A Look at Lunch

Today I have decided to talk about lunch, or rather let my authoratative CAI Encyclopedic Cookbook (1964) do the talking for me!

"Lunch is the most neglected meal of the day. Often women nibble at leftovers, men swallow a hasty cup of coffee and a sandwich, children buy something sweet, and these things constitute their 'lunch'. But good nutrition is not limited to just one meal a day. It encompasses all meals. A good lunch takes planning and preparation. This is especially true if the lunch is carried and has to be packed at home. Check your lunches against this lit and see that your nutrition plans are carried out.

1. A good lunch is fresh. your score is zero if you make up sandwiches the night before. Keep a plentiful supply of fresh fillings in covered jars in the icebox, other necessities on the pantry shelf, and use the mass production method of assembly.

2. A good lunch is attractive. Wrap sandwiches neatly in waxed paper or cellophane, use waxed cups for salads, fruits, and desserts, thermos bottle for hot or cold liquids and glass screw-top jars for a hot stew or main dish (paper towels make a good insulation around jars).

3. All good lunches are balanced nutritionally. Check to see if your lunch contains each of the following: A serving of vegetables, raw or cooked, providing needed vitamins. This is accomplished by using lettuce, romaine, escarole, endive or watercress in the sandwiches or by using a vegetable filling. Vegetables can also be used in a variety of salads and as a relish such as celery curls, olives, radishes or carrot sticks. A serving of meat, fish, cheese or egg is essential. The growing child, the laborer and the working girl require extra protein for tissue building. in a packed lunch, meat is ordinarily in the form of a sandwich filling, but there are many hot dishes that are suitable for carrying. They can add greatly to the variety and nutrition of the lunch. The daily fruit requirement can be included in an attractive salad or dessert. Whole fruit, raw or baked, and carious fruit puddings are easy to prepare, nutritious and add a sweet satisfying finish to lunch. For a change and a surprise, tarts, fruit cakes, turnovers and dumplings travel well and have added attraction of being readily eaten. These too can fill some of the nutrition requirements instead of being just a sweet. As for the beverage, milk is necessary for children. However, for those reluctant milk drinkers, the milk requirement is easily camouflaged by packing flavored milk drinks, creamed soups, puddings, custards, scalloped dishes or creamed dishes. The adult too should have milk included even thought it is not served as a beverage."


What do you think?