Food for growing children

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B30 115 2M-728J

BULLETIN

' OF THE

UNIVERSITY OFJTEXAS

No. 342

ISSUED FOUR TIMES A MONTH

EXTENSION SERIES No. 51 JUNE 20, 1914

Food for Growing Childrea

BY

JESSIE P. RICH

DIVISION OF HOME WELFARE
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

Published by the University of Texas
AUSTIN. TEXAS

Entered at the Postoffice in Austin, Texas, as Second Class Mail Matter

f?J^06'

•I0LO6I

BIOLO«l
LIBRAIIY

The benefits of education and of
useful knowledge, generally diffused
through a community, are essential
to the preservation of a free gov-
ernment.

Sam Houston.

Cultivated mind is the guardian
genius of democracy .... It is tlie
only dictator that freemen acknowl-
edge and the only security that free-
men desire.

Mirabeau B. Lamar.

FOOD FOR GROWING CHILDREN.

The food question is undoubtedly the most important prob-
lem in the welfare of the growing child. It has profound ef-
fect upon his physical development, his disposition and his
character. Indiscriminate feeding is the cause of much of the
trouble and worry of mothers. The child is allowed to eat
the foods prepared for the adult. No account is taken of the
undeveloped, immature condition of his digestive organs. He
has only limited facilities for caring for his foods. The di-
gestive juices are not in full stren.2th and the means for masti-
cation are undeveloped. These points should be taken into
consideration in feeding, and the food administered to the
growing child should be of such a nature and in such condi-
tion as to recognize his limitations.

Many books and lectures are available for the feeding of
very young children.

Holt: "Diseases of Infancy and Childhood."

Chapin: ''Theory and Practice of Infant Feeding."

Campbell : ' ' Practical Motherhood. ' '

These books give the principles of infant feeding and modi-
fication of cow's milk for bottle food. Few books carry the
subject of feeding through the early years of the growing
child. They fail to explain carefully the diet after ])abyhood
is past.

The mother who would do the best for her growing child
should know these things : '

The uses of the food in the body to the growing child.

The foods best suited to meet the requirements of the grow-
ing child.

The best method of preparing foods for the growing child.

When to administer the food to the growing child.

The cost of food required for the growing child.

THE USES OF THE FOOD IN THE BODY TO THE GROWING CHILD.

Foods are taken into the system to perform special work.
The body may be likened to a great machine in motion. The

M361425

4 Bidleiin of the University of Texas

efficiency of this machine comes from the fuel or food sup-
plied. The fuel in the human machine must do more than fur-
nish power to do work. It must keep the machine in a state of
repair and increase the size from that of the infant to the
adult. The machine can never completely shut down its activ-
ity for repair or growth. The foods are the means of increas-
ing the size of the growing child. They are the sources of
power and activity.

THE FOODS BEST SUITED TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OP THE
GROWING CHILD.

The food materials are of great variety but analysis shows
that all of them are but varying com])inations of a few simple
foods just as all of our English words are made from twenty-
six letters. These basic foods are carbo-hydrates, including
starch and sugar, proteins, fats and mineral salts.

The starches are well known substances and occur in such
vegetables as cereals, potatoes, rice, wheat, corn, and oats.

Sugar is largely used in commercial form but occurs also
in fruit and vegetables and in some animals products in small
quantities. Sugar and starch are specially suited to furnish
the heat and energy required by the body. The l)est starches
for children are obtained from such as cereals, rice, wheat,
corn, oats, and from potatoes. Sugar furnishes a beneficial
source of energy if eaten in small quantities, but for the grow-
ing child large amounts of sugar are considered especially
harmful. Possibly the best administr'ation of sugar is in the
date and figs eaten in small quantities as dessert for luncheon
or dinner. *

The fats are easily recognized and are further sources of
heat and energy. The best sources of fat for children are
cream, butter, olive oil, cotton-seed oil, nuts, and ])acon.

