WOMAN'S INSTITUTE LIBRARY OF COOKERY. VOLUME 5: FRUIT AND FRUIT DESSERTS; CANNING AND DRYING; JELLY MAKING, PRESERVING AND PICKLING; CONFECTIONS; BEVERAGES; THE PLANNING OF MEALS TEXT

less, but it should be constant. If the weight remains the same or there is a decrease for a number of consecutive days or weeks, it is certain that the diet is incorrect, that the quantity of food is insufficient, or that the child is ill. The reason for the loss should be determined at once and the trouble then corrected. Normal diet for the infant is the mother's milk, but if this cannot be supplied, the next best diet is modified cow's milk, which for the young child must be greatly diluted. If it is found necessary to give proprietary, or manufactured, foods, raw food of some kind should be used in addition, the best way to supply this being with a little orange juice or other fruit juice. At the age of 3 months, this may be given in small quantity if it is diluted, and then the amount may be gradually increased as the child grows older. 48. EFFECT OF WEIGHT ON CHILDREN'S DIET.--The food requirement in the case of children is determined by weight. To decide on the proper amount, it is necessary to know the normal weight at certain ages. At birth, as has been stated, the normal weight is 7 pounds; at 6 months, 15 pounds; at 1 year, 21 pounds; at 2 years, 30 pounds. The food requirement for 24 hours per pound of weight is as follows: CALORIES 24 HOURS Children up to 1 year.......................... 45 Children from 1 to 2 years..................... 40 Children from 2 to 5 years..................... 36 From a study of these figures, it will be noted that there is a gradual decrease in the required number of calories per pound as the child grows older. The decrease continues until maturity is reached, and then the scale for adults applies. 49. EFFECT OF AGE ON CHILDREN'S DIET.--A child should not be kept exclusively on milk for more than 6 or 8 months, and then only in case it is fed on the mother's milk. Fruit juice, which has already been mentioned as an additional food, is recommended if the diet requires raw food or if it is necessary to make the child's food more laxative. When the child reaches the age of 6 months, it should be taught to take foods from a spoon or a cup; then when it must be weaned, the task of weaning will be much easier. At the age of 8 or 9 months, depending on the condition of the child, small amounts of well-cooked, strained cereals may be added to the diet, and these may gradually be decreased as the food is increased in variety. Up to 1-1/2 years of age, a child should have 8 ounces of milk three times a day, which amounts to 1-1/2 pints. At this age, half of a soft-cooked egg or a spoonful or two of tender meat chopped very fine, may be given, and for each such addition 4 ounces of milk should be taken out of the day's feeding. But from 1-1/2 years up to 5 years, at least 1 pint of milk a day should be included in the diet. At a little past 1 year of age, a normal child may begin taking a few well-cooked vegetables, such as a bit of baked potato, a spoonful of spinach, carrot, celery, green peas, or other vegetables that have been forced through a sieve or chopped very fine. At 1-1/2 years, the normal child should be taking each day one vegetable, a cereal, buttered bread or toast softened with milk, eggs, fruit juice, a little jelly, and plain custards. However, each of these foods should be added to the diet with caution and in small amounts, and if it appears to disagree with the child in any way, it should be discontinued until such time as it can be tolerated. In case a child is being raised on a formula of cow's milk and it is a strong, normal child, it should be taking whole milk at the age of 8 or 10 months. If the child is not strong, the milk may still be diluted with a small amount of sterile water, but this should be gradually decreased until the child is able to tolerate whole milk. 50. FEEDING SCALE FOR INFANTS.--It is, of course, a difficult matter to make definite rules for the feeding of all children, for conditions arise with many children that call for special plans. However, for children that are normal, a feeding scale may be followed quite closely, and so the one given in Table VI is suggested. TABLE VI FEEDING SCALE FOR INFANTS First Three Months Milk. Fourth Month Same as for preceding months and orange juice and cereal waters. Sixth Month Same as for preceding months and well-cooked and strained cereal. Eighth Month Same as for preceding months and beef juice, beef broth, and yolk of soft-cooked egg. Tenth Month Same as for preceding months and unstrained cereal, half of soft-cooked egg, both white and yolk, chopped or strained cooked vegetables, such as spinach and other greens, asparagus, carrots, celery, and squash, stale bread, crackers, toast and butter. Eleventh Month Same as for preceding months and well-cooked rice, baked potato, jelly, plain