Ration Hint of the Day - Number Forty-one

Ration Hint No. 41

No breadcrumbs ready!
Then dip into that packet of breakfast cereal flakes for topping fish, 
creamed savoury or sweet dishes etc., etc., 
and save time!

Food Rationing in New Zealand in 1944

Even though we are following the rationing from wartime England, we have been finding it interesting to see what was rationed over here in New Zealand and the differing amounts compared to Britain.

The foods that were rationed here were :

BUTTER

TEA

SUGAR

EGGS

MEAT

These foods were rationed under the coupon system and as from the 1st August 1944, were available in the following quantities per person.

BUTTER -   8oz a week.  No ration was available for children under 6 months of age.

The British ration amount we are following is 2 oz a week.

TEA -    2 oz a week.  None for children under 10 years of age on 1st January in the ration year.

 This is the same amount as the British ration.  Luckily my boys are over 10 years of age as they couldn't do without their morning cuppa.

SUGAR -    12 oz a week.  With additional quantities in season for jam making, as announced from time to time.  No ration for children under 6 months of age.

The British ration amount for sugar that we are following is 8 oz, with no extra for jam making.

EGGS -    In districts with priority rationing is in force, a priority ration of 3 eggs a week for children 6 months and under 5 years, and 6 eggs a week for expectant and nursing mothers.

The allocation to general consumers varies according to the supply and is informally rationed through the grocers.

The British ration was 1 egg per person.  I'm not sure on quantities for expectant or nursing mothers.

An extra egg weekly was allowed for vegetarians.  Powdered egg was also part of the ration, enough for 4 "eggs" a week, I think.

We aren't really following this as we have our own chickens, 4 lovely bantams who give us lovely little eggs every day, which is more than enough for us.  They even laid all through winter with at least one egg every day.

When they do have a break in laying, we will follow the two egg each allowance but powdered egg is not available here and I don't think it sounds too appealing anyway.

MEAT -    The basic meat ration is 1/9 worth a week, with a half ration for children from 6 months to 5 years.  

Prices differed slightly between the islands.  In the North Island 1s 2d could buy you 1 lb of 1st grade rump steak.

We don't do the meat thing and the Grumpy Teenager eats meat at his dads.

      

Ration Hint of the Day - Number Twenty-five

Ration Hint No. 25

When making pastry -

Flour must be dry and free from any lumps.
Shortening can be butter, lard or dripping, or a mixture of these.
Water must be very cold.
Baking powder should be added to short pastry mixture only.

Sugar.... Add 1 teaspoon of fine white sugar to each 1/2 lb flour for sweet dishes.

Mixing.... Except for wholemeal pastry, which absorbs more liquid, always mix pastry with a minimum of liquid to retain it's crispness of texture.

Ration Hint of the Day - Number Twenty-three

Ration Hint No. 23

Potato water improves scones, etc, and lightens the milk bill.

This is my last Ration Hint from the Self Help "Wartime Cooking Suggestions" booklet, but I still have plenty more hints to share so keep an eye on future posts.

Ration Hint of the Day - Number Twenty-Two

Ration Hint No. 22

Use cake baking powder in making short-pastry.

It is a great improvement.

Also, use half flour, half wholemeal and all dripping, with lemon juice and water to mix it.

Ration Hint of the Day - Number Twenty One

Ration Hint No. 21

When creaming lard and sugar together, in making war-time cake, beat it well over basin of hot water, as lard is less easily blended than butter.
Add a little salt always.
Lard makes good cakes.

Ration Hint of the Day - Number Twenty

Ration Hint No. 20

Try mashing potatoes with bacon dripping and milk instead of butter.

Ration Hint of the Day - Number Nineteen

This is very short and sweet.

Ration Hint N0. 19

Fat from mutton broth makes good cakes.

Ration Hint of the Day - Number Eighteen

Ration Hint No. 18

Bacon fat is delicious in a ginger cake or gingerbread, 
spice cakes, cookies and foods with a strong flavour.

Ration Hint of the Day - Number Seventeen

Ration Hint No. 17

Use 4/5ths as much dripping in cakes as you would butter.
Cream it very well, adding a little lemon juice and a pinch of baking soda.

Ration Hint of the Day - Number Sixteen; Plus Oats, Wonderful Oats

Ration Hint No. 16

How to use baking powder in recipes that call for sour milk and soda or other leavening agents.

You can use baking powder in any recipe that calls for sour milk and soda by using sweet milk and 2 level teaspoons of baking powder for each cup of flour the recipe calls for.

This will give you perfect results with the recipe.

We have been doing a lot of cooking this week, have filled up the biscuit tins and made sweet and savoury loaves for a quick breakfast and/or lunch.

Grumpy Teenager is loving his slices of buttered loaf for school lunches.

Tomorrow I will be trying a brown bread recipe using baking powder instead of yeast.

