Unhealthy/Gross foods growing up
Options
Replies
-
I can't call this gross b/c I still love it, but we had sweet (southern super sweet) tea with every meal... breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I can't even imagine how many calories I drank everyday.2
-
BruinsGal_91 wrote: »CricketClover wrote: »Pear Salad: canned pear halves, a dollop of mayonnaise or cottage cheese, and a sprinkle of shredded cheddar on top of each half. I remember eating this a lot and I guess it isn't necessarily "unhealthy", the idea of it now is disgusting.
You're reminding me if a recipe for "candle salad" in a children's cookbook I had: Pineapple ring base, chunk of banana stuck upright in it, mayo dressing "wax drips", maraschino cherry "flame" on top.
Also, I grew up in the era of truly horrific gelatin salads, 1950s-60s. They were considered fancy for ladies' luncheons in a certain social milieu, sort of a faux aspic.
Usually they started with lime or lemon jello (I think it may've been less sweet then, not sure), but it seems like there were some made with plain gelatin and things like tomato juice or V-8. There were vegetables in it, usually shredded; they were varied, but I remember carrots, celery, black olives in some. It could have cottage cheese mixed in, and/or things like salmon or tuna or something. Scary, especially to children.
ETA: Mayo or other dressing, sometimes on the side (or in a dish in the center of the gelatin ring sometimes, with a fancy spoon), or drizzled artistically on top. There were special jello molds for savory salads, in the shape of fish and such.
Good grief! I had to google this because I was sure it wasn't actually a thing. But it is. And I'm never, ever going to be able to unsee it.
https://www.thekitchn.com/the-candle-salad-a-retro-recipe-to-make-you-blush-food-history-192197
Best line in that article:
The candle salad was most likely invented in the 1920s, a time when bananas were widely available, pineapples were becoming popular, and apparently nobody had a dirty mind.5 -
MistressSara wrote: »CricketClover wrote: »Pear Salad: canned pear halves, a dollop of mayonnaise or cottage cheese, and a sprinkle of shredded cheddar on top of each half. I remember eating this a lot and I guess it isn't necessarily "unhealthy", the idea of it now is disgusting.
You're reminding me if a recipe for "candle salad" in a children's cookbook I had: Pineapple ring base, chunk of banana stuck upright in it, mayo dressing "wax drips", maraschino cherry "flame" on top.
Also, I grew up in the era of truly horrific gelatin salads, 1950s-60s. They were considered fancy for ladies' luncheons in a certain social milieu, sort of a faux aspic.
Usually they started with lime or lemon jello (I think it may've been less sweet then, not sure), but it seems like there were some made with plain gelatin and things like tomato juice or V-8. There were vegetables in it, usually shredded; they were varied, but I remember carrots, celery, black olives in some. It could have cottage cheese mixed in, and/or things like salmon or tuna or something. Scary, especially to children.
ETA: Mayo or other dressing, sometimes on the side (or in a dish in the center of the gelatin ring sometimes, with a fancy spoon), or drizzled artistically on top. There were special jello molds for savory salads, in the shape of fish and such.
Aspic scares me. Meat jello yuck.
You realize all jello is meat jello, right? The bright-primary-colors pseudo-fruity sweetened ones are just disguising it better.4 -
potato salad and coleslaw sandwich0
-
SabAteNine wrote: »Oh, later edit for gross foods (foods which for me are not gross, but for others might be): Tripe soup (fantastic), fried breaded brain, hot fresh marrow, salted, spread on fresh bread.
My people!
I've never eaten brain, but tripe soup and marrow on fresh bread were staples in my home.
1 -
Crafty_camper123 wrote: »I kind of wonder how many of these foods were fabricated from necessity. Some seem to be methods of stretching out a meal like serving white bread and butter with your meal. As kids we probably had to clue our parents were trying to get as much as they could from dinner for as little money as possible. My graham cracker cereal was probably created because we were out of cereal, but had a box of graham crackers in the back of the pantry. Same with the hot dogs and mac n cheese. a package of 50 cent BAR S hot dogs and a 10 cent (90's prices) box of mac n cheese fed 3 people for dinner. It is still one of my favorite ways to eat boxed mac n cheese, lol. If we were well off that week, it was a $1.00 Kelbasa sausage fried up with a box of store brand mac n cheese.
ETA: @08_GreenEyedMomma we called that SOS. AKA ShKitten on a Shingle. I LOVED that when I was little, but can't imagine eating it now.
