CHAPTER XI.

MENUS AND SANDWICHES.

FANCY MENUS FOR DINNER.

I. Strained tomato juice or legume broth, wafers, celery or olives. Asparagus or celery root salad with lettuce. Young peas, mashed potatoes, fried egg plant. Fancy cut black toast with butter and black coffee.

II. Mushroom salad with lettuce, imperial sticks. Legume cheese or croquettes, creamed carrots or puree. Celery and olives or sliced oranges and apples. Fruit tarts or toast and black coffee.

III. Radishes, wafers, olives and watercress salad. Stuffed green peppers and tomato puree. Apple pie or black bread with grated Swiss cheese. Green grapes or oranges, nuts, coffee.

IV. Raisin, currant or rhubarb wine, nabiscos. Celery root salad, olives, French dressing. Spinach, eggs or omelet with tomato puree. Apple salad with mayonnaise dressing and nuts. Fancy cut toast with butter and nuts.

V. Green leaf salad of any kind with cucumbers and olives. Raw soaked oats or wheat with dried soaked fruit and cream. Fancy cut toast with butter and cheese, coffee or grapes, nuts.

VI. Tomato cream soup or fancy tomato salad. Vegetable pudding or legume roast, string beans. Fruit tapioca with whipped or sterilized cream. Nabisco or zwieback with black coffee.

The above menus are agreeable to the average healthy person. Those with a tendency to acidity or flatulent dyspepsia should avoid eating several different fruits at one meal, also leave out soft puddings at the end of a heavy meal.

A menu which is one-sided or combined wrongly, that is, one in which either protein, carbohydrates, minerals or fluids are provided in excess, leads to waste of nervous energy as well as to waste of nutritive material. A wrong combination creates an abnormal appetite for too much or too little food.

SIMPLE MENUS FOR BREAKFAST.

(Each line represents a complete meal.)

Stewed rhubarb with cornmeal cakes or muffins. Tomato juice. Left over macaroni with grated Swiss cheese. Sweet potatoes with stewed fruit, black toast. Baked potatoes with whey sauce, boiled eggs, black toast. Toasted wheat or rye bread with nut butter, stewed prunes. Rylax with cream or butter, prunes, raisins or raw carrots. Oat Gruel, prunes, raisins, raw carrots or cucumbers. Black toast with cream cheese, baked or raw apples. Carrot puree, black toast or bran crackers, butter. Black cream toast prepared with cream or nut cream. Left over macaroni with fried onions or milk or tomato sauce.

MENUS FOR LUNCH OR SUPPER.

(Each line represents a complete meal.)

Milk soup with sago or rice. Dried fruit or celery. Fruit soup with snow of egg. Toast with butter. Baked apples or pudding with cream. Toast and milk. Bread soup. Apple salad with mayonnaise dressing. Legume broth. Omelet with fruit sauce. Spinach or sprouts or string beans, with bread or crackers. Apple salad. Rye bread with cream cheese. Grapes. Tomato or apple soup with cream, crackers with milk. Malt coffee, wheat or rye bread, butter, dried fruit. Kale, or spinach, toast with butter. Dried fruit. Wheat or oat gruel with cream. Dried fruit or carrots. Cream of tomato or potato soup. Crackers. Olives.

The above will be unusual menus, yet they are correct chemical combinations for normal digestion. Try them and see for yourself.

MENUS FOR SIMPLE DINNERS.

(Each line represents a complete meal.)

Baked beans or lima beans with sauerkraut, creamed carrots. Saxon Sool eggs with mushrooms and string beans. Baked beans or lima beans with cabbage, tomatoes or potatoes. Red cabbage with mushrooms and baked potatoes. Baked cauliflower with cheese and tomato puree, bread. Green pea soup. German pancakes with fruit sauce. Buttermilk soup. Omelet with green salad. Apple or potato salad. Legume roast with carrot puree. Legume soup. Cabbage with potatoes or rice. Carrots. Milk soup. Mixed boiled dinner, lettuce salad. Oat gruel. Kale or spinach, bread with nut butter. Green pea soup. Dumplings or pudding, stewed fruit. Bean salad, lettuce. Apple fritters or brown bread. Black bread soup. Corn fritters with apple sauce. Oat gruel or rylax with cream or butter. Nuts. Green pea soup, imperial sticks. Carrot puree, crackers. Apple salad and lettuce, nut loaf, olives. Lettuce salad, fried apples, nut loaf. Bean soup, bread dumplings with tomato sauce. Lettuce, macaroni with pea or tomato sauce. Nuts.