The substances required by the body to repair tissue and to
build the muscles are called protein. This is a material found
especially in eggs, the lean of meiats, milk, etc. Protein foods
also furnish heat and energy but they are expensive and dis-
astrous to health if too much is taken.

The best protein foods for the growing child are those found
in milk, eggs, chicken, mutton and beef, and nuts when prop-

Food for Gromng Children 5

erly ground and pulverized ; cheese rightly cooked, beans, peas
and lentils.

Mineral salts are also needed building material. They are
essential to the growth of the bones and the teeth and they
are necessary constituents of the blood and body fluids. Some
of the more important mineral salts are iron, lime, phos-
phorus, and potassium. These mineral salts are found in many
foods, especially in milk, green vegetables, fresh fruits, and
cereals. It is necessary that the growing child have these
in his diet. Many children do not like green vegetables, but
if they are taught to eat them at an early age, this dislike can
often be obviated. The child can frequently be taught to eat
the vegeta))les through means of Scotch broths, cream soups,
and me-at stews.

Onions, cabbage, spinach, and the yolk of eggs are among
the best sources of iron. Vegetables for very young children
should be carefully rubbed through a puree sieve. Lime is
largely obtained from milk. Children who do not like milk
can be given it in disguised form as in a cream soup, a junket
pudding, or in a cup of cocoa.

THE BEST METHOD OF PREPARING FOODS FOR THE GROWING CHILD.

The proteins, starches, and the fats all have a particular tem-
perature which is best suited to their preparation. In the
case of the protein foods a knowledge of the effects of heat
on protein is necessary. Eggs are a typical protein food. To
determine the effect of heat on eggs put a slightly beaten eg^
into a buttered sauce pan and pl^ce it over a slow fire, stirring
the egg constanly until a jelly like mass is formed. Now allow
more heat and notice the result. The egg becomes hard and
tough. High temperature applied to any form of protein
clauses it to shrink and harden and renders it difficult to di-
gest. A low temperature below the boiling point is best suited
to cook protein foods and makes them easily digestible. The
reason custards curdle is because the egg has been cooked at
too high a temperature. The egg is especially necessary in
the diet of the growing child and too much cannot ])e said
about its proper method of preparation. What is true of the

6 Bulletin of the University of Texas

temperature of the cooking of the egg is true of all protein
foods.

On the other hand, starches and foods containing starches
require a high temperature. This is necessary to break up the
starch grains and put them into a condition of digestibility
The temperature in moist heat would be what we call the
boiling point, 212 degrees Fahrenheit. This would suggest
that rice, cereals, potatoes, etc., be cooked at a high tempera-
ture or for a longer time at a temperature a few degrees below
the boiling point.

Fats and fatty foods should be cooked in such a way that
the fat does not become too brown. When fat is subjected to
too high a temperature it splits up and changes into sub-
stances irritating to the lining of the stomach. A dark burn-
ing of the fat indicates this splitting. Browned butter and
foods browned in butter and very crisp brown bacon are very
hard to digest. It is because of this fact that we find one of
the greatest objections to fried foods, especially for children.

Further principles may be given to govern the feeding of
growing children.

First: The foods for the growing child should all be sim-
ple and simply prepared. That means that the diet should con-
tain no high spiced foods, no fried foods, no rich pastry and
rich cakes. The child should not be given a great variety of
foods at any one meal. The variety in the diet should come
rather from meal to meal and from day to day.

Second : The food administered to the growing child should
be in a condition such as can be easily eared for by the diges-
tive apparatus of the growing orp-anism. Often the digesti-
bility of a food depends on its fineness of division. The child
should be taught to chew thoroughly, but to a certain extent
the preparation in the kitchen should take into consideration
the child's limited powers of mastication. Such foods as peas,
beans, and lentils should ])e rubbed through a strainer for the
younger children and served in a. cream soup or as a vegetable.
Corn, if given at all to small children, should be scored and
only the milk of the corn allowed the child. Fresh bread and
rolls fed to a child reach the stomach in a gummy mass. Large
chunks of cheese are bad. The cheese is a concentrated food

Food for Growing Children 7

and should be grated or dissolved in a milk sauce. Bananas
slip down in large pieces and cause discomfort.

