The meat course can easily be dispensed with by making attractive vegetable, egg or cheese dishes. Most doctors and dietitians claim that the average American family eat more meat than is required, so why not plan to have at least one dinner a week meatless? It will usually be found less expensive and the household would be benefited also.

Of course, the family must be supplied with food fully as valuable to the diet as meat, and in order to accomplish this the housewife must understand a few fundamental principles governing the proper selection and combinations of food.

The average housekeeper will hold up her hands in despair when food values are suggested, and to many the subject seems too scientific to grasp, and in a measure this is true. However, the following guide is not at all complicated, and the progressive housewife of today will do much better when planning meals, meatless or otherwise, if she thoroughly understands these principles.

The body needs material to build up and repair the wear and tear caused by activity, also fuel to burn, making activity possible.

Protein is a distinct repairing or tissue building material, and is found in quantities in meat, fish, eggs, cheese, milk and nuts.

Carbohydrates (sugar and starches) and the fats furnish the fuel for activity, and include sugar, molasses, honey, ripe and dried fruits, starchy vegetables, and cereals.

Foods rich in both protein and carbohydrates are peas, beans, lentils, oatmeal and wheat products; this includes all breads.

The body also requires mineral salts, which are supplied mainly in the various green and dried vegetables, fresh and dried fruits. Bulk or quantity is furnished also in the last named foods.

This, of course, only touches very briefly on the subject of food values, but a comprehensive understanding of just these few principles will prove helpful when planning meals, and a properly balanced meal need not be a complicated, difficult one to prepare, but may be of the greatest simplicity or may offer as great a variety as desired, provided they contain the proper combination of foods; in other words, some protein, some carbohydrates and fat, some mineral salts and the necessary bulk.

The list of meat substitutes is a long and varied one. Eggs are fully as valuable as meat in both food value and digestibility.

Beans or lentils may take the place of meat. Boston baked beans, if properly prepared, are usually popular. Stuffed peppers or tomatoes make satisfactory luncheon or supper dishes.

The possibilities of cheese combined with other food materials are numerous and these combinations may be served in place of meat. Cheese has twice the food value of meat; there is comparatively no waste, and it has the advantage of keeping qualities and requires very little preliminary preparation. Even with the prevailing high prices, cheese will be found economical when compared with other foods of equal nutritive value. The different varieties of cheese are used chiefly for their flavor, and used in such small quantities, have very little value in the diet other than to make the meal attractive and palatable. Cream or soft cheese is usually served in this manner and is more easily digested than hard cheese.

One reason, perhaps, why cheese is not more commonly used as a meat substitute is due to the fact that because of its concentration it is not easily digested. This, however, may be largely overcome by grating or cutting into small bits then melted with milk, or in combination with other ingredients. A very small quantity of baking soda is an aid in making cheese soluble.

Cheese can be overcooked; it is hardened by high heat and care should be taken that the food materials combined with cheese be thoroughly cooked before the combination is made. If merely melted, cheese is probably as digestible, if used moderately, as many cooked meats; but when it has been overheated in cooking it usually contains burned fats. This causes indigestion, and the blame should not be laid to the composition of the food but to careless cooking.

In planning menus of which cheese forms the main dish, supply crisp vegetables, such as lettuce, celery, fruit salads, and for desserts something light, either fresh or cooked fruits or gelatin, plain cookies or fruit shortcakes. If cheese is used in quantity it is necessary to diminish other protein and fat foods in order that the meal may not be too hearty. Vegetables and soups may be cooked with cheese, and in such dishes the cheese is added for both nutritive value and flavor.

The housewife whose family is fond of cheese can find an almost unlimited variety of combinations. To keep cheese free from mold, wrap in a slightly damp cloth and keep cool.