Foods/recipes you grew up with that you would not eat today

Options
1235

Replies

  • rmdaly
    rmdaly Posts: 250 Member
    Options
    Jello. For fancy occasions, Mom would make jello with mixed fruit in it, put it on a square of lettuce and top it with a dollop of mayonnaise. I loved the mayo. I can't imagine eating that today. My mother also had a dessert she made with lemon jello, condensed milk and crushed nilla wafers called "Lemon Sponge Cake" that we loved. I made it a year or so ago and it was just awful.
  • PearlAng
    PearlAng Posts: 681 Member
    Options
    Add kids cuisine meals to the list...is that supposed to be a brownie? Hardened pudding? The world may never know but I loved those meals as a kid
  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
    Options
    Liver and onions. Especially whatever cheapo nasty liver my mom used to get.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    edited December 2014
    Options
    Not much of anything, really. My mom was a great cook, and she almost always fed us well-rounded meals. In fact, I craved junk like Ramen noodles and Spaghetti-Os when I was little, but my mom never bought them.

    I probably eat less pasta and white potatoes than I grew up eating, but I still eat them!

    If I had to choose ONE thing though, it'd probably be boxed mac and cheese. We had it when babysitters came over on weekends, now I can't stand it, even though my husband begs for it. I much prefer homemade, now.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    Options
    DuckDynastyMakesMeLaugh wrote: »
    My mom used to put bacon and peanut butter sandwiches in my lunch! :o

    That...that sounds...amazing. My mother never loved me that much, apparently. :'(

  • AngryViking1970
    AngryViking1970 Posts: 2,847 Member
    Options
    Agreed. PB and bacon together is glorious.
  • Raynne413
    Raynne413 Posts: 1,527 Member
    Options
    My mother is a Southern cook, so pretty much everything. LOL
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    Options
    Oh, I forgot the ones I WILL NOT TOUCH: anything Little Debbie, and most things by Hostess. I used to love getting those dry, (but somehow still excessively greasy) kitchen-spongy little individually-wrapped nuggets of crap in my bagged lunches. I think they are absolutely horrible, now. Especially Twinkies and Ho Hos. *dry heave*

    Admittedly I do still love those Hostess hand pies, but usually all it takes is a glance at the nutrition label to make me put it back on the shelf and RUN when I feel tempted.
  • Slacker16
    Slacker16 Posts: 1,184 Member
    Options
    Chicken livers (or most parts of the chicken, to be honest).
    Eggs with some of the white still liquid or omelettes with any liquid left.
    Ciulama (hard to translate, mushrooms or chicken in white sauce).
    Cream soup of any sort.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,741 Member
    Options
    AllOutof_Bubblegum wrote: »
    Oh, I forgot the ones I WILL NOT TOUCH: anything Little Debbie, and most things by Hostess. I used to love getting those dry, (but somehow still excessively greasy) kitchen-spongy little individually-wrapped nuggets of crap in my bagged lunches. I think they are absolutely horrible, now. Especially Twinkies and Ho Hos. *dry heave*

    Admittedly I do still love those Hostess hand pies, but usually all it takes is a glance at the nutrition label to make me put it back on the shelf and RUN when I feel tempted.

    LOL I actually worked for Wonder-Hostess about a million years ago and lost weight while working there because I didn't like their products.

    Chocodiles (chocolate covered Twinkies) were the worst IMO and people would clamor for them and ask to have a dozen or a case held back for them...what!?

    Occasionally I would have a craving for the filling of their Banana Flips, but that's it. If I'd worked at Dunkin Donuts or Baskin Robbins it would have been a WHOLE other story!!! ;-)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited December 2014
    Options
    sheepotato wrote: »
    I can't think of anything I would eat that comes from a can these days. When I was growing up most of the food lived in cans or boxes in the cupboard.

    I'm still pro canned tomatoes. Not as good as fresh, of course, but tomatoes carted in from who-knows-where out of season are largely tasteless, and canned are far more convenient for red sauce sometimes even when fresh tomatoes are available.

    Feeling compelled to make tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes was one of my things that I briefly experimented with when I was in an annoying "only natural" phase and got over.

    (And this year I was trying to find a good fast recipe for a pumpkin dessert and found that basically everyone recommended using the canned pumpkin, since you have to drain fresh pumpkin. I've done pumpkin pie from scratch and didn't make it this year anyway, but I did end up deciding that my pumpkin would be used for savory dishes and whipping up a fast pumpkin cheesecake with canned pumpkin, not to mention store-bought cream cheese.)
  • Revonue
    Revonue Posts: 135 Member
    Options
    Canned soup, Ramen noodles, Chef Boyardee, and eggs (I finally figured out I can eat egg whites, but for some reason the whole egg makes me feel nauseous).
  • sheepotato
    sheepotato Posts: 600 Member
    Options
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    sheepotato wrote: »
    I can't think of anything I would eat that comes from a can these days. When I was growing up most of the food lived in cans or boxes in the cupboard.

    I'm still pro canned tomatoes. Not as good as fresh, of course, but tomatoes carted in from who-knows-where out of season are largely tasteless, and canned are far more convenient for red sauce sometimes even when fresh tomatoes are available.

    Feeling compelled to make tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes was one of my things that I briefly experimented with when I was in an annoying "only natural" phase and got over.

