WONDER BOX
RECIPE BOOKLET
INDEX
Babies – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 2, 11, 14, 15
Bobotie – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 1, 6
Boiled egg – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 4
Bread – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 8, 12
Carrot jam – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 8
Christmas – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -9
Christmas pudding – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 9
Cooking whole soya beans – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -10
Cultivation – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -2, 11, 15
Curry – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -5, 7, 12
Doughnuts – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -7 – 8
Dried Fruit – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 9
Facts about soya beans – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 11
Fasoulia – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 13
Fish – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 12,14
Fresh soya beans – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -14
Ham – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 6
Jam – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -8
Joints – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -6
Macaroni – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 4
Mieliemeel – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 1,4,12,15
Noodles – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 4
Nutty soya snacks – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 13
Oxtail – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 6
Porridge – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -1, 3, 4
Poultry – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -6
Pulp – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 15
Rice – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 4
Soup – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 1, 5, 6
Soya beans – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 1, 2, 6, 8, 16, 20
Soya milk – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -2, 10, 11, 14, 15
Soya vetkoekies – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 12
Spaghetti – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 4
Stew – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -5
Tea – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -7
Tongue – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -6
Turkey – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 12
Vegetables – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 4, 5, 9, 15
Warm drink – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 7, 13
TABLE OF CONTENTS (PAGE)
1. Introduction 10. Soya Beans
2. Instructions 10. Soya Milk
3. Recipes 13. Popular Soya recipes
4. Basic Foods 13. Soya nuts
5. Meat Dishes 13. A warm drink
6. Soups & Curry 14. Soya for Babies
7. Tea Time 15. Soya Bean Cultivation
8. Festive fare 17. Compassion Wonder Boxes
The recipes in this booklet have been chosen for their simplicity high food value, low cost and popularity. They are basic and should be adapted to individual requirements.
It can be used with a container or without to keep things hot or cold.
This booklet was published by Compassion of South Africa in 1978, 1979 & 1980.
This information may be freely quoted, acknowledgements being made to Compassion.
INTRODUCTION
Wonder Boxes work like vacuum flasks and are similar to the old-fashioned Hay Box. Such things are often used only to keep cooked food or liquid hot and this does not improve their flavor. If food is actually cooked in a Wonder Box it is a different matter. The slow cooking can produce even better results than normal methods of cooking.
Most people find it hard to believe that food can cook so well without fuel and at temperatures below boiling. It helps to understand how this can happen if we remember that boiling point is several degrees lower at higher altitudes due to the thinner air. Wonder cooking is therefore similar to stewing or boiling food at the top of a mountain.
Hay Box cooking was encouraged by governments of several European countries during the last two World Wars in order to save fuel. Many people remember how their porridge oats, the kind that needed long, slow cooking, used to be left all night in a wooden box lined with hay. The Wonder Box uses polystyrene, a more efficient insulator than hay, to retain the heat. This enables it to be more compact and its cushions can be washed when necessary.
We find that many foods take only a little longer than usual to cook in a Wonder Box but it can be a great advantage to be able to leave the food keeping hot until you want it, without its spoiling.
The information about the Wonder Bean, as Soya beans are sometimes called, has been included partly because these beans in their natural or dried state do not seem to be appreciated by people in the Western world. This is probably because of the long slow cooking they need which the Wonder Box can now provide.
Soya beans, combined with a Wonder Box, provide perhaps the very best way for destitute people not only to survive but also to keep healthy. And they can be a boon to people with stomach or heart disorders, diabetes or allergies caused by cows’ milk.
In these days when we are being warned of world wide shortages of food and fuel, we wonder how the sheer simplicity of this very old method of cooking and the simple methods of processing the centuries-old Wonder bean’ could be so overlooked.
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Other benefits from Soya beans are being discovered every year as more and more land is given over to them. But for the poor the knowledge and means to grow the beans themselves and use them in the simple ways described here, may well be the greatest benefit of all.
INSTRUCTIONS
Boil your food on the stove first for a few minutes until the food is heated right through. Use any cooking pot, provided it has no long handle, but do not use a large pot for a small amount of food as the Wonder Box does not work well if there is a large air space.
