Half Plate of Veggies!? Say What?
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HeidiCooksSupper wrote: »A meat, a starch, a veg and a "salad." The "salad" was in its own little side dish and was not necessarily what one might consider a salad today. Among the favorites was a slice of canned jellied cranberry sauce on a leaf of iceberg with a dollop of mayonnaise on top. Jello salads abounded also served on the ubiquitous leaf of iceberg and the glob of Hellman's. A half a canned peach (in heavy syrup, of course), iceberg, mayo. I'm dating myself and my mom's cooking, aren't I.
this sounds like my grandmother's "waldorf" salad, and other monstrosities.2 -
I grew up eating my veggies...we pretty much always had meat, some kind of starch/grain, and veg. My parents and grandparents were also avid gardeners...my grandma in particular had a massive garden and seasonal vegetables pretty much year around.0
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There was not a ton of variety in my home growing up. We did the basic broccoli, cauliflower, squash, zucchini, potatoes and spinach mostly. Sometimes there would be rutabaga, asparagus or beets. We didn't have a whole lot of money in the budget so my mom just did the best she could with 6 people in the family.0
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Sometimes "salad" was canned pears, apricots, or peaches with cottage cheese on top and a dab of mayo. My mom insisted -- vehemently -- that Jello was dessert, not salad.
IF she sounds strident it is because she was fighting a losing battle in the 1970s rust belt. Jello was salad AND dessert. And bake sale treats (Finger jello, anyone?)
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CrescentVolf wrote: »It's nice to see soany who grew up with their parents instilling a knowledge and love for veggies! I know when I have kids, I will be doing that.
Also nice to know I'm not alone when it comes to the meat making the meal growing up, or maybe the starch. Haha
Wish you luck with the kids. We have three, and thought each time we'd do better than the one before. None of them were ever "proper" eaters. With all good intentions, it never worked out, because we never felt comfortable punishing or forcing them to eat what they didn't want, as our parents and grandparents tried to do.0 -
CrescentVolf wrote: »It's nice to see soany who grew up with their parents instilling a knowledge and love for veggies! I know when I have kids, I will be doing that.
Also nice to know I'm not alone when it comes to the meat making the meal growing up, or maybe the starch. Haha
Wish you luck with the kids. We have three, and thought each time we'd do better than the one before. None of them were ever "proper" eaters. With all good intentions, it never worked out, because we never felt comfortable punishing or forcing them to eat what they didn't want, as our parents and grandparents tried to do.
Sometimes you have to be a little tough with them. I wasn't allowed to leave the table until I'd finished all of my veggies, It's just how it was, it didn't mentally scar me or anything. I did the same with my kids, and now as adults they love veggies.0 -
We never had a lot of veggies. I don't really give my kids half a plate of veggies either though... but they have to eat them if they want dessert!1
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I have always had a lot of veggies and loved them. As a kid I would pile up my plate with them until there was no room left for other items, often requiring a second plate for the rest of my food, and I continue to do that to this day. My diet shock was grains. I could not fathom how 1/2 cup would be a serving. That's so tiny! I'm used to grains being the base of my meals and often considered 2-3 cups to be a normal serving. I still refuse to eat just half a cup, I do 150-200 grams of cooked grains (about a cup?).
No shocks with protein. I've always had just a bit of meat, if any. A 85 gram (3 ounce) serving is pretty respectable and about twice the amount I would usually go for if it's a type of meat I'm willing to eat. If it's something I don't eat, then zero meat for that day.
My parents did not make me eat vegetables. I liked them anyway and it didn't even occur to me that refusing to eat them was an option or something other people did. It was just how everyone ate, including all the kids I knew, so it was a non issue. Snacking on fruits and veggies was pretty common among kids.1 -
We didn't really have veggies growing up. Unless the tiny carrots in frozen pot pies counts as veggies.
Frozen dinner veggies, and once in a while canned green beans. That was about it.
Until I started asking for them and putting them in the cart myself. Those choices were based on what friends' moms served. This was in the mid 70s.0 -
CrescentVolf wrote: »Hi!
So, I was wondering how many of my fellow fitness pals grew up in a really misguided food environment? And if you did, did you ever struggle with the new what your plate should look like stuff for balanced eating?
When I was growing up, most of the time the vegetable of the meal was often a starchy veggie, maybe green beans but that was rare. I didn't realize so many wonderful veggies even existed. I didn't realize half my plate should have consisted of said veggies. It was almost shocking to me, but it shouldn't have been haha. I didn't understand how people could possibly do that, until I started making an effort to eat more balanced meals. It's been a huge learning experience, and I still have so much to learn.
Anyone with similar experiences?
This is a great point. I see a number of posts here along the lines "but I don't like veggies....is that ok?"