Yes, my ex-husband's father was a driver for Wonder Bread, got a discount for it, and they had bread throughout the day (bread and sugar sandwiches, bread and butter with every meal, etc.) like my gardening mother served cucumbers and zucchini during their season.2 -
I never had cinnamon sugar toast, but it sounds like something I'd find tasty.
I had a version of that. When I was about 11, I started making french toast for myself and my siblings. That's what I'd make when we were hungry but really low on food. Looking back, it was basically bread with a crust of fried sugar and cinnamon on it. We rarely ever had maple syrup in the house, so to compensate, I piled on the sugar as I fried the bread.0 -
Butter and sugar sandwiches on wonder bread.0
-
mrsnattybulking wrote: »MelanieCN77 wrote: »mrsnattybulking wrote: »mrsnattybulking wrote: »Maybe less healthy a raw egg yolk and 3tbsp sugar beaten fluffy with an espresso (I'm 5 at this point mindyou) and then dipped yesterday's dinner bread. Also still eat it because it's delicious but the macros are brutal
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that this probably tastes better than it sounds, but yeesh this sounds horrendous!! hahah
It's one of the main ingredients mixed with mascarpone of a tiramisu; it's not that bad! haha
It actually makes a lot more sense when you put it that way. At face value it sounded more strange lol
I saw a YT video about egg coffee recently, I want to say it's a Vietnamese thing according to the video?
It's really just a shot of espresso in the egg mixture to flavour it (cause the 3tbs of sugar just isn't enough lol) It's more of a thick dessert you eat with a spoon or old bread not really "drinkable" like that Vietnamese coffee.
http://www.misya.info/ricetta/zabaione.htm
I couldn't read that, so googled zabaione, and came up with Zabaglione, which has Marsala wine instead of coffee. I've had this once and have been meaning to try making it myself. Nom nom nom.
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/zabaglione/
Here's a recipe for Vietnamese cà phê trứng, or egg coffee: https://www.legalnomads.com/vietnamese-egg-coffee-recipe/0 -
MistressSara wrote: »CricketClover wrote: »Pear Salad: canned pear halves, a dollop of mayonnaise or cottage cheese, and a sprinkle of shredded cheddar on top of each half. I remember eating this a lot and I guess it isn't necessarily "unhealthy", the idea of it now is disgusting.
You're reminding me if a recipe for "candle salad" in a children's cookbook I had: Pineapple ring base, chunk of banana stuck upright in it, mayo dressing "wax drips", maraschino cherry "flame" on top.
Also, I grew up in the era of truly horrific gelatin salads, 1950s-60s. They were considered fancy for ladies' luncheons in a certain social milieu, sort of a faux aspic.
Usually they started with lime or lemon jello (I think it may've been less sweet then, not sure), but it seems like there were some made with plain gelatin and things like tomato juice or V-8. There were vegetables in it, usually shredded; they were varied, but I remember carrots, celery, black olives in some. It could have cottage cheese mixed in, and/or things like salmon or tuna or something. Scary, especially to children.
ETA: Mayo or other dressing, sometimes on the side (or in a dish in the center of the gelatin ring sometimes, with a fancy spoon), or drizzled artistically on top. There were special jello molds for savory salads, in the shape of fish and such.
Aspic scares me. Meat jello yuck.
You realize all jello is meat jello, right? The bright-primary-colors pseudo-fruity sweetened ones are just disguising it better.
Yup. Here's more on gelatin for those unfamiliar with the origin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin
3 -
The food I considered grossest as a kid was liver. I've been meaning to try making it with bacon to see if that will make it come out better than what Mom did, but haven't gotten around to it yet.0
-
kshama2001 wrote: »The food I considered grossest as a kid was liver. I've been meaning to try making it with bacon to see if that will make it come out better than what Mom did, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
Trust me, it's still gross.4 -
I always hated when we would have roast, boiled potatoes mashed with salt & butter, and carrots cooked to death. This was one of the more ambitious "actually cooked meals" my mom made, and I detested it. As an adult, I still absolutely hate it, even though I do really like carrots and potatoes cooked other ways. To me that is the worst way to cook carrots & potatoes, it makes me shudder.
One childhood "actual cooked meals" I liked was marinated steaks cooked on the grill, frozen corn, and instant mashed potatoes with butter inside them to make a volcano of butter as you ate the potatoes. I really don't eat any of that now except corn (other ways). I have no idea how my dad marinated the steaks but it was a special treat we didn't have often (even though we went out to lunch & dinner MANY times per week!?) and it was delicious. I have ordered steak in a restaurant maybe TWICE in my adult life & hated it.0 -
CricketClover wrote: »Pear Salad: canned pear halves, a dollop of mayonnaise or cottage cheese, and a sprinkle of shredded cheddar on top of each half. I remember eating this a lot and I guess it isn't necessarily "unhealthy", the idea of it now is disgusting.
