The Washington times., 1914-04-29

Meal Dependent
On Real Thought

ST. LOUIS, April es.-The real
problem of home cooking Is the pre-
pairing of appetizing and wholesome
meals, with due regard to expendi-
ture of time and money. Meals
should be planned several days
ahead, each meal and the program
for each day hinging on the preced-
ing one. In this way desirable COM
binations can be made with little or
no waste. If the meal Is prepared
without planning the housekeeper
must use what she has on hand
and a badly balanced meal and poor
combinations often result. If a
market is near and the telephone Is
used in ordering. she is apt to get
an expensive piece of meat which
can be cooked nicely while the meat
and vegetables left over from the
preceding day are often wasted as
no thought had been given on how
to combine them.
1t is not necessary to spend much
time figuring perfect balance OF food
principles In family meals, but 1t Is
necessary to have a general idea Of
composition Of foods and to be care
full that not too much protein, fat,
sugar or starch be served in a meal.
The following examples. often
served In poorly balanced" meals,
will illustrate this point:
Beef. macaroni. and cheese. peas
too high in protein.
Beef. cheese, custard-too high IN
protein.
I Pork; S,ls fried T.! potatoes pot rich pudding
Light meat, potatoes. rich pudding
toes. corn, rice pudding-too high In
starch.
Meat, candied sweet potatoes. jelly
cake. preserves-too high in sugar.
The tendency In well-to-do Ameri-
tanning too high a proportion Of fat
and protein, also to serve TOO
MUCH. The total food value should
depend chiefly on the amount OF
physical activity taken by members
of the family The menu for farm
er's family should contain more
heavy, rich foods than that of
family whose occupations are seden-
tary.
That good digestion depends to a
considerable extent on pleasurable
taste in eating. has been proven SCI
entifically, as well as by experience
of the ages. Appetite is the best
sauce" and outdoor exercise gives
good appetite. But not everyone
can have a keen appetite at all
times. so pleasing combinations are
important from n health standpoint.
Foods have the following char
acteristics or contrasts: Heavy
or light. moist or dry. strong or
mild favored; crisp or soft. acid
or sweet hot or cold. A meal
should have contrast or variety: 1t
kind of food. as all heavy or all
strong favored dishes. Mild fla
vored fools, like bread and pota-
toes, can be eaten in considerable
quantities in a meal. but the appe-
tite rebels at large quantities Of
turnips, cauliflower, cabbage,
In simple combinations the
strongly favored food should be
much less in quantity than mild
edibles. such as bread and cheese.
macaroni, and tomatoes. baked
beans and ketchup.
Creamed potatoes should not be
served when there Is a gravy; they
should be served with dry meat.
with dry vegetables. Plain butter
cakes, not rich layer cakes with
fruit or nut filings. should be
served with ice cream or whipped
cream desserts. Acid sauces should
be served with rich puddings. In
a three-course dinner, make two
courses moderately heavy and the
third light.
As in the other arts 1t is not pos
sible to give definite rules for plan
ming successful meals, but with care
ful observation the housekeeper
should succeed in planning appetiz-
ing and wholesome meals.