Foods, their selection and preparation

The place of the different foods in the diet, guides to selection and buying, and methods of preparation are discussed in the various chapters of this book. The planning and serving of meals are left to this final chapter. MEAL-PLANNING The scientific planning of diets for special conditions may be a complicated and exact¬ ing job, especially when a detailed account¬ ing must be made of the required nutrients, the amounts of protein, carbohydrate, and fat, and the total calories supplied. While family meals must provide adequate amounts of the required nutrients, the same attention to detail is not necessary. Also practical nu¬ tritionists have worked out simple methods by which adequate food supplies for individ¬ uals and families can be planned and checked on the basis of food groups, without time- consuming calculation of the exact nutrient content. The National Food Guide gives a simple listing of the number and size of servings from seven basic food groups that will sup¬ ply the essential nutrients. This list (see page 19) can be used to check the foods pro¬ vided the family each day, to see that the "must” foods are included. This use of the food guide helps to build diet patterns that simplify future planning. When the supplies provide adequate amounts from the "must” food groups, the diet for the day is said to be balanced. Meals are well planned when each makes its appropriate contribution to the balance for the day in terms of the food groups. But meals planned well from the point of view of nutrition must also be satisfying. The most nutritious meal is of no use at all unless it is eaten. A meal, therefore, must have appetite appeal. This brings in not only the science of food preparation but also the arts of cooking and serving food. Fur¬ thermore, most families must consider the cost of food, and economy of time and en¬ ergy in preparing and serving meals. Practically, with a basic knowledge of nu¬ trition, food-buying, and food preparation, plus the help of a few simple rules and meal patterns, meals which are satisfactory from all the various standpoints may be planned easily and quickly. Practice in the everyday preparation and serving of meals will add to the proficiency of the person whose job it is to plan the meals. No other job of the home¬ maker is more important, since the health and well-being of the family depend to a large extent upon the meals which she serves [356] Advance Planning. Planning a day’s meals in advance is much better than plan¬ ning one meal at a time, and in most cases it is advisable to plan for several days. Plan¬ ning facilitates the checking in advance of the nutritional adequacy of the supply for the day or the week, in terms of the recom¬ mended amount of each food group. Time is saved in marketing by the preparation of a weekly shopping list for staples, and re¬ minders of fresh supplies to be purchased from day to day. Meals planned ahead make possible the preparation of some foods in ad¬ vance with a saving of time and fuel. Most important of all, well-made plans tend to give poise and peace of mind to the home¬ maker and make it possible for other mem¬ bers of the family to participate in special jobs without interfering with a smoothly running schedule, since the person doing the planning has more poise and peace of mind, and everything runs more smoothly than is possible when th