22. Start Now to Eat-and-Grow-Younger

Purposely I have kept your diet program simple and easy to follow in order to make it flexible enough to fit anyone, under whatever personal condition or circumstance, in any place.

I could give you a detailed diet program, hour by hour and meal by meal, throughout the day. For example, I could specify that at 10:45 A·M· you were to drink a glass of this-and-that. But suppose you were not in a place or circumstance at that hour where such a drink were obtainable. You'd have to skip part of a consciously designed program. And that would be extremely bad for the habit-forming psychology of your subconscious mind. Far better to have a flexible, readily adaptable Basic Menu, and then follow its principles, rather than to try following, item by item, a detailed diet program.

Therefore, I have made your Eat-and-Grow-Younger diet program so foolproof that it will be harder to skip or cheat than to follow it to the letter. Instead of a set of detailed menus, I have prepared adaptable diet schedules applicable to different conditions. That's why I have included a rather comprehensive set of recipes in the following chapters, so you may substitute one scheduled item for another (either another given recipe, or a similar one of your own preference, so long as it contains the same basic high-protein ingredients, or their equivalents).

High-protein dishes (those containing meats, fish, poultry, cheese, milk, sour cream, buttermilk, eggs, seed cereals and protein meat substitutes) may be interchanged from one day's menu to another without upsetting a calculated daily pro­tein intake of approximately 150 to 165 grams.

After trying the Basic Menu for a while, if you find that this amount of daily protein does not quite meet your full energy requirements, you may increase your intake in what­ever proportions you find effective for your highly individual­ized body needs.

An inexpensive, wholly effective, low-calorie way of ob­taining increased protein (extra calcium, too) is by adding as much as 6 to 8 tablespoons of powdered skim milk to various dishes and beverages throughout the day. Cottage cheese, too, provides another reasonably priced, high-protein (and calcium) food. Sunflower seed kernels and meal, as well as millet and sesame seeds, are valuable sources of high proteins, minerals and vitamins, so extremely concentrated that the addition of 3 to 4 tablespoons of any of these seed cereals to the daily diet yields an effective increase in grams of high-grade protein, together with other essential nutrients. In fact, most of the recipes given have already been fortified wherever possible with these less expensive, high-protein foods.

Honey, maple syrup, sorghum molasses, raw sugar, or a good grade of brown sugar are the only sweeteners permitted in your Eat-and-Grow-Younger diet regimen. If you cheat and use white sugar, I won't know about it—you'll only be defrauding your own body. If you've never used honey instead of white sugar to sweeten your coffee or tea, you can't ap­preciate how much better these beverages can taste. Keep a pot of pure blossom honey on the table; in fact, replace the sugar bowl with the honey pot. Make every single item of food you buy and eat contribute something in the way of essential proteins, minerals and vitamins toward helping you look and feel younger.

If you are a vegetarian, you may obtain the full benefit of this high-protein diet by replacing the meat dishes with the protein meat-substitute recipes (or similar ones) given in Chapter 24. However, for the sake of your health, and your dreams of feeling and looking younger, I hope you're a vegetarian with no prejudices against eggs, milk and cheese, for I cannot advise eliminating these valuable protein foods along with meat.

Planned diet most certainly does not mean "monotonous" diet. You'll find the listed recipes and food combinations as titillating to your taste buds as they are beneficial to your hopes of erecting a barrier against premature old age.

In addition to the sheer pleasure of good food, there is another reason why my high-protein, low-starch menus and recipes stress seasonings and unusual combinations of familiar foods to surprise and delight your sense of taste. When the artificially, prodigally flavored sugar-and-starch foods to which you have become an addict are taken away from your mealtime routine, your debauched taste buds are likely to cry out in protest. And that's when you will begin craving the rich desserts, breads, pasty macaroni and spaghetti dishes, sweet carbonated drinks and artificially colored and flavored candies which you've trained your pampered sense of taste to demand.

