Review: Of Veg and Cheese...and Java Dilemma

In the original "Of Veg and Cheese" post I outlined how, in accordance with life in the early 1940's, we would be limited to seasonably available produce during the rationing year, with the exception of canned and frozen produce which would be subject to ration points and market fluctuations.

So how did it go?

Well, last winter was tough - no bones about it. With just one pound of frozen vegetables setting us back one quarter of our weekly blue/green points, we were forced to work with seasonally available produce. This meant mostly carrots, potatoes and cabbage. And trust me, with all other green, leafy vegetables unavailable you start to appreciate cabbage on a whole new level.

Going without fresh salad for a few months definitely helped us understand how much we really love salad, even if it's as basic as a few green leaves and a simple dressing. Luckily, growing lettuce and mesclun indoors (or in a hoop frame or cold frame) is so easy we were able to get a jump start on our spring greens.

Once early summer came around we had locally grown produce available from our gardens, the farmer's market and our CSA bag. As you know, we had a hard time maintaining our Victory Gardens, and my new work schedule made visiting the farmer's market logistically tricky. And for a second year the CSA bags were a bit of a disappointment (some of the produce was actually of poor quality); I don't believe we'll do CSA bags in the future.

On the other hand, you just can't beat locally grown fruit. This past year we consumed our share of local strawberries, blackberries, apples and pears. Nothing can beat a fruit that was allowed to ripen fully before picking...and then immediately eating it. Really, I cannot downplay the physical and sensual joy of experiencing a local "u-pick" establishment.

As far as cheese goes...well, it's a staple we never want missing from the fridge. The versatility of hard cheese (snack, recipe ingredient, sandwich topper) make it a very useful, albeit rationed, resource. And thank goodness sour cream and cottage cheese weren't rationed - they have frequently been used to bulk up a sauce or soup (the former) or add protein to an otherwise light meal (the latter).

And finally, coffee. As outlined in the post "Java Dilemma," during rationing each adult received one pound of coffee every five weeks, assuming shortages didn't throw a kink into your coffee purchasing week. Both TMOTH and I increased our coffee consumption during the past year, in exchange for shrinking our soda intake. Even with that change, though, we were never in danger of running out of coffee supplies before the next ration amount could be purchased. We even had enough of a coffee surplus to, umm, be creative.

So, what of veg and cheese and coffee after rationing? We plan to continue focusing on seasonably available produce in an effort to reduce the carbon footprint of the fruits and vegetables we eat. And we'll continue to drink coffee at our current rates and avoid heavily-sugared sodas.

And cabbage...dear, sweet cabbage. You will always have a special place in our hearts...even if you're not as frequent a visitor at the table.

--Rational Mama

Historic Recipe: Victory Pancakes!

This recipe is the first recipe that caught my eye in the new (1943) Betty Crocker cookbook. Well, positively caught my eye - there were a few that caught my eye for less-than-appreciative reasons, such as "Jellied Ham Loaf." It's got vegetables and references pancakes and is patriotic - how much more awesome can you get?

A quick glance at the ingredients made it clear that it's basically shredded vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onion, spinach, lettuce) in a modest batter. I'm sure that the vegetables added could be adapted to what is on hand, but for the first go-around I followed the recipe exactly, except I had to add milk for moisture (apparently I had drained too much "juice" out of the shredded vegetables).

Mmm...veggie pancakes cooking on the griddle.

Here's how they looked served with a cheese sauce (the recipe suggested topping the pancakes with cheese sauce and to refuse an opportunity to top something with a cheese sauce is most definitely unpatriotic).

When I first read the recipe I thought these would be more like traditional pancakes, flecked with shredded vegetables. In reality, they are more like croquettes - lots of vegetables held together just enough with a thick batter.

TMOTH and I loved, loved, loved these. Eowyn ate a decent helping and Sissy...well...if you've been reading this blog for a while you can imagine what she thought of the Victory Pancakes.

Regardless, we'll be pulling these into the dinner rotation regularly. It will be an easy, quick dinner that will adapt to whatever excess produce is on hand.

Yum!

--Rational Mama

Hello, Cabbage, My Old Friend...

...I've come to eat of you again.

Our cabbage hiatus is over. Thursday night we had a nice, Asian-inspired slaw with our dinner.

Welcome back, old friend.

--Rational Mama

Can't Be Beet

Local beets are just now becoming available at the farmer's market and a few days ago I pickled a few jars of beets.
I love working with beets - there is something about their intense color that suggests jewels or gems, hidden treasures waiting to be discovered. And the way they stain your fingers keeps them on the mind long after they've entered your tummy.

--Rational Mama

Shhh...

When I went to pick up the CSA bag this week I was surprised to find four small bundles of asparagus available. I was literally stunned (it was 4:40pm) and kept staring at the dry-erase board that lists bag options, trying to figure out just what was going on.

The CSA representative was amused.

Finally, I asked "What are the asparagus a choice with?"

"Oh, well, technically you're choosing between the mushrooms or the asparagus," she replied. "But I took the asparagus off the listing board since we were almost out. I set aside a few asparagus bunches for those who come a little later."

My wide eyes communicated a silent, sincere gratitude.

"Just tuck them down in your bag so the folks up front don't see them."

Apparently, the asparagus gods heard my laments. Or maybe the CSA reps had heard numerous complaints.

Of course, this serves as positive reinforcement for my bitching.

Either way, we're having asparagus tomorrow night.

--Rational Mama

Black and White and Green(house)

It's finally that time of year when I feel I can safely take the tender baby plantings from the protection of the greenhouse and plant them in their summer homes. The broccoli, lettuce, mesclun and radishes have been in the ground for a month or so, but the ever present threat of a late April/early May frost in Kansas, combined with the nasty hail-loving weather we've had the last week, has prevented me from planting the tomatoes, basil, peppers and other goodies that I've grown from seed in the greenhouse.

But today will be planting day!

I thought I'd give you a little black-and-white tour of the greenhouse before it's emptied of its occupants.

There's oak-leaf lettuce, ready for the picking. It was planted back in late January and harbored in the house until the temperatures of the unheated greenhouse would suffice.
There's Buddha - happy that last year's potted mint has survived the winter.
There's nearly 30 tomatoes, a dozen basil, and numerous peppers, lemon balm, coleus and such. Most are big enough to be planted straight into the ground.
Some, like the tomatoes, are more than ready - reaching up towards the sun.
There's a geranium, given to me by my supervisor on Administrative Professionals' Day (two weeks before I gave my two week notice).
And there's one tired gardener who takes care of them all.

--Rational Mama

Asparagus and Whine

We've now had three weeks of CSA bag pick-ups. As a result we've had an abundant supply of spinach and salad greens (especially when combined with what we’ve harvested from our own garden). We've also received some fresh mushrooms, carrots, a few bok choys, green onions and a dozen eggs from truly free-range chickens. Last week I was pleasantly surprised with the addition of French breakfast radishes (my favorite kind of radish) and…and…oh, wait. I wanted to say asparagus, but that would be lying.

Two years ago we participated in the same CSA veggie bag subscription. Asparagus season lasts for a little less than two months in these parts and I know last time we were the happy receivers of asparagus on several occasions. This time, however, things are different.

Bag pick-up times are from 4:30pm to 5:30pm on Fridays – at least, that’s what the official subscription information page says. The latest I've arrived at the co-op to pick up my bag? 4:38pm. Each week asparagus is listed on the board when I arrive, but has a line through it, implying that it was available but all of it has already been taken. When another politely disgruntled CSA subscriber voiced his disappointment last Friday at yet again not receiving any asparagus the well-meaning check-out clerk said, “Oh, yes. It’s very popular. You have to get here at 4:00pm to get asparagus in your bag!”

What?

Pick-up time begins at 4:30pm. They’re letting other folks pick up their bags earlier than that? But that’s against the rules!

This, my friends, is a good point to talk about how (in general) I am a rule follower.

Rules are rules and are there for a reason. And typically, I follow the rules. This is evidence by my strong academic career, solid employment history and completely clean driving record (knock on wood). I honor the system and follow the system and usually do not take short cuts. Granted, I have a few examples in my past of rule bending (I had an amazingly thorough "wet floor" sign collection in college), but by and by I typically follow the rules.

After all, how could one follow the rationing program and NOT follow the rules? The rationing systems requires a certain inherited sense of duty and respect for the rules...a respect I often suspect would not be available if rationing was imposed in the U.S. today. I mean, you have to follow the rules to pick up the right ration book at the right time, use the correct stamps during the correct period, and follow obligatory point values which are out of your control.

Granted, there were black markets in the 1940s, but imagine how much more complex the black markets would be today with Craig's List, Facebook and the like!

But I'm a rule follower, and so I woke up early on Saturday to get to the farmer's market in time to assure that I could buy asparagus. I bought a nice looking bunch from an elderly gentleman for $3.00 while I groused a bit under my breath about missing the asparagus in my CSA bag again.

We had the asparagus that night with dinner and it was everything asparagus should be: local, crisp yet tender, earthy and flavorful. I have to admit it was worth the $3.00.

So I need to stop my complaining and accept that part of the "eating locally" approach means that there's not always enough for everyone. And sometimes, people will play the system to get theirs.

I think that's a good life lesson, too. Be happy with what you get.

That being said, I'm considering using some of our gasoline rations this weekend to drive almost an hour to harvest local strawberries. The stores have been flooded with strawberries from Mexico and I drool a little bit every time I pass the displays in the produce section, unable to purchase them because of the rationing program (damn me and my rule following).

Maybe if I can get to the strawberry patch early enough they'll have some left.

And I'll be sure to leave some for the next family.

--Rational Mama

Lettuce Rejoice and Eat Radishes!

Remember that little lettuce bed the runs along the length of the greenhouse? In late April, after we planted a few lettuce starts and seeds for more lettuce, spinach, mesclun and radishes, it looked like this:
Today, it looks like this:
Isn't nature amazing? That's some mesclun closest to the camera, then oak leaf lettuce, spinach and radishes in the back. We've been eating our own home-grown lettuce and spinach for weeks and today I harvested our first radishes.



I think radishes are like the crocuses of the vegetable world: not amazing enough to really want all year round, but as a symbol of wonderful things to come they can't be beat. They're both harbingers, of a sort.



In the meantime, though, I can't get too distracted. The heart of the summer planting season is just around the corner (if we can get a break from this nasty, windy, hail-ridden weather - another round is expected tonight and tomorrow night). A few weeks ago we had several days of near 80 degree temperatures and some of the spinach started to bolt! So as I happy as I am with the lettuce and radish bed I have to start thinking of transitioning it to its next stage. During the heart of the summer it will be home to Malabar spinach. This is the first year I've grown Malabar spinach, so we'll see how that goes.

In the meantime I'll enjoy a few more weeks of fresh lettuce, spinach and radishes and start dreaming of fresh, ripe tomatoes and cucumbers.

--Rational Mama

A Tisket! A Tasket! Our First CSA Basket (of the year)!

Friday was the first pick-up day for our CSA subscription through the local natural food co-op. Here's what it contained:
Just in case you can't tell from the photo, that's a half-dozen farm fresh/free-range eggs, a bunch (literally) of carrots, a bag of dried Nameko mushrooms, a bag of salad greens and a bag of spinach. This collection is a little bit smaller than the usual weekly pick-up (the growers had a hard time harvesting with all the rain we've had), so they charged us a bit less than the normal weekly fee.

