Nomi's rationing experiment: part I

So, I've decided to try to ration the amount of food I eat and buy. To start with I want to see how well I cope with the Wartime Weekly Adult rations. The general consensus regarding the rations is as follows:

From http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=5504263&postcount=1

Meat –this was rationed in money not by weight but it was roughly equivalent to 2 lamb/pork chops or 12 oz mince/stewing steak or you could combine rations to buy a decent sized joint. Chicken was scarce. Offal and sausages were not rationed but hard to get. Wild game such as rabbit was not rationed.

Milk (whole only available)- 3 pints

Sugar- ½ lb

Butter – 2 oz

Margarine – 4 oz

Cooking fat (dripping/lard) – 3 oz 

Cheese (English hard cheese) – 3 oz

Bacon and ham -4 oz

Eggs -1

Dried egg -¼ packet (equivalent to 3 eggs)

Sweets and chocolate -2 oz

Jam- 3 oz

Tea -2 oz (18 teabags)

 There was a points system -16 per person per month –which allowed you to buy tinned goods, orange juice, cereals, rice and pulses.

Off ration were: bread (though not after the war), potatoes, oats, fresh fish, and homegrown fruit and veg.

Now, a couple of things can be easily removed from the list- given that I don't like them... and by that I mean, I don't drink tea- so tea is out. And I will quite happily trade Dried egg for... you know, actual egg. My initial idea was to stick to a wartime diet, seeing as it sustained a generation of people in a far healthier way than current diets... however, I am a very picky eater, and I have little self control, so I'm thinking baby steps. I will be using some wartime recipes as I find them, but I'll also have pasta and noodles and rice etc. I'm aware that I've become a rather sporadic blogger, and so I cannot guarantee I will post all the recipes/food I make/eat and such, but I will do my best to be bothered to keep y'all informed along the way. :) 

So, this whole thing isn't about losing weight or anything, but I am very aware I eat far more than my body uses and there is only so long I can keep on doing this and not gaining 200lbs. Also, this is in combination with a slightly elevated activity- exercise from skating and theatre and walking around london in general. Also, if all goes well it should hopefully have a positive effect on my wallet! If I focus on only buying a certain amount every week and making it last then I'm far less likely to throw away food I havent eaten. 

I'm not cutting out frozen food and junk- there's no point. I'm just going to limit the amount I eat- to cut it out entirely, I feel would be counter-productive because once I folded to one, and I know I would, I would be far likelier to give up the entire regime, and I want to see how long I can keep it up. As it stands, I have frozen sweetcorn and two half tubs of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream in the freezer- as this goes on, I hope to have a freezer containing leftover meals to be reheated and eaten at a later date. 

I know, I know, I sound a little wishy washy and half assed, but if I can learn to make lots of simple, healthy, inexpensive recipes that I can split into small portions then I think I have a chance of saving a good deal of money, food and my body will only be able to thank me  for being kind to it. 

Still, I'd like everyone's thoughts on the matter- so please let me know what you think by commenting below or sending me an @ on twitter.

edit: I will be officially starting this 'diet' of sorts at the same time as i start my next semester at University- the week starting 7th February.

Written Badly by Naomi Wong

For future ration blogs- see http://ration-nomi.blogspot.com/