What suppers/dinners did you grow up with?

[lynn]

Mother had a system of her menu in that she had the "same" food on the same day.

 

-Monday was boiled dinner (I think it's a new England thing for my southern DH would not touch it...lol)

-Tuesday usuall stew or roast beef

-Wednesday Spaghetti or Lasagna (kids who lived in the neighborhood I grew up in, who still live on the same street, swear they can still smell mother's spaghetti sauce on Wednesdays :) I never could make it as good as mother's.

-Thursday chicken something

-Friday Fish or pizza (although mother was not religous she had this belief of no meat on Fridays?? never could get an answer on that one)

-Saturday hot dogs and beans

-Sundays we usually had brunch early afternoon then grilled cheese and soup for dinner

 

She'd rotate in chili, meat pie, meat loaf, pork chops, shake n bake chicken and other meals but the above were the main stays.

[6packofun]

It was never as scheduled as that, but we had (often):

 

Pot roast with carrots and potatoes

Lasagna

Meatloaf

Baked macaroni and cheese

Baked or fried chicken

Hot Dogs

Beef stroganoff

Tacos

Soups and stews of all kinds w/homemade biscuits

Chicken a la King

Grilled Cheese

[CatMomof3]

We really did not follow a schedule - and my dad cooked.

But we ate venison, duck, smoke salmon, prime rib, lots of grilled veggies, shrimp, scallops, and what ever was growing in the garden. My friends would complain that they had pizza again for dinner. I would complain I never got pizza for dinner. We always had money for food - just not for anything else.

[Miss Marple]

No schedule that I remember. I just remember that she cooked 2 meals a day - we were in school for lunch. We left home with a hot breakfast (usually eggs/bacon/toast) and had a hot 3 or more course meal for supper. She had 3 daughters who did not appreciate the depth of her devotion to cooking for her family. Now as a mom of 4 BOYS I find myself searching my memory for supper ideas from my mom's cooking. I truly understand the statement "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach". My men are so easy to please - they love good food. And they are all bean poles (except dad who is entitled to a few extra pounds due to his age :-)

 

My mom's favorites were: chicken fried steak, homemade mashed potatoes (I could never learn to use the instant mix), roast/potatoes/carrots, meatloaf, fried chicken, enchiladas (of various types), chili, posole with homemade chili (red/green) and homemade pies (pecan and coconut cream were common).

 

My boys love it when she visits because she cooks all day for them. She is pleased to have such ardent admirers. But the bad side of that is that my boys expect 3 hot meals a day! I'm starting to wean them from a hot lunch - in fact, they are now on their own when it comes to lunch.

[Mabelen]

My mom never had a rotating set menu. My dad would have got really bored with it. The menu was a typical Spanish one, as in from Spain, Mediterranean fare, so lots of legumes, vegetables and meats in soups and stews, lots of fried, grilled or baked fish and seafood, lots of fresh salads, bread with everything, fruit for desert and wine to drink for the adults. I think pizza was discovered in my family when I was in my teens, we would also have some pasta dishes, including soups. Hot dogs and burguers were something exotic and we didn't really have those much. All homemade, we rarely ate out except on Sundays for some drinks and tapas.

[runamuk]

My mom had a limited number of meals she liked and would make, but not on any kind of schedule. We'd often see:

 

pork chop and potato casserole

spaghetti

soup and grilled cheese

smoky mountain hash (brown and serve sausages, corn & lima beans)

pot/pork roast

Spam and macaroni and cheese

hot dogs

scrambled eggs and toast

eggplant casserole

tater tot casserole

chili (aka hamburger soup)

ham and bean soup

goulash (she'd mix all the week's leftovers in one pot - blech)

 

We'd have each of these at least twice a month. On Thanksgiving we'd have turkey and on Easter we'd have ham, but that was about all the variation we'd see.

[Mary in NJ]

Anything that she could fry. She even fried bologna.

 

I have not fried a single thing since I have left home. Everything is grilled, baked, steamed or roasted.

[littlebug42]

Fried chicken, chicken and dumplings, pork chops, pinto beans with corn, fried potatoes and corn bread and my all time favorite in the summers would be green beans with potatoes (cooked in the green beans), sliced tomatoes and corn bread. We would also have things like hamburgers and hot dogs and spaghetti thrown in there. Lasagna was popular but only came on special occasions because it was expensive to make.