Yum! All fresh, all local and all un-rationed! One of the best parts, though, is the newsletter that comes with the weekly bag. This week's newsletter explains that, "each week's bag holds gastronomic treasures and culinary mysteries for you to behold." Seriously. Is this not the most awesome food newsletter ever?

With the fresh greens available through our own garden, the farmer's market and our CSA subscription we've eaten a ridiculous amount of salad in the last week. This makes me very happy.

Not tonight, though. Tonight's dinner is very fitting for the cool, rainy day we've had here: chicken pot pie. Eowyn requested it late last week and so I just took my second attempt at making pie crust (you can revisit my first attempt here). I used a different pastry recipe and the results are much more aesthetically pleasing. The contents of the pie also include a homemade white/cream sauce, which replaces the store-bought can of cream of chicken soup I would have used prior to rationing.

And if tonight remains cold and dreary I might just need to make a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies - no cookies from a tube here.

Ah, how some things have changed!

--Rational Mama

Salad!

On Sunday night we had roast chicken, fresh bread and butter and SALAD!

Real salad!

Salad that included more than just the store-bought iceburg poor-excuse-for-something-green-and-leafy thing.

Salad that included this:
Isn't it beautiful? This is hand-picked red lettuce, green lettuce and mesclun from our garden/pots. (Squeal!)

I was able to pick a decent bowlful for Sunday's dinner, but I did have to supplement it with the iceburg lettuce for volume. Still, around half of it was homegrown!

And even though there were no extras in the salad (tomatoes, cucumbers and such are not yet seasonally available) everyone ate all their salad with just lettuce and dressing.

This is the first time in over three months that non-iceburg lettuce has been in our house. That's over one-quarter of a year, folks!

AND, the farmer's market opens this weekend in our town, and our CSA subscription starts next week. All of this means our produce selections will immediately skyrocket!

Ah, the good life!

--Rational Mama

This Week's Scenarios and Menu...and Planting Day!

Let me just cut to the chase and express my excitement that we finally stock-piled (which, dear reader, is completely different than hoarding) enough red-point items so that we were able to buy a nice, big eight pound ham this week! Yay! It took up nearly our entire 64 point allotment, but we did it!

Here's the menu for this week:

Saturday: ham, cheesy potatoes and (frozen) broccoli
Sunday: homemade pizza (onion, mushroom, olive and pepperoni)
Monday: Italian doe (like Italian beef but with venison), (canned) green beans and bread buns
Tuesday: black bean soup, Frito's and sour cream
Wednesday: pesto and noodles
Thursday: grilled chicken breasts, (frozen) green beans and fresh bread
Friday: baked potatoes, (frozen) broccoli and cottage cheese

During the previous weeks I also stock-piled (there's that word again) enough canned/bottled essentials to splurge on some frozen vegetables this week (although one bag was purchased during a previous week's shopping). I am so excited to have some non-cabbage green in our diets!

Our scenarios this week were:

Shortening - surplus, available for only 1/2 the usual rationing points
Salad Oils - scarce, available for 1 1/2 times the usual ration points
Pork - scarce, available for 1 1/2 times the usual ration points

I'm anti-shortening right now and have a good supply of salad oils so the first two scenarios weren't much of a bother. For the record, from the beginning of the rationing project we've classified ham as a processed meat, rather than pork, when it comes to the scenario randomizer.

Otherwise, spring is busting out all over and we're taking full advantage of it! Earlier in the week TMOTH planted our two new blueberry bushes and today the girls and I headed to the greenhouse and planted seeds for tomatoes, peppers, basil, marigolds, zinnias and coleus.



Aren't they cute when they help?








I also planted some lettuce starts, as well as seeds for lettuce, mesclun, spinach and radishes in our traditional spot for cool-season vegetables: the patch of dirt on the east side of the greenhouse. This is a great place for tender leaf vegetables because they only get sun during the first half of the day and the residual heat from the (solar-heated) greenhouse provides a buffer for chilly spring nights.

