Evening star., 1935-04-10
Food Needs
Are Listed
By Groups
Milk, Cereal, Apples in
Class That Meets
Child Demand.
BY ANGELO T. RI.

TT is so hard to find things for tn.
children to eat. They have good
appetites, but have a terrible time
trying to find something nourishine
as well as tempting. Feeding children
is 50 difficult"
1t is difficult only when we make il
so. Children need simple food. They
have keen appetites and unless we
take the edge off them by serving
sweetened and spiced foods they will
eat simple food with enjoyment. We
get tired Of cooking and serving the
same things day after day two and
three times a day, but the children
will not tire of eating them. If We
serve the plain food, wholesome and
nutritious, as matter of course they
will keep right on eating it and thriv-
ing on it.
There are three fine foods within
reach OF all Of uS-milk, cereal and
apples. Milk is an almost perfect food
for little children. Make it the basic
Item on their menu: Cereal is an
almost perfect food for little children.
1t Is cheap and easy to cook and serve.
Apples are the favorite fruit of all
children. They like them as they
come OH the tree. They like them in
apple sauce. They scrape up the last
drop Of juice when they eat the baked
ones. With those three simple foods
as a base We can make good start on
the feeding problem.
II We teach the little ones to eat
those three foods, we establish fine
tastes and good eating habits at the
start We have foundation for the
later years when they begin to eat
crusty breads, vegetables and meat and
eggs. The idea is to teach them to
eat the plain wholesome Standbys as a
matter OF course and so open the way
for the more varied and extensive diet.
When the time comes to offer vege-
tables, do try to vary the kinds you
serve and vary the way they are
treated. Children get tired of the
proverbial spinach because it is served
so monotonously. There are other
green's children can eat. Young beet
tops, lettuce, for example. The spinach
can be chopped, sprinkled with lemon
juice and pinch of salt, and served
between two slices of buttered whole
wheat bread. 1t can be cooked in the
usual way, put through the sieve, or
chopped fine, and stirred in with the
scrambled eggs. 1t can be served in
filling for noodle paste. The older
children, who balk at it served In, its
nakedhess, will eat it in disguise, pro-
vided the disguise is clever enough.
I have found that a good bit of the
trouble mothers have in feeding chill
dren has its roots away back in the
beginning, when the children were not
trained to eat the simple basic foods
milk, cereal and fruit. The milk was
favored to suit the adult taste because
the baby might be tired of taking it
straight. The cereal was sugared in
the same way for the same reason.
Spice was added to the fruit so that
its original flavor, delight to all chill
dren, was lost and the taste for spiced
foods set in its place.
Begin with the simple foods of child
hood and hold to them AS the child
grows vary and extend the menu, but
try to avoid the dressing that deprives
the child of the real flavor of his
rightful foods until his eating habits
have been firmly established. 1t is
time enough then to add the trim
mings of color and flavor. The little
child's palate is best served by simple
foods.
copyright. 1881