Put the lid on the pot before you remove the pot from the stove so the lid can also get hot. Make sure the nest in the bottom cushion is ready to take the pot and that it is near by so you do not loose heat carrying the pot around.
Quickly cover the pot with the top cushion, making sure there are no gaps. Leave the top cushion puffed up, (the cardboard box lid is not necessary).
Now make sure that nobody peeps inside to see what’s happening. If they do, heat will escape. Tapes across the corners of the top cushion help to prevent this.
Do not leave your Wonder Box on a metal surface while it is being used. Metal is too good a conductor of heat and may draw off some heat through the bottom.
When cooking with a Wonder Box, remember that the more food or liquid that you have in a pot, the longer and better it will cook.
When cooking anything like a whole chicken, the liquid around it can boil before the chicken has reached the same temperature. So make sure the liquid covers it and boil it for 15 minutes or more before putting it in the Wonder Box.
The nest in your Wonder Box can be lined with a dish towel, aluminum foil or paper to protect the cushions.
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The cushions filled with polystyrene can be washed with hot water and soap and hung on the line to dry. If the weather turns damp, do not leave the cushions to get moldy. Rather continue using the Wonder Box. The hot pot can help to dry them.
Our recipes have been worked out at sea level. At higher altitudes, it may be necessary to leave foods boiling a little longer because of the lower boiling temperature, though it is more effective to boil up a second time. Leaving food in a Wonder Box longer than four hours will not help to cook it more.
A Wonder Box can be used for keeping yeast or yogurt warm for setting, for keeping washing water hot or frozen foods cold.
Never replace a pot of half-eaten or luke-warm food in the Wonder Box. It should be boiled up again first to prevent it going bad.
RECIPES
The recipes in this section can, if you wish, be cooked without a stove using only a kettle, a plastic or other container and a Wonder Box.
PORRIDGE
2 cups quick oats
4 cups boiling water
salt to taste
Stir the oats into the boiling, salted water. Put the lid or a plate on the pot and tuck the pot quickly between the cushions of your Wonder Box for 15 minutes or more. Stir before serving. It will be just right to eat before rushing off to work or school.
For extra creamy porridge, boil up a full pot before going to bed. Add extra water. Leave in the Wonder Box all night. For small amounts, use a double boiler or a bowl that fits inside a pot containing boiling water.
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RICE
2 cups white or 2 cups of brown rice
3 ½ cups water for white rice or 4 cups water for brown rice
salt to taste (if desired)
Put the rice (brown rice is more nutritious) into cold water in pot. Use a small pot for a small amount of rice. Bring water & rice to a good boil. Transfer pot to Wonder Box. Leave the rice cooking in the Wonder Box for 40 minutes (more for brown rice) or until you want to eat it.
With rice and other foods, you may need less water than is shown in directions and recipes because the water does not evaporate away.
BOILED EGG
To boil one egg, pour boiling water over it to cover it. Put it in the Wonder Box for 5 minutes or longer if you like it hard.
To boil two eggs you will need twice as much boiling water and for three eggs, three times as much to get the same results.
MACARONI, SPAGHETTI AND NOODLES
Put them in a pot with plenty of boiling water and a spoonful of salt. Put the pot in the Wonder Box for 15 minutes, not longer, unless you want to make a milk pudding of them.
BASIC FOODS
MIELIEMEEL
Cook in the same way as porridge oats, (above) but use about 4 cups of water to each cup of Mieliemeel. (miemiemeel is ground maize)
VEGETABLES
Potatoes, or root vegetables may be cooked in their skins. Merely bring them to the boil in a pot full of water and transfer them to the Wonder Box for about twice as long as you would normally cook them. They may be left all day without over cooking and can be more easily peeled after cooking.
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…VEGETABLES CONTINUED…
For waterless cooking of vegetables or fruit, cut them up and put them into ordinary plastic bags (the crisp kind). Submerge the bags in water in a pot and boil until the fruit or vegetables have also reached boiling point. The length of time needed will vary with different vegetables, carrots being rather slow. The bag should be left open protruding out under the lid.
MEAT DISHES
How to cook stew, curry or soup in a Wonder Box.
