517. We do not think fried potatoes are healthful, for there is more or less grease or butter used in preparing them. Good baked or boiled potatoes served with cream and a sprinkling of salt are the most healthful. The remnants of Irish and sweet potatoes are prepared with a little cream and salt and rebaked, and not fried; they are excellent.—Letter 322, 1905
(CD 323.1)
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518. Another very simple yet wholesome dish, is beans boiled or baked. Dilute a portion of them with water, add milk or cream, and make a broth.—Testimonies for the Church 2:603, 1871
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519. Many do not see the importance of having land to cultivate, and of raising fruit and vegetables, that their tables may be supplied with these things. I am instructed to say to every family and every church, God will bless you when you work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, fearing lest, by unwise treatment of the body, you will mar the Lord’s plan for you.—Letter 5, 1904
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[All Should Be Acquainted with Value of Fruits and Vegetables Fresh from the Orchard and Garden - 480]
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520. Provision should be made for obtaining a supply of dried sweet corn. Pumpkins can be dried, and used to advantage during the winter in making pies.—Letter 195, 1905
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Greens and Tomatoes in the Diet of Ellen G. White
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521. You speak in regard to my diet. I have not become so wedded to one thing as not to be able to eat anything else. But as far as material for greens is concerned, you need have no concern; for to my certain knowledge there are in the section of country where you live many kinds of vegetable productions which I can use as greens. I shall be able to obtain the leaves of the yellow dock, the young dandelion, and mustard. There will be a far more bountiful supply there, and of a superior quality, than we could obtain in Australia. And if there was nothing else, there are the grain productions.—Letter 31, 1901
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522. My appetite left me some time before I went to the East. But now it has returned; and I am very hungry when mealtime comes. My thistle greens, nicely cooked, and seasoned with sterilized cream and lemon juice, are very appetizing. I have vermicelli-tomato soup one meal and greens the next. I have begun again to eat potato meal. My food all tastes good. I am like a fever patient who has been half-starved, and I am in danger of overeating.—Letter 10, 1902
(CD 324.1)
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523. The tomatoes you sent were very nice and very palatable. I find that tomatoes are the best article of diet for me to use.—Letter 70, 1900
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524. Of corn and peas we have raised enough for ourselves and our neighbors. The sweet corn we dry for winter use; then when we need it we grind it in a mill and cook it. It makes most palatable soups and other dishes....
(CD 324.3)
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In their season we have grapes in abundance, also prunes and apples, and some cherries, peaches, pears, and olives, which we prepare ourselves. We also grow a large quantity of tomatoes. I never make excuses for the food that is on my table. I do not think God is pleased to have us do so. Our visitors eat as we do, and appear to enjoy our bill of fare.—Letter 363, 1907
(CD 324.4)
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[Corn used by E.G. White - Appendix 1:22, 23] [Caution Regarding Using with Fruit - 188, 190] [Caution Regarding Using Vegetables with Desserts - 189, 722] [In diet of E.G. White - Appendix 1:4, 8, 15]
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Our fare is simple and wholesome. We have on our table no butter, no meat, no cheese, no greasy mixtures of food. For some months a young man who was an unbeliever, and who had eaten meat all his life, boarded with us. We made no change in our diet on his account; and while he stayed with us he gained about twenty pounds. The food which we provided for him was far better for him than that to which he had been accustomed. All who sit at my table express themselves as being well satisfied with the food provided.—Letter 62, 1903
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22. I eat the most simple food, prepared in the most simple way. For months my principal diet has been vermicelli and canned tomatoes, cooked together. This I eat with zwieback. Then I have also stewed fruit of some kind and sometimes lemon pie. Dried corn, cooked with milk or a little cream, is another dish that I sometimes use.
(CD 491.2)
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But the other members of my family do not eat the same things that I do. I do not hold myself up as a criterion for them. I leave each one to follow his own ideas as to what is best for him. I bind no one else’s conscience by my own. One person cannot be a criterion for another in the matter of eating. It is impossible to make one rule for all to follow. There are those in my family who are very fond of beans, while to me beans are poison. Butter is never placed on my table, but if the members of my family choose to use a little butter away from the table, they are at liberty to do so. Our table is set twice a day, but if there are those who desire something to eat in the evening, there is no rule that forbids them from getting it. No one complains or goes from our table dissatisfied. A variety of food that is simple, wholesome, and palatable, is always provided.—Letter 127, 1904
(CD 491.3)
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A Statement for Those Who Question Mrs. White’s Manner of Eating
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23. It is reported by some that I have not lived up to the principles of health reform, as I have advocated them with my pen. But I can say that so far as my knowledge goes, I have not departed from those principles. Those who have eaten at my table know that I have not placed flesh meats before them....
(CD 491.4)
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It is many years since I have had meat on my table at home. We never use tea or coffee. Occasionally I have used red-clover-blossom tea for a warm drink, but few of my family drink any fluid at our meals. The table is provided with cream instead of butter, even though we have company present. I have not used butter for many years.
(CD 492.1)
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Yet we do not have an impoverished diet. We have an abundance of dried and canned fruit. If our own fruit crop is short, we buy some in the market. Sister Gray sends me the seedless grapes, and these stewed make a very appetizing dish. We raise our own loganberries, and use them freely. Strawberries do not grow well in this locality, but from our neighbors we purchase blackberries, raspberries, apples, and pears. We have also an abundance of tomatoes. We also raise a fine variety of sweet corn, and dry a large amount for use during the winter months. Near by us is a food factory, where we can supply ourselves with the grain preparations.
(CD 492.2)
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We endeavor to use good judgment in determining what combinations of food best agree with us. It is our duty to act wisely in regard to our habits of eating, to be temperate, and to learn to reason from cause to effect. If we will do our part, then the Lord will do His part in preserving our brain-nerve power.
(CD 492.3)
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For more than forty years I have eaten but two meals a day. And if I have a specially important work to do, I limit the quantity of food that I take. I regard it as my duty to refuse to place in my stomach any food that I have reason to believe will create disorder. My mind must be sanctified to God, and I must guard carefully against any habit that would tend to lessen my powers of intellect.
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I am now in my eighty-first year, and I can bear testimony that we do not, as a family, hunger for the fleshpots of Egypt. I have known something of the benefits to be received by living up to the principles of health reform. I consider it a privilege as well as a duty to be a health reformer.
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