Blitz Babe's 'Ration Diet'

July 1st - 31st
In hindsight it probably was an odd thing to do since I'm such a cake enthusiast, but I decided to go on a ration-diet for charity. My month-long WWII sponsored ration diet was an idea I had some months ago, and specifically planned to do in July as it's the last full month before VJ Day in August. I prepared myself by buying a book and researching on the internet, as well as going to The Imperial War Museum and chatting to the old dears in the nursing home. Since I'm doing it to raise money for 'Care For Casualities' I guess I can't really just 'cave' and break the promise :)



http://www.careforcasualties.org.uk/

To prove I've been on this 'diet' I'm going to take some measurements now (36-27-34) because I can guarantee that at the end of this I will have lost a bit of weight. You see, despite what may seem like copious amounts of beef dripping and golden syrup, the recipes from this era just contained a hell of a lot of veg and no processed food. It's generally accepted that people's health during WWII was the best this country had ever really seen so I'm not concerned about my health - just about the fact that I can't really have wine!

To see what the rations actually were, take a look at this link: http://www.memorylanehf.oddquine.co.uk/food.htm

The below photo shows pretty much what I'll eat in a week, along with bread and some veg and thankfully 3 pints of milk:

I'm making mine realistic by sticking to fruit & veg which is in season in England in July because during that time I would theoretically be growing my own. There's a really good page for this info called eatseasonably.co.uk. and information from that ensures that I have no excuse to try and sneak a cheeky pineapple or something! In a similar vein I can have the odd bit of pickle or chutney but it would have to be something that was in season June/July and I had supposedly preserved myself.
So there you have it. I'm very interested to see what this feels like after a month, and it's useful as an aid to remembering how brave people were back then and how we don't experience the same kind of deprivation nowadays. If you want to support the cause, please donate to my Just Giving site:

http://www.justgiving.com/blitzbabe

And do keep checking back to see how I'm getting on! I'll post the odd recipe and wartime beauty tip on here to coincide with the ration fast. Until next time... xox