Those who have followed the lessons thus far have prepared a considerable number of well-balanced meals. It is time that we considered some of the principles involved in the planning of such menus.

It is hardly necessary to say that meals should be planned several days ahead, each meal and each day hinging to the preceding one. In this way desirable combinations can be made with very little or no waste. If the meal is prepared without planning the housekeeper must use what she happens to have on hand and a badly balanced meal and poor combinations too often result. Or if a market is near she is apt to get an expensive piece of meat which can be cooked quickly and easily. The bits of meat and vegetables left from the preceding day are often wasted, as there is not enough of any one to use and no thought has been given on how to combine them. In such cases the expense for food mounts up amazingly, the family is not satisfied or well nourished, and the housekeeper is hurried and worried.

Let us take as a basis for the planning and preparation of meals, three points, - a balanced dietary, pleasing combinations, and economy of time and money.

Balanced Dietary

It is not necessary to spend time figuring perfect balance of food principles in family meals, but it is necessary to have a general idea of the composition of foods (see Part I, page v, and pages 114-118), and to be careful that not too much protein, or fat, or starch and sugar be served in a meal.

The following examples of combinations often served in poorly balanced meals will illustrate this point:

Beef, macaroni and cheese, peas, - too high in protein.

Peasoup, meat, cheese, custard, - too high in protein.

Beef or mutton, baked beans, Indian pudding, - too high in protein.

Pork, fried potatoes, rich pudding with butter sauce, - too high in fat.

Pork, vegetable with butter sauce, salad with mayonnaise dressing, whipped cream dessert, - too high in fat.

Light meat, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, rice pudding, - too high in starch.

Combination rice and meat, potatoes, beets, blanc mange, - too high in starch.

Meat, candied sweet potatoes, jelly, kisses, and rich preserves, - too high in sugar.

The tendency in well-to-do American families is to serve meals containing too high a proportion of protein and fat, and especially to serve too much. The total "food value" in the food eaten should depend chiefly on the amount of physical activity taken by members of the family. The menu for a farmer's family should contain more heavy, rich foods than that of a family in which the occupations are sedentary. The menus given in the Lessons are about an average, neither very heavy or light.

If the dinner is divided into four main courses - soup, meat, salad and dessert - plan to have two heavy and two light courses, such as cream soup, light meat, rich salad and light dessert; or clear soup, heavy meat, light salad and rich dessert. In a three-course dinner, make two of the courses moderately heavy and the third light, or in a three-course luncheon or supper have two courses light and the third heavy.