[Chris in VA]

Bless her heart--my mom would cook

A meat, potato or rice, and a veggie every night, except when she made spagetti or a casserole.

Meat--roast beef,pork or chicken; chicken breast (plain), fish when I was older (usually with canned tomatoes on top). Nothing fancy. She made dynamite gravy, tho.

Veggies were usually canned, except when we had salad. Canned corn=vegetable in her mind...

My brother had cystic fibrosis, undiag'd until he was 11 or 12, so she was always trying to make something healthy, but sadly, just didn't know how to. She would feel so good giving him vegetable soup--my nightmare, since I hated veggies--but it was canned veggies boiled to death with stew beef in a beef broth. <shudder>

Her homemade spagetti sauce was canned puree and Contadina tomato paste, mixed with hamburger, thyme and rosemary, and sugar, and "simmered" for 2 or 3 hours. It was the only meal at which I could relax because there were no vegetables, to my mind.

 

I rarely had pizza, never had anything with a sauce, and never, ever had Mexican food or Japanese or even Chinese food.

 

All was not lost, however--that woman could bake a pie that would bring about World Peace, if everyone could eat a slice at the same time. They'd be too busy going "mmmmmm" to say or do one bad thing.

[BikeBookBread]

Weekday nights were simple:

 

Tuna noodle casserole (with peas, of course)

Meatloaf

Creamed beef on toast (blech!!!)

Tacos

Spaghetti

 

But when Mom or Dad (who are both great cooks) cooked fancy meals, they really shined. Wonderful things like standing rib roast on Christmas, rouladen, Swedish meatballs, wonderful and inventive (somewhat current to what is eaten now) green salads.

[Jean in Newcastle]

My mom's cooking was standard 50's fare.

 

The one thing I remember that she did really well was a homemade macaroni and cheese.

 

She also did a number of pseudo Japanese meals. They were asian-ish.

 

I remember that there were a number of "normal" meals that my parents thought were terribly exotic and ethnic. I didn't have lasagna or tacos until I was a teen.

[LauraGB]

My poor mom couldn't actually cook well at all. We ate a lot of frozen pizzas, boxed mac & cheese, hot dogs, hamburgers and grilled cheese with Campbell's soup. She did get fancy with something she called "goulash", but the only ingredients I could identify were lots of ketchup and elbow noodles. :ack2: When my dad cooked, all he could handle was eggs - usually it was fried hot dogs with scrambled eggs. Oh, and fish. Once we were older (and mom was older, too ;)), she discovered the crock pot. Things got better from there. Dad was a hunter, so we had different cuts of venison throughout the year, and the edible meals were from the crock pot. She tried. She really did.

 

Mornings were always cereal. Lunches were always some Oscar Mayer something on white bread and Fritos.

 

This is why I taught myself to cook (and cook well, I might add) by age 12. It was pure survival. :lol:

[FO4UR]

McDonald's

Hardees

Wendy's

Pizza Hut

La Gondola Spaghetti

Arby's

Steak & Shake

 

 

Not kidding. :glare:

[Jenny in Atl]

My folks are foodies, so we ate everything. I honestly can't remember there being a standard weekly menu. Every weekend our house would fill with the wonderful smells of something new that my dad was experimenting with; foods and recipes from all corners of the globe!

[The Girls' Mom]

Hamburger Helper.... a lot.

Chef Boyardee... a lot.

Spagetti...

Hot dogs, hamburgers, etc.

 

Actually I did a great deal of the cooking once I got older because she worked.

 

When she did cook a real meal, it was usually good country food like pinto beans and corn bread, or boiled veggies. And she could make some slow, iron kettle cooked BBQ pork that would knock your socks off.

[Annie Laurie]

I just lost what I typed. But I did want to say that my Dad did a lot of the cooking when I was growing up, not just Mom. They both made kind of bland, midwestern comfort foods.

[Matryoshka]

My mom didn't have a schedule and made lots of different things, but I'll share the ones I most remember (good & bad).

 

Favorites:

Lentil soup

Chicken & kasha

Roast beef w/ mushroom gravy & baked potatoes (mostly for company)

Pot roast, mashed potatoes and red cabbage

Spaghetti w/ homemade sauce (she snuck eggplant and even tofu in there, and then threw it in a blender to smooth out any offending lumps)

Tacos

Ham, kale & mashed potatoes

Lots of other soups that she just tossed together - she does soup well.

