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Show IS What Constitutes a Good School Lunch? 1 3 - . I Quality of the Bread of Prime Importance Sugges- tions for the Children's Lunch Box. It 1 1 . , . fF you have children who must eat their lunches at school you are aek- wt lng yourself Just now what should ij bo put Into the lunch basket in order i) to mako the midday meal wholesome ( $!v nnd good "to study on." You are ask- r ing how the food should be packed In 2 order that It may look tempting when M ' the basket Is opened and may, prove to fl5 ; be appetizing. These questions you are asking of yourself and answering for H ' yourself with the help of what you can H ': find In book3 and magazines on the rS ' subject of food for growing children. i ' But are you asking other questions Just f as Important and Joining with other M, women to insist on having thorn an- Tjf Bwered? Are you asking wharc the 'Sf school children eat their lunches? Is lljj there a pleasant, attractive room pro- i vlded, or must they eat them at the Tm desks where they have been sitting all the morning, or in hall, cloakroom or mt basement? If a new school building is Wfpji being erected are you asking that apaco vlf nhnll bo set aside for a lunchroom and ' for a little kitchen whore soup or cocoa Wt or other warm dish may bG prepared? SM. Perhaps you aro wonderlog why the m preparation of part or all of a Bchool JM meal would not be a very practical and jSs ' interesting lesson in domestic pcienco. wii; Thc-ro aro other Inquiries, too, of a dlf- t5j fcrcnt sort. They relate to that little 5j shop across the street from tho school, 3a or around the corner, where the boys Q .and girls apend their pennies. Ib It H y nafe and Is the food sold there clean WB and wholesome? mm 1 The Contonta of the Lunch Box. I The answpr to tho first question, IB ' "What constitutes a good school j? lunch?" Is part of the answer to tho ijjf larger question, "Whaf constitutes a ffi pood meal for a child?" and to the still Pg ; larger question. "What In general con- 5 stltutps a good meal?" In the tlrst IT!. plac, a good meal should he carefully planned as well as properly cooked I like to think of a well-put-togethcr meal as containing something liquid, something starchy and something meaty or "tissue forming," as wo have been taught to say; something fat and something flbery, something sweet and something savory. IIow does that apply ap-ply to a school lunch? In answering thl3 question wo will leave the liquid part of the meal to be considered last, because that Is the part of all parts that should be provided at school, both for the reason that a warm liquid helps stir up the circulation, thus helping help-ing digestion and leaving the head clear for study, and also for- the reason rea-son that the liquid portion Is Inconvenient Incon-venient to carry from homo. Something Starchy. The backbone of every good meal, school lunch or any other. Is good, thoroughly baked bread. Soggy bread Is bad for anyone, and It Is particularly particu-larly bad for children, for their teeth need exercise. That is the universal opinion of dentists and physicians Rollsj the long narrow finger rolls preferably, mako good sandwiches, partly because they are crusty and partly because by cutting them open and removing Just a little of the crumb you can make a good-sized place In which to put chopped meal or other filling Remember the children when you mako bread and make some of these rolls or buy some occasionally, Boston brown bread makes good sandwiches. sand-wiches. It combines well with cottage cheese and lettucG. Mako a nmnll loaf for sandwiches In a baking powder can at the same time you mako the larger supply. Zwieback and many of tho prepared cereals which now come In the form of crackers are good food for chlldron, but tbey aro rather dry and I also crumbly. The lest way to pack them Is In the little tin boxes In which mints or wafers come Try occasionally occasional-ly making very thin slices of zwloback and putting Jelly or Jam between them Zwieback la made by toasting bread In a very slow oven. It should bo crisp and a golden brown. Zephyrettes with cream cheese between them furnish fur-nish a pleasing variety If used occasionally. occa-sionally. I class plain cakes with these starchy foods because in tho well-constructed meal they do not take the plnce of the swcot which seems necessary neces-sary to top oft with. Here, too, belong doughnuts and coffee cako and many kinds of cookley, Something Meaty. In addition to breads the well-planned well-planned meal, with an occasional ex coptlon, should contain one of the following: fol-lowing: Milk, egga, cheese, fish, poultry, poul-try, nuts, meat or beans. Of these milk 13 most Important for the young, for It is rich, not alone in tissue-forming foods, but also in the mateilals which make bones and teeth. If scloo! boards can do no moro they can at leabt proldr for having good milk sold In the schools at cost. Meat for the school lunch should bo thinly sliced or " chopped and mixed with aalad dressing. Savo a little of tho mint sauce served with tho roast lamb or of the caper sauce served with boiled mutton of the horseradish Bauce I served with hoof, or the tomato sauco served with