Anyone else interested in trying out ration dieting?

[VintageLincoln]

There's a lady on Facebook who is following the ration diet, she eats about 5oz of meat per week. Take a look at her page, it's quite interesting. Lots of recipe ideas https://www.facebook.com/rationbookchallenge2015/?fref=ts

Thanks for that. I'll look it up!

 

[RedDoll46]

I`m just getting going on the ration diet. Has anyone been able to stick to it for more than a year?
The difference between the availability of food in the US and Canada vs the UK was obviously immense. Things like salmon, lobster and apples were available in obscene surplusses. On top of that Canada's Prime Minister of the time was a T-Totaller and put beer an spirits on the ration in the name of war productivity. I think I might use the UK system for my diet.

Most of the ration experiments that I have seen are mostly the British/UK version. I want to research the US version of the rationing to see what that would be like.

For the record - I'm not disparaging the UK experiments. That rationing was strict.

 

[TimeWarpWife]

Here are the weekly rations for an adult in Great Britain. As an emotional eater, I could probably eat close to this much on a really bad day. I read somewhere that the average British woman wore the equivalent of today's size 4 clothing and size 3 1/2 shoes. I couldn't get the big toe of one of my size 9 1/2's into a size 3 1/2. I also read that many of the clothes from this era are too small to fit most of our, shall we say, better nourished bodies. I've seen some lovely vintage dresses on Ebay and Etsy, but in sizes x-small and small, if I didn't eat anything for the rest of my life I still couldn't fit into something that small.

 

[lolly_loisides]

Here's a link to a vegetarian wartime cookbook (published 1942). I've tried a few of the vegetable stew recipes & the bran biscuits (which were excellent).
From the introduction, "Correct diet is like the key to a garden; it is essential as a means of entering the garden, but it is not an end in itself. It opens the door to a fuller life, and, rightly used, will build better bodies, with greater abilities to live in, and create, the better world we hope to build out of the present chaos."

 

[LolitaHaze]

Has anyone found themselves utilizing rationing techniques learned from the Golden Era to help make their way through this worldwide pandemic?

 

[belfastboy]

Has anyone found themselves utilizing rationing techniques learned from the Golden Era to help make their way through this worldwide pandemic?

We are in the process of converting to Orthodox Christianity and decided to keep a true Orthodox vegan Lent.

It just happened to coincide with the pandemic. We have uncovered the joys of eggless/dairy baking. Making cashew butter and even last night making our own vegan patties and did our own version of a 'Beyond Meat' burger. Discovered I CAN make tofu that has flavour! We will return to being omnivors when our Lent concludes next Sunday. But I can say that when I read yesterday that some meat packing plants/abattoirs are shutting down and shortages of meat product is anticipated my first thought was "meh,". The past 46 days have been great fun and has gotten us out of a well practiced routine so doing another 46 days would be a piece of cake....(eggless and butterless cake of course!)

 

[LolitaHaze]

We are in the process of converting to Orthodox Christianity and decided to keep a true Orthodox vegan Lent.

It just happened to coincide with the pandemic. We have uncovered the joys of eggless/dairy baking. Making cashew butter and even last night making our own vegan patties and did our own version of a 'Beyond Meat' burger. Discovered I CAN make tofu that has flavour! We will return to being omnivors when our Lent concludes next Sunday. But I can say that when I read yesterday that some meat packing plants/abattoirs are shutting down and shortages of meat product is anticipated my first thought was "meh,". The past 46 days have been great fun and has gotten us out of a well practiced routine so doing another 46 days would be a piece of cake....(eggless and butterless cake of course!)

Are you finding the process of having to make alternate choices to be more cost effective as well, or are the vegan options a little more costly?

 

[belfastboy]

Are you finding the process of having to make alternate choices to be more cost effective as well, or are the vegan options a little more costly?

