When tea and coffee are included in meal plans, the fact that these beverages have no food value except the milk and sugar added to them, should be taken into consideration.
G. Foods on Hand.—When menus are made the thrifty housekeeper considers those materials she has on hand and especially those which would spoil if not used at once. Very often left-over material serves as a basis on which to plan one or more meals.
A housekeeper may drain from a vegetable the water in which it was cooked. But she sees in it for the next meal or for the next day several possible uses. The vegetable stock may be used in soup or it may be combined with milk or cheese and serve as a sauce for some left-over vegetable. Bread crumbs combined with milk, peanuts, or egg make a tasty meat substitute one week; or they may be utilized in making bread pudding the second week; a scalloped dish the third week; and a meat loaf the fourth. If several pieces of dry cake are on hand, a tasty dessert may be made by pouring over them some hot sauce such as apple or chocolate. Dry cake may also be crumbed and used in place of flour and sugar in a steamed pudding.
It is possible, of course, for a housekeeper to spend an undue amount of time in utilizing left-overs or to defeat her efforts in thrift and buy expensive supplementary foods in order to use food on hand. Often it is wise to cook just enough so that there are no left-overs. On the other hand, it is sometimes economical as far as fuel and time are concerned to plan to cook enough food at one time for more than one meal. This is especially true of foods requiring long cooking such as baked beans and other dried foods.
MENU PLANS.—Serving meals in a number of courses should be attempted only where the housekeeper is assisted in her work. For everyday living the meals of most families are served only in one or two courses.
Although there are a great many things to be considered in menu-making, it is not necessary to use a great variety of foods to meet the requirements of successful meal planning. A breakfast consisting of fruit, rolled oats, and top milk, for example, is simple, but it embraces all the factors involved in the planning of a desirable meal.
As previously mentioned, the groups of foods may serve as a basis for menu planning. After selecting foods from each group that are seasonable, economic, and that will "taste well" together it is wise to analyze the menu. See if it contains all the essentials of diet to meet the needs of the body as explained previously. Some housekeepers find it helpful to have lists of dishes found to be satisfactory for serving, such as lists of meat dishes, vegetables, salads, desserts, etc., and glance over these when planning meals.
The menu plans which follow are merely suggestive. Both simple and more elaborate menus are given for each of the three meals.
A breakfast may consist of:
Fruit
Cereal or Eggs and Toast
Beverage