Unhealthy/Gross foods growing up
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When I was little my parents had the habit of considering potatoes just like greens. So we often ate pasta and a side of...potatoes!
I grew up to learn that wasn't correct but guess, my parents are still eating like that.
Potatoes was almost always the "vegetable side" growing up too, that or boiled canned vegetables. ALso we ate bread and butter with EVERY meal. My parents still have bread and butter with most meals actually, I think it started off as a cheap necessity but now is just habit because even for "nicer meals" you'll see Natures Own Honey Wheat bread and Country Crock right there next to the steak and mashed potatoes. Also I made my little brother and I microwave mac and cheese 4-5 days a week as an after school snack.
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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.
I know that was definitely part of the issue with my mom's meals. Because we were never sure when we were going to be able to get groceries, she had to make things last & get the best deals. She also grew up in poverty, and if she roasted a chicken or something, *every single part* of that carcass got used. I think she enjoyed her convenience foods so much because she vividly remembered having to slaughter the chicken & pluck off the feathers herself and now here you could have a whole pre-packaged meal for pennies (.59 sometimes, when frozen dinners went on sale).4 -
The curious thing is, I remember my mom slaving over her garden, so you would think I would have more memories of fresh-cooked food. All I really recall are cucumbers served in a container of french onion dip and fresh strawberries in season.3
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So, these aren't unhealthy but up until I was about 12, I found them gross.
- Tripe soup
- Caponata
A switch was flipped at around 12 and since then I've found them delicious. Before then though, I remember even feeling a little embarrassed by these "weird" dishes we'd have if my friends were over for them.
I remember my friends also finding it strange that we ate bone marrow, but I didn't mind that judgment bc it was delicious to me from the first bite, so worth it.
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@try2again Same here, we had a huge garden that we'd spend all summer taking care of, then my mom would can all of the veggies before she would serve them. Except cucumbers, those we got to eat fresh (covered in ranch, of course.)1
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We used to eat heated leftover rice for breakfast with milk and brown sugar when we were out of breakfast cereal. I still sometimes make extra rice just for that purpose.
We always ate leftover cold rice with milk, sugar and cinnamon. It was kind of a dessert. I suppose like rice pudding without the effort. ( I don't think it was gross or unhealthy)
My dad talked about how they would eat popcorn with milk for breakfast sometimes. He was born in 1934 and they were probably pretty poor.0 -
angmarie28 wrote: »I still like bread and butter, I rarely eat it though. My grandma would make me sugar bread for snack after school which is the same as bread and butter, just with sugar on top, I still like that stuff, but I think I make it onece eery like 2 or 3 years, hahaha. I also used to melt shredded cheese on a plate and eat it
We used to eat only canned vegetables, or sliced cucumbers smothered in ranch, nothing else, I at one point hated all vegetables that were not canned or cucumbers, now I hate canned vegetables, and eat tons of fresh and frozen vegetables.
Shredded cheese on a plate! haha I did that all of the time as a teen and still do once in awhile, especially with mozzarella-provolone blend.
As for the canned veggies, same here. My parents mainly bought canned peas, green beans & corn and those were the only vegetables we ate. Broccoli & carrots were a rare thing but cooked to death! Salad meant iceberg lettuce with big chunks of tomato and ranch dressing. I hated tomatoes, so I didn't eat a salad until I was literally 20-something. Not even kidding...my world was rocked when I discovered different lettuces & greens and sticking onions and sunflower seeds in there...mmm. Now I love all types of vegetables, fresh & frozen only.
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Mr. Noodles (aka ramen noodles) with the beef seasoning. I used to eat the full package (apparently the serving is half. who knew?) = 380 calories and 1140 mg of sodium. Still scares me haha but I crave them every once and a while .. so I make rice noodles with my own sauce to kill it
I would crush the raw noodles and dump the seasoning packet in, and eat the whole thing like a bag of chips. Mmmmm.
yesss I still do this when I'm craving salt LOL1 -
We didn't have much "junk" food growing up because we could barely afford regular food. Never really had candies or sodas or juices or anything like that around the house. My mom would bake cookies or make a pie for more special occasions.
Breakfast was almost always oatmeal or cream of wheat except on weekends when my dad would make bacon and eggs and potatoes. School lunches were usually bologna sandwiches or PB&J with some potato chips and an apple or some other piece of fruit.
I feel like we ate tuna and noodles, spaghetti, and chili a lot...and my dad grilled burgers and/or hot dogs regularly. When dad was alone watching my sister and I, his go to was beans and weenies on bread with potato chips.
I think potato chips were our primary "junk" food...my dad loved them.