Fry
Meat (cut in pieces)
Onions
Fat for frying
A little flour
Seasoning (curry powder for curry)
Add
Soaked beans, lentils or peas
Vegetables – any kind, washed and cut up
Water to cover (add more for soup)
Boil
Make a “nest” in your Wonder Box and line it with plastic if you wish.
Place the boiling pot in the nest.
Cover immediately with cushion.
Make sure there are no gaps where heat can escape.
N.B. Food cooks best if the pot is full.
It continues to cook for 2-3 hours in only its own retained heat, so long as you do not remove the top cushion to look at it!
IT COOKS WITHOUT FUEL LIKE MAGIC!
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OXTAIL, TONGUE, HAM, POULTRY, AND JOINTS
When cooking oxtail or meat that needs long slow cooking, the meat should be covered in liquid and boiled for 20-50 minutes, according to the size of the piece(s). A large full pot that takes a long time to reach boiling point will need less time actually boiling.
Place it in the Wonder Box. After 2-4 hours add any vegetables and herbs you may wish and bring it once more to a boil. Check that a second period of cooking in the Wonder Box is necessary as ordinary joints will not need this.
Chicken and joints can be boiled in ordinary plastic bags immersed in water so they cook in their own juices. The bag should have its open end protruding under the lid of the pot. The meat can be browned under a grill or over a flame before serving.
Soya pulp (see page 11) or mashed whole Soya Beans (see page 10) make a good base for stuffing for birds or for dumplings for soups and stews. Mix at least one tablespoon of flour with a cup of Soya and add herbs, onions, salt and pepper to taste. By using Soya in this way, the protein content of a meal can be greatly increased at very little cost. Soya takes on the flavor of whatever it is mixed with.
SOUPS AND CURRY
SOUPS
Follow the instructions for meat stews, leaving out the meat and the frying if you wish, and using smaller quantities with more water. A bouillon cube or tomato puree may be added.
BOBOTIE
3 cups mashed cooked Soya beans
1 cup brown breadcrumbs
1 cup diced onion
1 cup milk with and an egg beaten together
1 spoonful oil
1 spoonful curry powder
1 teaspoon salt and sugar (each)
…Bobotie continued on next page
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Fry the onion and curry powder in the oil. Add all the other ingredients except half the cup of milk and egg and mix well. Heat it all up while stirring. Transfer it to a smaller bowl and pour the remainder of the milk on top. Put a lid or plate on the bowl and stand it in a larger pot of boiling water until the egg and milk on top sets.
CURRY
4 cups ready-cooked mashed Soya beans and/or meat
3 cups water or stock
2 onions diced 1 spoonful flour
1 spoonfull oil 1 spoonful curry powder
1 beef cube salt to taste
Add any of the following:
half an apple, diced
a sliced banana
a tablespoon of sultanas (raisins) or currants
a teaspoon of sugar
a spoonful of chutney or jam
a spoonful of lemon juice or vinegar
Fry the onions in a little oil. Add flour and curry powder. Then slowly add water to make a sauce. Bring to a boil. Add remaining ingredients and bring to boil again. Place in Wonder Box for several hours or until needed. Serve over rice.
DOUGHNUTS
1 cup Soya pulp (see page 11)
2 cups self raising flour (or brown flour & 1 teaspoon yeast)
1 cup cold water
1 teaspoon salt (and 1 teaspoon vanilla if you like)
1 teaspoon sugar (or a little more if you like)
…continued on next page.
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Mix all ingredients, place in an oiled plastic bag and let rise in the Wonder Box until almost doubled. Heat about 1 liter of oil and test the heat of the oil by dropping a small piece of the dough in to see if it rises quickly to the surface. Spoon out rounded dessert spoonfuls of dough into the oil and fry until golden brown on both sides. Roll in sugar while warm.