You're reminding me if a recipe for "candle salad" in a children's cookbook I had: Pineapple ring base, chunk of banana stuck upright in it, mayo dressing "wax drips", maraschino cherry "flame" on top.
Also, I grew up in the era of truly horrific gelatin salads, 1950s-60s. They were considered fancy for ladies' luncheons in a certain social milieu, sort of a faux aspic.
Usually they started with lime or lemon jello (I think it may've been less sweet then, not sure), but it seems like there were some made with plain gelatin and things like tomato juice or V-8. There were vegetables in it, usually shredded; they were varied, but I remember carrots, celery, black olives in some. It could have cottage cheese mixed in, and/or things like salmon or tuna or something. Scary, especially to children.
ETA: Mayo or other dressing, sometimes on the side (or in a dish in the center of the gelatin ring sometimes, with a fancy spoon), or drizzled artistically on top. There were special jello molds for savory salads, in the shape of fish and such.
This is why Aunt Edna's jello mold was so gag-worthy in National Lampoon's Christmas.2 -
We used to make sandwiches out of anything, miracle whip, ketchup and mustard. Mother also made butter and onion sandwiches. She cooked all the time so we ate well. I loved when Daddy made SOS: left over roast and gravy on toast like he had in the Air Force. And Nestle's Quik powdered chocolate in milk. Yum!
My Air Force dad made that, too.0 -
lolothedragon wrote: »I don't ever remember eating anything especially weird, except maybe butter. I would eat with a spoon in allowed.
I feel kind of weird about cinnamon sugar toast now...I never thought it was strange. I still eat it on occasion. I think it's delicious. lol
I'm kind of wondering about that as well! What's unhealthy or gross about cinnamon sugar toast?! We never had "American" (???) white bread (as in Wonder Bread or the like); I'm not even sure if I've ever eaten that kind of white bread. So, our cinnamon sugar toast was always on wheat. As an adult I rarely eat it, but that's because I want a generous amount of vegan butter and cinnamon sugar. Calorie wise, it's a treat because it's just not very filling.
Husband loves cinnamon sugar toast. He was telling me that as a child they would buy jars of this pre-made cinnamon/sugar spread and asked me I would keep an eye out for it. He loved it as a kid and wanted to have it again.
Well after several weeks of looking I finally told him I can't find it anywhere. He looked online for it and found out it was taken off the shelf in the late 80's as it's a carcinogen
They still make a cinnamon-sugar spread because I've bought it within the past couple of years.
My childhood was fairly healthy, my mum cooked everything from scratch (of course I wanted Kraft Dinner mac 'n cheese like all my friends had), very little reliance on prepared foods, and there was always veg with supper. Organ meats were common, so was fish and seafood. There was probably too much gravy and too much fried food by today's standards. We never had fast food, our only takeout was occasional Chinese. But for some weird reason, in foreign countries my dad would spot a McDonald's or a Pizza Hut and we'd have to go there.
Dad has to eat low sodium and today buys Wonder bread because it is one of the lowest in sodium.1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »The food I considered grossest as a kid was liver. I've been meaning to try making it with bacon to see if that will make it come out better than what Mom did, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
My grandmother used to give me chicken livers, which I liked. The only time I had beef liver was when I was staying at a friend’s house overnight, I was probably 10 or so, and her mother made liver for us for dinner. We ate outside in her yard at a picnic table, and both of us threw our liver into the bushes. It was gross!1 -
Thanks to this thread, I have now googled wtf "Little Debbie" is, and I think I have learned something about American culture
My mom was a health nut before her time, but this resulted in several dinnertime fights trying to get me to eat liver because it was "so nutritious". bleeaaggghhhh4 -
There are many things I did not like as a child, including liver. I have tried and re-tried them all over the years, and I can not get myself to like liver no matter how it is prepared. The only way I have ever been able to tolerate it was livermush. Livermush is basically a bastardized liver loaf thing that is deep fried and dredged in maple syrup. It was apparently a popular dish during the great depression, and my grandparents liked to make it from time to time.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.3K Introduce Yourself
- 43.4K Getting Started
- 259.6K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 387 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.2K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 913 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions