What was your diet like growing up?
Options
Replies
-
It depended on who I was living with at the time. With my dad, he tried. He did. We ate a lot of tv dinners and I can remember the first meal I ever learned to make, at about age 7, was fish sticks, mac n cheese, and green beans. I made it often. The other meal I learned to make early on, that we also ate often, was mac n cheese with tuna and peas mixed in. Sugary cereals or pop tarts for breakfast. There were usually things like pickles, peanut butter, and cheese "food" available. With my mom things were more home cooked with a little more variety. I was labeled a picky eater because 1. I don't like onions (they are in EVERYTHING processed), 2. I don't like iceberg lettuce and thought I didn't like salad until my late teens when I discovered there was more than one type of lettuce in the world, and 3. I don't like the majority of fast food (except breakfast, that I like). I have eaten burgers and enjoyed them, but I have never, ever liked McDonalds or Taco Bell and those were usually where everyone else wanted to eat.
I now know I'm not picky, I just have good taste
. My daughters are adventurous eaters who eat like birds but enjoy most foods and will try anything once. I do not blame my parents for my eating habits any more than I blame them for my genetics. They did what they could with what they had at the time. We never went truly hungry and we certainly had more than some kids. I remember kids in school that only got to eat at school. I have no idea what those kids ate through the summer time.
Actually, now that I think on it, my eating habits are overall pretty good. Its the exercise I need to work on.0 -
I was raised lacto ovo vegetarian. The only meat my parents kept in the house was canned tuna, which I couldn't stand. We ate a lot of casseroles, Puerto Rican rice and beans, lasagna, spaghetti, potatoes, meatless loafs, and soy-based meat substitutes. Oh, and cheese.
And lots of vegetables. My mom didn't cook much--mostly on the weekends--so my brother and I often fended for ourselves.
Breakfast was almost always cereal with milk (to my parents' credit, they did not buy the super sugary cereals--usually Cheerios, Special K, corn flakes, bran flakes, Raisin Bran, Life, etc.). Once in a while on a Sunday morning my mom might make scrambled eggs, vegetarian sausage links, toast, and maybe pancakes or French toast (not often, as she doesn't eat them herself).
Lunch during the week was make-your-own reheated leftovers or sandwiches (just cheese and veggies on whole wheat or the preceding with vegetarian cold cuts added). On school days we had hot lunches at school, which were also lacto ovo vegetarian (our diet was part of our religious upbringing, and we went to church school)--"meat"loaf, casseroles, pastas, vegetarian burgers, vegetarian stew, etc.
Dinners at home were often Puerto Rican rice and beans made by my father, boxed macaroni and cheese, spaghetti.... I think you get the picture.... always with vegetables and juice to drink.
"Balanced" meals did consist of some source of protein, vegetables, and some (A LOT OF) starch. Never real meat. I do feel fortunate in that my parents did try to make sure we limited the sugar (no candy in our house except limited amounts on Easter, Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine's Day; no Apple Jacks, Fruit Loops, etc.; desserts only once a week or so) and that aside from being misguided into thinking starches were good for us they did try to teach us to eat healthfully. My problem was that I always went overboard. Eating three hefty helpings of pasta was a regular occurrence for me. I was never one to skip meals, so that meant I'd often have two bowls of cereal with milk and a banana for breakfast, two sandwiches and some chips or crackers or fruit for lunch, and three "servings" (each of which was probably two or three standard servings) of carbs for dinner. No wonder I was already overweight halfway through high school after having been a decently average sized child.
0 -
Kitnthecat wrote: »Yup, we had that comment about starving children in our house too. I can't remember which countries these starving children were from or how I could help them by finishing my supper.
I never made the connection when I was a child either LOL!Kitnthecat wrote: »I also remember having to sit at the table until our dinner was finished, if we didn't like something we were eating. We did not have a choice of what we wanted to eat, since everyone ate what was cooked that day.
We did that too....! We are from the same era.
Dan the Man from Michigan
0 -
Where I came from, we had no cereals, processed or frozen packaged foods available, except spaghetti, rice, bread, candies and cookies from the box. Everything we ate was freshly made from scratch. My grandma had a big garden and a lot of fruit and berries, apples, pears, cherries, strawberry, plums, raspberry, and veggies of all sorts. Grew potatoes and corn. Pigs and goats and chickens, fresh milk right from the cow and goat milk.
Then we moved to USA and all hell broke loose! For the first couple of years I couldn't eat any packaged fake foods, or mcd or any fast food places as it all tasted like cardboard or plastic, but with time I just got adjusted to SAD and rolled with it. I was never big on frozen meals so I still cooked fresh. I was never really heavy but carried extra pounds. Back to the basic now and enjoying real food that didn't come cheaply made from the box or a fast food joint, just like back home
0 -
Kitnthecat wrote: »Yup, we had that comment about starving children in our house too. I can't remember which countries these starving children were from or how I could help them by finishing my supper.
I never made the connection when I was a child either LOL!Kitnthecat wrote: »I also remember having to sit at the table until our dinner was finished, if we didn't like something we were eating. We did not have a choice of what we wanted to eat, since everyone ate what was cooked that day.
We did that too....! We are from the same era.
Dan the Man from Michigan
Same here. I was usually the first one done eating, unless it was spaghetti night and I would be there half the night until they got tired of it and let me get up. I detest Ragu to this day because of this. Part of my disdain for McDonalds is that I used to have to wait 15-20 minutes longer because I didn't want onions on my burger. Why it was so difficult to give me a plain burger and a few ketchup packets I'll never understand.0 -
When I was little (birth to probably 8) our food was good stuff. Meats, veggies, salads, potatoes in moderation, or rice, or bread. I did have sandwiches for lunch, but always with a fruit and 2% minimum milk. But when my grandparents got sick all hell broke loose. Mom didn't have time to cook, and I started watching tv in the afternoons with my dad where potato chips and dip abounded. I put on weight and gained through middle school. Then I got deathly ill myself and had such a damaged intestinal tract that I couldn't eat anything but carbs, mostly the processed kind like cookies and cake, because they could be thrown up easily. Once I got to college I gained 30 lbs, cafeteria food mostly, and soda. Then I found Keto and im 26 lbs down.0
-
Dude don't even talk to me about being picky, because I didn't have the option, if you didn't eat what was on your plate, you wore it in your pants. You heard me right. Dad would put it in our underwear. Try sitting with mashed potatoes and corn in your underwear, yep I did. And they say I'm fine, I don't have issues with food. mmmmmhmmm.
I dislike spaghetti, unless it's fancy with cheese and veggies in it. We had it alot. Alot. That and hamburgers. And anything easy to make. Cereal. Great grandma fed us eggs every day after school. Eggs. Eh...I still like eggs for the most part I think, somedays anyway.
College was mac and cheese and ramen noodles. Eating out and eating anything but noodles was a treat. LOL0 -
My parents both grew up at the end of the depression so their thoughts on food were to eat every part of the plant/animal. Because of this I was a very adventurous eater. I always had to try something at least once but if I didn't like it I didn't have to eat it. Not much I don't like (this is a problem ha ha) We always had a garden and dad hunted and we raised our own beef. I was not allowed too many sugary things and if we had them they were homemade. Dinner was always homemade except for the rare pizza or chinese food. However, I think that because my mom was from the depression era the frankenfoods facinated her and during the 70s we did have some boxed stuff and there was always Crisco, Gold n' Soft Margarine, and Miracle Whip in the fridge. Three things I would never eat now! Anyway, I feel I had a very balanced food experience growing up. I just like food and when I'm bored I like to eat it.....but I'm trying to fix that
0 -
Breakfast - Bagel/dry packet of oatmeal/those little individual cereal boxes from elementary school to middle school. I hate all of that to this day. In HS I had one of those gas station French vanilla latte machine drinks if I had breakfast at all.
Lunch- Ice cream cone for lunch in elementary school. French fries & a cookie the size of my face or a pint of ice cream for lunch in high school, if I ate at all. Occasionally I'd get on a tofu streak in HS and bring that every day for a month.
After school snack in elementary school- 2 thickly buttered slices of white bread with white sugar on top, or warheads/gobstoppers/airheads from the gas station. Middle school: candy, fruit, or peanut butter. In high school- nachos or fruit with peanut butter.
Dinners- lots of pastas and take out. My mom worked late and I took care of my brother and I after school. I knew how to make chicken breasts, so sometimes we had dry chicken for dinner. In high school I became a vegetarian and started cooking my own food.
I got pretty fat until I started skateboarding and running in middle school. That stabilized me but I couldn't ever seem to lose much weight. (Wonder why /sarcasm).0 -
Kitnthecat wrote: »Yup, we had that comment about starving children in our house too. I can't remember which countries these starving children were from or how I could help them by finishing my supper.
I also remember having to sit at the table until our dinner was finished, if we didn't like something we were eating. We did not have a choice of what we wanted to eat, since everyone ate what was cooked that day. But I can't imagine forcing someone to eat something that doesn't agree with them.
Oh yes, the poor starving kids on Africa. How could we be so selfish to leave food on our plates when there were kids who had nothing.
My mom used to make these salmon meatballs and they were NASTY. I used to have to sit at the table until they were finished. I would be gagging and almost puking until I choked these meatballs down
My kids HAVE to try something. If they don't like it, you don't have to eat it, but you must try one bite. They've discovered many foods they like which they thought for sure they'd dislike. 0 -
Typical meat/starch/vegetable, or pasta/sauce/meatballs. Bread & butter. We didn't often have dessert or soda, except on Friday night late my dad would make homemade pizza and we had soda pop with pizza while watching the late monster movies.
My dad ate eggs & toast every morning so sometimes I would have that. Or my mom would make me french toast. Sometimes cereal, though it was usually like raisin bran or something, not the really sugary stuff, but I would add my own sugar.
We did have stuff like chips & popcorn. Way back when, candy bars were inexpensive and whenever we had money we would walk to the corner store and buy candy. When I was like high school age, I would buy a pound of M&M's and stay up all night reading and eating the whole bag.
I didn't really put on weight until I was older.0 -
My parents both grew up at the end of the depression so their thoughts on food were to eat every part of the plant/animal. Because of this I was a very adventurous eater. I always had to try something at least once but if I didn't like it I didn't have to eat it. Not much I don't like (this is a problem ha ha) We always had a garden and dad hunted and we raised our own beef. I was not allowed too many sugary things and if we had them they were homemade. Dinner was always homemade except for the rare pizza or chinese food. However, I think that because my mom was from the depression era the frankenfoods facinated her and during the 70s we did have some boxed stuff and there was always Crisco, Gold n' Soft Margarine, and Miracle Whip in the fridge. Three things I would never eat now! Anyway, I feel I had a very balanced food experience growing up. I just like food and when I'm bored I like to eat it.....but I'm trying to fix that
I think this sums it up for me. Except my mom was enamored of frankenfoods. My mom was born in 1927 and my dad in 1924, so definitely depression era kids coming of age during WWII. But BOY did my mom embrace frozen and boxed convenience foods. I think to her they represented "status" and even "success". We weren't rich. Solidly lower middle class. My dad was the first with a "white collar job" in my family, but man did we like our shake and bake!0 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »We grew 70% of our plant based food and kept it by canning and freezer and killed our own pork and beef.
Jello was our go to desert since mom worked out in the fields with the rest of us but she was a good cook and was good at making pies and cakes from time to time. I was gone from home before there was sodas and ice cream in the house on a regular bases.
Carbs and protein were our go to calories but did eat animal/dairy fats too.
Gale, that sounds like an idyllic childhood.
0 -
farmers_daughter wrote: »Dude don't even talk to me about being picky, because I didn't have the option, if you didn't eat what was on your plate, you wore it in your pants. You heard me right. Dad would put it in our underwear. Try sitting with mashed potatoes and corn in your underwear, yep I did. And they say I'm fine, I don't have issues with food. mmmmmhmmm.
Im sorry but this just cracked me up. Poor @farmers_daughter
0 -
CoconuttyMummy wrote: »GaleHawkins wrote: »We grew 70% of our plant based food and kept it by canning and freezer and killed our own pork and beef.
Jello was our go to desert since mom worked out in the fields with the rest of us but she was a good cook and was good at making pies and cakes from time to time. I was gone from home before there was sodas and ice cream in the house on a regular bases.
Carbs and protein were our go to calories but did eat animal/dairy fats too.
Gale, that sounds like an idyllic childhood.
Thanks to Google I know what idyllic means. I had to work hard daily and read into the night. It was a hard life but there was stability that most kids to not get to experience so much these days. There were few unknowns and bad surprises. I can not believe some of the horrors some kids face daily at home.
0 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »CoconuttyMummy wrote: »GaleHawkins wrote: »We grew 70% of our plant based food and kept it by canning and freezer and killed our own pork and beef.
Jello was our go to desert since mom worked out in the fields with the rest of us but she was a good cook and was good at making pies and cakes from time to time. I was gone from home before there was sodas and ice cream in the house on a regular bases.
Carbs and protein were our go to calories but did eat animal/dairy fats too.
Gale, that sounds like an idyllic childhood.
Thanks to Google I know what idyllic means. I had to work hard daily and read into the night. It was a hard life but there was stability that most kids to not get to experience so much these days. There were few unknowns and bad surprises. I can not believe some of the horrors some kids face daily at home.
I would have given anything just to have a mum and dad there with me as i was growing up. My grandma raised me, and although she did her best, nothing beats the security and consistency of being raised by loving parents. Nowadays broken families and dysfunctional upbringings are prevalent which has hugely negative social implications in the longrun- a proper loving family for a child is priceless. IMO everything else is secondary.
Going back to the OPs question, the food i ate as a child was your typical carb heavy rubbish. In fact, thinking back, most meals were based around carbs - lots of pasta dishes, sausage & mash (where the mash
was 80% of the meal), baked potatoes with beans, beans, tinned spaghetti or ravioli on toast, deep pan pizza, filled yorkshire puddings, porridge, cereal or toast for breakfast, sandwiches & crisps for lunch with a slice of cake (battenberg was the favorite, served daily), rice pudding or bananas & custard for pudding... and then to be 'healthy' i was made to drink skimmed milk (urgh!) and low-fat sugar-laden yogurts and that rubbish low-fat cream substitute, Elmlea,. Carbs carbs CARBS!