BREAD
4 cups whole wheat, brown or white flour, or mixed as you wish
1 teaspoon each yeast and sugar mixed, added to ¼ cup warm water
1 cup warm water with 1 teaspoon salt added
Mix and knead the dough (or add another ¼ cup warm water and merely stir it well). Roll the dough in dry flour and place it in an ordinary (crisp cereal) plastic bag which has had a little oil rubbed around inside. To reduce time needed for this it can be left submerged in warm water in the Wonder Box. When it has doubled its size, it should be brought to boil in the water and boiled for about 10 minutes. Transfer the bread in the pot of water to a Wonder Box for an hour to finish cooking when it should have a soft “crust”.
JAM
Using a little water as possible, cut up and bring the fruit to the boil in your pot and put the pot in the Wonder Box until it is cooked. Pour the fruit into a larger pot and add an equal volume of sugar. Boil them together until the jam is ready to set. Test for this in the normal way.
CARROT JAM
Carrots can be used instead of fruit to make a mock apricot jam. They should first be cut up and cooked soft with a little water. Then mash them. Add an equal volume of sugar and some lemon juice to taste and cook as above.
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FESTIVE FARE – at very little cost.
CHRISTMAS PUDDING
This is inexpensive, nutritious, quick, easy to make and delicious.
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups mixed dried fruits – washed
2 cups mashed whole cooked Soya beans (se page 10)
Heat the above together in a pot adding them in the order given above. The sugar should melt before the Soya and bread is added. Press the mixture into a suitable bowl and leave in the Wonder Box to keep hot and to enable it to be turned out in a pudding shape. Or it can be eaten immediately.
FRUIT “MINCE-MEAT”
Use the same mixture as for the Christmas pudding, but leave out the breadcrumbs. Heat as above. Use for mince pies and tarts.
CHRISTMAS AND WEDDING CAKES
Use the mincemeat mixture as above and add two cups brown flour. This may be stirred into the hot mixture to reduce the cooking time needed. The mixture should be spread into a baking tin which has been well greased and floured to prevent sticking. Bake in a slow oven for an hour or more.
All the above recipes can be varied to taste by adding lemon juice, spices and dates to replace half the sugar or extra dried fruit.
DRIED FRUIT
Using home-made dried fruit in your Christmas cake could make it cost as little as a loaf of bread.
Cut into small cubes a mixture of any of the following:
lemon peel watermelon rind orange peel
prickly pear pumpkin marrow
carrot similar fruits or vegetables
Add water, rather less than needed to cover them. Boil for 10 minutes. Put into the Wonder Box for them to cook soft. Add an equal volume of sugar and bring to boiling once more. Leave in the Wonder Box overnight. Next day, pour off the syrup and use this for jam or cool drinks. The remaining peel etc. should be left to dry with fresh sugar sprinkled over it.
Continued… on next page
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N.B. Fruit cakes, etc. can be steamed in tins in ordinary plastic bags standing in boiling water in a pot. They should be boiled for at least 20 minutes before transferring in the pot to a Wonder Box for further cooking.
Carrot cake or pudding can be made using the same basic recipe as the Christmas cake but substituting grated carrots and 2 teaspoons cinnamon for the dried fruit. It can be boiled in a plastic bag like the bread above a lighter cake can be made by adding baking powder and using Soya pulp instead of mashed whole Soya beans.
SOYA BEANS
Dried Soya beans are small, hard and normally need hours of cooking to get them soft. So they are less popular than other beans even though they are cheaper. In fact their hardness protects them from mice, weevils and even atomic radiation. They provide us with all that our body needs and can easily be processed and used in making all our basic foods. There is no vitamin C in the dried bean but even this can be obtained by sprouting them.
We have experimented with information from overseas on soaking and cooking Soya beans and have adapted the methods to the Wonder Box which saves 75 percent of the fuel needed for cooking. We recommend the following:
COOKING WHOLE SOYA BEANS
Sort, wash the beans vigorously until the water is not sudsy and add them to at least twice their volume of boiling water to which you have added Baking Soda (1 level teaspoonful to a liter of water). Bring it to boil. Boil for a minute while you heat the lid for the pot. Place in the Wonder Box and leave for 48 hours or more.
If you do not use Baking Soda, soak the beans in boiling water which inactivates enzymes which can produce an unpleasant taste if the beans become bruised. Always throw away the soaking water. Then boil the beans twice over followed by two or three hours in the Wonder Box after each boiling.