custard, corn-starch custard, and junket. Twelfth Month Same as for preceding months and whole egg, a tablespoonful of tender meat, string beans, peas, turnips, onions, chopped or strained applesauce, stewed prunes, and other fruits. Eighteenth Month Same as for preceding months and home-made ice cream, plain sponge cake, milk soups, and cereal puddings. This scale is to be used by adding to the diet for one month the foods suggested for the next month, giving them at the time the child reaches the age for which they are mentioned. For instance, a child of 8 months may have everything included in the first three, four, and six months and, in addition, beef juice, beef broth, and the yolk of a soft-cooked egg, which is the diet suggested for the eighth month. Then at the tenth month it may have all of these things together with those given for this month. 51. When any of these foods is first added to the diet, much care is necessary. Each new food should be given cautiously, a teaspoonful or two at a time being sufficient at first, and its effect should be carefully observed before more is given. If it is found to disagree, it should not be repeated. If at any time a child is subject to an attack of indigestion, its diet should be reduced to simple foods and when it has recovered, new foods should be added slowly again. In the case of any of the ordinary illnesses to which children are subject, such as colds, etc., the diet should be restricted to very simple food, and preferably to liquids, until the illness has passed. The diet of a baby still being fed on milk should be reduced to barley water or a very little skim milk diluted with a large amount of sterile water. When the illness is over, the child may be gradually brought back to its normal diet. DIET FOR THE FAMILY 52. One of the difficulties of every housewife having a family composed of persons of widely different tastes and ages is the preparation of meals that will contain sufficient food of the correct kind for all of them. Children up to 6 years of age usually require something especially prepared for their meals, except breakfast, but, as a rule, the selection of the diet for children from 6 years up to 15 or 16 years of age is merely a matter of taking from the meal prepared for the remainder of the family the right amount of the various foods. Tea and coffee should not be included in the diet of growing children, and should under no circumstances be given to small children. If the proper method is followed in this matter, no difficulty will result, but where children expect to eat the food served to the others at the table and are not content with what is given to them, it is better not to feed them at the same table with the adults. 53. The most satisfactory way in which to arrange meals that are to be served to persons of different ages is to include several foods that may be fed to all members of the family and then to select certain others proper only for adults and still others suitable for the children. A sample of such a menu for supper is the one here given. It is assumed that the children that are to eat this meal are not infants. SUPPER MENU ADULTS Rice Croquettes with Cheese Sauce Lettuce Salad Bread, Butter, Jelly Baked Apples Plain Cookies Tea CHILDREN Steamed Rice Bread, Butter, Jelly Baked Apples Plain Cookies Milk A menu of this kind is not difficult to prepare, and still it meets the needs of both the children and the adults of the family. The main dish for each has the same foundation--rice. Enough to serve the entire family may be steamed. Then some may be retained for the children and the rest made up into croquettes and served with cheese sauce to the adults. The remainder of the menu, bread, butter, jelly, baked apples, and plain cookies, may be eaten by every one. Tea will probably be preferred by the adults, but milk should be served to the children. Other suitable menus may be planned without any extra trouble if just a little thought is given to the matter. PROPORTION OF FOOD SUBSTANCES 54. The proportion of food substances necessary for building and repairing the body and for providing it with material necessary for its various functions is a matter to which much discussion has been given. Formerly, it was not understood that the protein should be limited to exactly what the body needed and that its requirements were comparatively low regardless of conditions or exercise. The standard for diet very often allowed as much as 25 per cent. in protein. This percentage has been gradually reduced by the discovery of the actual body needs, so that now it is believed by the most dependable authorities that only about 10 per cent. of the entire day's rations for the adult should be protein. The growing child needs a greater proportion than this because he is building up muscle tissue. The adult whose muscles have been entirely constructed requires protein only for repair, and 10 per cent. of the day's food in protein is sufficient for this. This means that if the total calories for the day are 2,500, only 250 of them need be protein. 