=Stale Bread.= A food which tastes much like a prepared brea_Foods; nutrition and digestion

but is cheaper, may be made by dipping stale bread into molasses and

water, drying it in the oven for several hours, and then crushing it.

It is then ready to serve with cream. This is a palatable way to use up

stale bread.

* * * * *

=Crackers and Milk or Bread and Milk.= As noted by above table,

crackers are similar to breakfast foods in nutrient elements, and with

milk make a good food for breakfast, or a good luncheon. Business men,

and others who eat hurriedly and return immediately to work, will do

well to substitute crackers and milk, or bread and milk, for the piece

of pie, which often constitutes a busy man’s lunch.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Cereal Coffees]

According to investigations made by the United States Agriculture

Experiment Station, cereal coffees are made of parched grains. A few

contain a little true coffee, but for the most part they are made of

parched wheat, barley, etc., or of grain mixed with wheat middlings,

pea hulls, or corn cobs. There is no objection to any of these mixtures

providing they are clean. The cereal coffees, as seen by the following

table, contain no more nourishment than the true coffee, but they

are probably more easily digested; only a very little of the soluble

starch passes into the water. Coffee and tea are not taken for their

nutrition, but for their stimulating effect upon the nerves; and, if

stimulation is desired, the cereal coffees fall short.

TABLE VII.

_Composition of cereal-coffee infusion and other beverages._

————————————————————————————————————+—————+———————+———+————————+—————

| | | | | per

————————————————————————————————————+—————+———————+———+————————+—————

to 1 pint water) | 98.2| 0.2 | | 1.4 | 30

pint water) | 99.5| 0.2 | | .5 | 13

water) | 99.7| 0.3 | | .3 | 11

Coffee (1 ounce to 1 pint water) | 98.9| .2 | | .7 | 16

Tea (0.5 ounce to 1 pint water) | 99.5| .2 | | .6 | 15

Chocolate (0.5 ounce to 1 pint milk)| 84.5| 3.8 |4.7| 6.0 | 365

Cocoa (0.5 ounce to 1 pint water) | 97.1| .6 | .9| 1.1 | 65

Skimmed milk | 88.8| 4.0 |1.8| 5.4 | 170

————————————————————————————————————+—————+———————+———+————————+—————

By reference to table VII it will be seen that cocoa and skimmed milk

contain much more nutrition than any of the coffees. Their chief value

is that they furnish a _warm_ drink with the meal. They should not be

too hot.

Barley or wheat, mixed with a little molasses, parched in the oven, and

then ground, makes about the same mixture as the cereal coffee.

The old fashioned crust coffee, made from bread crusts, toasted in the

oven, is just as nutritious as any of the coffees and has the advantage

of being cheaper.

Barley water and oat water, made by boiling the grain thoroughly and

then straining, are nourishing foods for invalids and children. They

are often used as drinks by athletes and manual laborers, as they have

the advantage of both quenching thirst and supplying energy.

Gruels are made in the same way, only strained through a sieve. This

process allows more of the starch to pass with the water.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Legumes]

The legumes are the seeds of peas, beans, lentils and peanuts.

While they are seeds, just as the cereals are, they differ in that they

contain a very much larger proportion of protein and may be substituted

for meat or eggs in a diet. In all vegetarian diets the legumes should

be used freely to replace the meat.

All legumes must be thoroughly cooked and thoroughly masticated.

Because the protein in these foods is more difficult of digestion than

that in meat or eggs, particularly if not thoroughly masticated, they

are better adapted for the use of men doing manual labor. Soldiers,

day laborers, and others, whose work calls for physical exercise, can

digest legumes, when those whose occupation is more sedentary can not

do so.

TABLE VIII.—LEGUMES

—————————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+——————————

|Per |Per |Per |Per |Per |per pound

—————————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+——————————

Navy beans |12.6 | 22.5 | 1.8 | 59.6 | 3.5 | 1,605

Dried Peas | 9.5 | 24.6 | 1.0 | 62.0 | 2.9 | 1,655

Lentils | 8.4 | 25.7 | 1.0 | 59.2 | 5.7 | 1,620

Lima beans |10.4 | 18.1 | 1.5 | 65.9 | 4.1 | 1,625

Peanuts | 9.2 | 25.8 |38.6 | 24.4 | 2.0 | 2,560

Peanut butter | 2.1 | 29.3 |46.5 | 17.1 | 5.0 | 2,825

Canned peas |85.3 | 3.6 | 0.2 | 9.8 | 1.1 | 255

Canned lima beans |79.5 | 4.0 | 0.3 | 14.6 | 1.6 | 360

Canned string beans|93.7 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 3.8 | 1.3 | 95

Canned baked beans |68.9 | 6.9 | 2.5 | 19.6 | 2.1 | 600

String beans |89.2 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 7.4 | 0.8 | 195

Shelled peas |74.6 | 7.0 | 0.5 | 16.9 | 1.0 | 465

—————————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+——————————

The protein of the legumes is of the same nature as the casein of milk.