Fruits for the young children should be thoroughly cooked
or scraped. The fruits should be free from all coarse fibre and
skin l)efore eaten. This again is due to the fact that the diges-
tive system of the child is not in shape to take care of the coarse
fibrous material.

Water is needed in the daily diet of the child. It may be
taken between meals and in a delicate amount at meal time,
but the food must not be washed down with the liquid. The
water should be pure, and if one is not sure that it is free
from contamination, it should be boiled and cooled before
given to the child. Several glasses are needed each day. Un-
der no circumstances should the child be given tea or coffee.
These beverages stimulate the nerves and take away the appe-
tite. Hot water with a little milk and sugar or "crust" coffee
made from toasted bread or wheat cocoa will give a hot drink
for the cold morning.

THE AMOUNT OF FOOD REQUIRED FOR THE GROWING CHILD.

The strong child who is active in play and work demands
more and more food as he grows larger. If he has the right,
kind of food, takes it at the right time, chews it thoroughly,
there is little danger that he will over-eat. The less vigorous
child who gets up unfreshed in the morning, perhaps because
he has had foul air to breathe through the night, or the child
whose diet consists largely of candy, pickles, ice cream cones,
chili, tamales, and other food ].)ought from the itinerant vendor
may not get enough food to make him grow as he should and
provide for his activity. One can determine whether or not
the growing child is gaining enough by weighing him. But
whether he is pale, listless, irritable because he has not had
enough food, or for some other reason, is not always easy to
tell. To determine whether the lack of proper nourishment is
to blame, certain amounts have been determined upon which
are suitable to the average child (see table below), "and we m'ay
compare the amount given with these standards. Just as clothes
are made up in sizes to fit special ages, so a certain amount of
food is suggested for the child between varying ages. But, as

8 Bulletin of the University of Texas

in planning a dress for a certain age, the size of the child as
well as the age must be considered, so in determining the amount
of food needed, the weight as well as the age must be taken
into account.

We cannot measure our foods in pounds and ounces and say
we will give so many pounds or ounces each day to each in-
dividual. The foods contain different substances of different
values. Many foods contain much water and waste. Because
of this condition, in order to measure the amount of nutriment
in any food, we measure the heat that is obtained from that
food when it is burned. All foods containing protein, starch,
sugar, and fats are burned in the body before they are 'avail-
able for use in the body. The unit of heat used for measuring
the heat produced by the burning of these foods is called the
calorie. Just as we say five or six quarts of milk, so we say
five or six calories of heat. A calorie is merely a unit for meas-
uring .a specific amount of heat. The amount of heat required
to raise the temperature of one pint of water four degrees
Fahrenheit is called a calorie. For convenience dietaries are
now planned on the basis of one hundred calorie portions. Each
of the following food portions represent about one hundred
calories :

Name of Food and Serving. Ounces.

Bread (corn) , small square 1.30

Bread (white) , thick slice 1.30

Bread (brown) , thick slice 1.50

Com flakes, cereal dish (1 cup) 97

Oats (rolled) i .88

Hominy (cooked), large serving 4.20

Hominy (uncooked), 2% tablespoons 92

Rice (boiled), serving dish 3:10

Rice (uncooked), 21/2 tablespoons 98

Shredded wheat, 1 biscuit ' 94

"Wheat flour, 4 teaspoons 97

Eggs, 1 2.10

Chocolate (bitter), % square 56

Puffed rice, 1% cups 97

Potatoes, 1 medium potato 4.20'

Food for Growing Children 9

Cabbage, 3 cups H-OO

Split pea, 1% tablespoonfuls. 1.00

Whole milk, small glass 4.90

Cheese (full cream), V/^ cubic inches 82

Cottage cheese, 4 cubic inches 3.12

Banana, 1 large 3.50

Apples, 2 apples (small) 7.30

Grape juice, small glass 4.20

Name of Food and Serving. Ounces.

