Part 4

3 tablespoons butter or margarine 3 tablespoons flour 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon powdered dry mustard Paprika, if desired 1½ cups milk ⅓ pound cheese, ground or grated (1½ cups) 1 egg, beaten

Melt butter or margarine and blend in flour, onion, and seasonings. Add milk slowly. Cook over low heat until thickened, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and add cheese.

Pour a little of the sauce into the beaten egg, then pour all back into the sauce. Stir and cook 2 or 3 minutes longer, until cheese is melted.

Serve on toast or crackers.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with lima beans or peas and combination vegetable salad. Have melon or other fresh fruit for dessert.

For Variety

_Tomato rabbit._—Use tomato juice or thin tomato soup instead of milk in the recipe for Cheese Rabbit.

To make plain or tomato rabbit a heartier dish, serve over quartered hard-cooked eggs on toast.

Cottage cheese-pickle-peanut sandwich

⅔ cup cottage cheese ⅓ cup peanut butter, coarse grind ⅓ cup diced dill or sweet pickles 8 slices bread 2 tablespoons milk ¼ teaspoon salt 1 egg, beaten Cooking fat or oil

Combine cottage cheese, peanut butter, and chopped pickles.

Spread the mixture generously on 4 bread slices and cover with the other 4 slices.

Add milk and salt to the beaten egg and mix thoroughly.

Dip both sides of sandwiches quickly into the egg mixture. Do not soak the bread. Brown on both sides in hot fat over moderate heat.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with vegetable soup or a large vegetable salad, and fresh fruit.

Cottage Cheese Salads

Season cottage cheese with finely chopped chives and use for stuffing fresh tomatoes. Or, in winter, use to fill the center of a ring mold of tomato aspic jelly.

Moisten cottage cheese with top milk and season with salt and pepper. Heap in the center of cantaloupe rings and top with pitted sweet cherries.

Dry beans and peas ...

There are dozens of varieties of beans and peas, and for centuries they have been important in the diets of many peoples. In this country, varieties grown and used in some sections are practically unknown in others. The South has its blackeye peas and black beans, the East and Middle West have their pea beans, soybeans, and kidney beans, and the Southwest and West like pinto beans and chickpeas.

Beans and peas contain proteins that are not well balanced by themselves and need to be supplemented with high-quality protein in the same meal. When you serve beans as the main dish, you can increase the quality and quantity of protein in the meal by adding a little meat or cheese. This is done in many famous national bean dishes. For example, ham or smoked sausage is often added to split-pea soup and grated cheese is used to garnish beans.

When you serve beans alone as the main dish, you need to cook about 1⅓ cups, or a little more than 9 ounces of dry navy beans, to provide the amount of protein recommended for 4 servings. This makes about 3 cups of cooked beans, or four ¾-cup servings. If you do not use this amount or do not add other protein food to the bean dish, remember to supplement the protein elsewhere in the meal, perhaps with an egg salad or baked custard.

Soybean protein is of higher quality than protein of most beans commonly used in this country. For high nutritive value and distinctive flavor from your food dollar, use soybeans sometimes instead of navy or lima beans in favorite bean recipes, or use some soy flour in making breads and hot breads.

Split peas provide slightly more protein than an equal weight or measure of dry beans except soybeans. Try thick hot split-pea soup for the main dish on a cold winter day.

Beans and peas are economical protein foods. You will generally find that a protein dish made up partly of beans and providing an equal quantity of protein averages less in cost than one made up entirely of meat.

To soak dry beans and whole peas, boil them 2 minutes in the soaking water first, to help prevent fermentation and hardening of skins. An hour of soaking is enough after boiling, but overnight may be more convenient. Cook beans in the soaking water for best flavor and highest nutritive value. Split peas do not need soaking.

Baked chili beans and hamburger

1 cup dry chili or kidney beans 3 cups water ½ pound ground beef 2 tablespoons drippings or other fat 1 small onion, sliced 1 clove garlic, sliced ½ green pepper, chopped fine 2 cups cooked or canned tomatoes, or 2½ cups raw tomatoes cut in pieces ½ teaspoon salt Chili powder to taste

Boil beans in water 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and soak 1 hour or overnight. Cook in same water until almost tender.

Brown meat in fat. Add onion, garlic, green pepper, tomatoes, and salt, and cook a few minutes.

Add meat mixture and chili powder to beans.

Place in a baking dish or bean pot, cover, and bake at 350° F. (moderate oven) about 2 hours. Uncover during the last half hour to brown the beans if desired.