I grew up eating veggies. We had a garden, my grandparents had gardens. Trying a multitude of veggies was "normal." That said, for years I had gotten away from eating veggies everyday. Eating more calorie dense foods....and still a full plate. That can't be my normal....ever again.0 -
I've always loved veggies, both fresh and cooked. Growing up, we usually had a meat, a starch, and a veggie--but sometimes the veggie was peas or corn (so just more starch). Used a mix of canned and frozen veggies, and I almost exclusively buy frozen veggies if I don't think I can get all the way through a fresh one. Rarely will I buy a can of veggies. Too salty and mushy. I was always a good eater, so I don't remember being pushed to eat any one thing...never had a problem clearing my plate. Also my mom was from the midwest so a lot of foods were "chicken fried" and pot roast style. I still miss my mom's fried pork chops and fried potatoes and gravy. Oh my god her gravy.
I was always active as a kid (played competitive sports), but was always bigger than the other girls. I definitely don't have a small frame, so after two kids, depression, and lots of people dying, I ate a lot of feelings and got out of control fat.
I am SO SO SO SO glad I like most veggies (except raw tomatoes, gross), because it sure does make this journey easier.
My kids also love their veggies. They each have a few they don't touch, but for the most part our meals have a meat, at starch, and a true veggie. I steam or microwave the veggies from frozen and the kids will eat them up without any butter or seasonings, so that's a plus.2 -
I grew up in the '70s and '80s (all over, mostly the west, but with roots in the mid-west) and never heard jello called a salad. A salad was iceberg lettuce, mostly, with some tomatoes and carrots and cucumbers and some kind of bottled Italian or creamy dressing, granted, but it had lettuce unless it was a "fruit salad" and then it was just a mix of fruit, nothing else. Jello could be a "fun" side or a dessert or, most often, some kind of special dish for a potluck or dinner party. A fancy salad (like when company came) would often be a spinach salad, though.
We did have lots of frozen and canned vegetables, and I don't think my mother cooked them that well (as noted above, she never liked to cook and also culturally had learned to overcook everything). However, I don't think that was due to any aversion to fresh vegetables -- we had lots in season, especially when visiting my grandparents who had a huge garden (they'd had a farm when my mother was growing up, but no longer did). Canned and frozen was due to unavailability of other options or price -- what's available to me now is much better and cheaper on average. (I don't think using canned and frozen meant my parents didn't care about vegetables, at all, and we definitely were required to eat them. I didn't really like or dislike them, although I knew they were better in restaurants/some friends' houses by the time I was an adult. Learning to cook them was what taught me to really love them, vs. just seeing them as a healthy and expected part of a meal.
Rarely had frozen meals except when my parents went out. Then we got TV dinners as a special treat, and would look forward to them. (Also liked the occasional fish sticks.)2 -
When I was growing up (I'm 50 from a mid size metro area) the fruit and Veg department in the grocery stores were not as big and diverse as they are today. Fruits and veggies were mainly available in season so frozen and canned veggies (that mom over-cooked) were a staple in our house. I remember how excited we would get when it was artichoke or asparagus or corn on the cob season. Many of my friends had no idea what an artichoke was. Even then the veggies were on the plate to add color and make he plate a pleasing presentation. The fruit and veg department is my favorite part of the grocery store now with all the variety, textures, and colors.1
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Now I'm actually curious now about canned veggies. Never tried them, except for canned sweet corn. Are they that bad? I'm tempted to add them to my shopping list this week just to see what everyone is talking about. The only frozen veggies we had as a kid were these peas and carrot mixes, and I literally mean "only". No other frozen veggies were available in shops because I vividly remember asking mom why they had vegetables in the same freezer as frozen dough products, but fresh vegetables and fresh baked items were separate, and she replied it would not make sense to buy a whole freezer for a few bags of peas and carrots. Not sure if we had canned back then or not, but I have seen canned green beans lately while shopping. I'm going to buy a can this week and try them. Frozen meals? now that is something I wish to try. I have been on the hunt and have never seen them sold anywhere.0
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Mom's house we never had a veggie, Dad's house = veggies.0
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lemurcat12 wrote: »Not really. Maybe it's because I'm old, but when I was growing up we pretty much always had meat, some kind of starchy veg (bread, potato, corn, maybe rice), and then vegetables. Probably about a third each vs. the half plate of veg, but increasing my portion of veg and otherwise going back to how I ate as a kid when I improved my diet some years ago wasn't too tough. Since being an adult and living in a more metropolitan area (and being exposed to some good restaurants and different ethnic cooking and the like) I do eat proteins other than meat and a much more diverse selection of dishes than we did, though, as my family's cooking was pretty unadventurous (I'd call it very midwestern American).
Anyway, I always thought of this, and the idea that you should have vegetables with lunch and dinner (sometimes it was just fruit with breakfast) was the standard American diet, as it was pretty much how I remember everyone eating as a kid and it's what my mother thought was responsible to prepare even though she hated cooking (I didn't know that until later). Obviously, I was naive or else things changed, probably both.
Yep ... this is pretty much my story too.
My mother was a nurse (who also hated cooking!) who tried to follow the Canada Food Guide for the most part.
6 days a week, our meals were fairly basic, as you describe with meat, starch and veggies, but on Saturdays my father would sometimes make pizza, or my mother might do some mexican-ish dishes, or maybe a lasagne or something special like that.