Laxative Foods: Fruit juices, plums, tomatoes, apples, pears, grapes, figs, fruit soups, fruit gruels, raisins, gelatines, corn, oats, spinach, oranges, carrots, parsnips, bran, oil, butter, cream, olives, yolks of eggs, pecans, walnuts, Brazil nuts, cucumbers, onions, greens, butter sauces.

Constipating Foods: Skim-milk, liquid foods, fine flour bread, potatoes, tapioca, white of eggs, gluten, mush, cheese made from skim-milk.

NATURAL DIET.

Adopting a natural diet does not mean a return to savagery. Cracked and flaked grains can be made into delicious dishes with very little labor and time, =and are far more nutritious than cooked cereals=. Sun cooked foods are rich in vital magnetism, of which artificially cooked foods have been deprived. They also diminish the desire for tea, coffee, spices and other artificial stimulants. However, the change should be made gradually. The best time to begin is in the spring by partaking of some raw cereal in the form of a gruel or mush each day. The most unsuitable time is when tired or overworked. During a vacation is a favorable time to begin. People who have lived on excess of cooked and starchy foods for a long time cannot expect to like the raw foods immediately, it may take several months, or even a year, to educate the cells of the stomach to act upon them. Dried sweet fruits (which have been soaked separately) and sweet cream make good additions if grains cannot be relished any other way.

On the following pages are a number of menus consisting largely of uncooked foods. Try them. Lay aside your prejudices against nature, and stop making new and complex recipes which ruin your health. Simplicity and knowledge are great helps for a low purse.

Each person should learn by experience to select the kinds of food which yield him nourishment and avoid those which disagree.

The most perfect foods, such as apples, tomatoes, wheat, oats, rye, legumes and nuts seldom disagree with a healthy individual, provided they are used wisely.

SAMPLE MENUS SUITABLE FOR ANY MEAL.

(Each line represents a complete meal.)

Cereal salad of rye with bananas or carrots, milk, green leaves. Raw or cooked lima beans with tomatoes or carrots, leaf salad. Apple and lettuce salad, fruit cake or fruit pie, Swiss cheese. Plain cake, gelatine, cream or green salad, milk or lemonade. Bananas with strained tomato juice and raw green peas. Plum salad, lettuce, mayonnaise dressing, walnuts. Strawberries, lettuce and oil or mayonnaise dressing, almonds. Apple or tomato salad, cheese and raw bread. Clabber milk, triscuits or zwieback, dried fruits, nuts. Raw blackberries or lemonade, zwieback, or raw bread. Raspberries or strawberries, rich milk, raw bread or nuts. Banana salad, lettuce, cherries or sweet fruits, almonds. Fruit pie or fruit toast, a glass of milk, pecans. Green grapes, black bread, Swiss or cream cheese. Cereal or fruit salad and lettuce, nuts. Fruit butter with cream or toast and almonds. Cherries with eggs or omelet or corn bread. Melon with lemon, banana salad, pecans or almonds. Bean salad with lettuce and raw carrots. Potato or carrot salad, lettuce, walnuts. Fruit soup (warm or cold) eggs or nuts. Pear salad with cranberries and celery, raw bread. Buttermilk or sweet milk with toast or raw bread. Raw rolled oats, plain or with fruit and cream. Mixed rylax and wheat with cream and fruit. Cabbage salad with hard boiled eggs, bread and butter. Peach or apricot salad, wheat or rye and nuts. Soaked whole wheat with cream, prunes or dates. Raw corn or bananas and strained tomato juice. Cooked pea or string beans salad and raw carrots. Baked apples with cream, toast with cheese. Carrot or tomato salad, olives, lettuce, legumes any style. Sweet potatoes, baked or boiled, buttermilk. Raw huckleberries, zwieback or raw wheat, butter, cream, nuts.

