The mothercraft manual

Cereal jelly is made by straining the gruel through cheesecloth or finest wire strainer.

Cereal water is made by using a smaller proportion of cereal—from 1 to 2 tablespoons to 1 pint of water,—and straining. It may be made from the prepared barley, wheat, oat, or rice flour, using 1 tablespoon of the flour, blended with 2 tablespoons cold water, and proceeding then as with the whole cereal, stirring occasionally, and cooking from thirty to sixty minutes.

Note that cereal water contains little nourishment and, unless made from the whole grains, little mineral.

The ready-cooked oatmeals and wheat cereals should be cooked not less than one hour for children.

The dry, ready-to-serve cereals are thoroughly dextrinized and easily digested if well chewed, and therefore as advantageous for children over two or three.

Eggs. Eggs are quite easily digested raw, strained through a fine sieve. Raw egg is usually laxative. They should be cooked merely until the whites begin to set and are like soft jelly. Or the grated yolk, after boiling twenty minutes, may be used.

To soft boil. Place in boiling water which is immediately removed from the fire; let stand eight to ten minutes. Or put into cold water in covered saucepan; bring to boiling point and remove saucepan from fire.

To poach. Grease the bottom of a small skillet with some fat. Put in boiling water with 1 teaspoon salt. Drop in egg from saucer, and turn fire low, or remove skillet. Let stand 2 to 5 minutes, until white is set. Remove with perforated spoon or ladle. Serve on toast which has been dipped in boiling salted water and slightly buttered.

Cocoa. For children four to eight years old, make cocoa weak, using only ¼ teaspoon cocoa to a cup of milk. Blend the cocoa with ¼ teaspoon sugar and 1 tablespoon boiling water. Add ½ cup of boiling water and boil for five minutes. A larger portion may be made at one time, and kept on ice. Heat the milk in a double boiler and add the hot cocoa to this. Do not let the milk boil.

Soups and Purées. For thin soups, take equal parts of milk and the vegetable water from cooking potatoes, rice, spinach, carrots, celery, corn, lima or string beans, peas. Heat in double boiler.

Purées are made by mashing and straining any of these vegetables, and adding milk.

The most nutritious thickening is given by adding cereal gruel, or raw egg beaten in just before serving, after removing from the stove. Thickening of flour or cornstarch requires cooking for half an hour. Flour in melted fat is indigestible.

Vegetables. Use fresh, tender vegetables. Sort carefully, removing bruised and blemished places. Wash or scrub thoroughly through two or three waters, using a colander. If canned, remove all immediately from container. For children under two years, potatoes should be baked, and other vegetables cooked thoroughly and put through a fine sieve, removing all cellulose. For children of two and three years, vegetables should be minced; for those four to eight years, merely diced.

Baked potato. Remove skin from two ends to permit escape of steam in cooking. Bake in hot oven until mealy—about forty-five minutes. Pierce with hot fork or break open slightly to permit escape of steam.

Boiled potatoes. Boil in skins to prevent loss of mineral nutrients. Put into boiling water; add 1 teaspoon of salt to each pint of water, and boil gently for half an hour. Test with a fork, and when mellow, drain off the water, remove the cover, and let the moisture evaporate. If very large potatoes are used, add a cup of cold water when the outside is cooked; this prevents overcooking of outside portion.

Other vegetables may be baked, steamed (cooked in a steamer), or stewed. The ordinary method of cooking vegetables by boiling in a large quantity of water removes the essential minerals and watersoaks the vegetables.

Dried peas, beans, lentils, should be soaked overnight, salted and boiled for fifteen minutes, then put into the casserole or fireless cooker and cooked from six to ten hours.

Young beets, string beans, lima beans, carrots, spinach, peas, asparagus, summer squash are best steamed until tender (from thirty to sixty minutes). They may be stewed by putting in a covered saucepan with just enough salted water to prevent burning, and with the water just boiling.

Onions should be put into boiling water with 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon soda, and a piece of charcoal to 1 quart of water. After cooking five minutes, pour off the water and add freshly boiling, salted water; after ten minutes drain again and put into salted boiling water. Boil until tender—forty-five to sixty minutes. Leave the cover off to avoid odors. Spanish or Bermuda onions are mildest in flavor.

T = Tablespoon t = teaspoon c = cup

Spoonful or cupful means level. Teaspoons vary in size.