We'd have veggies with lunch and dinner, and fruit for breakfast and a late evening snack and sometime dessert.
I too have expanded my selection since leaving home, but even now most of our meals are along those lines ... a little less meat, a little less starch, perhaps, and a heaping pile of veggies.
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amusedmonkey wrote: »Now I'm actually curious now about canned veggies. Never tried them, except for canned sweet corn. Are they that bad? I'm tempted to add them to my shopping list this week just to see what everyone is talking about. The only frozen veggies we had as a kid were these peas and carrot mixes, and I literally mean "only". No other frozen veggies were available in shops because I vividly remember asking mom why they had vegetables in the same freezer as frozen dough products, but fresh vegetables and fresh baked items were separate, and she replied it would not make sense to buy a whole freezer for a few bags of peas and carrots. Not sure if we had canned back then or not, but I have seen canned green beans lately while shopping. I'm going to buy a can this week and try them. Frozen meals? now that is something I wish to try. I have been on the hunt and have never seen them sold anywhere.
Where do you live? No frozen meals? They're in just about every grocery store here and in Canada.
As for canned veggies ... to me, they taste tinny and weirdly sweet and sour. As though someone dumped a pile of sugar in during the canning process and then went "oops" and poured in some vinegar to try offset the sweetness. And then they pick up the taste of the can a bit.
The only canned veggies I like are beans of the kidney, chickpea, black, etc. sort which I will use in slow cooker meals.
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amusedmonkey wrote: »Now I'm actually curious now about canned veggies. Never tried them, except for canned sweet corn. Are they that bad? I'm tempted to add them to my shopping list this week just to see what everyone is talking about. The only frozen veggies we had as a kid were these peas and carrot mixes, and I literally mean "only". No other frozen veggies were available in shops because I vividly remember asking mom why they had vegetables in the same freezer as frozen dough products, but fresh vegetables and fresh baked items were separate, and she replied it would not make sense to buy a whole freezer for a few bags of peas and carrots. Not sure if we had canned back then or not, but I have seen canned green beans lately while shopping. I'm going to buy a can this week and try them. Frozen meals? now that is something I wish to try. I have been on the hunt and have never seen them sold anywhere.
Where do you live? No frozen meals? They're in just about every grocery store here and in Canada.
As for canned veggies ... to me, they taste tinny and weirdly sweet and sour. As though someone dumped a pile of sugar in during the canning process and then went "oops" and poured in some vinegar to try offset the sweetness. And then they pick up the taste of the can a bit.
The only canned veggies I like are beans of the kidney, chickpea, black, etc. sort which I will use in slow cooker meals.
I don't live in the US or canada. We have a mostly home cooking culture sometimes with extended families living together or close to each other so there is always someone who can cook, so I guess frozen meals just didn't sell well. We do have canned beans and I buy them often because they are convenient, but I haven't seen actual "vegetables" other than green beans (or maybe wasn't paying attention). What else gets canned? I might buy them and throw them away if I don't like them or have little use for them (like I did with marmite), but I get very curious about any foodstuff I haven't tried. I tried kale and brussel sprouts for the first time last summer and I loved both.0 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »Now I'm actually curious now about canned veggies. Never tried them, except for canned sweet corn. Are they that bad? I'm tempted to add them to my shopping list this week just to see what everyone is talking about. The only frozen veggies we had as a kid were these peas and carrot mixes, and I literally mean "only". No other frozen veggies were available in shops because I vividly remember asking mom why they had vegetables in the same freezer as frozen dough products, but fresh vegetables and fresh baked items were separate, and she replied it would not make sense to buy a whole freezer for a few bags of peas and carrots. Not sure if we had canned back then or not, but I have seen canned green beans lately while shopping. I'm going to buy a can this week and try them. Frozen meals? now that is something I wish to try. I have been on the hunt and have never seen them sold anywhere.
Where do you live? No frozen meals? They're in just about every grocery store here and in Canada.
As for canned veggies ... to me, they taste tinny and weirdly sweet and sour. As though someone dumped a pile of sugar in during the canning process and then went "oops" and poured in some vinegar to try offset the sweetness. And then they pick up the taste of the can a bit.
The only canned veggies I like are beans of the kidney, chickpea, black, etc. sort which I will use in slow cooker meals.
I don't live in the US or canada. We have a mostly home cooking culture sometimes with extended families living together or close to each other so there is always someone who can cook, so I guess frozen meals just didn't sell well. We do have canned beans and I buy them often because they are convenient, but I haven't seen actual "vegetables" other than green beans (or maybe wasn't paying attention). What else gets canned? I might buy them and throw them away if I don't like them or have little use for them (like I did with marmite), but I get very curious about any foodstuff I haven't tried. I tried kale and brussel sprouts for the first time last summer and I loved both.
BTW - by "here" in my post, I meant Australia.
As for the canned veggies, you can try them, but I'd recommend checking the label for the calorie count (and possibly the amount of sugar and salt and things they put into those cans).0
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