The sandwich is an important part of the bill of fare. It is not necessary to eat a cooked dinner in order to have a square meal, but for those who work indoors and are unable to take walking exercises before or after their noon meal, it is important to take some warm fluid or semi-fluid food in the form of broth, milk or soup as an entree or with their meal. With the convenience of modern inventions of gas, alcohol and electric stoves, or patented bottles which keep food warm for hours, this is easily obtained.

Some people thrive on raw foods, while others do not. The best time to begin with raw foods is in childhood. Hot house plants cannot digest raw foods. Open your doors and windows and learn to breathe first. Fresh air and sunshine are necessary for the change of food. If your teeth are poor, substitute a food-chopper or grinder for your foods.

Use only one rich protein food at any meal. Exceptions: A few nuts which are rich in fat may be eaten at the end of a meal where cottage cheese, peas, or eggs are served.

SANDWICHES.

HONEY SANDWICHES.

Spread some stale or sun-dried black or Graham bread with honey or with butter and honey. Serve with black malt coffee for supper. A salad consisting of fruits, almond cream and raw green leaves makes a suitable entree. Whipped cream may be used instead of butter or almond cream. Among fruits, apples, prunes, bananas and pineapples are the most suitable combinations. Honey should be used sparingly during hot summer days as it is very heating to the blood.

SCRAMBLED EGGS ON SANDWICHES, AND CHERRIES.

Eat the cherries at the beginning or at the end of the meal; lettuce is a good addition.

GROUND NUTS WITH APPLES AND RAISINS.

Grind six to twelve nuts in the morning and keep in a jar or paper bag. At lunch-time cut one apple into small pieces, add twelve raisins and the ground nuts. Eat with or without bread and butter. It is best to use only one kind of nuts at a time. Celery is also a good addition.

NUT AND DATE SANDWICHES.

Remove the stones from one-half dozen or more dates, cut the dates into small pieces and mix with one-third or one-half the amount of chopped or ground walnuts. Spread on buttered bread or eat the bread with it. Apples combine well with it, either as a substitute for bread or in combination with it. In place of whole nuts, nut-butter may be used; the latter should always be diluted with an equal amount of water.

Figs, raisins or dried currants can be used in the same way as dates. Lettuce and celery are good additions.

TOMATOES WITH POPCORN, BREAD AND BUTTER.

Prepare a salad with tomato and lettuce, or strain some canned tomatoes. The latter can be carried conveniently in a small Mason jar. Always open the jar a little, if left to stand in a store or office, so the air can circulate through it. Take one cup of tomato juice in combination with one-half pint or more of warm, buttered popcorn. Eat bread and butter with it, if desired.

EGG SANDWICHES WITH WATERCRESS, OLIVES.

Slice some hard boiled eggs and lay on buttered bread. Mix some olives and watercress with mayonnaise dressing, and serve with the bread. Egg sandwiches combine well with apples.

GRATED CHEESE, APPLES AND BUTTERED BREAD.

Grate two to four ounces of Swiss or American cheese and carry in a glass jar or paper bag. At lunch-time peel one or two apples, cut them up in small pieces and mix with grated cheese. Eat with buttered bread.

COTTAGE OR CREAM CHEESE SANDWICHES.

Spread thin slices of rye or black bread with cheese. Combine with apples or olives, with or without lettuce and mayonnaise dressing.

CABBAGE SALAD WITH BREAD AND BUTTER.

Prepare the salad in the morning, mix with mayonnaise dressing and carry in a glass or jar. Eat the cabbage salad as an entree or with the sandwiches. Hard boiled eggs are a good addition.

POTATO SALAD WITH BLACK BREAD AND BUTTER.

