tranquil_2

Morning all,

Thrift lady I'd also be interested in how you get on. War time rations sound both money saving and healthier!

We're having a quiet morning in. Going to try and make HM chicken nuggets with my girls, idea being that if they make them they might eat them! Found the recipe on an old thread here last night. Will let you know how got on.

Hugs to all who need them x

Churchmouse

That sounds really interesting thriftlady!

Funny really, you look at the amounts and some seem very large, even for 5 people, but I suppose the "distribution" was different I'm thinking 30oz of butter is way more than I would buy for a week. But then I'm thinking butter for spreading, if you take into account baking etc then I suppose it's not so much.

But then the milk ration would be much too tiny for us! I'd really struggle at that.

It would be great to have a daily update from you, how it's going.

Agree absolutely, alcohol is not a suitable subject for a rationing experiment:rotfl:

Been pipped by loads of other posters! Well I do type slowly and the 'phone went during that.

catznine

:hello: Good morning!

How lovely to wake up switch on the puter and find those cute piccies of penpens chicks! Lovely start to the day!

Thriftlady - I too would love to read a diary on how you get on with the rations. My Grandmother had to feed 5 daughters on rations during the war and it was always a challenge for her. Grandad had an allotment and kept chickens so that helped but often the allowed rations just weren't available. In their case the tiny village they lived in was inundated with refugees from the blitz in nearby london (they lived close to the plotlands area) and rations had been worked out on the population before the outbreak of war and were never changed My aunties remember that they didn't always get their sweetie rations as a result!:rolleyes: They do remember a lot of baking going on though particularily rock cakes! good luck!

Today I fully intend to sort out my craft room and get organised! :rotfl: I know I have said it before and i always get distracted by all the magazines and books in there. Wish me luck! Now where are those distress flares?

Have a lovely day!

Catz x

tired_mum

morning all
hope we are all well this morning i didnt sleep well due to OH snoring in my ear all night:mad:
DW and WM are on i need to post a letter and go to Argos to collect some furniture for DSs room which we are going to tackle at the weekend also waiting in for oh camera to be delivered so dont know how i can manage to be in 2 places at once scouts tonite so spag bol for us
thriftlady that sounds great i am sure they did this on the telly and all the families who took part lost quite a bit of weight
Pen-Pen congratulations on the new arrivals
Pen-Pin hope you feel a bit better today
DLB hope all goes well for you today
Aussie Bon Voyage as you start your trip home
Welcome LowRob
hugs to all who need them have a good day

Pooky

Morning all

Still in my hotel room, we've just been down for breakfast which was lovely - nice not to have to clear up after a full English - won't need to eat for the rest of the day I don't think.

Had a nice meal last night, there was a special offer of all starters and pudds at £1.50 if ordered before 6pm so we made sure our order was in early - they tried to charge us full price at the end of the meal but I pointed out their mistake and they sorted it out - I just wonder how many people they manage to overcharge on that sort of thing.

Need to go to Mr T's on the way home and get a few bits for lunch boxes for the rest of the week, shouldn't be more than £10 which is great as I blew a bit of the shopping budget on going to the cinema last night.

Hope you all have a great day.