What Foods Did You Eat Growing Up?

rfcollins33

fried chicken, fried pork chops, fried steak, fried.... (see a pattern here? lol), collard greens, cabbage, black eyed peas, corn bread, ham, roast. Mostly southern cuisine, which is why all the fried, but we also ate a lot of vegetable, although most of them were seasoned with pork fat.

momtozmc

Love this thread!!!

We ate a bunch of different things... but we did have to clean our plate... we got the Starving Children in China speech...

We ate everthing from from "masaka" - egg yolks beaten with sugar and a smidge of brandy which you put on toast... OMG - best thing ever!!!! Curry, fish head soup, tuna fish casseroles, home made chinese food dishes, lots of Macanese dishes - Portuguese from China- and lots of white rice!!!

Our whole family is not picky in what they eat, thanks to my parents broad cooking spectrum. I did the same with my kids and they will eat ANYTHING!

Oh! And we had to try everything once... if we didn't like it we didn't have to eat it again... we always ended up liking it!

teasha43

We ate a meat, veggie, salad, and potato generally. We never seemed to have chips and soda and stuff. Mom always used butter to cook and still does:) She was and still is a great cook and has cooked for several restaurants. I think the biggest problem was eating everything on your plate. I am sure most of us had this growing up..it really leads to a problem. I did not do that with my kids... I think the biggest difference in eating from then to now is peoples activity levels. Years ago people did seem to eat bigger meals, but also did a lot more physical work. These days fast food, preservatives and more stress as compared to physical work, seems to have detonated a bomb. My opinion only, of course. I just went to my Grandmothers 85th birthday and Grandpa will be 90 in Nov...they dont age! They had a farm and ate plenty....look at them now. I think it is proof of hard work:)

thecanface

hot dogs, ramen soups, balogna, and home made mexican food... we were poor so anything cheap is what we ate. and i know you don't have to be rich to eat right, but my mom was not educated on healthy eating, so neither was I. luckily she never wasted our food money on soda or candy, or sweets.. i think thats why i am not big on sweets.. i am soooo thankful for that!

craftylatvian

Quite the variety of eating styles across the board.
We also never had dessert with every meal, nor did every meal have to have meat & potatoes.
I am lucky that my fiance likes the same things I do, and I have introduced him to a lot of new foods. My ex-husband was meat & potatoes, his family always had to have dessert and bread with every meal, that is probably why all of them are diabetic to some extent.
My one step-sister is very picky (her mom was a really bad cook). She is 45 years old, eats nothing except Chili's, Bennigans, mac & cheese and has to have BBQ sauce, specifically Open Pit Original, to dip any meat in. Drench meat in is what I mean.

sillygoose1977

Everything in my house was homemade. Not to say that it was healthy. I grew up in Texas so we had fried chicken, smothered steak, chicken fried steak, fried okra, collard greens, fish fries with hush puppies, casseroles with lots of cheese and a lot of mexican food. Every weekend we had a big breakfast with bisquits and gravy, bacon, sausage and eggs. Jeez, I'm making myself hungry! I don't remember ever eating a Happy Meal as a kid. We had snack food and soda but I don't think I ever had too much of it. We were really active kids and rode our bikes everywhere, swam in our pool and jumped on the trampoline all the time. I was never overweight until a couple of years ago. I can't believe we used to eat like that. My parents have really changed their lifestyle as well and are in great shape now. (they were both overweight back then)

jojokmack

I remember both my parents working, and my Mother bringing what we had for dinner home each day. Breakfast was toast and best butter if I wanted it, but I didn't often want it.. Grandma or Grandad would come over to do my lunch (came home from school). If it was Grandma, it would be Heinz tomato soup with white bread from the local baker. Grandad would cook home made chips (fries) which I would also be with local bread.
My Father was brought up with VERY strict parents...VERY Victorian!!! He was beaten if he didn't finish his dinner, he was beaten for everything really!!! So he swore he would never force us to eat what we didnt like. As a result, I didn't try many different foods. Except for a traditional British Roast dinner on a Sunday, I think I only ate 5 foods until I was 18! lol......Tomato Soup, Chips(fries), crisps(chips), bacon sandwiches, mashed(creamed) potatoes and Roast Chicken.
Now I am the most un-fussy eater ever!!!! Its more of a case of what DON'T i like! THAT'S THE TROUBLE!!! LOL. XXX

helthymom6

we ate a lot of cheap food. Lots of pasta and beans. there were 7 kids in the family and only one income. My mom was a good cook and made dinners most nights. I started cooking when I was about 8. I really loved it and would try new things. We had to clean our plates as kids as well. Partly I think to teach us not to be picky about food and to be grateful for what we did have. I struggle with this with my own kids. I try now to serve them a lot less and let them finish off with a piece of fruit if they are still hungry. I don't want them to feel like they have to finish food if they are full. But i also know how kids are next thing you know they eat all thier meat and potatoes and veggies are left on the plate because they are "full" So it is a balance. Also since we never had treats since they cost to much. When ever my Mom wanted to give us something special or do something nice for us it ended up being food" treat" I think that has been one of the hardest habits for me to break. If I feel like doing something special I try really hard now for it not to be food related. Becuase I don't let my kids have sweets on a regular basis i am trying to find other ways to treat them and myself.