It has been called vegetable casein.

* * * * *

=Peanuts.= While an underground vegetable, grown like potatoes, peanuts

resemble nuts, inasmuch as they contain so much oil. Like other

legumes, they require cooking. They are roasted because this develops

the flavor.

Because of the proportion of the chemical elements in peanuts, they

will sustain life for an indefinite period, without other food, as they

provide rebuilding material, energy and heat. Used alone, however,

there is no counteracting acid, and it is better to add some fruit,

such as apples, or apples and dates.

In eating peanuts it is imperative that they be masticated _until they

are a pulp_; otherwise they are very difficult of digestion. The pain

which many people experience, after eating peanuts, is probably due to

eating too large a quantity and not fully masticating them, forgetting

that they are a very rich, highly-concentrated food. Both peanuts and

peanut butter contain over twenty-five per cent of protein and a much

larger percentage of fat; therefore they yield much heat and energy.

_Peanut Butter._ While peanut butter contains forty-six and one half

per cent fat, it contains only seventeen per cent carbohydrates. Since

sugars and starches are protections to fat, being used for energy

before the fats are consumed, if these sugars and starches are not

supplied in other food, the fats in the peanut butter are consumed for

energy. If starches _are_ consumed in other foods, it is clear that one

who wishes to reduce in flesh should avoid peanut butter, as well as

other fats.

Peanut butter is more easily digested than the baked peanut, unless

the latter is chewed to a pulp. It can be made at home by grinding the

peanuts in a meat grinder and then further mashing with a rolling pin

or a potato masher. A little lemon juice mixed with the peanut butter

makes it not only more palatable, but more easily digested. A peanut

butter sandwich is quite as nourishing as a meat sandwich.

* * * * *

=Shelled Peas.= Shelled peas were used in Europe as far back as in the

Middle ages, and there, to-day, the dried or “split” pea is used quite

as extensively as the dried bean. In America, peas are used almost

entirely in the green stage, fresh or canned.

As seen by Table VIII, the green, shelled pea contains seven per cent

protein and sixteen per cent sugar and starch, while the dry or “split”

pea contains over twenty-four and a half per cent protein and sixty-two

per cent sugar and starch, the difference being in the amount of water

in the shelled peas. Canned peas contain even a larger per cent of

water.

A variety of green peas is now being cultivated in which the pod of

the pea is used, just as the pod of the string bean. It is a sweet and

delicious side dish.

_Dry Peas_ are used in this country only by boiling, putting through a

sieve, and serving as pureé.

* * * * *

=Beans.= Baked navy beans may well be substituted on a menu for meat,

containing, as they do, twenty-two and one half per cent protein. It

is needless to state that beans and lean meat or eggs should not be

served at the same meal. Beans have the advantage of being cheaper than

meat, yet, as stated above, the protein in the legumes is less easily

digested than the protein of meat or eggs. They must be thoroughly

cooked and thoroughly masticated.

There is but a small percentage of fat in dried beans and for this

reason they are usually baked with a piece of pork. They make a very

complete, perhaps the most complete food, containing nutrient elements

in about the proper proportions. Effort has been made to make a bean

cracker for the sustenance of soldiers on a march, thus giving them a

complete food in condensed form.

In baking dried beans or peas, soft or distilled water should be used,

as the lime of hard water makes the shell almost indigestible. For

the same reason salt should be added when the beans are nearly done.

If soft water is not obtainable, add a little baking soda, in the

proportion of a half a teaspoon to two quarts of water.

_String Beans._ The string bean contains very little nutrient elements,

as shown by Table VIII. The pod and the bean, at this unripe stage,

are nearly ninety per cent water. Their chief value as a food consists

of their appetizing quality to those who are fond of them, thus

stimulating the flow of gastric juice. Like all green vegetables,

they stimulate the action of the kidneys. For this reason all green

vegetables are particularly valuable to those who drink little water.