But if I can prove to you that high-protein, low-starch meals can be made equally delicious and satisfyingly well-seasoned, with taste thrills you've never reveled in before, then your taste buds will send along to your brain the mes­sage: "How wonderfully new and different everything tastes! Why have we never had food like this before?"

So when I suggest such-and-such an herb, combination of herbs, special seasonings, or unusual combinations of good, simple foods, there's a very definite reason behind my sug­gestion. And you'll derive far more benefit from this high-protein regimen if you follow these directions as far as pos­sible, rather than ignore them by going on preparing your dishes in the same old way.

Moreover, if food gives you a real taste thrill, you actually eat less, are better nourished and avoid the dangers of over­eating. Science has proved that i£ you really enjoy your meals, your appetite is more likely to be kept within sensible bounds. But when food is not tasty, your unsatisfied sense o£ taste drives you on to eat more than you should of highly flavored, starchy desserts and sweets in an effort to satisfy a nagging hunger. Such craving for more and more food after you've already eaten is really a taste-hunger rather than an actual emptiness of the stomach.

Remember, then, every meal should be as much o£ an ad­venture in taste as though you were sitting down before exotic dishes served in some far-away land. You'll find many foreign recipes given in the following pages—recipes handed down in my family, and recipes I've collected in my various travels.

If you've always seasoned with "salt, pepper and onions" as 99 per cent of the cook books so unimaginatively specify, then for the sake of the taste pleasures you're missing learn to use herbs and herb-flavored salt, experiment with other sea­sonings besides the highly spiced condiments which "anes­thetize" your taste buds with their fiery flavors.

For instance, why ruin the superb flavor of a wonderful broiled steak that should be a masterpiece of good food by dusting it liberally with black pepper, then dousing it with a flavor-deadening condiment sauce? Instead, try rubbing a steak lightly with garlic-flavored oil before it goes into the broiler—the oil helps seal in the juices—salt to taste after it comes from the broiler, squeeze a few drops of lemon juice over both sides of the hot steak, then drop on a piece of but­ter to melt and spread its golden goodness over the top of the savory browned meat. This, I should explain, is the jealously guarded flavoring secret of the master chef in one of the most noted steak houses (cabanas, they are called) in Buenos Aires, the city of good food.

Good nutrition is not a matter of income. Rather, it's a matter o£ selection. Proper foods actually cost less than many of those that are woefully lacking in nourishment. Many an expensively provisioned table is tragically poor in nutritional values because of poor selection and improper preparation. Yet no mystery surrounds planned high-protein diets. The one basic dietary rule underlying all the menus and recipes herein provided for you is simply this: Increase your daily protein intake to at least 150 to 165 grams (more if you've been ill, are planning a reducing diet or indulge in strenuous physical activities); limit the starches and sugars to natural carbohydrates found in vitamin-and-mineral-rich fruits, vege­tables, honey, unrefined raw sugar or molasses, whole grains and seed cereals.

This is a diet regimen guaranteed to provide your body with the maximum of high proteins, minerals and vitamins obtainable from today's food items ordinarily grown on soils whose mineral richness is not always as great as it could be with more farsighted agricultural practices. But by adding a good mineral concentrate and a "laboratory-fresh" multiple-vitamin formula, you can eliminate any guesswork on min­erals and vitamins, thus achieving the ideal diet for any person. But more particularly for those persons who are firmly convinced that proper eating can be the "fairy god­mother" that will transform them into the physical being they would like to be, and into the mental and spiritual force they have always envisioned themselves as becoming.

Don't delay in setting out to make your dreams of regained youthfulness come true. Put the Basic Menu of the high-pro­tein Eat-and-Grow-Younger diet program into practice, start­ing with your very next meal. And, as you begin noting the wondrously beneficial effects of this enlightened manner of planning and preparing meals, write to me. I'm always interested in the personal successes of my readers.

Your mind and your body can remain youthful many years past your so-called "prime," if only you don't help fasten the shackles of a premature old age on yourself every time you sit down at the table. Eat to grow younger!

FOODS CHARTED BY PROTEIN CONTENT

The following charts are prepared to give you a rule-of-thumb guide as to the adequacy or inadequacy of each day's meals from the standpoint of how many grams of protein are consumed.

