The Foods I Already Had In

 

Of course at the start of rationing people had all sorts of food already available in their pantries, larders and cupboards, some wouldn't have had much and some, like me, would have started from a good place.

My fridge currently looks like this, well this is the neat shot for the header picture, it actually looks like this -

... still nice and neat and always clean, but a few more bits and pieces.  

The red blobs in the top drawer are two apples.  The bottom drawer has tomatoes, two onions, a homegrown courgette and cucumber, some peppers and a vacuum pack of beetroot.  All except the peppers are in-season and grown in the UK, so all except the peppers can be bought again.

I'm glad I sorted through the fridge and had a wipe out, because I found this, a handy little addition to this weeks margarine ration.

I also had all these.

At first I was going to eat one or two a day this week to use them up gradually, but after eating the first one I realised they were not that nice any more ... although Mavis thought they were, she loves mandarin oranges.  Instead I put them in a bag and popped them into the freezer, I will use them to make a batch of Compost Heap Jelly when I have enough of my sugar ration saved up.

I also realised that I had this roll of ready rolled pastry that needs using up.  

Last time I did a rationing challenge I used one of these instead of most of my weeks fat ration one week, but this time I decided on something completely different.  It's there so I can use it, but I want it to last me for a few weeks and not have to be eaten all at once ... so I have had a brainwave!!

I'll let you see just what that was when I do it.  😄

The door of the fridge is a motley mix of all sorts.

The sparkling orange juice cans on the top shelf are for Alan, I take him one can each week to Mum's to have with his lunch.  The bottom shelf mostly holds sparkling and still water, there's about half of last weeks milk left. (Pre-rationing.) And very happily I have half a bottle of wine and a couple of little cans of wine too.  Alcohol was available during the war years, but I think it was mostly beers and shorts and predominately sold in pubs ... wine will be my version of this, but I have to buy it within my £10 a week budget if I want to have any.  Or perhaps ask for some at Christmas again like I did last year.

The three drawer freezer is full, if your interested in it's contents I'll show you the inventory another day after I photograph it.

And the bottom part of my food cupboard is looking extremely healthy, mostly because during the Food Cupboard Challenge I was eating all the oldest foods that I had sorted into the top part of the cupboard.

 

So at least I know that everything in this lower cupboard should be well within date and able to be used as and when I need it.  I think that I mentioned the other week that it's as though all my previous Challenges have been leading me to this one.

The things in my cupboard will be available to eat alongside my weekly, monthly and bi-monthly rations only if they are not rationed items.  Anything that is rationed or on points, the rice and pasta for example will still need to be added as and when they are due or when I have my new months quota of points.  All the random items I will gradually use up as and when I need them.

I hope this little stocktake exercise has set you up to see where my starting point is as well as it has for me.  It's nice to know what's available, now I just have to make it last in a sensible way.  It would have been oh so easy to have eaten the two packets of biscuits that I found in one of my baskets ... but I reminded myself they are only available on points, so I have to wait until next month.

Back tomorrow with a look at the top cupboard which now holds all my rationed foods, some things that I already had and some more things that I can restock my rations from.

Sue xx