_Lima Beans._ The dry, shelled bean, used during the winter, boiled and

baked is the lima bean.

_Kidney Beans_ contain much water but are more nutritious than the

string bean.

_Soy Bean._ In China and Japan this bean is used extensively. Being

rich in protein, it makes a well balanced diet with rice.

The soy bean is made into various preparations, one of the most

important being _shoyo_, now being introduced into other countries. To

make it, the soy bean is cooked and mixed with roasted wheat flour and

salt; into this is put a special ferment. It is then allowed to stand

for years in casks. The result is a thick, brown liquid with a pungent,

agreeable taste. It is very nourishing.

A kind of cheese is also made from boiling the soy bean for several

hours, then wrapping the hot mass in bundles of straw, and putting it

in a tightly closed cellar for twenty-four hours.

* * * * *

=Lentils= are not commonly used in this country, but they were one of

the earliest vegetables to be cultivated in Asia and the Mediterranean

countries. They are imported and are found only in the best markets of

large cities. They are used in the menu like dried peas and are fully

as nourishing, but the flavor of the lentil is pronounced and they are

not as agreeable to the average person as peas or beans.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Nuts]

Nuts are classed with the carbo-nitrogenous foods, because of the more

nearly equal proportion of proteins and carbonaceous substances.

TABLE IX.—NUTS

——————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+——————————

|Per |Per |Per |Per |Per |per pound

——————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+——————————

Almonds | 4.8| 21.0 |54.90| 17.3 | 2.0| 3,030

Brazil nuts | 5.3| 17.0 |66.80| 7.0 | 3.9| 3,329

Filberts | 3.7| 15.6 |65.30| 13.0 | 2.4| 3,342

Hickory nuts | 3.7| 15.4 |67.40| 11.4 | 2.1| 3,495

Pecans | 3.0| 16.7 |71.20| 13.3 | 1.5| 3,633

English walnuts | 2.8| 16.7 |64.40| 14.8 | 1.3| 3,305

Chestnuts, fresh | 45.0| 6.2 | 5.40| 42.1 | 1.3| 1,125

Walnuts, black | 2.5| 27.6 |56.30| 11.7 | 1.9| 3,105

Cocoanut, shredded| 3.5| 6.3 |57.30| 31.6 | 1.3| 3,125

Peanuts, roasted | 1.6| 30.5 |49.20| 16.2 | 2.5| 3,177

——————————————————+—————+———————+—————+————————+—————+——————————

It will be noted, by reference to the table, that nuts contain a much

larger proportion of fats and less starch than the legumes. Chestnuts

contain the largest amount of starch, pecans the most fat, and roasted

peanuts the most protein.

Nuts are a valuable food, but they should be made a part of a meal and

may well take the place of meat, because of the large percentage of

protein, rather than to be eaten as a dessert. They are too hearty to

eat at the end of a meal, after one has eaten as much other food as the

system requires. In planning a meal, if the dietary is rich in starches

and lacking in protein, a side dish of nuts may be served.

Too great stress cannot be laid upon the importance of the thorough

mastication of nuts; otherwise they are difficult of digestion. When

thoroughly chewed, however, they are as easily digested as cereals or

legumes. If ground fine in a meat grinder or through a sieve, they

digest more readily, but this grinding does not take the place of the

grinding with the teeth and the mixing with saliva. They are best

ground for salads, cake or croquettes.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: Milk]

Milk is called a complete food. It is a perfect food for the sustenance

of its own species,—the milk of the cow for the calf, the mother’s

milk for the infant; yet the milk of the cow is not perfect for the

child,—it is lacking in the proper proportion of sugar, and when fed to

the child a little sugar is added.

There has been a tendency among certain classes, to recommend an

all-milk diet, because the proteins, carbohydrates and fats are in

proportion to sustain life indefinitely, but experiments have shown

that healthy, digestive organs do their work better when a part of

the food is solid. Moreover, if an all-milk diet were followed, the

adult, in order to get sufficient nutriment, would be compelled to take

a larger proportion of water than necessary, the proportion of water

required by the system being about sixty-seven per cent, while milk

contains eighty-seven per cent.

In order for the adult to get the proper quantity of carbohydrates and

fat, from an all-milk diet, it would be necessary to drink from four

to five quarts of milk a day (sixteen to twenty glasses). Therefore,

although an exceedingly valuable food, containing nutriment elements

for repair and to supply heat and energy for an indefinite time, _milk

is not a desirable, perfect food for an adult_.