First I shall list the animal proteins, that is, the high-grade or complete proteins; then the incomplete or vegetable pro­teins.

Your goal is to eat a minimum of at least 100 to 150 grams of protein each day, preferably 150 to 165 grams, distributed throughout your three meals and one or two between-meal snacks. And at least 50 to 75 per cent of your total daily pro­tein consumption should be selected from the animal pro­teins. The remainder of your daily protein intake may come from vegetable sources.

Immediately following these charts is shown a Basic High-Protein Menu, together with a sample menu as a guide to apportioning your quota of protein grams.

ANIMAL PROTEINS

Quantity Food                     Grams                                                  Protein

1 cup                                    beef broth                                                4

1 slice (4 oz.)                        lean beef (rib, rump, pot roast)                22

1 serving (4 oz.)                    beefsteak                                                23

1 serving (4 oz.)                    corned beef, canned or   fresh                 16

1 serving (4 oz.)                    beef tongue                                             16

1 serving (4 oz.)                    beef sweetbreads                                   14

1 serving (4 oz.)                    beef heart                                               17

1 serving (4 oz.)                    beef liver                                                 20

1 slice (4 oz.)                        lamb, roast                                              22

2 average                             lamb chops                                              20

1 serving (4 oz.)                   lamb's liver                                               20

1 slice (4 oz.)                       mutton, roast leg                                      20

1 serving (4 oz.)                   veal cutlets                                              20

2 (4 oz.)                               veal chops                                              19

1 serving (4 oz.)                    veal, roast leg                                         23

1 serving (4 oz.)                    calves' liver                                            23

1 serving (4 oz.)                    chicken                                                  18

1/2 cup                                 chicken livers                                         20

1 serving (4 oz.)                    duck                                                      21

1 serving (4 oz.)                    goose                                                   22

1 serving (4 oz.)                    turkey                                                   24

6 (¾ cup)                              clams                                                   14

1 serving (4 oz.)                    codfish                                                  16

2/3 cup                                  crabmeat                                              16

1 serving (4 oz.)                     pan fish, average fresh-water                  21

1 serving (4 oz.)                     herring                                                  19

1/2 cup                                  lobster meat, canned                             16

7  medium                              oysters                                                  6

4 average                               sardines, canned                                   13

6 filets                                     anchovies                                            10

1/2cup (4 oz.)                         salmon, canned                                    22

4 oz.                                       scallops                                               16

6 medium                                shrimp                                                  8

1/4 cup (4 oz.)                        tuna, canned                                         9

1 serving (4 oz.)                      whitefish                                              22

1 serving (4 oz.)                      rabbit                                                  20

l whole                                    egg                                                      6

1 whole                                  egg white                                             3

1 whole                                 egg yolk                                                3

1/2 cup egg custard, fortified with 4 extra

tbsp. powdered skim milk 15 to 18

1 cube (2x1x1 in.) American cheese                         12

2 tbsp. Cheddar cheese                                               7

2 tbsp.          Italian cheese, grated                             12

1/2cup cottage cheese                                                20

1 tbsp. cream cheese                                                   2

1 slice Swiss cheese                                                   10

1 qt. buttermilk                                                          30

1 qt. yogurt                                                               30

1 qt. fresh whole milk                                                 33

1   qt. fresh skim milk                                                 34

1/2. cup powdered skim milk                                      53

5 tbsp. powdered skim milk                                        34

2   tbsp. dry malted milk                                              2

1/2 cup evaporated (canned) milk                               8

4 tbsp. table cream, 20%                                            2

4 tbsp. whipping cream, 40%                                     1

1 serving (1 cup) cream vegetable soup, made with

fortified milk, with sunflower or

sesame meal added                                                   12

1 serving (1 cup) cream soup, containing eggs or

cheese and made as above                  20 to 24

1/2 cup ice cream, homemade, made

with eggs and fortified milk 8 to 10

1/z cup ice cream, commercial                 2

1 tbsp. gelatin powder, unflavored            8

1 tbsp. honey (an animal protein)              2

1 cup sunflower seed meal                     40*

1 cup millet meal                                    34*

1 cup sesame seed meal                        27*

2 tbsp. peanut butter                               9*

10 medium almonds                                2*

* Not animal proteins, but high-grade.