ltlemermaid

My mom cooked from scratch daily growing up. She didn't want us eating all the fake processed foods. we ate mainly Polish foods-pierogis, dumplings, various soups loaded with veggies, meat, fish, potatos. My dad is a meat/potato guy so that was always around. For snacks we ate berries and different fruits. My mom would get angry when neighbors would give us candy and chips as snacks-they were shocked to see us kids eat fruits and veggies on a regular basis. On special occasions we would get cakes and sweets-which were rare.

My parents always had a veggie garden too so that helped out with veggies in the summer, and winter since they got canned. Through out the summer we would go berry picking: blue berries, strawberries and cherries-those were great trips I still enjoy.

We didn't have "junk" food until 7/8th grade school trips and Highschool.

atrayubrandy

I was raised in the Philippines until I was around 7-8 years old. At that time, I was a really thin child because I played outdoors all the time and only came in for meals that I would then pick at (pb&j, apples and cheese, chicken, veggies, and rice, etc). But the closest fast food place (McDonalds) was a big distance away so we rarely had fast food and never ate out...ever. Then, we came back to the states and lived right next door to a convenience store that sold fried chicken and jo-jos (potatoes that have been cut in to about 4-5 wedges and then dipped in batter and fried with lots of delicious seasonings). And my mom let me eat those every day...sometimes up to 3 times a day.

To this day I still don't know why she allowed that except for the fact that I was a picky eater and the chicken and jojo's were really cheap. I also became obsessed with television (it was new to me since we only got a few channels in the Philippines) so I never played outside anymore. I went from being probably 10lbs underweight to about 20 lbs overweight. Which is a lot for a little kid. During that time, I was teased by all the other kids and I began my unhealthy obsession with weight loss.

mmnichol

Alot of snack and convenience foods, stuff out of a box, my mom didnt like to cook, so fritos, dip, m&m's were staples, unforunately and my father loved to go out to eat at least once a week, at a nice restaurants and back then a hamburger fixed up from there would be chopped beef on toast, for a kid that was horrible, boy would he get mad when i wouldnt eat it. funny how that goes with all of us!

FearAnLoathing

My house was a mix of crap and healthy stuff

godblessourhome

we ate a lot of deer meat, bison and fresh fish. my dad loved hunting and fishing. my grandma had a huge garden and canned everything from potatoes to green beans to tomatoes to raspberry jelly to peaches. our pantry was always stocked! as a kid my guilty pleasure was when my parents went out dancing and we got to eat beefaroni with the babysitter. when we went camping (nearly every weekend in the summer), we got to pick out one 'treat' or candy-type item. i usually grabbed the fake cigarettes. otherwise, we didn't have many sweets unless grandma brought in a cake or some cookies or we made homemade ice cream. snacks were string cheese or cheese and crackers. never got into koolaid, but we loved suntea. eating as much watermelon as you wanted counted as a meal. saturday morning was always pancakes/waffles and bacon. huge family (40+ people) dinners every sunday night and all birthdays and holidays.

godblessourhome

double

atrayubrandy

Oh yeah, and every Friday we would rent a movie, buy a bag of chips, beef jerky, ice cream, a candy bar, and Chinese food takeout...and I would gorge myself all night.

scarletleavy

I had a weird mix of food growing up. My mom is from Texas and not the best cook, while my dad went to culinary school and is an amazing chef. We always had homemade food, but it wasn't always the most healthy and we were always allowed to have as many portions as we wanted. Meat was always the star of whatever we ate, with veggies or a salad as an afterthought. Lots of pasta, lots of bread, lots of butter, lots of cheese, lots of sauce. Generally the food was delicious, but very heavy. Some sort of dessert or after-dinner snack is always served. To this day my dad gets angry if there isn't something for dessert in the house. The biggest vice for my family I think is cocktail hour. We always used to sit together, listen to music, have cocktails and snacks. It wasn't until the past year that I realized just how many calories cocktail hour packed in.