veal to give a touch of spice to the sandwich lining. Try always al-ways to have boiled droislng on hand, or mayonnaise If you use It, for that 1 makes It possible to moko a good filling out of a little meat or fish. Mixed with veal or chicken and combined with lettuce It Is bout, but It can bo used vlth nny meat or wth cheese, or with baked beans or chopped nuts, or with nuts and cream cheese mixed, or with hard-boiled eggs or with a mixture of hard-boiled eggs and fish, or with lettuce let-tuce or watercress. There are, In fact, few foods with which salad dressing cannot be combined to mako a good sandwich filler. If there Ih a place for a jelly glass In tho lunch box moist foods like cot-J tago chci'so or baked beans or salad may constitute the meaty portion of the meal. So far an the food value of custards Is concrned, they come under tho head of flesh-forming foods If they aro made with plenty of eggs. The days when th?y form tho dessert, therefore, aro good days on which to servo non-meaty sandwiches, pl;iln bread and butter, perhaps, or lottuco or cress sandwiches, Somcthing Fat. This does not moan something greasy, but somothlng containing one of the good, wholesome fats butter, egg yolks, cream, bacon, olive oil which all children need. Butter is an expcnslvo food, but it cannot Tie considered wasted wast-ed If children cat It. If you havo a child that needs building up put lots of butter, on his bread, disguising It, If necessary, by putting plenty of other things with it. Thin slices of crisp bacon comblno with lettuce to make wholesome sandwiches A very 3mall amount of sour cream will make a filling fill-ing If It in drained as for cottage cheese, but without being heated If heated much of tho fat is lost. It may bo seasoned with salt alono or mixed with chopped olives, pimentos or raisins rais-ins Remember that tho souring of milk and cream purify them and make them safe, for the gorms that make them sour destroy any harmful germs that arc In the sweet milk. Cottage cheese, however, which has been carelessly care-lessly handled, as it sometimes is in grocery shops, !s as bad us any other carelessly handled food. Egg yolks aro rich In fat, each containing con-taining about a tublespoonful They arc rich, too. In Iron. They "make red blood," as the saying goes, and aro the best of foods for anemic children If you have yolks left over from jour baking cook them in a double boilor. either alone or. If they aro whole, In water Tho low temperature of tho double boiler prevents thoni from turning turn-ing dark. Uo them In sandwiches or In potato salad or mash them and ,makQ into salad dressing, according to tho rule which you can find In any good cook hook. It Is always safe to uao less vinegar, mustard and pepper than tho rule calls for, as young people do not care for highly seasoned foods and are bettor off without them Tho following .salad dressing offuns a good way to use yolks and skim milk, another an-other valuable food and one often wasted. Salad Dressing, i One-half tablcspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of mustard (or les), one tablcspoonful of bugar. one and' one-half one-half cupfuls of skim milk and egg yolks combined, using from four lo eight of the latter; one-fourth cupful of vinegar Mix the dry Ingredient:,-, add tho other Ingredients and cook over water till thick. A large number of egg yolks can also bo used In baked custarda with either whole or skim milk. When making custard, always makp a few cup custards cus-tards for tho lunch box. Use the little enameled waro cups, which are light and strong, or aluminum molds. Theso can bo usod also for lemon Jelly or other puddings of which you wish to prepare small poitlon3 that can be saved In good form for the lunches. Tho little Individual portions are much moro attractive than portions of a large pudding. If the pudding is one that keeps well let a day elapse between be-tween the time It Is served at home and tho time It appears In tho lunch box. It will jsccm more nbvel. Something Fibsry. By fiber is meant that substance whleh makes apples and grapes and cucumbers hold their "shape though they contain llttlo but watei, or water and sugar. There Is all tho way through them a network of a tough, clastic substance, usually called cellulose. cellu-lose. When this Is taken Into the body It acts very much as excelsloi does In a packing case It keeps the heavier parts of the foods from settling down upon each -other. It Is seldom digested, di-gested, but It Ib an Invaluable help to the digestion of other foodB. It may be supplied In the form of lettuce, watercress ore cucumbers in sandwiches; sand-wiches; In the form of celery or radishes, rad-ishes, or In the form of fresh, dried or stewed fruit Apples, oranges, pears, peaches ana berries aro desirable, not only because they aro refreshing, but because of their fiber. Berries keep best tightly sealed in a bottlo or a Jelly glass and without sugar. Dried fruits datc3. flg;j, raisins and a good quality of prunes aro equally wholesome and much easier to carry Baked applea may bo carried In Jelly glasses So may apple sauco and stewed fruits If thoy aso properly prepared. Dried fruits Bhould be cooked without sugar till they are nearly done. Tho sugar