The next chart lists the vegetable sources providing the highest number of protein grams per serving. By this I do not intend to imply that no other vegetable sources are worth considering. It's merely that space does not permit listing them all, so I have been forced to select those sources which will yield the most protein with the least bulk, and with the greatest degree of digestibility.

Since these vegetable proteins are not high-grade, or "com­plete," no more than 25 per cent, or approximately one fourth, of your daily protein intake should be chosen from this list:

VEGETABLE PROTEINS

Protein

Quantity            Food                             Grams

8 halves               apricots, dried                      1

6 halves               apricots, fresh                       1

1 medium             artichoke, Jerusalem             1

8 stalks                 asparagus, green                  2

1/2medium            avocado                              2

1 medium              banana (black-ripe)             1

1/2cup                   kidney beans                      6

1/2cup                   lima beans, dry                   8

1/2cup                    lima beans, green               7

¾ cup                     green string beans              2

1/2 cup                   beets                                 2

1 slice  r                  ye bread (whole-grain)      3

1 slice whole-grain bread, fortified with milk powder, and millet meal, sunflower seed or sesame seed meal 5

3/4 cup                   broccoli (leaf, stem and flower)        3

¾ cup                     brussels sprouts                  4

5 tbsp.                    buckwheat, whole             12

1 cup                      cabbage, raw (green or Chinese)       2

1/2cup                    carrots, sliced or diced        1

¾ cup                     cauliflower                          2

4 stalks                   celery, green                       1

1/2 cup                   celery root                          3

1/2 cup                   chard leaves, cooked          2

12 large                  cherries                              1

3 tbsp.                    coconut                             1

1/2 cup                   collard greens, cooked       3

1/2 cup                   corn, yellow, canned          4

1 medium                corn, yellow on cob           3

1/2 cup                   cornmeal, unbolted            8

1   medium              cucumber                          1

1/2 cup                   dandelion greens, cooked   3

15 medium              dates                                 3

1/2 cup                   eggplant                            1

10 stalks                 endive                               1

3/4cup                    escarole (chicory)             1

2 small                    figs, dried                          1

2 large                    figs, fresh                           1

1 cup                      buckwheat flour                6

1 cup                      whole-wheat flour            12

¾ cup                      gooseberries                    1

1 small bunch           grapes                             1

1 average                 guava                              1

1/2cup                     huckleberries                   1

1/2cup                     kale, cooked                   4

1/2 cup                    kohlrabi, cooked             2

1/2cup                     leeks                               2

1/2 cup                    lamb's-quarters (greens)    4

1/2 cup                    lentils                               9

10 leaves lettuce, green                                   1

1/4 head  lettuce, bleached                              1

1 cup                       loganberries, canned        1

1/2small                   cantaloupe                       1

1 medium                 muffin, whole-grain with millet,

sunflower or sesame meal                                2

¾ cup                      mushrooms                      4

1/2 cup                    mustard greens, cooked   2

1/2cup                     oatmeal, steel-cut             4

1/2 cup                    okra                                2

2 small,dry               onions                             1

1/2cup                     parsley                            6

1/2cup                     parsnips                          2

3   halves                 peaches, dried                 1

2 large halves           peaches, canned or fresh 1

1/2cup                     peas, dried                      12

1/2cup                     fresh green peas               7

10 large                  pecans                              3

1 medium                green pepper                   1

