quantity of the night meal; it may be too heavy or indigestible.

Between a breakfast with warmed-over meats, and one without meat,
especially if eggs are substituted, the choice should be given to the
latter. Twice-cooked meats, however pleasing they may be to the palate,
are not easy to digest. They serve merely as a way to use left-overs,
which good management will keep to the minimum.

When selecting fruits for breakfast, the fact must not be overlooked
that the starch of cereals and acid fruits, like a sour orange, often
disagree. When apples are plentiful nothing is better than this fruit
when baked, but in cities the banana frequently costs less and it stands
at the head of all fruits in food value. When perfectly ripe it has
about 12 per cent of sugar, but as it is picked green, the fruit sold in
the markets is often but partially ripe and is more easily assimilated,
if baked like the apple; it then becomes a valuable breakfast food.

It is a common mistake in a meatless breakfast to use too large a
proportion of cereal. While the standard cereal foods, when dry, are
from two-thirds to three-quarters starch, with the balance made up of a
little protein, fat, water, fibre and a trace of mineral matter, it
should not be forgotten that while cooking they absorb several times
their bulk of water, which reduces the food value of the product.
Oatmeal and corn meal are best adapted for winter use because they
contain a little more fat than wheat or rice, which are suitable for
summer diet.

Eggs are the most available substitute for meat at breakfast and it is
doubtful economy to omit them, except in times of extreme high prices.
They are not essential in all desserts and saving in their use should
begin at that point. Eggs may be cooked in many ways so that they need
never become a monotonous fare. All kinds of fish are an excellent
substitute for meat, and, as prepared for the table, nearly equal beef
and mutton, in the amount of protein, which is the element missed in a
non-meat diet, unless it be carefully planned.

Breakfasts without Meat

The following are adapted to different seasons and the beverage may be
selected to suit the taste.

1. Strawberries, eggs baked in ramekins, oatmeal muffins.

2. Fruit, cheese omelet, rice griddle cakes.

3. Oranges, codfish balls, wheat muffins.

4. Oatmeal, baked bananas, scrambled eggs, rice muffins.

5. Cereal, hashed browned potatoes, date gems.

6. Oranges,