I think it is about a draw. I thought initially we would save money not buying alcohol, meat, cheese and dairy. But with the pandemic threat I stocked up on some items so it is difficult to compare straight expenditures as we can't account for the extra in the pantry. Also we treated ourselves by buying gelato from our local small shop in order to support him. So instead of a monthly treat we now have gelato in the freezer all the time. It is our pandemic guilty pleasure!!! But having said all that I think we are about the same or a little less cost with the vegan. We stay away from the heavily processed 'vegan' food and we make as much as we can from scratch. Beans and legumes are cheap and I think our veggies even though imported from California are still reasonable.

 

[LolitaHaze]

I think it is about a draw. I thought initially we would save money not buying alcohol, meat, cheese and dairy. But with the pandemic threat I stocked up on some items so it is difficult to compare straight expenditures as we can't account for the extra in the pantry. Also we treated ourselves by buying gelato from our local small shop in order to support him. So instead of a monthly treat we now have gelato in the freezer all the time. It is our pandemic guilty pleasure!!! But having said all that I think we are about the same or a little less cost with the vegan. We stay away from the heavily processed 'vegan' food and we make as much as we can from scratch. Beans and legumes are cheap and I think our veggies even though imported from California are still reasonable.

I don't know anything about lent -- so once it's over and you go back to more options do you think you will find yourself self rationing? Or planting a victory garden since you like vegetables? I want to grow a garden, but I don't have a yard, nor do I like vegetables.

 

[belfastboy]

I don't know anything about lent -- so once it's over and you go back to more options do you think you will find yourself self rationing? Or planting a victory garden since you like vegetables? I want to grow a garden, but I don't have a yard, nor do I like vegetables.

I have ordered some seeds to plant a small garden - 10'x12'. We live in a townhouse so no back yard but a little patch of dirt out back that we can use. Mostly as we can't travel it will give us something to occupy our time.
Not a planned rationing but we really apply ourselves to make certain we don't waste/throw out any edible food. We prefer to live simply and eat simply. My wife loves to cook and bake. I love to cook. So we work hard at making as much as we can from scratch, we eat out seldom as we prefer our own food....our treat is sushi as that is the one cuisine we have avoided learning to make....we want a cuisine that we can't replicate otherwise we will never venture out to a restaurant. In our area that have not been any shortages other than the odd episodic short term shortage. But it seems to be back to a normal now in terms of supply.

 

[LolitaHaze]

I have ordered some seeds to plant a small garden - 10'x12'. We live in a townhouse so no back yard but a little patch of dirt out back that we can use. Mostly as we can't travel it will give us something to occupy our time.
Not a planned rationing but we really apply ourselves to make certain we don't waste/throw out any edible food. We prefer to live simply and eat simply. My wife loves to cook and bake. I love to cook. So we work hard at making as much as we can from scratch, we eat out seldom as we prefer our own food....our treat is sushi as that is the one cuisine we have avoided learning to make....we want a cuisine that we can't replicate otherwise we will never venture out to a restaurant. In our area that have not been any shortages other than the odd episodic short term shortage. But it seems to be back to a normal now in terms of supply.

I love that you two have this similar interest to share and expand upon. I am bored out of my wits end!

 

[The1940sHousewife]

I've heard about it and would really love to. Probably after I give birth I will try it out.

 

[Wolverine]

I honestly think that your efforts are cool and are to be congratulated, so many these days due to fast foods and all the rest are looking to lose weight, and good for you (home cooking? who has time these days for a real, nutritional meal, I hear you), but much of the problem is also with the ingredients, too (our food may be cheaper these days, we sure do subsidize it, same time, grown/raised in such a way that it's far less nutritious--and there is the problem, a shame).

I myself am and remain athletic, but my spouse on the other hand who, back in the day, used to be athletic isn't so much anymore, and in the same boat as most Americans, i.e., wanting to lose weight, feel better, and this sounds interesting to me -- thanks, and subscribed!

 

[Helena Grace]

Hello all! I am looking to trying a ration diet. I have always wanted to, but either never had the money or lived with my parents XD. But I need to eat better and I can't imagine a better way than indulging my love of the Forties