It looks very quick and easy to make.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

We have been using a lot of oats.  

They are very versitile and great for porridge, anzac biscuits, vegetable and oatmeal casserole which is on an earlier post and as a replacement for mince beef or lamb, yes a meat replacement, in many recipes.

"Mince" on toast.

In the Vegetable and Oatmeal Casserole I ended up using a whole cup of oats instead of the couple of tablespoons and added more water and we all loved that, sooooo I experimented in using the oats in other recipes instead of meat as Salem and I are vegetarians but the Grumpy Teenager isn't.
I find that 1 cup of oats is more than enough for the three of us and I cook them up as per making porridge and then add a stock cube and/or some vegemite (or marmite) and stir it all in.
Then I use it in whatever recipe or creation that I am doing for dinner.
Fabulous as mince on toast with either tomato or gravy sauce.
It's well worth experimenting with.
I'll post my "mince" recipes tomorrow.

Ration Hint of the Day - Number Fifteen

Ration Hint No. 15

To stop nuts and fruits sinking to the bottom of cakes, etc.

Heat them in the oven and then mix them in a little flour before adding to batter.

Ration Hint of the Day - Number fourteen

Ration Hint No. 14

To keep yolks of eggs fresh and stop them drying out.

Place the unbroken egg yolks in cold water.
Have sufficient cold water in the cup or bowl, to cover the egg yolks and they will keep perfectly.

Ration Hint of the Day - Number Eleven and Night-time Cooking

Last night's cooking

Last night, after the kids went to bed, I decided it was time to do some baking to fill up our tins.
I like to make three loaves at a time as they all fit in the oven so are cooked together.
I made my oaty loaf, cheese loaf and the coconut loaf.  All favourites of my boys.
And since I had the oven all heated, I made a batch of chocolate biscuits to go in after the loaves were done.
I used self-raising flour by mistake instead of plain flour and baing soda.
So I thought that the texture would be different, and it was at the ten minute cooking time, so I left them in for an extra five minutes.
They turned out great.  Very hard like a New Zealand "Gingernut" biscuit, great for dunking in a cup of tea.
The boys want me to cook them like that again.


The recipes for the delicious goodies are in my previous posts.
Look them up and give them a try.

Now for the next Ration Hint .......

Frying Spam

Ration Hint No. 11

Stopping grease from spluttering.

When grease snaps and splutters in the frying-pan, just put about 1/4 teaspoon of flour in a sifter and sift it into the hot grease and instantly the spluttering will cease.

Ration Hint of the Day - Number Ten

Ration Hint No. 10

To make light scones.

Milk made from dried milk makes light scones and cakes.

Icing sugar helps to make scones light.

Scones are lighter mixed with water, but keep moist longer when mixed with milk.

"I personally like to use 1/2 milk with 1/2 water."

Ration Hint of the Day - Number Nine

Ration Hint No. 9

How to make butter spread further.

1 Tablespoon cold water
1 teaspoon gelatine
1/4 lb butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk

Soften gelatine in 1 tablespoonful milk over hot water.  
Cut butter into small pieces and heat over hot water until butter is soft enough to beat.
Do not melt butter.
Add dissolved gelatine and salt to the milk, having milk at room temperature.
Gradually whip milk into the butter with eggbeater.
Put aside to cool and set.
Ready for use.

Cheese Loaf

Cheese Loaf

This loaf is extremely tasty and very yummy.
This recipe is another from the "Self Help Wartime Cooking Suggestion"s booklet.
It is the favourite of the Grumpy Teenager.
It keeps well and still stays soft after several days if it's not eaten up first.

Cheese Loaf

2 cups of flour
1/2 cup grated cheese
4 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon each of salt, pepper & mustard
1 cup milk

Mix all dry ingredients and add milk to consistency of a soft dough.
Pour into greased loaf tin.
Bake in oven  for 30 minutes at 180 degrees C.

I used half milk and half water and instead of the plain flour and baking powder I used self raising flour.
It turned out perfectly fine.
I also added 1 teaspoon each of dried chives and dried parsley which really bought out the cheesy flavour.
I didn't have mustard powder, just English mustard in a jar and this also worked well.

Do try this very tasty loaf.

Ration Hint of the Day - Number Eight

Ration Hint No. 8

How to make butter spread further.

1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon warm milk

Mix together and the butter will go further.

Note - Only mix sufficient for one day's use at a time - for sandwiches, etc.
Does not apply when using cooking measurements.

Ration Hint of the Day - Number Six

Ration Hint No.6

To save eggs.

When making milk puddings and eggs are scarce or expensive, use a heaped teaspoon of Custard Powder instead of each egg required.

Ration Hint of the Day - Number Five

Ration Hint No.5

To save sugar.

To save sugar add a pinch of baking soda when stewing fruit.