Both the above methods, which should leave the beans soft enough to mash, will inactivate a substance in the bean which works against the protein digesting enzyme trypsin, thus making all the protein in the bean available as food.
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SOYA MILK
It is important for mothers with large families or with children that are allergic to cows’ milk to know how to make Soya milk. To spread this knowledge ‘Compassion’ is undertaking demonstrations in hospitals, at churches and wherever people are gathered together who want to know more about it.
The method for making the milk, based on the Chinese method, is as follows;
1. Sort, wash and soak 1 cup of Soya beans in plenty of water overnight.
2. Mince, or grind the beans one cup at a time in a blender with 4 cups of
water.
3. Boil 2 cups water in a deep pot and add the minced beans.
Bring back to boiling. Stir and be careful it does not boil over and put
in the Wonder Box for 30 minutes.
4. Strain through a clean cloth and squeeze to remove all milk.
Add a little salt and sugar if desired.
KEEP THE PULP FOR ADDING TO OTHER FOODS
To make amasi: This makes a good medicine and food for babies with running stomachs. Add a teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar to a cupful of Soya milk and leave to stand. Yogurt can be made in the same way using a teaspoonful of yogurt instead of lemon, but leave this in a warm place to set – such as a Wonder Box.
FACTS ABOUT SOYA BEANS
From the ‘Wonder Food’ by C.E. Clinkard. In China there is practically no animal milk. Whereas only 7 lbs. of beef protein or 39 lbs. of egg protein, can be produced from one acre, 339 lbs of Soya bean protein can be produced from the same area. Its cultivation has been going on for about 5,000 years. Two and a half lbs of Soya bean flour is equivalent to 5 ¼ lbs of lean boneless meat or 67 eggs or 13 quarts of cow’s milk.
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POPULAR SOYA RECIPES
SOYA VETKOEKIES
1 cup Soya pulp (or mashed soft-cooked Soya beans)
1 spoonful of flour (or flour and breadcrumbs)
For variations, add any of the following:
tomato herbs sugar grated potatoes
spice curry cheese chopped onion
Mix and drop into hot oil to fry
SOYA AND MIELIEMEEL BREAD
2 cups Soya pulp 2 (or more) cups miemiemeel
2 teaspoons sugar 1 teaspoon salt
Stir all together to make a mixture like damp sand. Spoon it into a plastic bag which has had oil rubbed around the inside. Squeeze it in the plastic into a loaf shape. Immerse it in a pot of water with the open end of the bag protruding out under the lid. Boil for at least 10 minutes and leave in the Wonder Box for about an hour.
SOYA “TURKEY”
Mince whole soft-cooked Soya beans and flavor them delicately with chicken or beef cubes, salt and pepper. Add a spoonful of flour and some oil to each cupful of beans. Boil the mixture in a plastic bag immersed in water for at least 10 minutes followed by a short period in a “Wonder Box. It should now carve and taste surprisingly like turkey.
Mix some of the above with a little minced fried liver for a delicious live pate for sandwiches.
FISH CAKES
1 cup Soya pulp 1 heaped spoon of flour
1 onion 2 sprigs parsley
salt and pepper oil
Heat the oil in a frying pan. Chop the onion and parsley and mix with other ingredients. Shape into fish-cakes with spoons and fry until golden brown on both sides. These have a delicious taste of fish-cakes although no fish is used. The taste of onion should not be noticeable.
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FASOULIA
This is a highly recommended Greek Dish (Haricot beans are usually used for this)
3 cups well cooked Soya beans 1 bay leaf
half a cup of oil 1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 small can tomato paste juice of 1 lemon
a little water or tomato puree 2 cloves garlic
Heat the oil in a deep pan and add the beans. Simmer gently for 10 minutes while you add all the ingredients except the onion. Cover the pan and place in Wonder Box for 4 hours. Add the onion rings. Serve hot or cold.
NUTTY SOYA SNACKS
Mix a spoonful of flour with a teaspoon of salt and sprinkle it over some whole-cooked Soya beans until they are well coated. Remove the excess flour. Drop the beans a spoonful at a time into hot deep oil. Fry until they are light biscuit color, or fry half-cooked beans in hot oil until they are golden brown; allow the oil to drain off. Sprinkle salt over them and store them in an air tight jar to keep crisp.
