How does a typical dinner for you now compare to typical dinners from your childhood?

Copper_Boom

For me, there's not too big a difference, but I actually eat all the vegetables now!

MonkeyMel21

I eat a lot better now. Hubs and I aren’t on a budget and he is a really great cook. I also eat more vegetables, lol.

OddDitty

Let me see. I go way back. To the 1950's which included meat, taters and, of course, veggies in season. Mom "put up" whatever Dad grew. But mainly we focused on the meats. And there was butter. Lots and lots of butter back then. But portion sizes were smaller, even in fast food places. Today a 1/4lb burger at McD's is considered small. But I can remember a regular burger being smaller than that.

nooshi713

I grew up eating home cooked food and i still eat home cooked food. I eat more of a variety now. I used to eat Persian food 4-5 days a week. Now I eat it maybe once a week. I didnt get soda, junk, or fast food growing up and am still not big on it. That stuff is a once in a while thing for me.

Vikka_V

I cook for myself most nights, with the exception of I may have a can of soup or frozen veggie burger occasionally.

As a kid it was usually convenience foods, not that I minded. Mom and stepdad worked nights. We had pizza night once a week, pasta night, grilled cheese and soup, noodle and sauce packages, quick easy stuff. When we were a bit older we had a freezer stocked with stuff my brother and I could make easily for ourselves, frozen fries, fishsticks, meatpies, microwave meals etc. On Sundays often a roast or steak and mashed or roast potatoes and vegetables.

newmeadow

Restaurant meals were better in the 70s and 80s. Parmesan, Romano, and other stank cheeses weren't sprinkled or melted into every appetizer, salad, soup and entree.

Cake frosting and cake fillings were almost never made of cream cheese.

Cheesecake was a low rent treat found in northeast coast delis, not a national fetish which overtook the dessert menu of every corporate chain restaurant.

Yes the restaurant experience was far more civilized and far less cheesy.

Home cooked meals are 1000% better now because I'm the one who cooks them.

ythannah

We're British so childhood meals were almost always meat potatoes and veg. High fat. Plus my parents were budget conscious so mostly cheaper cuts of meat, also organ meats. I'm sure those slabs of rubbery, gristly flesh were what put me off eating meat forever. At least there wasn't much reliance on processed foods, most stuff was made from scratch.

My father was diagnosed with idiopathic hypertension fairly young so we had to go low sodium and I now have an aversion to the taste of salt. Which is a good thing since I inherited his hypertension.

My meals now look completely different because there's no meat and way more veg. I don't usually bother with potatoes or rice or a starchy side, I prefer vegetables.

Motorsheen

As a child, we had the healthy home cooked meals most every night.


I now only eat Strawberry Frosted Pop Tarts over the kitchen sink.




I think back to all of those wasted home cooked meals, when all along I could have been enjoying Pop Tarts.

michael1976_ca

My dad was chef so we ate good back then. I had to eat what was put in front of me or starve. McDonald's was a treat. Compared to now i eat terrible.

newmeadow

Motorsheen wrote: »

As a child, we had the healthy home cooked meals most every night.


I now only eat Strawberry Frosted Pop Tarts over the kitchen sink.




I think back to all of those wasted home cooked meals, when all along I could have been enjoying Pop Tarts.

Do you also rally to change the draconian legislation that began yanking the Pop Tarts out of virtually every school vending machine in the land? The kids loved them even though they couldn't even put them in toasters. Now they have to make do with small bags of Chex Mix and it isn't right.

sardelsa

They are the exact same. I cook like my mother, or at least try my best to.

bojack5

Ad a kid my main food staples were rice and beans.....i rarely eat them anymore.

estherdragonbat

Well, I've gone vegetarian and I'm more likely to cook outside my culture than my mom was. Also, we grew up with vegetables as sides, boiled to mush and served with salt and butter/margarine. I'll use them in stews and casseroles; I roast them, braise them, etc. And they aren't relegated to sides much.

bhadbahabi

I grew up on hamburger helper and microwaved meals. Home cooked was rare and often it was made by one of us kids. Nothing beats my mom's home cooked mac-n-cheese, meatloaf, corn bread and cheesecake pie.
I also rarely cook now and generally just cook whatever from a box.

Motorsheen

newmeadow wrote: »

Motorsheen wrote: »

As a child, we had the healthy home cooked meals most every night.


I now only eat Strawberry Frosted Pop Tarts over the kitchen sink.




I think back to all of those wasted home cooked meals, when all along I could have been enjoying Pop Tarts.

Do you also rally to change the draconian legislation that began yanking the Pop Tarts out of virtually every school vending machine in the land? The kids loved them even though they couldn't even put them in toasters. Now they have to make do with small bags of Chex Mix and it isn't right.

it's symbolism over substance.

I thought we lived in a free country?

fruit and vegetables, right? isn't a strawberry a fruit?
with a pop tart, it's both a fruit and a filling ( I call that a win-win)

And....

I say, if you going to force me to eat vegetables, it's going to be corn................... chips.

Motorsheen

my parents hated me, so I ate a lot of cheese pizza....


it was the only food they could slide under my locked bedroom door.

PaperDoll_

tinkerhellraiser wrote: »

my moms wasn’t around a lot so i remember lots of canned commodities and then like beefaroni and chicken & stars. and we had mcdonalds a lot. now i cook alllllll the time and have gotten to be a lot better. we still have mcdonslds tho

Sometimes I still get the Chicken & Stars if I'm sick.