Serve the salad as an entree. Prepare thin slices of pumpernickel with butter and combine with hard boiled eggs. Nuts may be substituted for eggs.

PEANUT AND OLIVE SANDWICHES.

Remove the pits and cut the olives into small pieces, mix with diluted peanut butter, and season with lemon. Spread on rye bread.

_HEALTH HINTS._

The house we live in should be constructed for health and comfort, rather than for style. Sleep by open windows. Night air is as pure as day air. Protect yourself from dampness by an open fire if necessary.

Do not dress and wash in a cold bath room. Have your wash bowl in the bed room. Sewer gas from a small pipe in a well ventilated bed room is not harmful, as it is carried off in the air. Have the stopper placed in the hole when not in use.

Dress by an open fire or in a sunny room. A chill before breakfast produces indigestion and a desire for unnecessary hot foods. Never sleep by night lamps or any other artificial light. They are injurious to the eyes and absorb oxygen.

Mothers of girls should think it more important to furnish healthful exercise, wholesome food and restful sleep during the years of budding womanhood, than to worry about lessons in music and art, or a business education. All these can be taken up with much greater benefit after maturity. Arrested development of the organs of reproduction will lay the foundation for many years of unhappiness and suffering.

Many parents are impressed with the idea that their children require a large amount of sweets, in order to make them grow. We cannot force nature without paying the penalty. At maturity, we reap what has been sown for us, or what we have sown for ourselves.

Each individual is a law unto himself. Two different people afflicted with a disease of the same name may require entirely different treatment. Human beings cannot be standardized like inert machines.

All berries are rich in minerals and feed the brain cells. They contain traces of protein. Blackberries and huckleberries are rich in volatile oils and iron, and are of great medicinal value. They are excellent for the evening meal in the form of gruels and drinks. The pineapple contains bromaline and is of medicinal value in the treatment of certain stomach disorders.

Don’t use fruits in excess if you lead a very active life. The right proportion is the key note to maintain balance. Excessive fruits and rest is a prescription for sickness.

If no great hunger is felt at a meal, do not eat nuts or any kind of foods classed as protein. Neither stuff yourself with liquid foods. A fast or fruits, or fruit juices are the best under such conditions.

Cooked milk is not a natural food, but neither are cooked cereals. A combination of raw milk, or cream, and cooked cereals will force the stomach to absorb the milk immediately, while the remainder, poorly masticated and filled with germs, will tend to produce an acid process rather than an alkaline. If sugar is added to raw milk and cereals, the process of intestinal fermentation is complete.

Milk which is acid in reaction, or blue in color, is unfit as a food for children and invalids. If a mother is uncertain as to the quality of the milk she is feeding her child, she should have it examined by the city chemist.

Many people who find pancakes indigestible will do well to observe the time when they are most agreeable. If they are made with eggs, cream, and water, or with rich milk, and properly prepared and combined with suitable articles, they are generally agreeable to the most sensitive stomach. People of sedentary habits, or those who do brain work mainly, should not eat pancakes or muffins for breakfast.

Cheese is one of the most economical and nutritious of foods. To serve cheese after a dinner is a wasteful extravagance, and dangerous to health. Cheese combines well with bread, macaroni, potato and other cereals; raw greens are also a good addition.

Oranges, Grapefruit, Lemons and Limes belong to the citric acid group, and are of all the fruits the richest in valuable acids, which in the process of digestion are converted into salts, rendering the blood more alkaline.

Cranberries, like gooseberries, currants and lemons, are purifying to the blood and very valuable as a food in malarial districts. Cranberries combine well with oatmeal and cornmeal.

Figs and dates have an average of thirty per cent water, are rich in sugar and contain some protein and saline matter.

Grapes are a valuable fruit for the table if eaten in the right proportion with other foods which contain fat and protein. They are rich in sugar and tartaric acid. As a medicinal fruit they may be eaten in large quantities by themselves.