On Fridays, we always had those horrid frozen t.v. dinners that you had to cook in the oven. I hated them, but loved the fact that we all sat down to watch t.v. and eat on Friday nights.
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Bananas with lots of white sugar and topped with whipped cream2
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cwolfman13 wrote: »We didn't have much "junk" food growing up because we could barely afford regular food. Never really had candies or sodas or juices or anything like that around the house. My mom would bake cookies or make a pie for more special occasions.
Breakfast was almost always oatmeal or cream of wheat except on weekends when my dad would make bacon and eggs and potatoes. School lunches were usually bologna sandwiches or PB&J with some potato chips and an apple or some other piece of fruit.
I feel like we ate tuna and noodles, spaghetti, and chili a lot...and my dad grilled burgers and/or hot dogs regularly. When dad was alone watching my sister and I, his go to was beans and weenies on bread with potato chips.
I think potato chips were our primary "junk" food...my dad loved them.
On Fridays, we always had those horrid frozen t.v. dinners that you had to cook in the oven. I hated them, but loved the fact that we all sat down to watch t.v. and eat on Friday nights.
Aww, your family nights sound pretty great. I have a good friend who grew up in the 80s/90s with a single mom who was SUPER strict but allowed "junk" on Friday nights. My friend and her little sister would eat Lunchables and peanut M&Ms with a can of Dr. Pepper for dinner and watch TGIF.
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Brussels sprouts.....like little plant testicles. Only bearable if you slather them in butter and bacon grease at which point you might as well just be eating bacon.5
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When my mom would work late sometimes my dad would make us "hash and peas" which was a can of hash mixed with a can of peas and heated on the stove. My sister and I loved it and it tastes good to me as an adult as well but definitely not worth the calories anymore!0
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My mom strictly used margarine when I was growing up, so a special treat was going to a restaurant and slathering saltines with real Butter as our appetizer. I actually still enjoy a saltine with a thin layer of butter on it. My parents also decided we weren't going to buy sugary cereal anymore, so they only got plain Cheerios, which we would then dump at least 2 spoonfuls of table sugar onto. But you had to let it sink to the bottom, because nothing beat a milk saturated spoonful of sugar when the Cheerios were gone.4
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katnadreau wrote: »My parents also decided we weren't going to buy sugary cereal anymore, so they only got plain Cheerios, which we would then dump at least 2 spoonfuls of table sugar onto. But you had to let it sink to the bottom, because nothing beat a milk saturated spoonful of sugar when the Cheerios were gone.
I had completely forgotten about the sugar sludge at the bottom of the cereal bowl... now it just makes me shudder! Funny that "sugary cereals" got a bad rap when we were probably dumping a lot more on the "healthy cereals" 2 -
my cousins use to eat "tasty spread" which was essentialy a bowl filled with peanut butter, maple syrup, and butter mixed together and eaten with a spoon....4
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WTH is wrong with bread and butter you weirdos? It's delicious.
Now,..my husband still eats canned corned beef hash. Smells like cat food. Makes me gag.10 -
LifeWithPie wrote: »WTH is wrong with bread and butter you weirdos? It's delicious.
Now,..my husband still eats canned corned beef hash. Smells like cat food. Makes me gag.
I take that camping sometimes...my wife hates it...actually, she's never tried it, she just can't get over what it looks like coming out of the can.
When I was growing up, camping was the most we could do for vacation...my dad always made canned corned beef hash and eggs for camping breakfast, so it's kind of a nostalgia thing for me. It's pretty funky when it's not cooked and fresh out of the can, but I think it's pretty good once it's all fried up.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »LifeWithPie wrote: »WTH is wrong with bread and butter you weirdos? It's delicious.
Now,..my husband still eats canned corned beef hash. Smells like cat food. Makes me gag.
I take that camping sometimes...my wife hates it...actually, she's never tried it, she just can't get over what it looks like coming out of the can.
When I was growing up, camping was the most we could do for vacation...my dad always made canned corned beef hash and eggs for camping breakfast, so it's kind of a nostalgia thing for me. It's pretty funky when it's not cooked and fresh out of the can, but I think it's pretty good once it's all fried up.
That is exactly how my husband started eating it as a kid! Camping with his dad. He always brought along canned hash.0 -
My parents were always working so I grew up on everything frozen and chef boyardee. Frozen burritos, chicken nuggets, corndogs, the whole deal. And our water tasted off so I drank 90% coke. Can't imagine why I have food issues...3
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Hmmm...