1 large                     persimmon                      2

2 medium                red pimento                     1

3 medium                plums                               1

1 medium white potato, baked or boiled in jacket    3

1 medium sweet potato, baked                        3

6 medium prunes, dried                                    2

1/2 cup                   pumpkin, cooked             1

15 large                  radishes                            1

1/4cup                    raisins                               1

1/2 cup                   raspberries                        1

¾ cup                     brown rice, cooked           4

¾ cup                     rutabagas                          1

2 roots                    salsify (oyster plant)          3

12cup                     squash, Hubbard or summer,cooked        1

1/2 cup                   strawberries                       1

2 medium                tangerines                           1

1 large orange                                                    1

1 medium                grapefruit                            1

1/2 cup                    tomatoes, canned               1

1 medium                 tomato, fresh                      1

1/2 cup                    tomato juice, canned           2

1/2 cup                    turnips, cooked                  1

1/2 cup                    turnip greens                      2

1/4 cup                    walnuts, English                  5

1/2 cup                    wheat germ, raw                 24

BASIC HIGH-PROTEIN MENU IF YOUR WEIGHT IS NORMAL

Breakfast

Fresh or cooked fruit

Choice o£ two:

1 serving of eggs (2 eggs), fish, meat (no bacon or ham)

1 serving whole-grain toast, if you must—spread with cheese instead of butter

1 serving millet mush or porridge

1 serving cheese (cube of American cheese, or 1/2 cup cottage cheese, either served plain, or mixed with fresh fruit; or in an omelet or pancakes)

2 tbsp. powdered skim milk, liquefied and used as beverage, or incorporated into the egg or porridge

Beverage, sweetened with honey if desired

Mid-Morning Snack (optional)

Milk drink (buttermilk, yogurt or milk shake), fresh or dried fruit

Lunch

1 cup creamed soup

1 serving meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese (alternate this selec­tion with whatever choice was made for the main breakfast dish, i.e., if eggs are chosen for breakfast, select meat, fish, poultry or cheese for lunch)

l serving raw green vegetables, either in bowl or finger salad

i serving of protein dessert, such as custard, gelatin, fruit pudding, etc.

Beverage, if desired

Mid-Afternoon Snack (optional)

milk drink (buttermilk, yogurt, fortified milk shake or fenu­greek herb tea)

Dinner

i cup light broth (beef or chicken)

i serving meat, fish, poultry, meat substitutes, cheese, or eggs (again the selection alternates with the high-protein entrees chosen for previous meals)

l serving cooked vegetable

i serving tossed or finger salad i serving fruit dessert Beverage, if desired

If fortified with such highly concentrated complete-protein foods as powdered skim milk, sunflower seeds (and meal), millet and sesame seeds (and meal) wherever possible, this Basic Menu should yield a total daily protein consumption of anywhere from 165 to 200 grams.

Here is one day's sample menu worked out from the Basic Menu, using the recipes given in the chapters that follow:

SAMPLE HIGH-PROTEIN MENU FOR NORMAL WEIGHT

Breakfast

1 dish sliced oranges, plain or served with fresh or canned berries

1 small bowl of Millet Porridge cooked in half water and half fortified milk

i serving Cottage Cheese Omelet Beverage, sweetened with honey if desired

Lunch

i cup creamed Soup

i slice cold roast beef, lamb or poultry Finger salad (celery, pepper, carrot, cucumber, etc. strips and slices)

l serving (½ cup) Lemon Milk Sherbet Beverage, sweetened with honey if desired

Dinner

i cup beef or chicken broth

i serving Meat Cakes

l serving Gourmet's Salad

i serving {1/2 cup) Fruit Custard

Beverage, sweetened with honey if desired

By interchanging the recipes given in this sample menu with the others of similar value in the corresponding chap­ters, or with those of your own preference (always provided they are made with the same high-protein, whole-grain, no-white-sugar ingredients), you can work out an endless suc­cession of menus far better adapted to your individual needs and circumstances than if I were to work out a set of menus for you.

If your bathroom scales insinuate that you need to lose weight, then by all means do so. But first make certain that you're really overweight. Reducing for the sake of sheer vanity is risky business. Don't take chances with your health by losing weight you can't afford to shed.