Or cook the mixture slowly for about 1 hour in a covered kettle on top of the range. Stir occasionally.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with a large garden salad and fruit betty or apple dumplings.

For Variety

Cook the beans with a ham bone, omitting ground beef and chili powder. Or use 1 cup ham trimmings from a baked ham instead of beef.

Dry bean or pea soup

1 cup dry beans or whole peas 6 cups water Meaty ham bone 1 small onion, chopped Salt and pepper

Boil beans or peas in water 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and soak 1 hour or overnight.

Add ham bone. Boil gently 2 hours in a covered pan.

Add onion and continue cooking 30 minutes, or until beans are soft. Remove bone and cut off meat.

Add meat to soup. Season to taste, and reheat.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with tomato aspic, or fruit salad, with cottage cheese. Have custard pie for dessert.

For Variety

_For Thick, Smooth Soup._—Put beans or peas through a sieve before adding meat; discard skins. Mix 2 teaspoons flour with a little water; stir into soup. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly.

_Split-Pea or Lentil Soup._—Use 1 cup of split peas or lentils instead of beans in the recipe above. No soaking is needed. Boil gently, stirring occasionally, about 3 hours. Proceed as for bean soup.

_Hot Pot._—Add a garlic clove and 2 chili peppers or a teaspoon of chili powder to beans before cooking. After cooking, remove garlic and peppers.

Quick baked beans

2 slices bacon 3 tablespoons finely chopped onion 1 tablespoon molasses 1½ tablespoons catsup ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon powdered dry mustard ½ teaspoon worcestershire sauce, if desired 2 to 3 cups canned or cooked dry beans

Fry bacon, remove from pan, and cook onion for a few minutes in bacon fat.

Add molasses, catsup, salt, mustard, and worcestershire sauce.

Add beans and mix lightly. Pour into a baking dish. Crumble bacon and sprinkle over the top.

Bake 20 minutes at 350°F. (moderate oven). Or heat in a fry pan on top of range, and serve with bacon crumbled over the top.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with hot cornbread, carrot and cabbage slaw, with baked custard for dessert.

For Variety

_Hot Bean Salad._—Omit molasses, add ¼ cup vinegar and ¼ cup water, and cook until the liquid is absorbed. To complete the meal serve quick-cooked green cabbage, crisp strips of celery and carrots, and pumpkin pie with cheese.

_Creole Beans._—To 2 cups cooked beans add ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ cup each chopped green pepper and onion, and 1 cup canned tomatoes. Bake at 350° F. (moderate oven) 1 hour.

Soybean chop suey

1 green pepper, shredded 1½ cups shredded onion 1½ tablespoons cooking fat or oil ¾ cup diced celery 1½ cups cooked dry soybeans 1½ cups meat broth ½ teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons cornstarch 2 tablespoons water 1 cup quartered radishes or sliced carrots Soy sauce

Cook green pepper and onion in the fat or oil in a fry pan 3 or 4 minutes, turning them often.

Add celery, soybeans, broth, and salt. (Canned bouillon or bouillon cubes and water may be used in place of broth.)

Cover and simmer 5 to 8 minutes.

Blend cornstarch with water, stir into the mixture, and cook until thickened. Add radishes or carrots and soy sauce to taste.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with hot flaky rice, pineapple and cottage cheese salad, with ice cream for dessert.

Another Soybean Recipe

_Soybean Souffle._—To 2 cups cooked dry soybeans, ground or sieved, add 2 beaten egg yolks. Season with chopped onion, parsley, salt, and pepper. Fold in stiffly beaten whites of eggs. Pour into a greased baking dish and bake at 350°F. (moderate oven) about 30 minutes or until set.

Bean chowder

1 cup dry beans 1 quart water ¾ cup chopped carrots ¾ cup cooked or canned tomatoes, or 1 cup chopped raw tomatoes 1 onion, finely chopped ⅓ cup shredded green pepper 1 tablespoon flour 1½ cups milk Salt and pepper

Boil beans in water for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and soak 1 hour or overnight.

Cook beans in covered pan until they begin to soften. Add vegetables; cook until tender.

Mix flour with a little water and stir into vegetables. Cook 10 minutes longer, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

Add milk and seasonings, heat to boiling, and serve.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with a peanut-and-fruit salad—sections of grapefruit and orange—and for dessert, prune whip with custard sauce.

For Variety

_Baked Bean Chowder._—Use leftover baked beans. Cook ¾ cup diced carrots, ⅓ cup green pepper, and 1 onion in 1½ cups water, until tender. Add ¾ cup canned tomatoes, 2 cups baked beans, and seasonings, and reheat. Blend 1 tablespoon flour and 2 tablespoons cold water and stir into the vegetables. Cook 10 minutes. Add 1½ cups of milk; reheat.

Savory bean stew

1 cup dry beans or whole peas 1 quart water ¼ cup diced salt pork ⅓ cup chopped onion ½ pound chopped beef 2 to 2½ cups cooked or canned tomatoes, or 2½ to 3 cups chopped raw tomatoes Salt and pepper

Boil beans or peas in the water 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and soak 1 hour or overnight.

Fry salt pork until crisp, remove from pan, and brown onion in the fat. Add meat and stir and cook slowly a few minutes.

Combine all ingredients, season, and simmer until meat is tender and flavors are blended.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with squash, a shredded raw vegetable salad, and lemon sponge pudding.

For Variety

_Chili Con Carne._—Add 2 to 4 teaspoons chili powder and a little garlic to recipe. Red kidney, and the pink beans of the West, are favorites for this dish.

_Hopping John._—Add ½ cup dry blackeye peas to 2¼ cups ham broth. Boil 2 minutes, soak 1 hour or overnight. Cook covered until almost tender. Add ½ cup raw rice, ½ cup chopped cooked ham. Cook gently 20 to 30 minutes. The broth should be almost gone when the rice is tender.

Bread and other cereal foods ...

Bread and other cereal foods are truly the staff of life for some families and are used for all or part of the main dish for many of their meals. Griddlecakes, toast, or oatmeal is a favorite breakfast dish. And sandwiches, spaghetti, or macaroni may form the bulk of a noon or evening meal.

Bread and other cereal foods do not provide large amounts of protein in any one serving. But, because we eat bread and other cereals so often, grain foods contribute a fourth of the protein in diets in this country. The cereal foods also contribute to our diets more calories, more iron, and more thiamine than any other group of foods.

Grains cannot make an adequate main dish unless eaten in large quantities or combined with protein-rich foods.

A few figures on grain proteins may be helpful. A pound loaf of whole-wheat bread contains a little less than three-fourths as much protein as a pound of beef with a moderate amount of fat and bone. You would need to eat one-third of the loaf, seven or eight slices, for as much protein as you get in a fourth pound of the meat—an average serving.

A pound loaf of white bread contains somewhat less protein than a pound whole-wheat loaf. The use of nonfat dry milk solids in bread increases quantity and quality of proteins slightly.

Proteins from bread and other cereal foods are not of as high quality as proteins of animal products, although some are better than others. You can somewhat increase the protein values obtained from cereals by using whole-wheat bread and whole-grain breakfast cereals and by adding corn germ or wheat germ to other cereals. Milk, eggs, soy flour or grits, meat, or fish help to bring up the protein content and protein value of a cereal main dish.

Familiar examples of the cereal-extended main dishes are creamed chicken or fish—or meat in brown sauce—served with toast, noodles, spaghetti, rice, or hominy grits. Other popular combinations of cereals with high-protein foods are scrapple, macaroni or rice with cheese, eggs with toast, and meat loaf or patties with breadcrumbs. And we are also extending high-protein foods with cereals when we add biscuit to the meat stew, dumplings to stewed chicken, and waffles to the breakfast or supper sausages.

Oatmeal griddlecakes with sausages

2 cups milk 2 cups quick-cooking oats ⅓ cup sifted flour 2½ teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 eggs, separated ⅓ cup cooking fat or oil Cooked sausages

Heat milk and pour it over the oats. Allow to cool.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

Beat egg yolks and add to oat mixture. Add melted fat or oil and stir in dry ingredients.

Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.

Drop the batter by spoonfuls on a hot greased griddle. When the surface is covered with bubbles, turn and brown on the other side. Oatmeal griddlecakes take longer to brown than plain griddlecakes.

Menu Suggestion

Serve the griddlecakes with sirup and the sausages. The rest of the meal may be a large fruit and carrot salad and gingerbread.

For Variety

_Apple Griddlecakes._—Add ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, and 1 cup finely chopped, pared apples to the batter before adding egg whites.

French toast with tomato-meat sauce

2 eggs ⅓ cup milk ¼ teaspoon salt 8 slices bread Cooking fat or oil

Beat eggs, add milk and salt. Dip bread quickly into mixture. Brown on both sides in a little fat or oil, using moderate heat.

Tomato-meat sauce

2 cups canned tomatoes or 2½ cups chopped raw tomatoes ½ pound chopped raw beef 2 tablespoons chopped onion 2 tablespoons chopped green pepper Cooking fat or oil 1 tablespoon flour Salt and pepper

If using raw tomatoes cook them until soft. Press tomatoes through a sieve.