    (And this year I was trying to find a good fast recipe for a pumpkin dessert and found that basically everyone recommended using the canned pumpkin, since you have to drain fresh pumpkin. I've done pumpkin pie from scratch and didn't make it this year anyway, but I did end up deciding that my pumpkin would be used for savory dishes and whipping up a fast pumpkin cheesecake with canned pumpkin, not to mention store-bought cream cheese.)

    The farmer's market near my house goes crazy with it's pie pumpkins/winter squashes displays each fall & winter. My husband just has to buy them whenever he's alone picking up the week's produce. They are so cute he says, but I get so sick of them by spring. Canned pumpkin is butternut squash, try that next time. You won't have to drain it. I've been trying to eat mostly seasonally for the past couple of years because the store tries to stock mostly regional produce. It really means that I enjoy food way more in the summer when there are so many more things in season. Boring winters is the price for eating fresh food whenever possible.


    That is a good point about tomatoes though, we still buy a few in the winter for salads and whatnot but I have used tomato paste or canned tomatoes to fill out my pasta sauce, chili and curries.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited December 2014
    Options
    I have more squash of all sorts than I can use at the moment (I have a farm share), although I should try desserts with something other than pumpkin when I ever get back to making desserts. (Plenty of canned pumpkin is pumpkin, though, and apparently a huge percentage of it is from my state, as I learned recently.) I honestly didn't find that the pie I made with a fresh pumpkin tasted different, although I'm more of a fruit pie person anyway.

    I'm into seasonal as possible too, but at this time of year I go for non local versus having almost no choice. Part of this is that I'm a recovering obsessive and used to go way overboard, thus the prior refusal to use canned tomatoes and even a period researching locovorism which just seems so silly now and is one reason I find the extreme anti processed rhetoric you run into here sometimes so silly. (Really thinking about what trying to do all local would require here cured me, though I still try to do what's reasonable and fun. Which might include canning someday, who knows.)
  • evolution328
    evolution328 Posts: 83 Member
    Options
    Kraft Mac and cheese with hot dogs mixed in and lots if soda
  • sheepotato
    sheepotato Posts: 600 Member
    Options
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    I have more squash of all sorts than I can use at the moment (I have a farm share), although I should try desserts with something other than pumpkin when I ever get back to making desserts. (Plenty of canned pumpkin is pumpkin, though, and apparently a huge percentage of it is from my state, as I learned recently.) I honestly didn't find that the pie I made with a fresh pumpkin tasted different, although I'm more of a fruit pie person anyway.

    I'm into seasonal as possible too, but at this time of year I go for non local versus having almost no choice. Part of this is that I'm a recovering obsessive and used to go way overboard, thus the prior refusal to use canned tomatoes and even a period researching locovorism which just seems so silly now and is one reason I find the extreme anti processed rhetoric you run into here sometimes so silly. (Really thinking about what trying to do all local would require here cured me, though I still try to do what's reasonable and fun. Which might include canning someday, who knows.)

    Oh I should really look into do farm share, there are a few places that do it in my area. I think it would be neat to get into canning, one my grandmothers did that when I was kid. She loved to make picked things and jellies.

    I don't know which state is a big squash producer but it's nice to have a claim to fame. The city I live in is known for it's watercress. Oddly, most of the watercress I've bought came from elsewhere so I don't know where they are being grown.

    I'm not anti-processed foods, I like the 80% (not going to use the word because it seems to upset some people) food, 20% junk food idea. I just love opening my fridge to find it full of plants instead of boxes. It makes it easier for me to feel like cooking to visually see the clear plastic containers of my bulk goods in the pantry instead. It just appeals to my sensibilities, and makes me feel good about what I'm eating. I think if it started being an obsessive or overly complicated thing I would have to stop, I have been known to get too obsessive over things. I just don't find some foods I used to eat all the time palatable anymore, when I was thinking of can foods it was mostly the canned meats and premade pastas for kids that I grimaced at.

    I grew up on beige food, so it's nice to eat in color.

    sjxa5sucon1q.jpg
    Having a lower calorie count so it's harder to accidentally overeat and meeting more micros are a nice bonus. I enjoy it and it's easy to sustain for now, if that ever changes I'll have to adapt again.
  • Cardio4Cupcakes
    Cardio4Cupcakes Posts: 289 Member
    Options
    Kid Cuisines (or any of those frozen meals like Hungry Man), Hamburger Helper, Hot Pockets, Pop tarts...the list goes on and on.
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
    Options
    Cardio4Cupcakes wrote: »
    Pop tarts
    I went through an entire box of Oreo Pop Tarts during Christmas Eve / Day. They were great.

    Unless you're talking about the strawberry Pop Tarts without frosting. My mom tried giving us those growing up because she thought they were healthy.

  • iheartinsanity
    iheartinsanity Posts: 205 Member
    Options
    My grandmother made a "salad" with iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, and slathered it in mayo (maybe her version of cole slaw?). It's no wonder I had high cholesterol when I was 19. Makes me gag thinking about it.
  • Ribbittee
    Ribbittee Posts: 54 Member
    Options
    Bread and gravy. And yes, it's exactly what it sounds like. Mom would tear up slices of Wonder bread and top it with gravy leftover from Sundays roast. We'd have this when Dad was working second shift; poor guy missed out. I loved it. I tried to make it for my ex when we first got married and he informed me that we didn't have to eat like it was the Great Depression.

Categories