To supply a fourth of the day’s protein requirement, a main dish for a family of four must contain about 2 ounces of protein. Although this averages ½ ounce (15 grams) per person, it will not necessarily be divided equally among the family members—men and teen-age boys and girls will need somewhat more; women and younger children, somewhat less. There follows a list of foods commonly used in main dishes, together with the quantity needed to provide the ½ ounce of protein.
Approximate Amounts of Some Foods That Provide About ½ Ounce (15 grams) Protein
| As purchased | ||
|---|---|---|
| Meat: | ||
| Cuts with only small amounts of bone or visible fat (as beef stew meat, veal cutlet, rolled rib roast, round steak, boned rump roast, tongue) | 3 ounces | |
| Cuts with moderate amount of bone and visible fat (as standing rib roast, rump roast with bone, lamb shoulder roast, pork chops) | 4 ounces | |
| Cuts with much fat or bone (such as bacon, pork sausage, spareribs) | 5 ounces or more | |
| Luncheon-meat mixtures (as bologna, frankfurters) | 3½ ounces | |
| Chicken (as roasters, stewing hens): | ||
| Whole, dressed (with head, feet, bone, viscera weighed in) | 4 to 5 ounces | |
| Ready-to-cook (head, feet, viscera removed) | 3 to 4 ounces | |
| Canned or boneless, lean | 2 ounces | |
| Turkey: | ||
| Whole, dressed (with head, feet, bone, viscera weighed in) | 4 ounces | |
| Ready-to-cook (head, feet, viscera removed) | 3½ ounces | |
| Fish, canned or boneless (as salmon, tuna) | 2½ ounces | |
| Eggs, in shell | 4½ ounces (2 large or 2½ medium-size) | |
| Milk: | ||
| Fresh, whole or skim, or buttermilk | 14½ ounces (1¾ cups) | |
| Evaporated | 7 ounces (⅞ cup) | |
| Dry, nonfat | 1½ ounces (5½ tablespoons) | |
| Cheese: | ||
| Cheddar | 2 ounces (½ cup, grated) | |
| Cottage | 2½ ounces (5 tablespoons) | |
| Peanut butter | 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) | |
| Dry beans, except soybeans (as lima, navy, kidney) | 2½ ounces (about ⅓ cup) | |
| Soybeans, dry | 1½ ounces (about 3 tablespoons) | |
A Daily Food Guide
As you plan your main dishes, do your overall menu planning too, keeping in mind the different kinds of foods that are needed for an adequate diet. Plan to serve foods from each of these four groups every day:
• Milk group—milk in all forms (fluid whole or skim, evaporated, dry, buttermilk). For children, the equivalent of 3 or more cups of fluid milk daily; for teenagers, 4 or more cups; for adults, 2 or more cups.
• Meat group—meat, poultry, fish, eggs; as alternates, dry beans, peas, and lentils; nuts, peanuts, peanut butter. Two or more servings daily.
• Vegetable-fruit group—vegetables and fruits of all kinds. Four or more servings, including a citrus fruit or other fruit or vegetable important for vitamin C daily and a dark-green or deep-yellow vegetable for vitamin A at least every other day.
• Bread-cereal group—all breads and cereals that are whole grain, enriched, or restored. Four or more servings daily.
Other foods—the fats and oils, sugars, and unenriched cereal products used in cooking or added to foods at the table—will help to round out meals and satisfy appetites.
Looking at our national diet, we find that nearly half of our protein comes from the meat group. But about a fifth comes from bread and other cereal foods. And the milk group provides about a fourth.
We can then rely on these three food groups to provide the protein of our main dishes. We need not have protein-deficient diets even if we economize on meat. For we can get protein from other foods, using them as suggested in the money-saving recipes given in this booklet.