46 THE WONDERFUL HOUSE THAT JACK HAS 



without having meals lack variety. As they are said 

 to be best for invalids when prepared soft-boiled or 

 poached, it is likely that in this form they can be most 

 readily digested by all. At any time, when fresh, 

 they are a most desirable part of breakfast or lunch ; 

 and even in winter, when their cost is highest, they are 

 not a comparatively expensive food. At such times, 

 instead of omitting the egg or two for each member 

 of the family from breakfast or lunch, we should be 

 far wiser body builders to leave out of the dinner menu 

 the much less easily digested pies and cakes of which 

 eggs usually form a necessary ingredient. 



Probably no food seems more natural body-building 

 material than meat, because it is so similar to our own 

 flesh and blood. What building elements does it 

 furnish our bodies? From two-fifths to three-fourths 

 is water, and the leaner the meat, the greater the 

 proportion of water. From about one-eighth to one- 

 fourth is proteid, from one-fourth to two-fifths is 

 fat, and from three-hundredths to one-twentieth 

 mineral matter. Like milk and eggs, most meats, 

 when properly prepared, are readily digested. Beef is 

 probably the best of the widely used meats, because 

 it has an appetizing flavor and a large amount of 

 nutrition, and at the same time is not difficult to digest. 



Chicken, especially the white-meat part, is said to 

 be more easily digested than beef, but it usually costs 

 more, for the waste parts that cannot be used for food 

 are heavier. Veal (calf's meat) is not as nutritious as 