added at the last tends to take up the Julco and makes a syrupy, rather than a watery compound For sauce apples Should be cooked, a fow pieces at a time, in a ayrup of sugar and water. Bv tho time the last of the apples are done the syrup wll be like Jelly Such applo sauce Is easily transported. Something Sweet. "When you are piaking cake, rcmem-br rcmem-br to make a fow small ones for the lunches, and do not fear that thoy will be too rich If frosled. A little sugar Is a valuable part of a ochool luuchiion. because It la easily absorbed and quickly made ready for uso In the body Think how different It Is from pastry. In that the flour and the fat must first be separated from their close companionship, and after that each must be acted upon by tho digestive di-gestive Juices. The sugar Is, at tho time It Is paten. In very much the condition that the flour of pastry reaches after all these processes. Put Just a llttlo sugar of some kind Into the lunch box, two or three pieces of puro candy or of loaf sugar, or a little maple sugar or sweet chocolate Swcot cookies como under this head, too. As to pastry, save that till a day when the afternoon Is to bo spent In festivities of some kind, not in study when thero Is to be speaking or an excursion to the woods. Then make some turnovers, Inclosing the filling safely between crusts. Children Hko these, and they aro easier to carry than pieces of plo. Something Savory. This need not always bo put In as an extra, It may bo Introduced In ono of the many sandwich fllllnus of which mention has been made. Ham Is a savory ami dried beef and bacon and cheese. So are acid fruits If the term "savory" be stretched a little. If tho sandwiches and the dessert are both rather neutral In flavor it may be well to add a llttlo sour Jelly or spiced presorves. Thw Jelly can be put up at the regular jelly-maklngxseason. Thero are numberless little Jars nnd wide-mouthed botles coming into our houses now' that can bo used for the Individual portions of Jeljy. Covered with paraffin, the small amounts keep In good condition without drying. Something Liquid. The question of "something liquid" for the school luncheon brings up the whole matter of tho policy of the scnool with reference to the food of the pupils. Wo will supposo first that the authorities do not help and that overy mother must .settlo the matter for herself her-self Under these circumstances tho children themselves should be consulted. consult-ed. If they pwfer to have boxes that can be closed up fiat when empty, and thus leao them comparatively hand-free hand-free on the way heme, to having liquids and custards and other foods that must be carried In dishes with their lunch-con, lunch-con, that should settle tho matter. In many of tho consolidated rural schools, howovpr, transportation is provided. Here, and In other cases where pupils ride hack and forth, the size and weight of the lunch basket need not "bo considered. con-sidered. Milk In theso cases should he a poit of the luncheon In winter, and milk or lemonadtj or other fruit Juices In summer. The fiaorlng material for lemonade can be made up In quantities and kept on hand. Boll ,a cupful of eugur in a I pint of water for about fifteen miputes. jH Cool and add one-third of a cupful oC H lemon Juice. Keep on ice till needed. H To this may be added other fruit Juices H or the syrup from canned frult3. The tI water can be added at school. Lemon ' rfl or orange jelly and many of tho more t water v fruits' should. In making up the i j. blll-of-fare, be consldored as liquid, be- f V cause thev are chiefly water. " -vH The Luncheon as a Whole. tlH In the following sample luncheons s i f the numbers refer to the necessary" t tl part? of a well-planned meal: (1) tho H slarchv; (2) tho meaty; (3) the fatty; I H (41 the flbory; ffi) the sweet; (G) tho " H savory: (7) the liquid or watery. l fl Suggested Lunches. ( fH Milk (2) (7); ham sandwiches (1) (2) jH (3) OJ); an apple and two or three dates i tB (4); a frosted caloe (5). jl Milk (2) (7); egg sandwiches with sal- ' JH ad dressing (1) (Z) (3) (6); applo sauco lH (4); plain cake (1); maple sugar (5);- , H grape Julco (7): cheeso sandwiches CI) i lH (2) (3) (G); s-tewed prunes or apricots (4); 1H cookies (1); sweet chocolate (5). lljJH Unbalanced Lunohes. (Jl The lunches given to children aro i tl frequently faulty through excess of J H home one or other kind of food. For j rH example: j jjH Too Meaty. ilijl Milk (2) f7). hard-boiled egg' (2), meat ii or cheese sandwiches (1) (2) (3). custard H (2) (3). plain cako (1). . JH Too Starchy and Too Dry. H Plain meat sandwiches (1) (2) (3). . jH doughnuts (1), crackera (1). plain cako -WM Too Fat il Milk (2) (7), veal sandwiches with. ral- i'H ad dressing (1) (3) (C), doughnuts a)'.' -Wm nuts (2) (3). , H Too Flbery. Hl Lettuce sandwiches (1) " 3 (4) (6)'. J- 'jH oranso (1) 0), radishes (4), raisin eke fH Too SweoL tll Milk (2) (7), copkles (1), jelly sand- Jl wlches (l) (5), frosted cako (1) (5). 1 jH Too Moist. H Milk (2) (7). pear (4) (7), potato salad H (1) (3) (6). lomonVfjelly (7), bread and ,- butter (1) (3). ! TH Too Spicy. . t Vmrnm Meat sandwiches with highly seas- tl oned drcbslng .(1) (2) (3) (6), pickles (6), ')H mince pic (1) (3) ()- "- ' M |