People with digestive troubles should be careful in combining raw blackberries with other foods. They are rich in protein and may take the place of part of the meat dish on hot summer days. They should never be used as a dessert after a heavy meal.

The bitter substance which is contained in the inner skin of the banana should be scraped off and added to the bulk, as it counteracts the sweet flavor of the banana and adds to its digestibility. Baked bananas are not necessary for a healthy stomach.

Don’t take drugs for sleeplessness. Tired feeling in the morning is the results of nerve starvation and auto-intoxication.

Rye meal, if ground in an old-fashioned stone mill, contains all the constituents of the rye. It is used for black bread, also called pumpernickel.

Do not eat berries and legumes at the same meal. Apples, carrots, celery, tomatoes, lettuce, grapes, oranges or lemons are good additions. Tomatoes and potatoes should not be mixed at the same meal except in small quantities, and only when a considerable amount of fatty foods are eaten. Walnuts may be eaten at the end of the meal, where peas or lentils are served.

Soups prepared from legumes, fruits or cereals require an addition of fat in the form of butter, oil, the yolk of an egg or cream. A soup of peas, beans, corn or lentils may be prepared from left-over food or fresh cooked legumes. To one cup of cooked legumes add three to five cups of hot water, boil or mix well, then strain. They form a perfect and an economical meal without the addition of other protein foods. Celery, lettuce, raw apples and crackers with butter are a good addition. They should be well masticated, and the soup eaten with them very slowly.

For people of a bilious temperament eggs should not be mixed with milk or sweet foods at the same meal. Tomatoes, tart apples or green leaves, raw or cooked are anti-bilious foods.

For fruit-gelatine use sago, arrowroot, potato-flour or agar agar.

RIGHT AND WRONG FOOD MIXTURES.

_DO NOT MIX_:

Boiled Eggs and Cheese. Cherries and Milk. Fancy Summer Fruits and Onions. Fancy Summer Fruits and Cucumbers. Nuts and Excess of Starchy Food. Potatoes and Tomatoes or Acid Fruits. Potatoes and Fresh Yeast Bread. Potatoes and White Bread. Potatoes and Underground Vegetables. Cooked and Raw Greens. Cucumber and Sago. Strawberries and Tomatoes. Strawberries and Beans. Bananas and Corn. Raw Fruits and Cooked Vegetables. Milk and Cooked Vegetables. Fresh Raw Fruits and Cooked Cereals. Cheese and Nuts, except Cottage Cheese. Boiled Eggs and Nuts. Boiled Eggs and Canned Corn. Boiled Eggs and Bananas. Boiled Eggs and Cheese. Bananas and Cucumbers. Skim-milk and Fruit. Cheese and Bananas. Beans and Bananas.

_GOOD COMBINATIONS._

Raw Fruits and Raw Cereals. Raw Fruits and Raw Cereals and Nuts. Raw Fruits and Raw Greens and Nuts. Raw Cereals and Nuts. Raw Cereals and Raw Milk. Raw Cereals and Raw Vegetables. Boiled Cereals and Boiled Milk. Boiled Cereals and Boiled Cream. Raw Greens and Eggs and Acid Fruits. Boiled Greens and Eggs and Acid Fruits. Fats and Acids. Rye and Butter and Honey. Rye and Cream and Honey. Cream and Sweet or Acid Fruits. Eggs or Nuts and Apples. Popcorn and Tomatoes and Lettuce. Cucumbers and Milk or Cereal Food. Cheese and Apples and Green Leaves. Cheese and Rye and Apples. Eggs and Pickled Vegetables. Eggs and Acid Fruits and Raw Leaf Vegetables. Eggs and Greens and Rye. Nuts and Apples and Sweet or Acid Fruits. Nuts and Bananas and Sweet or Acid Fruits. Almonds and Rice and Green Leaves. Nuts and Raisins and Green Leaves.

The harmony and disharmony between the different foods as mentioned above are only stated in a general way. Certain combinations are absolutely harmful to every individual, others are either harmful to certain temperaments, or, to mix them would mean a waste in the animal economy of the body.