HEALTHFUL DIET

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23273, 16 February 1939, Page 4

HEALTHFUL DIET

SECURING FOOD VALUES CONSERVING VITAMINS METHODS OF COOKING Of what use is it for tho mother to follow the dietary needs of the family and purchase proper foods if those same foods do not ultimately fulfil their purposo? It is ono thing to buy tho right foods for a healthful diet, but quite another if the family is still robbed of the nourishment needed for building up strong bones, bright eyes and happy dispositions. "But how can that bo if I buy the right food?" asks the puzzled mother.

Well, it is surprising in how many ordinary ways this can happen. For one, tho food may not be prepared and cooked to ensure its full nutritional value. Again, tho child may not have been taught to eat his meals properly and happily, or tho mother may allow him to eat too much of ono component part of foodstuff becauso ho prefers that to the other. Saving the Valuables Loss of vitamins during cooking occurs in a number of different ways. Here are a few practical methods for conserving tho health-giving portion of cvery-day foodstuffs. Potatoes are served daily, but rarely to the full advantage for tho conserving of their vitamin and mineral content. By scraping the potatoes, or, better still, cooking them in their jackets, the valuable minerals which lie close under the skin, and tho vitamin that would otherwiso bo destroyed by contact with tho air, are retained and eaten. To get the greatest food valuo from green peas, soda should not bo added merely to preserve their green colour. Peas can be attractively green, and also most palatable, if cooked in a little water to which sugar and mint are added, as well as some of their own pods, which should be removed before serving. Ways With Vegetables Cabbage will cook as well without soda, if after washing tho leaves carefully they are chopped into small pieces, dropped into a very small amount, of boiling water and covered with a well-fitting lid and only cooked for a short time. Mixed with butter aud flavoured with salt, it makes a very much more appetising food than the one-time dish of cabbage boiled to a pulp in oceans of water with the aid of soda to soften it down, and then tho remaining good properties strained off down the sink.

Spinach should be cooked in a closed saucepan with only the water which adheres to the leaves after washing.

Vegetables lose less vitamins when cooked at high temperatures for short periods, but should not be overcooked. Any water that is left over when the cooking is completed should be used in making soups, gravies or sauces, thus saving most of tho vitamins and minerals.

Taking into consideration that cooking may cause the loss of some of the valuable contents of vegetables, even with raw salads and fruits, there can still be a leakage of vitamins and minerals. The deep green outer leaves of the lettuce are far richer than the inner white leaves, and, if properly shredded, make a health-saving, moneysaving salad. ' fi

Fruit and vegetables, once cut open, Jose in value if allowed to stand exposed to the air for a length of time. Orange juice is by no means as rich in vitamin C if allowed to stand for several hours. Babv then should have his orange juice squeezed" just when ho is ready to drink it.