If the mother’s milk contains eighty-seven per cent water it seems

not too much for the infant. Young babies, on a milk diet, are almost

always fat. This is not because the fats, sugars and starches are in

too large a proportion to the protein, but it bears out the theory,

which is fully demonstrated in actual experiments of the writer with

over twenty thousand women, that the free drinking of liquid at a meal

aids digestion and a better absorption and assimilation of food.

One advantage of drinking milk with the meal, is that it is not taken

as cold as water and it supplies a portion of actual food.

TABLE X.

_Milk and Milk Products._

——————————————+———————+————————+——————+———————+———————+———————

——————————————+———————+————————+——————+———————+———————+———————

Milk | 86.8 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 4.8 | 0.7 | ......

Skimmed milk | 88.0 | 4.0 | 1.8 | 5.4 | 0.8 | ......

Buttermilk | 90.6 | 3.8 | 1.2 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 0.3

Cream | 66.0 | 2.7 | 26.7 | 2.8 | 1.8 | ......

Cheese | 36.8 | 33.5 | 24.3 | ......| 5.4 | ......

Butter | 6.0 | 0.3 | 91.0 | ......| 2.7 | ......

——————————————+———————+————————+——————+———————+———————+———————

Reference to the above table shows that the thirteen per cent of

organic foods are about equally divided between fat, sugar and protein.

The protein is _casein_. There is no starch in milk. The digestive

ferment, which acts upon starch, has not developed in the young babe

and the infant cannot digest starch. The salts promote the growth of

bone.

The fat in milk is in small emulsified droplets within a thin

albuminous sheath. When allowed to stand in a cool place it rises to

the top.

Besides casein, there is a certain amount of albumen in milk,—about

one-seventh of the total amount. This is called lactalbumin.

A part of the digestion of the casein is performed by pepsin in the

stomach and a part by the trypsin of the pancreatic juice.

_Digestion of Milk._ The larger part of the digestion of the milk

sugar is performed by the pancreatic juice; yet it is partly acted

upon by the saliva. There is little chance for the saliva to act upon

the milk sugar in the mouth, however, as very little saliva is mixed

with the milk. This constitutes another objection to the diet of all

milk, and is an argument in favor of drinking milk slowly and holding

it in the mouth until it is mixed with saliva. It is one reason, also,

why children should be given bread broken in the milk, instead of a

piece of bread and a glass of milk. By swallowing the milk slowly, the

curds formed in the stomach are smaller and the milk is more thoroughly

digested.

When the fat (cream) is removed milk digests more readily, so that in

case of delicate stomachs _skimmed milk, clabbered milk or buttermilk_

are often prescribed instead of sweet milk. Boiled milk is also more

easily digested by some because of the lactalbumin which is separated

and rises to the top in a crinky skum. The casein is also more readily

digested in boiled milk, forming in small flakes in the stomach instead

of in curds.

When one takes from two to three glasses of milk at a meal, less

solid food is needed, because the required nutriment is partially

supplied with the milk. One reason why milk seemingly disagrees with

many people, is because they lose sight of the fact that milk is an

actual food, as well as a beverage and they eat the same quantity of

food in addition to the milk that they eat if drinking water. This

is the reason that milk seems to make some people bilious and causes

constipation. It is due to too much food rather than to any quality in

the milk.

Constipation may be occasioned by drinking milk rapidly so that large

curds are formed by the acids in the stomach, rendering it difficult of

digestion. The constipating effect will be overcome by lessening the

quantity of food and by the addition of limewater to the milk.

To prepare limewater put a heaping teaspoon of slaked lime into a

quart of boiled or distilled water; put into a corked bottle and shake

thoroughly two or three times during the first hour. Then allow the

lime to settle, and after twenty-four hours pour or siphon off the

clear fluid.

Barley water or oatmeal water added to milk also prevent the formation

of curds.

In young babes the milk is curdled, or the casein separated from the

water and sugar, not by hydrochloric acid, but by a ferment in the

gastric juice, known as rennin. It is the rennin, or rennet, from the

stomachs of young calves and young pigs, which is used to coagulate the

casein in cheese factories.