A WARM DRINK
Bake unsoaked Soya beans slowly in an oven or iron pot for about 6 hours or until they are dark brown but not burnt.
Grind while hot, if possible. Store in an airtight container.
To make a warm drink, pour boiling water onto a good spoonful of ground baked beans. Add a pinch of salt. Allow to stand or simmer for a few minutes. The grounds will sink to the bottom. Keep the drink hot in a Wonder Box.
FRESH SOY BEANS
Young Soya beans only need to be cooked for 10 – 15 minutes. Children must not be allowed to chew raw green Soya beans – or any raw beans or they will get indigestion.
SOYA FOR BABIES
By our Woman Doctor: Soya beans are the richest source of vegetable protein, their protein being equal in value to that in meat, milk, fish and eggs.
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The milk prepared from Soya beans can be used for feeding under-weight malnourished babies to bring them back to health. Soya beans also provide a good weaning food which can be made from ground Soya beans or from the residue after making Soya milk. In some cases Soya milk is even better than cows’ milk. This is because many malnourished children have a persistent running stomach. The lining of the bowl in these children has become thin and flat instead of being thick and thrown into folds. This thin lining does not produce the substance needed to digest the milk sugar, lactose. Because of this, drinking cows’ milk will make the diarrhea worse. Soya milk is digested well as it contains no lactose.
Many adults also do not digest cows’ milk well as it causes stomach upsets because of a lack of the substance needed to digest lactose. Certain races, including Africans, are more prone to this.
Soya beans are used extensively by world health teams in feeding programs for areas where there are many malnourished children. The milk prepared by the recipe in this book contains a little more protein than cow’s milk and considerable more than breast milk.
Soya milk contains about ¾ of the calcium supplied in breast milk. (Cows’ milk is very rich in calcium and supplies far more than a baby needs). Soya milk contains no vitamin D but this vitamin is made in the body by the action of sunlight on the infants’ skin. Vitamin D is necessary to prevent rickets. It has a satisfactory content of iron, in fact more than in breast milk; also of the B vitamins (except 12 which is also absent in breast milk). It is low in vitamin A and vitamin C is absent.
One cannot unreservedly recommend Soya milk for the sole food of infants under 4 months who, in any case, should be on the breast. But it can be used for emergency or temporary feeding where the alternative is protein deprivation.
Soya can be highly recommended for feeding infants over 4 months especially with regard to its protein content. These babies can also be given mashed local vegetables and fruit and the occasional egg yolk in addition which supplies the vitamins A and D and also extra calcium. Mieliemeel mixed with either Soya milk or the pulp which is left after making the milk is an ideal combination as a source of calories and protein.
It is very rare to find a baby allergic to Soya milk but of babies allergic to cows’ milk some authorities have found that ¼ of these will also be allergic to Soya milk. The other ¾ will thrive on Soya milk.
Commercial dried Soya milk powders are fortified with extra vitamins A and D and a little extra calcium and can be used for infants of all ages.
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SOYA BEAN CULTIVATION
By our Agriculturalist: Soya beans (Soybeans) can be grown anywhere in Southern Africa where ordinary green beans can be grown and they require roughly the same conditions.
The soil should be well cultivated to prevent weeds from becoming too big a problem to growing beans. Make your planting rows about 14 centimeters apart. This is about the distance from a man’s elbow to tip of thumb. For a small garden you can make the rows a little close together. For a large field where tractor or ox-drawn implements are used you can make the rows wider apart.
The seed should be planted a little later than the date on which you would normally plant mielies (corn) so as to be sure that the ground is warm enough to encourage the beans to make a quick start. If you are not able to irrigate the ground, you must wait for good rains to give your soil plenty of moisture before planting.
Put the beans about 5 centimeters, or a thumb’s length deep and 4 – 5 centimeters apart.
Under good conditions the beans will germinate in 4 to 5 days. If the soil has been hammered hard by heavy rains at this time, it must be loosened a little so that the beans can push through the soil without being damaged. Keep the young beans free from weeds for the first month at least to give them the best chance in life. The beans will be ready to harvest when the plant leaves begin to fall and the stems begin to dry out.