55. The remainder of the calories are largely made up by fat and carbohydrate. These, however, need not be in such exact proportion as the protein, for no real danger lies in having either one in a greater amount than the ideal proportion. This is usually three-tenths fat and six-tenths carbohydrate or in a diet of 2,500 calories, 750 fat and 1,500 carbohydrate. The carbohydrate is very much in preponderance because of its easy digestion and assimilation. As may be imagined, it is not a simple matter to figure a diet as closely and carefully as this, and it is only in extreme cases where such planning is necessary. 56. The required amount of protein for the ordinary daily diet can be had with about 3 ounces of meat, together with that which is found in the bread, vegetables, and cereals taken each day. At any rate, the menu should be planned so as to supply a protein dish for at least one meal in the day. The fat is supplied largely by the butter taken and the fat used in the cooking of foods. The carbohydrate is provided by the starch found in cereals, bread, and vegetables and by the sugar contained in fruits, as well as that used in the preparation of various foods and in the sweetening of beverages, cereals, and fruits. In addition to providing these food substances, each meal should include at least one food, and for dinner preferably two foods, that will supply a large amount of mineral salts, cellulose, and vitamines. As will be remembered, fruits and vegetables are the foods to be used for this purpose. 57. This method of menu planning may seem somewhat difficult at first thought, but in reality it is not different from that which the intelligent housewife follows who attempts to provide her family with a variety of foods and who appreciates the value of that variety. If she plans her menu in this manner, prepares the food so that it will be wholesome, easily digested, and given in the proper proportion, and at the same time watches the weights of the members of the family in the manner suggested, she need have no fear about the general health of her family, for it will be well maintained. * * * * * MENU MAKING AND TABLE SERVICE GENERAL RULES FOR MENU MAKING 58. Perhaps the greatest problem in the planning of menus for a family is that of securing sufficient variety. A housewife who uses the same recipes and the same combinations of food repeatedly is apt to get into a rut and the members of her family will undoubtedly lose interest in their meals. This condition results even with the dishes of which those of the family are extremely fond. However, they will not tire so quickly of the foods they care for if such foods are served to them less often. Then, too, there is more chance to practice economy when a larger variety of food is used. The importance of planning menus systematically should not be overlooked, either, no matter how simple they may be. Even if breakfast consists of only two or more dishes, luncheon of three or four, and dinner of no more than four or five, a certain amount of planning should be done in order that the meal may be properly balanced. If the suggestions for meal planning already given are applied to this work, very little difficulty will be experienced in providing meals that are both attractive and properly balanced. In addition to these suggestions, a few general rules for menu making ought to be observed. Most of these are simple and can be followed with very little effort. 59. Unless the menu is planned for a special occasion, the cost of the various dishes should be made to balance. For instance, if an expensive meat is to be served, the vegetables and the salad selected to accompany it should be of moderate cost. On the other hand, if an expensive salad is to be served, a dessert of moderate cost, such as a simple rice pudding, should be used to offset the price of the other dish. Planning meals in this way is urged for the sake of economy, and if it is carefully followed, all the meals may be made to average about the same cost. 60. Another important point in successful meal planning is the avoidance of two dishes in the same meal made from the same food. For instance, tomato soup and tomato salad should not be served in the same meal, for the combination is undesirable. Corn soup contrasts much better with tomato salad than does the tomato soup, for it has the bland flavor that is needed to offset the acid salad. Some housewives, it is true, object to such planning on the ground that it does not give them opportunity to utilize all the materials they may have on hand at the same time. But in nearly every instance the materials can be used to excellent advantage in meals that are to follow and, in addition, the gain in variety is sufficient to warrant the adoption of such a method. 