Dootzy1

We usually had meat and potatoes, and bread. AND you had to eat the chicken skin, or sit there until you did. Definitely a clean plate club! I don't remember a lot of vegetables, but I think we must have had some, as we had a huge garden every year. Dad disliked casseroles, so we didn't have those very much. He made a wonderful beef, veg., barley soup, that I try to make in the winters, too.

777Gemma888

My sister (@k8eekins) will likely come in with a thoroughly written explanation of our family table ... My current observation ... Major difference is that we shop with a budget, whereas my mother buys the whole store.

Remember being embarrassed shopping with her, with all of us pushing carts filled to the brim. Most of her's were impulse purchases. Smh. She'd wave to the manager, who would run over to checkout our purchases. I love being normal - lining up like everyone else.

Unknown

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seltzermint555

I grew up in the 80s eating a lot of the same stuff over and over. Some of it was home-cooked (brown beans & cornbread or roast with new potatoes & carrots) but much more of it was very processed, easy stuff (Hamburger Helper, Sloppy Joes). Canned green beans, corn or peas were what passed for a "veggie side". We went out a LOT usually for pizza which was Pizza Hut deep dish pepperoni most of the time. If it wasn't Pizza Hut it was usually a chain steakhouse or buffet.

Now, my husband cooks most of our meals and we don't eat meat at home except for seafood. We eat a lot of beans, tofu, chickpeas, etc. Always multiple vegetables and usually fresh - occasionally frozen for out of season veg. A lot of our food is based on Indian, Thai, or Mexican dishes. We dine out one day a week (one or two meals) and hit up a huge variety of restaurant types.

One more MAJOR difference. Dessert followed EVERY dinner when I was a kid. Usually full-on desserts like strawberry shortcake, pie, cake, or ice cream sundaes. Fruit wouldn't have been an acceptable dessert to me or my parents back then. Now fruit's the norm, and not every evening. About once a week I'll bake a 1/2 batch of cookies or we'll go out for an ice cream cone, but daily big desserts don't happen.

kam26001

One thing I never had during my childhood was Mac 'N Cheese. I was like 20 when I first had some and I had to call my momma on a payphone in the rain to ask her where we went wrong.

nooshi713

kam26001 wrote: »

One thing I never had during my childhood was Mac 'N Cheese. I was like 20 when I first had some and I had to call my momma on a payphone in the rain to ask her where we went wrong.

Omg me too. I never had any typically American fare growing up except spaghetti and pizza. We were the weird foreign family.

TheRoadDog

We were very poor. My Mom fed 7 people on a very small budget. Potato Soup was a staple for dinner. Occasionally, she would make Meat Loaf, which consisted of 1 lb of hamburger combined with a lot of soda crackers and catsup. She would make hot dogs go further by cutting them lengthwise into four pieces. When she boiled them, they plumped up. We never knew the difference. Dessert? A slice of bread and butter with sugar sprinkled on it. I never felt like we didn't get enough to eat though, and I never realized we were poor until I was in my teens.

Now? I love to cook. I love to experiment. I am lucky enough to have a wife that is willing to try whatever I make and lucky that we are both very successful in our careers and money is not restricted.

Which reminds me. My Mom would have been 84 this past Halloween. Happy Birthday.

Lounmoun

Differences:
Childhood- meat most meals, usually potatoes, canned vegetables, not much variety, use of spices or ethnic foods, often overcooked on weeknights as food was kept warm or reheated, large portions, more fried food, less packaged meals like Hamburger Helper when younger but more as I got older, eating in kitchen, margarine, no dessert unless it was a holiday
Now- split between meat and meatless dinners, less beef, potatoes not as often, frozen or fresh vegetables, lots more variety and seasonings, smaller amounts made, food not overcooked, more meal planning, eating in a dining room instead of kitchen, butter

Same:
eating together as a family, home prepared meals most days, using (updated) family recipes, one person doing almost all of the cooking, plate up your own food, drinking water with meal, no one is forced to take or finish food

lililomo2

my mom was a good cook, garlic, onions and dill in everything *latvian heritage*. one of the reasons my dad married her,was that she and my grandmother knew how to season food well, whereas my dad's side *metis* ate a lot of bannock, cheap cuts of meat and bland potatoes,carrots and peas *which my grandfather grew in their backyard* my mom was a more adventurous sort as time went on and we ate more healthy than our neighbours. when my kids were small i went to a lot of effort to cook proper meals with lots of veg. they still make good food choices most of the time - we all have our moments though *do NOT look at my diary today lol*

go_cubs

My mom always cooked homemade dinners and stuff and now I cook homemade dinners

Not much has changed minus the fact I’m alittle more cautious of serving size

FL_Hiker

My mom was an amazing cook, she always made us breakfast, lunch and dinner from scratch it was wonderful... all my friends would always want to come over for our house for dinner every night lol. I often would help my mom cook dinner, and us kids always had to stick around and also help with dishes. She taught me family recipes that I still love to this day. My dad ended up recently having some major heart issues, and he was very overweight... this scared him into changing his diet completely and now he and my mom are vegan. Now my mom doesn't really make good food anymore. When I first moved out on my own I didn't cook much, hubby liked pizza and fast food so that is often what we ate... this year i've started making a menu and cooking everything from scratch like my mom used to, I try to keep portion sizes as I remember them in my childhood.

stephieleee

I use a lot more fresh vegetables as opposed to frozen mixed veges which my parents used to bung in every meal. I also have a bit more variety/use "fancier" ingredients which is understandable considering my parents were cooking for kids who tend not to have a very sophisticated palate.