Cream, % glass l-'^O

Sponge cake, small piece 89

Custard (milk), ordinary cup 4.29

Olives (green), 7 olives 1.10

Olives (ripe) , 7 olives 1-30

Sugar, 3 teaspoonfuls or l^/^ lumps 86

Pecans, 8 46

Celery 19.00

Lettuce 17.30

When children are of normal size, development and activity
they require per day about as follows :

Age in Years. Calories,

Boys 14-17 .2700-3000

Girls 14-17 2200-2600

Children 10-13 1800-2200

Children 6- 9 1400-2000

Children 2-5 .1200-1500

Children 1-2 900-1200

Infants .... Under 1 year .... 45 c!allories per pound of weight

Should children be under or over size their requirement can
be figured from the following table:

From 1-2 years of age about 45-40 calories per pound.

From 2-5 years of age about 40-35 calories per pound.
'From 6-9 years of age about 35-31 calories per pound.

From 10-13 years of age about 31-27 calories per pound.
.From 14-17 years of age about 27-20 calories per pound.

10 Bulletin of the University of Texas

One must remember in using the calorie that it measures only
the amount of food. It is not enough merely to see that the
child secures the needed number of calories. A five-year-old
could get 1200 calories from sugar alone but that child would
not grow. A child must have a "mixed diet," containing pro-
tein, fats, sugars, starches, and minerals. Mineral salts cannot
be burned, so they have no fuel value. They are, however, a
most important food constituent. They are absolutely neces-
sary, and must be present in sufficient amounts if the child is
to develop normally. Lack of lime salts cause rickets ; lack of
iron, anemia. Milk is very deficient in iron, and for this reason,
as a child approaches the end of its first year, the milk diet
should be supplemented with other foods, eggs and strained
cereals, for example. A mother must select with great care,
using each day milk, eggs, cereals, green vegetables, fruits and
bread. Where the child has a carefully planned mixed diet
it seldom fails to get enough of each of the needed materials
to build the body and furnish the energy for activity.

WHEN TO ADMINISTER THE FOOD TO THE GROWING CHILD.

The child should have regular meals provided and should eat
at regular times. Little children should have a morning
luncheon at eleven o'clock. They should be continued after
the child enters school and should continue through the first
three or four years of the child's school life. A glass of milk
and a graham cracker are sufficient. Where schools have
given this luncheon to the children a marked difference has
been noted in the amount of work the children can accomplish
in the last morning hour as compared with the work of chil-
dren with no luncheon. Very little children need a simple
luncheon in the afternoon. This luncheon, again, may con-
sist of a cracker and a glass of milk, or a biaked apple, with
a slice of bread and butter.

THE COST OF FOOD REQUIRED FOR THE GROWING CHILD,

This is a difficult question. The price of food varies in dif-
ferent parts of the country, in different parts of the city, arid
at different times of the year. If the money must go as far
:as possi])le, remember there is more nourishment in the cheap

1 quart of milk . . 10

Food for Growing Children 11

cuts of meat ; that the broken rice is as good as the whole ker-
nels ; that homemade bread is the best and cheapest ; that but-
terine and cotton seed oils are cheaper than butter and are
fairly good substitutes; that beans and peas may be used in
place of meat ; that skimmed milk contains much good protein
that can be eaten in the form of cottage cheese ; that one quart
of whole milk gives as much strength as two pounds of pota-
toes, four pounds of cabbage, eight eggs, or three-quarters
of a pound 'of round steak. The cost of these articles is as
follows :

8 eggs 24

2 pounds potatoes 05

% pound steak 16

A pounds cabbage 10

Remember that in buying food at the baker's ready pre-
pared you are paying the baker for doing work that you can
do better and cheaper yourself and that in buying canned
goods you are guilty of the same extravagance.