Yet if you, your scales and the family doctor all agree that your health (and good looks, too) would benefit by getting rid of a few pounds, then the one and only safe reducing diet is that built around plenty of high-protein foods, mainly meats. Of course, such a reducing diet is going to cost you money—but so does ill health, and obesity is synonymous with ill health and early loss of your youth. So look upon the money spent on this high-protein diet as an investment in health.

The following High-Protein Reducing Menu is designed to produce a weight loss of no more than 5 to 8 pounds a month. To lose more quickly than this is dangerous. Of course, your weight may hold steady for a week or two at a time, then drop down 5 pounds or more all at once; or you may lose a lot right at the start, then not lose any more for several weeks. But the over-all loss should not exceed 5 to 8 pounds a month, that is, if you value your appearance and wish to avoid the haggard look so commonly associated with dieting.

If you find that you lose more than 5 to 8 pounds on the following Basic High-Protein Reducing Menu, then increase your portions and add a little butter and cream. If, on the other hand, you find you don't lose more than 3 to 4 pounds a month, you may omit the bread. But, of course, this brings up the danger of a B-vitamin deficiency. So under such cir­cumstances, you should be content with a 3 to 4 pound steady weight loss and not run the disk of incurring a serious vitamin or mineral deficiency.

You may vary or adapt this Basic High-Protein Reducing Menu as you wish, interchanging one high-protein meat, fish or fowl with another; and alternating eggs with cheese. But you should confine the major portion of your fruit and vegetable consumption to those listed as 5 per cent and 10 per cent carbohydrates in the chart which follows the menu.

BASIC HIGH-PROTEIN REDUCING DIET

Breakfast

1 small orange, or half grapefruit, unsweetened

1 slice cold meat, fish, or chicken; or 1 pan-broiled minute steak

1 boiled, poached or shirred egg (also scrambled over hot water); or 1-inch cube of cheese, or 1/4 cup of cottage cheese

Small bowl of Millet Porridge eaten with fortified milk

1 cup hot skim milk sweetened with 1/4 teaspoon of honey; or black coffee or tea, sweetened with a little honey if desired

Mid-Morning

1 small glass skim milk, buttermilk or yogurt; or tomato juice fortified by whipping in a little cottage cheese

Lunch

1 cup clear, skimmed broth

1 slice broiled or roasted meat, fish, poultry (don't overlook liver in this diet)

1 green salad, dressed either with lemon juice and very little salt, or with 1/4 cup of cottage cheese seasoned with minced chives

1 serving of fresh 5% or 10% fruit

Hot beverage, sweetened with honey only

Mid-Afternoon

1 small glass of skim milk, either hot or cold and flavored with a little crushed fresh or cooked fruit

Dinner

1 cup beef or skimmed chicken broth

1 serving meat, fish or poultry

l serving cooked green vegetable such as asparagus or broccoli, served with plain lemon juice; or a tossed green salad similar to the one eaten at lunch

l slice whole-grain bread (only if you must)

i serving egg custard, or milk sherbet made with skim milk or buttermilk, and fortified with extra powdered skim milk

This is far from being a "starvation" menu, and I promise you won't have a lank, gnawing feeling in the pit of your stomach while following this reducing diet. Nor will you suffer any loss of energy. On the contrary, you'll feel like a new person as soon as all that high-protein food begins to take hold, and as the unnecessary poundage melts away.

A word of caution-don't trim away all the fat on your meats. Leave a little, otherwise you may suffer a deficiency of natural fats in this diet.

Another wise precaution is to fortify yourself against pos­sible deficiencies by taking a good multiple vitamin supple­ment, and a mineral concentrate. Dietary supplements are always good sense in any reducing regimen (but make cer­tain you buy a reliable product).

Now here are the more common fruits and vegetables classified as to their carbohydrate content, that is, to the pro­portionate number of calories they contain:

5% VEGETABLES AND FRUITS (Low-Starch)

VEGETABLES

Asparagus          Cucumbers

Bean Sprouts     Eggplant

Brussels sprouts Endive

Cabbage            Greens

Cauliflower         Kohlrabi

Celery                Leeks

5% VEGETABLES AND FRUITS (Low-Starch)

Lettuce          Radishes

Mushrooms   String beans

Okra             Summer Squash

Olives            Swiss Chard

Peppers         Tomatoes

Pumpkin        Watercress

FRUITS

Cantaloupe    Lemons

Honeydew Melon         Watermelon

10% VEGETABLES AND FRUITS (Low-Starch)

VEGETABLES

Beets            Rutabagas

Carrots         Squash (Hubbard, acorn,

Onions              baking, etc.)