Soya beans have the good quality of attracting certain bacteria which extract the plant food nitrogen from the air. These bacteria are very small organisms which cannot be seen by the naked eye. While the beans are growing the bacteria will multiply greatly and will remain a long time in the soil after the beans are finished. A little soil taken from an old Soya bean plot and dusted into the rows of fresh ground where Soya beans are to be planted will therefore provide a more plentiful supply of the helpful bacteria at the outset and get the bean off to a good start. The nitrogen fixing partnership between beans and bacteria will mean that your ground will be enriched by a crop of Soya beans.
Wonder Boxes, designed by Compassion in 1978, continue to catch on, to excite people and to be a boon for many households. They are being made in at least 50 centers in southern Africa: Women for Peace in Johannesburg, Cripple Care in Pietermaritzburg and Pretoria, Centers of “Concern in port Elizabeth and elsewhere and self-help home industries and missions in rural areas.
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Yet still there is a desperate NEED for WONDER BOXES TOGETHER WITH SOYA BEANS. To meet this need we ask each person who reads this to PROVIDE ONE MORE PERSON WITH A WONDER BOX.
Start a “Wonder-chain”, each person who receives one could buy or make one for someone in need – a pensioner, an unemployed person or an over-burdened working mother.
MAKE YOUR OWN WONER-BOXES
Make cushions out of large plastic bags, mutton cloth or other washable material and fill them loosely with any of the following”
polystyrene beads waste nylon materials
dried corn husks flakes of newspaper
woolen materials sawdust and wood shavings
feathers hay or other dry grasses
Put the cushions into a container such as a cardboard box and make a nest in it for your cooking pot. Cover the pot with another cushion.
Polystyrene is about the best insulation material and it is also easily washed. If you are only able to get the solid pieces which are used for packing radios etc…, you can break it up by grating it.
Compassion registered the name WONDER BOX and the logo of the kneeling figure in the hope that our new and simple ways of using the WONDER (SOYA) BEANS will go with it and be a powerful force for peace at this time.
LIVE SIMPLY THAT OTHERS MAY SIMPLY LIVE
Where to get insulation beads:
JoAnn’s Fabric Stores
DOUBLE STITCH ALL SEAMS
Cut bottom out of milk jug (gallon), Put 5 scoops of beads for top.
Put 9 scoops of beads for bottom.
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Another way to improve heat retention is to ensure that the cooking pots have the least possible surface area for the volume contained, this is a sphere – which is geometrically inconvenient for my purposes, so I settled on a couple of squat, enamelled steel billy cans. The lids of the cans also have a rim which ensures that condensation on the lid is returned to the pot.
25mm thick and had been used as packing in a container, so I accepted it gratefully.
with holes in them to accept the cooking containers up to the level of their lids. Here the analogy breaks down! To use the rigid polyester foam over the tops of the cooking containers by carving out the correct size and shape was beyond my technology, so I remembered our family motto – “when all else fails – cheat!”. I bought some polystyrene beads, used for stuffing bean bags and made up a cushion by loosely filling an old flannelette pillowcase, which sits neatly on top of the cooking containers and acts and an insulator. I sewed the pillowcase closed, because anything less than an airtight seal and the beans escape and get EVERYWHERE!
nowadays, there is actually no insulation in the formed plastic top, I assume that the air gap in the lid is supposed to act as an insulator. I was not happy with this, so using a cut of funnel I persuaded a whole stack of the polystyrene beans to go into a moulding hole in the top. That was one tedious job, because the beans clearly did not want to go into the lid! Anyway once completed I sealed the hole with an (unused) industrial ear plug.
go. Having filled your pots with ingredients and water up to about 25mm from the top, put it on the stove and bring it up to the boil, and boil for five minutes to get the heat into the centre of any larger lumps of ingredient. Once it has been boiling for 5 minutes quickly transfer it to the haybox cooker, smooth down the insulating pillow and clamp on the lid.
The Thermal Cooker Thermal Cooking Weblog 