Buy the non-perishable supplies, where it is possible, in
quantities, thus securing the advantage of a lower price and
making it possible to purchase articles of food when they are
cheapest and best on the market.

MEALS

*Below are some suggested meals with the amount for serving
given :

Food for one day for a child 2-5. Price about 15c. Fuel
Talue 1200-1500 calories.

Breakfast— 7 :30 0 'clock.

Orange juice, 4 tablespoonfuls.
Cream of wheat, i/4 cup.
Milk, 1% cups.
Toast.

*We are indebted to the Chicago Child Welfare for a part of this
material on meals.

12 Bulletin of the University of Texas

Lunch — 11 O'clock.
Milk, 1 glass.
Bread and butter, 1 thin slice.

Dinner— 12:30 O'clock

Cream of split pea soup, 1 cup.

Bread and butter, 2 thin slices of bread, 1 pat of butter.

Rice pudding and raisins, 1 generous serving.

Lunch — 4 O'clock.
Graham crackers, 2.

Supper.

Milk toast, 2 thin slices, 1 glass top milk.
Baked apple, 1.

Food for one day for a child 6-9. Price about 15c. Fuel
value, 1400 to 2000 calories.

Breakfast.
Cream of wheat and dates, I/2 cup of cream of wheat and 4r
dates.

Milk, Ys cup top milk.
Toast with butter, 1 slice.

Lunch — 11 O'clock.
Milk, 1 glass.
Bread and butter, 1 slice.

Dinner.
Fish chowder, 1 cup.
Crackers, 2.
Rhubarb sauce, 1 cup.
Cookies, 2.

Supper.

Creamed egg, 1 egg and % cup cream sauce.
Toast, 2 slices.
Milk, 1 glass.
Gingerbread, 1 piece.

Breakfast.
Oatmeal, I/2 cup.
Milk, 14 cup top.
Toast and butter, 2 slices.
Stewed dried apples, 1 sauce dish.

Food for Growing Children 13

Lunch.
Eice and cheese, % cup.
Bread and butter, 2 slices.
Bananas, 1.

Dinner.

Lentil stew with potatoes.
Corn bread and butter, 2 slices.
Prune whip.

The following meals 'are for* the three children of a family
living on a $1000 income and they are so planned that, by in-
creasing the amount of food or making simply additions to the
menu of the younger children, the older children are provided for.

Child 2-5 years of age : 1200-1500 calories.

Breakfast— 7 :30 0 'clock.
Orange juice, 4 tablespoons.
Cream of wheat, 1/4 cup.
Milk, 11/^ cups.
Bread (stale), 1 slice.

Lunch — 11 O'clock.
Milk, 1 cup.
Bread (stale), 1 slice.
Butter, 1 teaspoonful.

Dinner — 1 O'clock
Baked potato, 1.
Boiled onions (mashed), 2.
Bread and butter, 1 slice.
Milk to drink, 1 cup.
Baked apple, 1.
Boiled rice, 1 cup.
Milk, % cup.
Bread and butter, 1 slice.

SUBSTITUTES OR ADDITIONS.

For cream or wheat or rice : Farina, Wheatena, Pettyjohn
or other cereal.

For orange juice and baked apple : Prune pulp and sauce.
For onion : Spinach, strained peas, stewed celery.

14 Bulletin of the University of Texm

An egg every day may take the place of a part of the milk
(% cup), and should be given two or three times a week.
Child 6-9 years of age : 1500-1800 calories.

Breakfast— 7 :30 O'clock
Cream of Wheat, % cup.
Top milk, 1/4 cup.
Stewed prunes, 5.
Toast, 1 slice.
Milk to drink, 1 glass.