With warmer weather here this week I'm hoping to make some final plans for our annex gardening spaces (provided by some great people) and post some pics for you to get the full understanding of all of our plantings.

In the meantime, reader, please tell me what you have planted so far!

--Rational Mama

Temper Tantrum

You know that howling three-year-old in the store, screaming at the top of her lungs, eyes red and wet from her emotional outburst? The one you can hear half-way across the store, exclaiming her certainty that the world is unfair and justice must be served to her NOW?

That's kind of how I feel about rationing right now.

I'm tired of the constraints and the rules and the can't haves and can't do's.

I was already feeling this way a bit (I think it's part of the natural stir-crazy feeling that comes at the end of winter) but it reared it's ugly head big-time in the past few days when we went on a mini-vacation with our good friends.

Late Monday afternoon we went to a local indoor water park/hotel combo (using some of our saved-up miles) and got away from the everyday mundane, if only for a day.

No points. No counting.

Since both families were doing a vacay-on-the-cheap we both brought our own breakfast and lunch supplies for the second day. We did eat out at a restaurant Monday night, but our ration points for the week were reduced as a result.

No points. No counting.

And then back to reality.

I didn't want to leave vacation. I didn't want to be subjected to the rationing rules again.

We arrived back home early Tuesday evening and I didn't want to stop being on vacation. I didn't want to fix our ration-friendly meal and deal with the dishes and the clean-up and the work. So Sissy and I headed to the neighborhood Chinese restaurant (TMOTH and Eowyn had eaten enough junk throughout the day and weren't hungry for dinner).

This was a contraband meal.

I think it's even getting a little to TMOTH, who is typically a very easy-going guy. Last week his self-imposed rationing-year ban on liquid forms of caffeine came to a crashing end when he had two Cokes in one day (and proceeded to feel a little queasy).

Sigh.

I can only imagine that what I'm feeling was par for the course in 1943, as families adjusted to the new wartime rationing system. Granted, at this point in 1943 canned goods rationing had only been in effect for six or seven weeks and meat/fat/cheese rationing had only been enforced for two weeks.

This coming Saturday we will be entering our 13th week of rationing.

On the bright side, we will be 1/4 of the way through our rationing year. In 1943 no one knew how long the rationing would last (or who, more importantly, would win the war).

I can only hope that the next six months will be easier, as more fresh produce options become available and healthier menu plans can be accommodated. It will be nice to work in the garden and feel the sunshine on our skin and feel like we're making progress towards preserving a stash of produce for winter.

Until then, I might be a little pouty about this rationing thing.

So bear with me, folks, while I have my tantrum.

Like the three-year-old in the store, I'll be done with it in 15 minutes and get distracted by something shiny and forget what it was that I was upset about.

I promise.

--Rational Mama

Video: Two Cooks and a Cabbage

I had to wonder while watching this 1941 film from the BFI National Archives...

If I grow cabbage this summer do you think Eowyn and Sissy would be so excited about cooking their own?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2evv45stEHw

Not sure why the embedding isn't working anymore...

--Rational Mama

Mesclun! (Gesundheit)

Remember long ago when Sissy and I planted two containers with lettuce and mesclun seeds?

Well, here's how they're looking today:


The mesclun is doing great, if not a little leggy from working with what sun is available in the south-facing window in the bathroom. The lettuce is struggling a little; it had a longer germination period and suffered at least one noshing by the residential felines.

The good news is that the weather has warmed up enough that I placed both containers in our small greenhouse. Once upon a time the previous owners of our house had a nice little lean-to greenhouse added on to the detached garage. Running water and gas heat and exhaust fans and everything and it runs the full length of the garage. Story goes he was an orchid fanatic and grew his own orchids.


The next owners were not so much into the growing thing so they capped the water and gas off, leaving for us (only the fourth family to own this 100 year old house) a walk-in, three season cold frame. It's currently a bit of a mess inside, storing a haberdashery of warm-weather supplies. But that will soon change since most vegetable seeds need to be planted in the greenhouse by the end of the month in order to transplant when the last frost has done its deed.

In the meantime TMOTH will be adding some lumber supports to the planting bed that is normally our lettuce/spinach zone (great morning light, no harsh and hot afternoon light) so it will be ready for action soon.

And the baby garlic, nestled in their blanket of straw, are growing just big enough to give off a wonderful fragrance when the sun hits them right.

Thank goodness the growing season is so close! The other day Eowyn asked when we could go to the farmers market because we haven't been in a while. I just looked it up - the local farmers market opens April 10th!

I don't care what the calendar says, spring has sprung!

--Rational Mama

The Doldrums

Another week, another menu... *yawn*

I'm afraid we've reached the doldrums...listlessly shuffling from one rationing week to the next, counting our points, making the same meals with the same *sigh* seasonal produce.

Same, same, same...

Of course, in 1943 most food rationing didn't begin until late February, so folks didn't have to wait very long at all for the growing season to begin and thus quickly had colorful and tasty options for their menu. Plus, they had nearly a year to plan ahead and preserve that bounty so they wouldn't get stuck with only cabbage and carrots next winter.

Us? We started in late December, so cabbage and carrots we have.

Why, oh why, didn't we wait to start rationing until the end of February?

Anyhoo...after TMOTH rolled a five last week for the Randomizer I wasn't going to chance it again and gave the die to Eowyn for this week's scenarios. And she proceeded to roll a five (head smack!). BUT, at least two of the scenarios we pulled for this week we're favorable, unlike last week, so it wasn't too bad in the end.

• Beef - limited, only 1/2 the normal purchase amount available
• Fresh Vegetables - limited, only 1/2 the normal purchase amount available
• Canned Fruits - Victory Special! available at only 1/4 the usual ration points
• Nuts and Nut Products - none available for purchase
• Poultry - surplus, available for only 1/2 the usual ration points

Luckily, the only beef on the menu this week (Monday's meal) was leftover from last week - we ended up not making the meatballs last Sunday and so can use that beef instead of buying new for this week.

The fresh vegetable shortage is a bummer and I had to downsize several portions for the week.

The Victory Special on canned fruits allowed us to buy a few extra cans of peaches and pears and a much coveted jar of applesauce.

I usually try to have a spare jar of peanut butter in the house since it is a staple at Rational Living. That will come in very handy this week since we can't purchase another. Also, there is a pecan pie scheduled for a special meal with guests on Friday that was in jeopardy until I remembered that we still have a stash of locally-grown pecans we picked a few seasons ago hiding out in the back of the cupboard. Whew!

Since poultry was available for reduced ration points I bought a pound of chicken breasts for future use and then obtained a nice quantity of turkey deli meat for a yummy sandwich night on Saturday (all those Subway commercials during the Olympics convinced me we needed a yummy sandwich night).

So here's how our menu shaped up for the week:

Saturday: deli-style sandwiches and chips
Sunday: roasted turkey, gravy, canned green beans and homemade stuffing
Monday: cabbage, tomato and beef soup with fresh baked bread
Tuesday: out to eat (our once-a-month splurge)*
Wednesday: hot dogs and oven-roasted potato fries
Thursday: crisped lemon liver, rice and canned fruit
Friday: bacon-wrapped venison tenderloin, baked sweet potatoes and baked cabbage

*Since it is an eating out week our point allotments for the week were reduced by 1/14th.

Did you see that on Thursday? It's a liver recipe. *shudder*

Liver seems to be a very generational thing, in that generations before mine eat it but subsequent generations don't. I tried to find a recipe that wouldn't be too anachronistic for our experiment but had a very favorable rating. I don't think I will tell the girls it's liver until I see their reaction - but more on that in a special "liver" post after Thursday night.

In the meantime - liver has such a reputation that I am curious as to if there was anything particular that your family cooked that you just couldn't bare to eat?

For me, it was these hamburger/shredded potato patty combinations...it seemed the potatoes were never fully cooked and made the entire patty a bit slimy. My stomach turns a bit just thinking about it.

Sorry, Mom.

--Rational Mama

A Little Green Experiment

Not much time to post - I'm busy finishing up my text for a public presentation I have about the rationing project tomorrow. But, I was happy to squeeze in this project today while the sun was still out to warm our backs!

Rational Living reader Kari suggested the wonderful idea of a window-shelf planting of lettuce to help with my salad cravings. Four different rooms in our house have south-facing windows - it's a 100 year old American Foursquare and yes, I'm a big enough history dork that I'm seriously considering throwing it a birthday party this summer for it's big centennial.

Anyhoo...the south-facing window in the dinning room wouldn't work because it is shaded by the attached enclosed porch off of the back of the house. The kitchen nook has great light, but it is one of the favorite lounge spots for our two cats (who would love to nosh on the selection of fresh greens). The girls' room (they share a room by choice) would be challenging for plants because of the current furniture arrangement. That leaves the bathroom, which has really amazing amounts of sunlight and has available many hooks for hanging plants.

So, an indoor lettuce garden we will have, but it will be a hanging garden.

Sissy and I headed outdoors and planted two hanging pots with lettuce and mesclun seeds. It was nice to have such a cute and willing helper.















The pots are now covered with plastic and resting atop our refrigerator - our traditional resting spot for plantings until they germinate. After sprouts appear I'll remove the plastic and let them grow and acclimate a bit before moving them up to the sunny bathroom.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

--Rational Mama

Brilliant! Oczywiscie!

I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier...

If my undergraduate alma mater allowed non-education majors to have minors like other universities (really, KU, why not?), then I would have more than enough credits for a minor in Slavic Studies, with an emphasis in Polish language and literature. This may be news to some of you, and just genuinely weird to others. What can I say? I'm a Slav at heart.

Anyhoo, here I've been fretting over finding good recipes for our seasonal (and therefore non-rationed) produce, which right now consists mostly of cabbage, carrots, onions, potatoes and mushrooms.

And then I had an epiphany the other day, while calling my little cabbage kapusta, which is the Polish word for cabbage.

If you've ever flipped through a Polish cookbook then you will know that like 90% of the recipes consist mainly of combinations of cabbage, carrots, onions, potatoes and mushrooms, with modest amounts of cheese, butter or meats for flavor. Okay...maybe 90% is a bit of an exaggeration, but seriously - it's crazy high.

So I went to the library the other day and checked out a few Polish cookbooks.

Jackpot!

The cabbage dry spell may be over!

--Rational Mama

1 Month Check-In

Today we mark one calendar month into our year of living on WWII U.S. civilian rations.

How are we doing?

We used 248 of our 251 red ration points. Assigning these every week is quite a math game - there are definitely never too many red ration points!

We used 538 of what should have been only 192 allotted blue/green points (refer to the "And Then Things Became REALLY Interesting" post from a few weeks ago). The good news is that while I was doing some research I learned that all families were allowed to claim, without penalty, five cans per person at the start of rationing. Assuming that an average can was worth 14 points, that would be an additional 280 points worth of canned goods that I could have credited the family for at the beginning of ration. If we subtract those points from our total, that brings us down to 258 points. That's still about 18 can's worth of points, or 18 cans too many. But there's not much I can do about that now. I have a modest amount of canned goods in the cabinet right now (beets, spinach, corn and carrots), so I was not hoarding during those few weeks of excess point usage. I'm not happy with the situation, but I'm at peace with it.

We've purchased all our sugar and coffee allowances.

I didn't track gasoline/mile usage for that first partial week, but for the following three weeks we used 300 of our 576 miles. I'm really happy about that number. Even if we didn't get the extra gasoline/miles for The Man of the House's job equating to a wartime industry, we would be well within the reduced allotment for families without the added gallons/miles. Of course, TMOTH (as he likes to be called) would like to hoard all those extra miles. There will be a post on that compulsion soon!

And how are we doing mentally?

Eowyn and Sissy miss fresh fruit (Eowyn = bananas, Sissy = apples) and both are no longer amused by the increased appearance of soups on the menu.

TMOTH is frustrated with the fact that few people he talks to "gets it" and understand why we undertook this project.

As you are all aware, I greatly miss fresh vegetables - and lettuce most of all. Rational Living reader Kari had a great idea about this which I will be posting about soon. Otherwise, I'm also feeling the time drain of the project: time looking up points, extra time spent making menus and grocery lists, extra time spent cooking more meals from scratch, time spent tracking usage and time spent posting on the blog. But all of these except that last point help make the experiment that much more authentic, so I can't complain too loudly.

And I have to admit that I look forward to Mr. Bowles' Marketplace Scenario Randomizer with giddy expectancy.

And let me add a note of thanks for all those who read the blog and use the comments section to ask questions, suggest recipes (I'm still loving the baked cabbage!) and give us emotional support. This project wouldn't be nearly as interesting if it wasn't for the ongoing dialogue. Thank you!

And what do we think the next month will hold for us? I imagine the reduced blue/green points will become painfully real in the next month, and we will plan our garden. And I'm sure we'll try at lease five other ways to cook cabbage.

In fact, sometimes I think the official title for the project should be: "Rational Living...or...50 Ways to Cook a Cabbage."

--Rational Mama

This Week's Scenarios and Menu

Another week...and I'm starting to dream about salads. Nice, green, crispy salads...

Last week we used 103 of our 193 allotted miles. I think The Man of the House is working on a blog entry about gasoline usage and hoarding...or how I won't let him hoard as much as he wants to. Look for that to appear within the next week or so.

Last week we used all 59 of our reduced 59 red points and 88 of our (incorrectly calculated) 178 blue/green points (we went out on Tuesday, hence the reduce points).

For those of you who missed the post a few days ago, we have since learned that we are allowed only 48 blue/green points per week!

The good news is is that this week we have only one scenario:

Canned soups and sauces are scarce and only available at half the normal purchase/recipe quantity.

With that in mind, here's this week's menu:

Saturday: Homemade pizza (pepperoni, mushroom and onion)
Sunday: BBQ pork country-style ribs, cheesy potatoes and (canned) green beans
Monday: Carrot soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
Tuesday: Thai chicken thighs, rice and baked cabbage
Wednesday: Buttermilk pancakes and bacon
Thursday: Chicken broth soup (made with the thigh bones from making Tuesday's chicken boneless) and corn dumplings
Friday: Dinner out

Yes, I realize that said "Dinner out" for Friday night, even though we had our official "one dinner out per month as a family" last week. We've been gifted two dinner theater tickets to see some of our two best buddies in a play on Friday. Since dinner is included, and since the girls will be having a sleepover with their aunt that night we've reduced our allotted ration points for the week to 59 red (rather than 64) and 45 blue/green (rather than 48) accordingly.

I also purchased our allotted 2 pounds of sugar and finally purchased our second one pound coffee allowance for the month.

On Tuesday of this week we'll officially mark one calendar month of the project, so I'll work on a little recap for you. I'm also scheduled to give a presentation at out church next weekend, so when the text for that is finalized I'll post it as well.

Thanks for all your support!

--Rational Mama

OMG

We went out to eat tonight (a rarity for rationing year).

I had a salad.

A nice, crispy, juicy, green, leafy salad.

With cucumbers.

And a small, decent-tasting tomato.

Compared to this, that "heaven" label for last night's SPAM is just crazy talk.

Goodness, how I miss lettuce!

--Rational Mama