61. As there should be variety in the materials used to make up the dishes of a meal, so should there be variety in the flavor of the foods selected. Rice, macaroni, and potato, for instance, make an undesirable combination. They are too similar because they are all high in starch; besides, they resemble one another too closely in consistency and they are all bland in flavor. If a meal contains one or two bland dishes, a special effort should be made to supply some highly flavored dish in order to relieve the monotony. The same thing may be said of acid foods; that is, an oversupply of these is just as distasteful as too many bland foods. 62. To have fresh fruit for the daily breakfast would be very delightful, but such fruit cannot always be secured. When fresh fruit cannot be had every day, it is better to alternate it with canned fruit or stewed dried fruit than to have it for several days in succession and then have to serve the alternative for a number of days. The same is true of cereals. If use is to be made of both cooked and uncooked cereals, it is much better to alternate them than to serve the cooked ones for breakfast for an entire week and then uncooked ones the next week. 63. When two vegetables are used in the same meal, they should be different. Sweet potatoes and white potatoes, although often served together, do not belong in the same meal. In fact, for most seasons of the year, two vegetables dissimilar in consistency should be supplied. For instance, if spinach is included in a meal, some contrasting vegetable, such as carrots, shell beans, etc., should be served with it. Beets and carrots would not make a good combination, nor should cabbage be combined with spinach, especially if both vegetables are prepared with a sour dressing. 64. A bland food or one high in fat, such as roast pork, certain kinds of fish, etc., is much more palatable if a highly seasoned sauce or another highly seasoned food or, in fact, a food of an entirely different flavor is served with it. Apple sauce or baked apples are usually served with roast pork for this purpose, while sour sauces or pickles of some description are served with fish to relieve its blandness. 65. To secure the most successful meals, the main course should be decided upon first and the additional dishes, such as soup, salad, and dessert, should be the second consideration. In this method of planning meals, they can be properly balanced, for if the main course is heavy, the others can be made light or some of them omitted altogether, while if the main course is a light one, heavier dishes may be selected to accompany it. Whenever it is possible to do so, the heavy meal of the day should be served at noon and the lighter one in the evening. This plan should always be followed for children, and it is preferable for adults. However, having dinner at noon is often very inconvenient and sometimes impossible, because frequently one or more members of the family are at business some distance from home and their coming home at noon for dinner is impractical. In such an event, the evening meal should be the heavy one, but it should not be made too hearty and overeating should be avoided. At all meals, tea and coffee should be used sparingly. Especially should this rule be followed by persons who are nervous, or high strung, or are troubled with indigestion and insomnia. At any rate, it is advisable not to drink either of these beverages at night. * * * * * METHODS OF SECURING VARIETY IN MEALS CARD-FILE SYSTEM OF MENU MAKING 66. With the general rules for meal planning in mind, the housewife is well prepared to arrange menus that will be properly balanced, as well as varied and attractive. One means of securing variety in menus, and at the same time supplying oneself with a very convenient piece of kitchen equipment, consists in placing the recipes used on small cards and filing them in a card file under the headings to which they belong, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. For instance, a heading should be made for soups, one for potatoes, and so on. These cards may then be rotated in order to make up menus. When the first card of each group has been used, it should be placed at the back of the others in that group; then each one will come in the order in which it was originally placed in the file. Of course, when the cards are not filed alphabetically, it is a little more difficult to find the recipes one needs at a particular time, and so if desired other means of using the cards for menu making may be easily devised without changing their position. [Illustration: FIG. 7] In addition to serving as a basis for menus, this arrangement takes the place of a cook book. In fact, it is much more convenient, for instead of a book containing recipes on the table where the work is being done, a small card, which takes up less space and is much less likely to be in the way, may be substituted. [Illustration: FIG. 8] DINNER MENUS