Dinner — 1 O'clock.
Pea soup, 1 cup.
Croutons, 1 slice bread.
Boiled onions, 2 small.

Baked potato, 1 large. \

Molasses cookies, 2.

Supper— 5:30 O'clock.
Cream toast, 2 slices bread.
Rice pudding (with milk and sugar), 1 cup.
Milk to drink, 1 glass.

SUBSTITUTES OR ADDITIONS.

Cream of Wheat.

For peas : Strained beans or lentils.

For onions: Spinach, cauliflower, carrots (well cooked),
lettuce.

For prunes: Ripe apples, dates, baked l)ananas, all stewed
fruits.

For pudding: Junkets, custards, ice cream, blanc mange,
bread pudding, and simple desserts.

For cookies: Sponge cake, gingerbread, plain cakes or
cookies.

Child 10-13 years of age : 1800-2200 calories.

Breakfast— 7:30 O'clock.
Cream of Wheat, % cup.
Top milk, % cup.
Stewed prunes, 7 prunes.
Toast, 2 slices.
Milk to drink, 1 cup.

Food for Growing Children 15

Luncheon — 1 O'clock.
Pea soup, 1 cup.
Boiled onions, 2 small.
Baked potato, 1 large.
Bread and butter, 2 slices.
Cookies, 3.

Dinner— 5:30 O'clock

Baked fish, small serving.

Creamed potatoes, % cup.

Spinach, I/2 cup.

Bread and butter, 2 slices. .

Rice pudding (milk and sugar), 1 cup.

SUBSTITUTES OR ADDITIONS.

For Cream of Wheat : Any well cooked cereal.

For fish: Rare beefsteak, roast beef or mutton chops, boiled
mutton, salt fish.

For prunes: Any fruit (uncooked or cooked).

For vegetables : Any well cooked or fresh vegetables.

For dessert : All simple desserts.

The above menus are inexpensive, biit they provide little
fresh fruits and vegetables. They are not the best possible
because of this omission. The growing child needs in its diet
the fresh fruits and vegetables daily.

The following menus suggest meals for children between the
ages of two and three years and three and six years. The cost
here exceeds 20 cents per day.

FROM TWO TO THREE YEARS.

Breakfast.

1. Juice of one sweet orange, pulp of six stewed prunes,
pineapple juice (one ounce), a baked apple or apple sauce.

2. A cereal, such as oatmeal, farina, cream of wheat, hom-
iny, com meal or rice slightly sweetened or l)uttered.as pre-
ferred, with the addition of top milk (top sixteen ounces), or
a soft boiled or poached eg^ with stale bread or toast.

3. A glass of milk.

16 Bulletin of the University of Texas

Dinner.

1. Broth or soup made of chicken, beef or mutton, thick-
ened with arrow root, split peas or rice with the addition of the
yolk of an egg or toast squares.

2. Scraped beef, white meat of chicken, broiled fish, or
halibut (two ounces), or two slices of broiled crisp bacon.

3. Mashed or baked potatoes, macaroni, peas, spinach, car-
rots, beets, squash or cauliflower.

4. A glass of milk with educator or graham crackers, or
stale bread buttered.

5. . Dessert : Apple sauce, baked apple, rice, junket, custard.

Supper.
1. Stewed fruit, a cereal or ^gg (if not taken for break-
fast), bread and milk or custard, cup of warm milk or cocoa,
crackers,, or zwiebach. Graham crackers or stale graham
bread, if constipated.

FROM THREE TO SIX YEARS.

Breakfast.

1. Fruits : Oranges, apples, pears, stewed prunes.

2. Cereal or eggs (not both), oatmeal, hominy, corn meal,
rice and wheat preparations well cooked and salted, with thin
cream and sugar or butter and salt.

3. Eggs: Soft-boiled, poached, omelet, scrambled.

4. Milk or cocoa to drink, stale bread and butter.

Dinner.