My solution was to go on Slim-Fast shakes at 14 yrs old. Disaster!
0 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »My parents both grew up at the end of the depression so their thoughts on food were to eat every part of the plant/animal. Because of this I was a very adventurous eater. I always had to try something at least once but if I didn't like it I didn't have to eat it. Not much I don't like (this is a problem ha ha) We always had a garden and dad hunted and we raised our own beef. I was not allowed too many sugary things and if we had them they were homemade. Dinner was always homemade except for the rare pizza or chinese food. However, I think that because my mom was from the depression era the frankenfoods facinated her and during the 70s we did have some boxed stuff and there was always Crisco, Gold n' Soft Margarine, and Miracle Whip in the fridge. Three things I would never eat now! Anyway, I feel I had a very balanced food experience growing up. I just like food and when I'm bored I like to eat it.....but I'm trying to fix that
I think this sums it up for me. Except my mom was enamored of frankenfoods. My mom was born in 1927 and my dad in 1924, so definitely depression era kids coming of age during WWII. But BOY did my mom embrace frozen and boxed convenience foods. I think to her they represented "status" and even "success". We weren't rich. Solidly lower middle class. My dad was the first with a "white collar job" in my family, but man did we like our shake and bake!
It seriously must have been exciting to have all those choices not really realizing that it was crap. Now I look at that stuff and laugh. I don't think I have one boxed item in my house now. I guess when the apocalypse hits I'll starve ha ha.0 -
It probably seemed very "liberating" to my 30-40 something year old mom.Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »My parents both grew up at the end of the depression so their thoughts on food were to eat every part of the plant/animal. Because of this I was a very adventurous eater. I always had to try something at least once but if I didn't like it I didn't have to eat it. Not much I don't like (this is a problem ha ha) We always had a garden and dad hunted and we raised our own beef. I was not allowed too many sugary things and if we had them they were homemade. Dinner was always homemade except for the rare pizza or chinese food. However, I think that because my mom was from the depression era the frankenfoods facinated her and during the 70s we did have some boxed stuff and there was always Crisco, Gold n' Soft Margarine, and Miracle Whip in the fridge. Three things I would never eat now! Anyway, I feel I had a very balanced food experience growing up. I just like food and when I'm bored I like to eat it.....but I'm trying to fix that
I think this sums it up for me. Except my mom was enamored of frankenfoods. My mom was born in 1927 and my dad in 1924, so definitely depression era kids coming of age during WWII. But BOY did my mom embrace frozen and boxed convenience foods. I think to her they represented "status" and even "success". We weren't rich. Solidly lower middle class. My dad was the first with a "white collar job" in my family, but man did we like our shake and bake!
It seriously must have been exciting to have all those choices not really realizing that it was crap. Now I look at that stuff and laugh. I don't think I have one boxed item in my house now. I guess when the apocalypse hits I'll starve ha ha.
0 -
Always convenience type carbage. From boxes and bags all the time. On holidays, such as Valentine's day, we would hit the stores that evening to buy the discounted chocolate, take it home and eat until it was gone. Usually would feel sick but learned to binge at a young age.0
-
I was born in November of 1982. By 6 weeks of age I was having rice cereal 3 times a day as I was a "hungry baby". Mum quit breastfeeding by 4 months.
I'm from New Zealand so you might not all know the brands I am referring to. But breakfast was alwaya cereal with low fat milk. Ricebubbles or cornflakes. Truck loads of sugar.
Lunch was a vegemite or golden syrup sandwich, a biscuit (cookie) and something else like some luncheon or a small bag of chips. Sometimes yoghurt. Always a bottle of cordial (erm...powdered orange flavoured sugary drink stuff you add to water).
After school we would have a small snack, maybe some biscuits and a glass of milk. Or fruit.
Dinner was always the obligatory meat and 3 veg. Lamb chops I remember eating a lot. Also peas, soggy broccoli, mashed potatoes and boiled carrots.
We didn't usually have a pudding, but if we did it was icecream or an instant type.
As a teenager my mum got quite good at cooking. We had lots of chicken + veg stirfries, chicken pies made with filo pastry and lots of baked goods.
We never really had fizzy drinks or lollies (candy). We went to pizzahut a couple of times a year to celebrate birthdays.
My mum did her best, she had only just turned 18 when I was born and dad left not long after. I only got overweight as a 12 year old when I was sent to live with my dad. Most things she made from scratch and we didn't often eat generic packaged goods especially as she got better at cooking and baking.0
