How shall I cook them? Cook them separately, and when used they take the place of some of the boiled water.
(For another way, see former pages.)
How shall I prepare barley gruel water? Take one teaspoonful of the flour and rub it up with a little cold water, and then stir this into a pint of boiling water; add a pinch of salt and boil it fifteen minutes; strain if it is lumpy. Oatmeal gruel is made the same way, only using two teaspoonfuls instead of one.
Barley Jelly.—One rounded tablespoonful of the flour, mixed with a little cold water, is added to one pint of boiling water containing a pinch of salt; cook twenty minutes in a double boiler and strain. A thinner gruel (barley water) is made by using half of the quantity of flour.
How much of the gruel can I use? If prepared by the last method one-sixth to one-half the total quantity of food; if the barley water is used it can be used in greater quantity if desired, as it is weaker by half.
Which one shall I use? Barley and oatmeal are generally used; oatmeal is more laxative.
What is their value as infant foods? Their chief value is to prevent the curd from coagulating in the stomach in hard masses, thus rendering it more digestible.
Would you advise this addition for all infants? No, for it does not agree with them all, and so it cannot be recommended for all infants.
Can I give anything more during the first year? Beef juice, white of an egg, and orange juice.
How and when may I use the beef juice? It may be begun at ten or eleven months in infants who are strong and thriving well. Two teaspoonfuls may be given daily, diluted with same amount of water, fifteen minutes before the midday feeding; in two weeks it may be doubled; and six teaspoonfuls can be given, in four weeks. Two or three tablespoonfuls is all that can be given a child of one year.