1. Soups: Beef, chicken or mutton.

2. Chicken, rare beefsteak, roast beef, fish or lamb chops.

3. Vegetables: Spinach, carrots, string beans, peas, cauli-
flower tops, mashed or baked potatoes, beets, lettuce (without
vinegar), macaroni, spaghetti.

4. Bread and butter (not fresh bread or rolls).

5. Dessert : Custard, rice or bread pudding, tapioca, choco-
late pudding, ice cream (once a week), corn-starch pudding,
stewed prunes or baked apples.

6. Milk.

Supper.
1. Milk toast or a thick soup, as pea or cream of celery, or

Food for Growing Children 17

s. cereal or thin cream. Stewed fruit or a custard, or a plain
pudding, jam or jelly, graham crackers and milk.

2. Bread and butter.

All menus given are prepared for a child of normal health.
Individual cases will occur where certain things cannot be
given to certain children. In the case of one child eggs caused
distress. The mother must understand the child individually,
and eliminate from its diet those foods which cause discomfort.

The method of serving foods aids in their digestion. The
child should eat in a pleasant and well aired room. The food
should be served in an attr'active, pleasing way. Especially is
this true of the child after he has reached the adolescent period,
whore the nervous system is overstrained. Confusion, worry,
and untidiness act directly on the digestive juices with harm-
ful effects to the child.

In general, the foods for the growing child should be simple,
should be easy of digestion, should ))e well served. The diet
should not furnish tea or coffee, pork, fried foods and gravies,
hot breads, pies, bananas, cucumbers and cabbage. The diet
should not administer foods, such as beans, peas, lentils, cheese,
nuts, peanuts, etc., unless they are in a fine state of division.
The simplier the diet, the simplier the preparation, the better
it is for the growing child.

A FEW RECIPES.

CEREALS.

In general cereals should be cooked as follows:

Have the water rapidly boiling. Add one teaspoonful of salt
for each cup of cereal. Sprinkle the cereal slowly into the
water, stirring until it is well mixed, and boil for five minutes.
Continue the cooking without stirring, either in a double boiler
or with a piece of asbestos under the saucepan. A double boiler
may be made by fitting together two saucepans, nearly of the
same size, putting the larger one on top.

Fine cereals need three and a half to six times as much water
as cereal. The coarser cereals require two to three times as
much water as cereal.

Cream of Wheat, Wheatena, Quaker oats, wheat germ, malt

18 Bulletin of the University of Texas

eereal should be cooked thirty or forty minutes ; coarse oatmeal,
corn meal and cracked wheat from two to six hours.

The fireless cooker is excellent for cereals. Add cereal to boil-
ing salted water. Boil ten minutes. Put in cooker and allow
to stand over night.

Dates, cooked prunes, or other fruit, cut in small pieces, may
be stirred into the cereal before serving.

VEGETABLES.

Wash or scrub vegetables in cold water. Cook until tender
in salted boiling water. Withered vegetables may be freshened
by putting in cold water in an hour or two. This is especially
true of carrots, potatoes, and turnips. The time for cooking
varies very much with the age of the vegetables. This table
gives the time for cooking some kinds of vegetables :

Potatoes, 30 minutes.

Carrots, 45 minutes.

Onions, 60 minutes.

Turnips, 45 minutes.

Beets, 2 hours.

Cabbage, 20 minutes.

Spinach, 30 to 45 minutes.

Squash, 30 to 45 minutes.

DRIED FRUITS.

Wash the fruit thoroughly, add four or five times as much
water . as fruit, and soak from twelve to twenty-four hours.
Bring to a boil and put into a fireless cooker. Sugar may be
added if desired. Prunes need none if the juice is boiled
down. Apricots, peaches and apples need little. With 48
hours' soaking apricots and peaches may l)e cooked with only a
few minutes boiling.

LENTILS.