Brown beef, onion, and green pepper in the fat or oil. Blend in the flour, add tomatoes slowly. Season. Cook and stir over low heat until as thick as desired.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with a green vegetable, peanut and cabbage salad, and fruit and cheese for dessert.

For Variety

Serve the toast with cheese sauce and omit dessert cheese.

Whole-wheat scrapple

2 pounds fresh pork (bony cut) 1½ quarts water 1½ cups uncooked fine whole-wheat cereal 1 small onion, chopped fine Salt and pepper

Cook pork slowly in the water until the meat drops from the bones. Strain off the broth.

Separate bones from meat, taking care to get out all the tiny pieces. Cut meat fine.

Add water to the broth, if necessary, to make 1 quart. Bring to boil and slowly stir in the cereal. Cook until the mixture is thickened, stirring constantly.

Add meat and onion. Cook 15 minutes longer, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour the mixture into loaf pans and let stand until cool and firm.

To serve, slice scrapple and brown slowly on both sides in a hot fry pan. If the scrapple is rich with fat, extra fat is not needed for browning.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with baked sweetpotatoes, scalloped or fried apples or applesauce, a green salad, and lemon meringue pie.

For Variety

One cup _cornmeal_ may be used instead of 1½ cups whole-wheat cereal.

Rice with chicken

1½ cups diced leftover cooked chicken Chicken bones Salt 1 onion, chopped fine 1½ tablespoons chicken fat ½ cup raw rice Grated cheese

This dish may be made with more or less than 1½ cups chicken, but this amount is needed to give enough protein for a main dish for four persons.

Cover bones with water and simmer an hour or longer. Drain off the broth. Add any leftover chicken gravy and water, if needed, to make 1 quart broth. Add salt to taste.

In a large fry pan, cook onion a few minutes in chicken fat, add broth. When it boils up rapidly, add the rice slowly.

Cover the pan. Simmer rice about 25 minutes or until the grains swell and become soft. Stir with a fork from time to time to keep the rice from sticking.

By the time the rice is done, it will have absorbed the broth, and the grains will be large and separate. Then add the pieces of chicken and more salt if needed. Turn mixture onto a hot platter, and sprinkle generously with grated cheese.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with spinach and hard-cooked egg, celery and carrot sticks, fruit pickle, and apple or peach dumpling or pie.

Noodles, western style

3 ounces noodles (about 1¼ cups broken noodles) ½ small green pepper, diced 1½ tablespoons bacon fat or meat drippings 1½ tablespoons flour 2 cups cooked or canned tomatoes, or 2½ cups raw tomatoes cut in pieces 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley 1 cup chipped corned beef, spiced ham, or dried beef ¼ teaspoon salt Pepper

Cook noodles 10 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain.

Cook green pepper in fat in large fry pan until tender.

Blend in flour and add other ingredients. Simmer 5 minutes to thicken. Add salt and pepper.

Add noodles and simmer 10 minutes longer.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with cooked cabbage sprinkled with cheese, and cooked carrots. Add a salad of apple, celery, and raisins, and have jellyroll for dessert.

Noodles in Another Way

_Noodle Omelet._—Drain the cooked noodles; fry in a little fat or oil until golden brown. Add to 4 eggs, lightly beaten and seasoned with salt and pepper. Turn back into fry pan, and cook slowly until brown on bottom and set on top. Fold onto a hot platter.

Tamale pie

1 cup cornmeal 3 cups boiling water 1½ teaspoons salt 1 onion, chopped 1 green pepper, chopped 3 tablespoons cooking fat or oil ¾ pound chopped raw meat, or 1½ cups chopped cooked meat 1½ cups drained canned or cooked tomatoes Chili powder and salt to taste

Stir cornmeal slowly into rapidly boiling salted water. Bring to boil over direct heat. Cover, and cook 45 minutes over boiling water, stirring occasionally.

Cook onion and green pepper in fat or oil until tender; remove. Add meat to fat. If raw meat is used, cook until done.

Add remaining ingredients and heat thoroughly.

Pour a layer of the cooked cornmeal into a greased baking dish, add meat mixture, and cover with the rest of the cornmeal.

Bake at 400° F. (hot oven) 30 minutes.

Menu Suggestion

Serve with crisp green salad with cheese dressing, and cherry tart.