In serving vegetables, add a little cream for young children; omit sauces.

Serving. Let the child eat outdoors whenever possible. If indoors, have the room well ventilated and not above 68° F.

Until six years of age the child preferably should have his meals, at least dinner and supper, at separate hours from the adults. He will give better attention to his food, will not be tempted by adult food, and not subjected to the table conversation which is too often directed at him or not of interest.

A low chair and table is much to be preferred to a high chair, until six years; then a higher chair, comfortable for the dining table, with a foot rest, should be provided, to be cut down as the child grows.

Serve milk at blood heat (98° F.) to children under two years of age, and in cold weather for children to six years. Serve warm milk for cooked cereal.

The serving plate for children under three should be kept warm during the mealtime. Special children’s plates are now procurable that have thermos qualities or that are kept warm by hot water.

Avoid any possibility of infection. For example: Do not return spoon or fork to child’s food, or give to child, after you have used it yourself, or another child has used it. Do not blow into child’s food; use some other means of cooling.

Cereals should be fresh cooked within twelve hours for children under two, and within twenty-four hours for older children. Baked potatoes and eggs should be fresh cooked for each meal. Vegetables, soups, and purées should be cooked within twenty-four hours.

Toast should be buttered when cold. If buttered hot, the fat surrounds the starch grains and makes their digestion difficult or impossible.

Cereal should be served without sugar or butter, which make digestion difficult and form a rich combination that spoils the appetite for simple, wholesome foods. Top milk may be added, and for children two years, chopped stewed fruit.

The digestive juices in the mouth have an important part in the digestion of starches, therefore every means should be used for the insalivation of starchy foods. Dry buttered toast or whole wheat cracker, for instance, eaten with cereal, necessitates longer chewing of the cereal. The saliva is alkaline, and its action upon starches is hindered by the presence of an acid; therefore acid fruits, such as apple sauce, should not be taken into the mouth at the same time as starchy foods, such as bread, crackers, or cookies. Bread and milk are more digestible when taken together, as the milk is thus divided into smaller curds. Milk from a glass should be slowly sipped, in small swallows; this is a very important habit to cultivate in small children.

The diet should be carefully selected and analyzed, carefully prepared and daintily served with the minimum portions to meet the child’s needs. With these conditions a child should be trained to eat what is set before him, without argument, having a second helping of the simple foods to the limit of his caloric needs. Do not permit a child to be finicky about his food. The tastes and food habits are formed in early childhood.

Cultivate a taste for vegetables by giving first in vegetable broths, and then gradually give a teaspoonful of the mashed vegetable.

If a wholesome food is refused on first offering at one meal, give that first at a subsequent meal and withhold more desired foods until this is taken. Keep dessert out of sight until other food is eaten. An occasional child is not able to digest some special food, as milk, eggs, strawberries, fish. Some children cannot digest plain milk but can take it in foods, as in broth, junket, custard, pudding.

Common faults and tendencies in the child to be guarded against are:

Common faults of adults, in the feeding of children:

School children should always have an adequate warm breakfast, with plenty of time to eat without hurrying, and a warm midday meal. If the school is too far away for them to return home, some provision should be made with the teacher, school principal, or near-by home, for one or two warm dishes.

Children under six years should always have the mother or other intelligent attendant with them during meals to train in careful chewing and drinking, neatness, courtesy, conversation. With children under four years a spirit of play may be brought into the feeding, especially with the less desired foods; this should gradually be dropped during the fifth year.

Utilize the opportunity for training in motor coördination and self-reliance. Babies can be given water from a spoon at one month, and can begin drinking from a cup at six months; thus trained, they will never acquire the bottle habit, and they can learn to feed themselves during the second or third year. The motor control and self-reliance thus gained are far more important than the messing of food during a few months. Let the children help clear their table (18 months); brush up any crumbs (2 years); bring in their own dishes and food (3 years); wash dishes (3 years); help with the cooking (4 years).

Use enamel cups, sauce dishes, and plates until at about three years the child can confidently handle dishes without breaking them.

The serving of food has the value of a religious ceremony and a social banquet, as well as the satisfying of physical needs. With intelligence and forethought it can be made of such significance, and a means of teaching reverence, courtesy, self-control of physical appetites, pleasant conversation.