Pick over and wash the lentils and toak them over night, or
even twenty-four hours.

. Pour off the water and add about four times as much fresh
water as there are lentils. Add a teaspoon of salt for each
cup of lentils. A slice of salt pork and an onion may be added

r

Food for Growing Children 19

if desired. Boil for half an hour and then cook in the fireless
cooker for six or eight hours, or simmer slowly on the stove.

CREAM SOUPS.

Delicious cream soups may be made from the water in which
vegetables, such as spinach, celery, asparagus, cauliflower and
cabbage have been cooked. For two cups of the vegetable
water allow an equal amount of mill:. Thicken with three
level tablespoons of flour rubbed smooth in-^ little milk. Stir
in two tablespoons of ))utter or butterine or clarified beef fat,
and salt to taste. In the same way cream soups may be made
from dried gr^en or split peas, dried lima beans and lentils,
as well as from corn, onions, potatoes, and tomatoes. The dried
vegetablre should be soaked and used with the water in which
they were cooked. Unless liked very thick; a little less flour
•may be used for thickening, since they contain so much starch.
(Two tablespoons to the quart is sufficient.)

CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP."

2 cups of milk. 2 tablespoons of fat.
' 2 cups of tomato. 1 tablespoon of salt.

4 tal)lespoons of flour.
Mix four tablespoons of flour with a little cold tomato, add
the rest of the tomato and bring to the boiling point. Strain,
cool, and then add the milk. Heat just before serving and add
the fat and salt. This will serve six people.

POTATO SOUP.

3 potatoes. . 1 tablespoon of fat. ^
1 quart milk. 1 tablespoon of salt.

2 tat)lespoons of flour.

Boil potatoes in salted water until soft ; mash and beat until
light. Add milk gradually. Mix flour with a little cold liquid
and add to the lot potato mixture. Let come to the boiling
point and then add the butter and salt. This will serve six
people.

BEEF STEW WITH VEGETABLES.

Cut into pieces one or two pounds of stew meat (neck piece,
aitch bone or shank may be used). Cover well w^ith boiling

20 Bulletin of the University, of Texas

water and simmer for two or three hours or until the meat is
nearly done. Add potatoes and other vegetables, such as car-
rots, onion, turnips ; cut in small pieces, and cook until tender.
Season with salt. Thicken or serve thin as desired. Rice and
left over cereal may be used for thickening.

This also may be cooked in the fireless cooker. Cook the
meat and vegetables in boiling water ten minutes, put into the
fireless cooker for font to five hours. Season with salt and
serve hot. ^

FISH CHOWDER.

#

One pound cod, haddock or any white fish ; six medium sized
potatoes cut into small pieces, one sliced onion, one or two
slices of salt pork cut into small pieces, two teaspoons salt, two
cups milk, four cups water. Wash and cut fish from l)ones#
Put four cups of cold water over bones and cook 20 minutes.
Strain out bones and add pork, potatoes, and onion to this
.water; cook. 1-5 ininiites, then add fish, cover and simmer 15
minutes. Then add milk, salt and crackers and cook five min-
utes. Serve hot.

SCOTCH BROTH.

Wash and cut into pieces two ])ounds of neck of mutton.
Put meat and bones into kettle with two quarts of cold water
and bring quickly to the boiling point; add from one-half to
three-fourths cup of barley that has been soaked over night
in cold water. Simmer one to one and one-half hours or until
the meat is tender. Then add two carrots, one turnip, one
onion, and two potatoes 'cut into small pieces. Cook until
vegeta.bles are soft. Serve hot.

If the fireless cooker is used, add vegetables with the ))arley.
Boil ten minutes and put into the cooker for four or five hours.

GAYLAMOUNT

PAMPHLET BINDER

Manufactured hy

GAYLORD BROS. I«c.

Syracuse, N. Y.

Stockton, Calif.

ivia614S5

F13

BIOLOGr

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