Doritos crumbled into my kraft mac & cheese (I still do this once every few years)
Peanut butter, marshmallow fluff & jelly sandwiches for lunch
Salisbury steak frozen dinners (the *thought* of the smell of these now makes me feel a little ill)
We ate a lot of canned vegetables. I don't like them now.
Grape jelly on eggs
Sugar sprinkled on white rice
I used to sneak whole cans of frosting out of the cupboard and go to town on them while reading piles of library books.
Also, we used to get free Pizza Hut personal pan pizzas as a reward for reading in elementary school. I did little but reading much of the time. We ate a lot of pizza hut. We would do the salad bar and I would hollow out my cherry tomatoes, stuff them with cottage cheese and sprinkle them with sunflower seeds. This last part was not gross or unhealthy, particularly. Just a little weird.
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Ha! I had forgotten about the bread and butter. We actually ate pretty healthy though but I never liked the mushrooms, avocado, oysters, bread dressing, stuffed peppers, lima beans, zucchini, cooked tomatoes, and still don't care for those. We also had to sit at the table until dinner was consumed.
Eating out was never for us and we never had pizza or tacos or sugar sandwiches (thank goodness.) I remember the first time when I came home from college and made tacos for dinner. After my dad tried to eat one, he asked me to break up the shell so he could eat it as a salad.
Harvard beets? Anyone grow up with those?2 -
Elbow noodles mixed with warm milk.... and salad with mayo instead of dressing!0
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Is bread and butter really that bad? I used to eat bread and butter all the time and still do just because I love it, lol.
Doritos and french onion dip
Toast doused with butter and cinnamon sugar
Pasta with potatoes added (probably out of not having enough money to buy meat to "hearty' it up)2 -
not unhealthy persay but my mom was such an 80's diet queen. fat and flavor were forbidden sins. grew up on a lot of boiled chicken, frozen veggies and rice dinners. some of my gross improvised joys: ketchup sandwiches, whole cans of olives, microwave omelets, KIDS CUISINE, that captain crunch-pixistix-butter sandwich from the breakfast club, and just taking a bottle of fake eggo maple syrup and chugging the stuff.0
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When I was a kid, I hated anything green, so when we'd go to Ponderosa for the salad bar after church on Sundays, I'd always get a pile of shredded cheese, ham cubes, and croutons topped with ranch dressing.1
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Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »Is bread and butter really that bad? I used to eat bread and butter all the time and still do just because I love it, lol.
I still eat bread and butter, too. I just tend not to go for the wonder-bread-type of sliced sandwich bread anymore. Baguettes or hearty Italian bakery bread and butter makes me weak in the knees.
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Graham cracker/frosting sandwiches
Peanut butter and marshmallows melted in the microwave, mixed, and eaten with a spoon
Peanut butter and chocolate chips melted together and eaten with a spoon
Cheddar cheese, melted in the microwave. We'd pick what was left of the cheese out of the oil that came out, and eat that.
Cinnamon and white sugar on buttered toast
Spaghetti sandwiches on buttered Wonder bread
Rice with milk and sugar (usually as a breakfast). I think this was one of the "we're out of food, what do I feed the kids?" meals.
We'd put Tang in a ziploc baggy with a little bit of water until it formed a ball, then eat the ball.
ETA: Not sure I find any of these particularly gross or inherently unhealthy, now that I think about it (except maybe that last one).
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zolofthaver wrote: »not unhealthy persay but my mom was such an 80's diet queen. fat and flavor were forbidden sins. grew up on a lot of boiled chicken, frozen veggies and rice dinners. some of my gross improvised joys: ketchup sandwiches, whole cans of olives, microwave omelets, KIDS CUISINE, that captain crunch-pixistix-butter sandwich from the breakfast club, and just taking a bottle of fake eggo maple syrup and chugging the stuff.
Chugging the fake maple syrup reminds me of some of my friends/cousins coming to my house and getting into the fridge or pantry. I was confused & dumbfounded by some of the stuff they wanted to snack on (listed below). I think some of it was being an only child, left on my own a lot, and they were from big families where the parents were stricter...I never wanted to get into any of this stuff myself, maybe because I always had cookies and fast food in my belly, lol.
- powdered International coffees mix
- straight brown sugar
- peanut butter out of the jar by the spoonful (over and over again) with sugar sprinkled on top
- chocolate syrup out of the bottle or in a cup
- chocolate milk, period
- "Can we make mashed potatoes!?" a girl at my sleepover proceeded to make the remainder of the instant potatoes box and put butter and salt on top and eat it all.
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Sauerkraut and ketchup sandwiches...always knew we were waiting on pay day when we got that for dinner.4
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