Milk is coagulated or curdled by many fruit and vegetable acids,

as the housewife well knows, using milk in pies containing certain

acid fruits, such as lemons, or in soup containing tomatoes. The

hydrochloric acid of the stomach at once causes a similar coagulation,

though the curds are tougher and more leathery. The milk forms into

curds immediately upon entering the stomach. This is the natural

process of milk digestion and is the chief reason why it should be

drunk slowly, otherwise the curds will form in too large sizes, thus

pressing upon the entrance to the stomach and causing distress. The

tough, large curds formed by the hydrochloric acid, are difficult for

invalids or for very delicate stomachs to digest.

If an alkali, such as limewater, is added, to neutralize the acids of

the stomach, the curds do not form, or are re-dissolved, and digestion

is aided. One sixth limewater to five-sixths milk is the proper

proportion.

_Milk Tests._ In testing the value of milk, or the value of a cow,

butter makers and farmers gauge it by the amount of butter fat in

the milk, while the cheese maker tests the milk for the proportion

of protein (casein). The amount of butter fat depends upon the feed

and water, and upon the breed. The milk from Jersey and Guernsey cows

yields about five per cent butter fat. If the total nutrient elements

fall below twelve per cent, it is safe to assume that the milk has been

watered.

In cheese and butter there is no sugar; it remains in the buttermilk

and the whey, both of which the farmer takes home from the factories to

fatten his hogs.

_Preserving Milk._ Many forms of bacteria thrive in milk and it is

needless to say that the utmost cleanliness should be observed on the

part of the dairyman in the care and cleanliness of his cows, in the

cleanliness of the milk receptacles, and in the place in which the milk

is allowed to stand over night. Care and cleanliness in the home is

quite as important.

If milk could be kept free from bacteria, it would keep sweet almost

indefinitely. At the Paris Exposition, milk from several American

dairies was kept sweet for two weeks, without any preservative, except

cleanliness and a temperature of about forty degrees. The United States

Bureau of Animal Industry states that milk may be kept sweet for seven

weeks without the use of chemicals.

The best method for the housewife to follow is to keep the milk clean,

cool, and away from other foods.

_Pasteurized Milk._ In pasteurizing milk the aim is to destroy as

many of the bacteria as possible without causing any chemical changes

or without changing the flavor. One can pasteurize milk at home by

placing it in an air tight bottle, immersing the bottle to the neck

in hot water, heating the water to one hundred and forty-nine degrees

F for a half hour and then quickly cooling the milk to fifty degrees,

by immersing the bottle in cold water. The rapid cooling lessens the

cooked taste. Many of the best dairies pasteurize the milk in this way

before it is marketed.

_Sterilized Milk._ Milk is sterilized to destroy all bacteria, by

boiling it. It must sometimes be boiled one, two or three successive

days. Sterilized milk remains sweet longer than pasteurized milk, but

more chemical changes are produced and the flavor is changed.

Formerly borax, boric acid, salicylic acid, formalin and salt petre

were used to keep the milk sweet, but this adulteration is now

forbidden by the pure food laws.

_Malted Milk_ is a dry, soluble food product in powder form, derived

from barley malt, wheat flour and cows milk, with the full amount of

cream.

The process of the extraction from the cereals is conducted at elevated

temperatures so as to allow the active agents (enzymes) of the barley

malt to affect the conversion of the vegetable protein and starches.

The filtered extract, containing the derivatives of the malt, wheat and

the full-cream cows milk, is then evaporated to dryness in vacuo, the

temperature being controlled so as to obviate any alteration of the

natural constituents of the ingredients and so as to preserve their

full physiological values. The strictest precautions are observed to

insure the purity of the product. It contains,

Fats 8.75

Proteins 16.35

Dextrine 18.80

Lactose and Maltose 49.15

(Total Soluble Carbohydrates) 67.95

Inorganic Salts 3.86

Moisture 3.06

It is free from germs, the starches and sugars being converted in the

process of manufacture in maltose, dextrine and lactose. The fats

are in an absorbable condition, and it contains a high percentage of

proteins derived from both the milk and the grains, as well as a marked

percentage of mineral salts. It is readily soluble in water and is

easily digested.

_Smierkase_, made in the home, is coagulated casein. It contains

thirty-three per cent protein, twenty-four per cent fat and five per

cent salts. The thickening of the milk, or the coagulation of the

casein, is like that produced by lactic acid.

_Skimmed Milk_, as shown by the table, contains the same amount of

protein as fresh milk, but more sugar and more ash, the difference

consisting almost entirely of less fat, which has been removed in the

cream.

=Stale Bread.= A food which tastes much like a prepared breakfast food,