The Poplar Standard

Don't Neglect Lunch If You Want to Stay Full of Pep, Health

ARE YOU ALONE at home for lunch so that you don't bother to prepare something for yourself? Or does the family come home, and you simply rummage around the refrigerator and don't know what to serve?

These are frequent situations in many homes throughout the country. Lunches of this type - or none at all for the homemaker alone at home - don't help pep, vitality and health. If you get a lag in the afternoon and wonder what's wrong with you, check your luncheon habits.

Physicians and nutritionists are of the opinion that if you skip a meal, it places too much of a load on another meal. Let's say you've skipped lunch and eat a very full and ample dinner. Do you feel like doing anything but flopping into bed and wasting the evening? And have you ever thought of what it does to your digestive process to have it called upon suddenly to digest a big meal after having been lazy for many hours?

It's much better to try to distribute your calories evenly throughout three meals during the day. In between you won't feel an energy lag and you will keep your system in good working order.

Don't give the excuse that you think lunch unimportant and simply don't feel like bothering with it. Even if you're alone at noon, it doesn't take much effort to prepare a nice cottage cheese and fruit salad and a glass of milk with roll or toast. Or, if the youngsters are at home, it's simple enough to cream some leftover vegetables into a pie cheese, serving it with fruit and cookies for dessert.

Planning will give you plenty of the right foods on hand from which to choose a nutritious and well-balanced lunch. And if you value your health and well-being, you'll certainly not count half an hour at noon much to give up to it.

HERE ARE SOME HOT DISHES from which to choose for lunch if there are several of you at home. They are made from "planned" leftovers and are quick and easy to prepare.

Corn Scramble (Serves 6)
1 cup cubed leftover ham
2 tablespoons fat
2 beaten eggs
Salt and pepper
1 No. 2 can cream style corn
1/4 cup green pepper, cubed
Brown ham in fat and then mix with other ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until the eggs are set.

Creamed Meat In Potato Nests (Serves 4 to 6)
Combine one 10½-ounce can of condensed cream of mushroom soup with 1 cup milk. Blend and heat. Add 1½ cups of diced, cooked turkey, chicken, roast veal or pork, ham, or fish and ½ cup or diced pimiento. Add some of this hot sauce to 1 egg yolk and stir into remaining sauce. Heat thoroughly and serve in nests of reheated, mashed potato.

Beef Rice Croquettes (Makes 12)
Combine 1 cup seasoned white sauce with 1 cup ground leftover roast beef, 1 cup cooked rice and 1 tablespoon chopped onion. Form into croquettes. Dip into beaten egg and water, then in bread crumbs. Fry in shallow fat.

*Cheese Vegetable Pie (Serves 6)
Pastry for 1 crust
1 cup freshly grated American cheese
1 cup milk, scalded
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 1/2 cups mixed, cooked vegetables
2 fresh tomatoes
Blend ½ cup of cheese with dry ingredients when making the pastry. Roll out and place in pastry tin. Bake in a hot oven for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, add milk to beaten eggs; add seasonings and vegetables, except the tomatoes. Pour into pie shell. Cut tomatoes into eighths and arrange on top. Sprinkle with remaining ½ cup of cheese. Bake in a moderate (350 degree) oven for about 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Salmon Macaroni Salad (Serves 6)
1 8-ounce can of salmon
2 cups canned peas, drained
1 cup shell macaroni, cooked
1/3 cup mayonnaise
Drain salmon, removing bones and skin. Combine with remaining ingredients and season to taste. Serve on crisp lettuce. Garnish with slices of hard-cooked eggs.

Asparagus-Ham Luncheon (Serves 6 to 8)
20 stalks of canned or cooked asparagus
6 slices of cooked or cold ham
1 can of mushroom soup
1/2 cup cream
6 slices buttered toast
Mix mushroom soup with cream. Heat thoroughly. Place ham slices over toast, top with a few stalks of asparagus. Pour soup over all and run under the broiler for a few minutes.

If the family is home for lunch, it doesn't take long to prepare delicious and nutritious cheese, vegetable pie and serve it along with fresh fruit and berries for a vitamin-rich lunch.

Stuffed Onions (Serves 6)
Cook 6 large Bermuda onions in boiling salted water for 30 minutes. Remove center and stuff with following: Combine 1 can of pork and beans with 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons chopped onion centers. Stuff onions. Sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon brown sugar and heat through.

Stuffed Baked Tomatoes (Serves 6)
Scoop out center of six large tomatoes. Brown 1 tablespoon of chopped onion, 2 tablespoons chopped green pepper in 2 tablespoons of butter. Add 1½ cups corn cut off the cob, 2 beaten eggs and 1 cup bread crumbs and season to taste. Stuff tomatoes and sprinkle with grated American cheese. Bake in a moderate oven for 25 minutes. Chopped leftover ham or crumbled bacon or cubed sausage may be added to the corn if so desired. Another good stuffing is canned macaroni or spaghetti. Stuff the tomato and bake until the tomato is done.

Lynn Says: How to Be Ready For Summer Entertaining

When guests drop in unexpectedly during the warm weather keep cool by being ready for them by having special foods ready in your refrigerator.

No refrigerator should be without a platter of chilled fruits for warm weather. They're excellent as snacks, and they can be even more festive when served with quickly baked ice-box cookies.

Fillings for dainty sandwiches can be prepared ahead of time and the sandwiches made finger or triangle style at a minute's notice. These will keep well: Deviled ham and cream cheese; peanut butter moistened with honey and orange juice; cream cheese and chopped nuts; liver sausage with chili sauce; dried fruits, honey and nuts.

If you have room, store small cakes in the refrigerator to serve for guests. They'll keep better when chilled.

Lynn Chambers' Menu
*Cheese-Vegetable Pie
Date Muffins with Butter
Wedge of Melon with Lime or Bowl of Fresh Peaches or Berries with Cream
Cookies
Beverage

*Recipe Given