Other Meat Pies

Leftover meat, gravy, and cooked vegetables may be used in meat pies. Heat together, put into a baking dish, and cover with rounds of baking-powder biscuit dough. Bake at 450° F. (very hot oven).

Lunch-box main dishes ...

Packing a really good lunch-box meal—one that is high in important food values and in appetite appeal—takes more careful planning than many a meal that goes on the family table. For lunch-box foods are necessarily limited to those that can be held for several hours without spoiling or losing their freshness. But there are foods that pack well, and ways to vary them, so packed lunches need not be monotonous.

Sandwiches tend to be the “backbone” of the lunch-box meal. And when the fillings are high in protein foods—meats, eggs, cheese, fish, peanut butter, baked beans—they really are main dishes. To increase the protein value of these sandwiches, be generous with the filling. One-fourth cup of filling, spread clear to the edge of the bread, or 2 slices of meat or cheese, is not too much. Salmon or egg salad on a roll is a better main dish and more appetizing if part of the roll is scooped out to make room for more filling. Use centers as bread crumbs.

Provide variety in sandwiches by using different kinds of bread. For instance, “cheese on rye” is a favorite, but cheese on raisin bread or Boston brown bread may be a welcome change.

Vary the fillings—spread salad dressing or prepared mustard, topped with sliced cucumber or a lettuce leaf, over the meat or cheese; spread a thin layer of jelly over the peanut butter. Try different kinds of cheese. Or make a cheese spread: Put cheese through the food chopper and add jam or mashed cooked fruit, or salad dressing with chopped onion or sweet pickle.

For food value and variety, pack a salad of raw fruits or vegetables with the sandwich lunch. If the sandwiches are a little low in protein, include cottage cheese in the salad. Even with dressing and greens, salad travels well in a covered container of paper, glass, or plastic.

Hot soups, stews, or chowders—made with meats, fish, or beans—are good winter additions to the sandwich lunch. An individual-size insulated bottle or wide-mouth container for them may be a good investment, if these hot dishes cannot be bought at school or at work.

Moist, soft sandwich filling or salad mixtures made with finely chopped meat, eggs, or fish with salad dressing spoil quickly when temperatures are high. Refrigerate all such mixtures immediately after buying or making them and use them within 2 days. Lunches containing these mixtures are best refrigerated if they have to stand more than 3 or 4 hours before they are eaten.

Salads

_Ham and Egg._—For each serving, use 1 chopped hard-cooked egg, ¼ cup chopped cooked ham. Add onion, celery, green pepper, pickle, and salad dressing to taste.

_Meat and Macaroni._—Mix equal parts of cooked meat and macaroni. Add chopped pickles and celery and moisten with salad dressing.

_Meat and Bean._—Use shredded chipped beef, or chopped cooked corned beef. Mix with any kind of cooked dry beans; add diced onion and tart dressing.

_Potato With Meat._—Mix cut-up ham or crumbled bacon with potatoes. Add cut-up pickles, celery, onion, and salad dressing.

_Meat and Fruit._—Mix any cut-up cooked meat with celery and raisins or raw dried apricots. Add salt and salad dressing as needed.

_Egg and Beet._—Combine sliced hard-cooked eggs and pickled beets. Add shredded endive or other salad greens. Pack dressing separately.

_Kidney Bean._—Combine drained cooked kidney beans, cut-up celery, dill pickles, and cubed cheese. Add mayonnaise.

_Fish_.—Shred leftover cooked fish—halibut, salmon, or sardines. Combine with cut-up celery, cooked peas, lemon juice, and salad dressing.

_Chicken._—Mix equal parts of cut-up cooked chicken and crisp celery. Add salad dressing and thin slices of sweet pickle or stuffed olives.

Sandwich fillings

_Sliced Meat or Cheese._—Use two slices with vegetables between. Good combinations are: Beef with parsley or thinly sliced tomato and salad dressing; tongue with watercress and salad dressing or prepared mustard; cheese with either of the above combinations, or with jam, jelly, or marmalade.

_Bacon._—Crumble crisp fried bacon, and add it to one of the following: Cottage cheese, sliced tomato, diced hard-cooked egg, raw carrots, onion, sweet or dill pickles.

_Baked Bean._—Mash cold baked beans and moisten with thick chili sauce. Add diced sweet pickle and thinly sliced onion or cucumber.

_Peanut Butter._—Mix equal parts of peanut butter and chopped raisins or other raw dried fruit. Or, mix the peanut butter with diced pickle and chopped onion.

_Cheese Salad._—Dice cheese fine. Add a little chopped onion and green pepper or parsley, season, and moisten with salad dressing.