Oyster plant (salsify)     Turnips

FRUITS

Blackberries   Grapefruit

Cranberries    Limes

Currants         Oranges

Gooseberries Peaches

Strawberries

15% VEGETABLES AND FRUITS

VEGETABLES

Lima beans, green         Peas, green

Parsnips

FRUITS

Apples           Mulberries

Apricots        Pears

Blueberries    Pineapple

Cherries, sour   Plums

Grapes          Raspberries

Loganberries

20% FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

VEGETABLES     FRUITS

Beans (dried or canned): Bananas

lima                    Cherries, sweet

kidney                Grape juice

navy Corn Potatoes

ABOUT THE RECIPES THAT FOLLOW

Each recipe is usually enough to serve four persons, and I have tried to indicate where a greater number of servings is prepared. By means of simple arithmetic, it's easy enough to prepare these same recipes for one or two. Even when a recipe calls for one egg, no insurmountable problem is faced. Merely break and beat the egg as directed in the recipe. Then with a measuring spoon use what would be approximately one-half or one-fourth of the total egg, saving the remainder in a tightly covered dish in the refrigerator for use in another halved or quartered one-egg recipe. However, if you don't have any serious aversion to leftovers, prepare the whole recipe and refrigerate or deep-freeze what is left, thereby enjoying that much extra time saved from meal preparation on another day.

In recipes where hard-cooked eggs are used, to save time the eggs may be boiled the night before (earlier in the day, also), put in the refrigerator and peeled immediately before using. Also, a day's supply of liquefied powdered skim milk may be made up the night before and kept in the refrigerator in a tightly covered bottle or jar. The thickened milk sauce called for in many cheese and egg dishes may also be pre­pared the night before, then refrigerated and reheated before using. I mention these time-saving breakfast-recipe tips in the hope that, with more efficiency, breakfast will cease to be the slapdash meal into which it has now degen­erated.

You'll notice that many of the recipes in all chapters call for sour cream, sour milk or buttermilk. If none of these are on hand, it's easy enough to make sour milk or buttermilk by adding two tablespoons of lemon juice to one cup of sweet milk. Instead of lemon juice, a good grade of wine- or honey, vinegar does just as well. And don't skip the delicious sour-cream recipes because you don't have, or can't get, sour cream. One cup of sour cream may be effectively replaced in a recipe by one cup of sour milk or buttermilk (and you've already learned how to achieve this with sweet milk and lemon juice or vinegar), plus 2 tablespoons of butter, margarine or cooking oil. So if you have milk, either fresh or powdered, on your pantry shelf, and lemons in the fruit bag, you are all set to try any of the recipes calling for but­termilk, sour milk or sour cream. Cooking with sour cream, buttermilk and sour milk is one way of adding extra protein (lactic acid, too) to your diet without spending a lot of money.

Also, steaks, or the tougher cuts of meat, if marinated overnight in sour milk or buttermilk, are made much more tender and flavorful. And by changing the buttermilk every couple of days, the steak may be kept for a week, acquiring greater tenderness and flavor the longer it marinates in the lactic acid. I am told this is an old camping trick—to immerse fresh meat in sour milk or buttermilk in order to preserve it where no refrigeration is possible. A flank steak, ordinarily a very tough cut, allowed to soak for several days in butter­milk and then swissed, is deliciously tender. But I'm getting ahead of my story on meats!

Of course, margarine may be substituted in any recipe calling for butter or cooking oil. But I do not advocate such a substitution unless, for economic reasons, the exchange is strictly necessary.

Now for the recipes.

Are You Ready To Move Onto The Next Lesson? Click Here...