The Cooking Manual of Practical Directions for Economical Every-Day Cookery

mutton, young beef, and tender poultry; bread and milk and fruit, for breakfast; meat, vegetables, bread and some light dessert, for dinner; bread and milk, or their equivalents, for supper; in other words, plain food and plenty of it, will keep mind and body in a sound condition, and supply all the requirements of growth. Meats should be carefully cooked, so as to preserve all their natural juices; but no rich sauces, or made gravies, should accompany them to the table; a few ripe vegetables cooked until perfectly tender, roasted or baked potatoes, seed-bearing fruits, generally stewed, and plenty of light bread at least a day old, should be eaten with the meat. In stewing fruit only enough water should be used to prevent burning, and plenty of sugar should be employed to sweeten it; all fruit is less apt to be injurious if eaten early in the day. Eggs should be plain boiled, and rather soft. Milk should be boiled when there is any undue action of the bowels; otherwise it should be used uncooked with plenty of bread. Hearty, vigorous children, who play much in the open air, can digest more meat than those who are confined indoors; and the cravings of a healthy appetite should always be appeased, care being taken that the stomach has the proper intervals of rest. Regularity of meals is really most important at all ages; the digestive organs must have time to assimilate their food supply. In childhood and youth, the period of growth, the needs of the system are more pressing than at any other time of life; if at this time children are fed on rich and stimulating food, they will be prone to fevers; if they are underfed they suffer both mentally and physically from slow starvation; equal and regular nutrition is imperative to the well being of the little ones, if we would have them grow up capable of performing in the fullest degree the highest functions of life. Therefore give the children plenty of plain, wholesome food; their active systems will appropriate it. If they continue serene