A dinner may consist of many courses or different dishes, but the simpler the dishes and the less numerous the courses the better.  A person who makes his meal from one dish only is the wisest of all.  He who limits himself to two courses does well, but he who takes more than three courses lays up for himself stomach troubles or disorder of the system.  When only one course is had, then good solid food must be eaten; when two courses are the rule, a moderate amount of each should be taken; and it three different dishes are provided, a proportionately lighter quantity of each.  Various dishes may be served for the dinner meal, such as soups, omelettes, savouries, pies, batters, and sweet courses.

The plainest dinner any one can eat is that composed of Allinson wholemeal bread and raw fruit.  A man in full work may eat from 12 to 16 oz. of the wholemeal bread, and about the same quantity of ripe raw fruit.  The bread is best dry, the next best is when a thin scrape of butter is spread on it.  If hard physical work has to be done, a cup of Brunak, cocoa, milk and water, or lemon water, should be drunk at the end of the meal.  In winter these fluids might be taken warmed, but in summer they are best cool or cold.  This wholesome fare can be varied in a variety of ways; some might like a salad instead of the fruit, and others may prefer cold vegetables.  A few Brazil nuts, almonds, walnuts, some Spanish nuts, or a piece of cocoanut may be eaten with the bread in winter.  Others not subject to piles, constipation, or eczema, &c., may take 2 oz. of cheese and an onion with their bread, or a hard-boiled egg.  This simple meal can be easily carried to work, or on a journey.  Wholemeal biscuits or Allinson rusks may be used instead of bread if one is on a walking tour, cycling trip, or boating excursion, or even on ordinary occasions for a change.

Of cooked dinners, the simplest is that composed of potatoes baked, steamed, or boiled in their skins, eaten with another vegetable, sauce, and the wholemeal bread.  Baked potatoes are the most wholesome, and their skins should always be eaten; steamed potatoes are next; whilst boiled ones, especially if peeled, are not nearly so good.  Any seasonable vegetable may be steamed and eaten with the potatoes, such as cauliflower, cabbage, sprouts, broccoli, carrot, turnip, beetroot, parsnips, or boiled celery, or onions.  Recipes for the sauces used with this course will be found in another part of the book; they may be parsley, onion, caper, tomato, or brown gravy sauce.  This dinner may be varied by adding to it a poached, fried, or boiled egg.  As a second course, baked apples, or stewed fresh fruit and bread may be eaten; or Allinson bread pudding, or rice, sago, tapioca, or macaroni pudding with stewed fruit.  Persons troubled with piles, varicose veins, varicocele, or constipation must avoid this dinner as much as possible.  If they do eat it they must be sure to eat the skins of the potatoes, and take the Allinson bread pudding or bread and fruit afterwards, avoiding puddings of rice, sago, tapioca, or macaroni.