 

Hall of shame:

"Tofu & brown rice" - this is what we called it - it was supposed to be some kind of a stir-fry with veggies, bean sprouts and soy sauce. Let's just say mom never mastered this.

 

broccoli - my mom overall is a great cook, but this is the way she prepared broccoli: cut it up including the (long) stems, then boil till gray. Cover with bread crumbs. Gray, limp, broccoli. ew. I have since cured her of this and her broccoli's fine now.

 

Have to say that I still make most of the favorites above myself, with some small modifications (although I admit in spite of good intentions, the spaghetti sauce is mostly from a jar). Comfort food.

 

In my South Beach phase 1, I experimented with the Ham & kale by adding white beans instead of mashed potatoes. I like it even better and the family all loves it. Mmmmmm - ham & kale....

 

As for the other meals... when I was younger she tried to get me to eat wheat germ for breakfast. For a while we had cream of rice with an egg stirred in (I hate eggs by themselves), but that was a very short-lived phase and I think on weekends. She'd also sometimes make pancakes and crepes, but again that was a weekend thing. During the week as I got older I made myself peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, then just skipped breakfast.

 

For lunch I got 40 cents to buy whatever the cafeteria was serving.

Edited March 9, 2010 by matroyshka

[Carol in Cal.]

She had a large freezer in the basement and filled it with meat, butter, and milk bought on sale. I never had fresh anything. Leftovers were also big.

 

She would roast a chicken, and we would eat it for two-three days--family of 6. She would make spaghetti from one of those little sauce mix packets, and we would have that twice. Sometimes she made pot roast. That would work for 3-4 days. She made mashed potato buds. The only cream sauce she ever attempted was from cream of chicken soup--I didn't realize what cream sauce actually is until I read about it in a Mennonite cookbook. We had hamburgers on Saturdays, and waffles or pancakes on Sundays, because my dad would barbeque the hamburgers and make the baked goods. We would have chili made from one of those little envelope mixes. We ate frozen or canned veggies, and baked potatoes, white rice, or mashed potato buds. Once in a while we had a roast beef or leg of lamb. Mom's meat loaf had huge spongey holes in it because she would only buy the cheapest, fattiest hamburger.

 

I like to cook. It's hard to believe, but it's true. But I cook from scratch mostly.

[Annie]

:sigh: I almost don't want to think about it. My mom is a far superior cook, and it makes me feel guilty when I think about all I could have learned when I lived with her.

 

I'm not going to list the things she makes, but they're all delicious and taste just like home. :)

[OnTheBrink]

My mother did not cook, except very rarely, and on holidays. Frozen dinners, frozen pizza, Chef Boyardee, Campbells soups, or anything I made myself. I honestly can't say I have any memories of any good dishes that she made.

[3littlekeets]

Chicken Parmesan was my mother's favorite!

Chicken Cordon Blue

Chicken and Rice Soup

White Chicken Chili

Lemon Pepper Chicken

Chicken Enchiladas

** my mother didn't care for beef** :tongue_smilie:

 

Then, lots of veggie soups, salad dinners, and oh.... on an occasional splurge...PORK CHOPS! Then, back to chicken, salads, and soups.

[Crimson Wife]

Sundays were a roast chicken.

Mondays were some sort of dish made from the leftover chicken- tacos, enchiladas, fajitas, crepes, pot pie, soup, etc.

Wednesdays were pasta, usually spaghetti. I think the Prince commercials brainwashed all of New England to serve pasta on Wednesdays, LOL!

Fridays were fish or vegetarian.

Saturdays in the summer my dad would usually grill something.

 

The other nights were an assortment. My mom is a pretty good cook and there weren't too many of her meals that I disliked. Periodically she would cook stuffed vegetables (peppers, acorn squash, eggplant, grape leaves, etc) and those I always ate the smallest portion my folks would let me get away with ;)

[Imprimis]

Creamed beef on toast (blech!!!)

 

 

 

 

Yes, but was it the "wonderful" cream chipped beef in a bag that my mom had an unusual fondness for that made its way onto our table more times than I care to count?..........:glare:

 

My mom was a fine cook (her parents were from Florence, Italy, for pete's sake!!), but, perhaps because she worked the night shift at a hospital and was completely devoid of energy by dinnertime, we ate a lot of convenience foods.

 

Sunday was the day the Italian in her came out----we had lasagne with home-made sauce, home-made gnocchi, beautiful roasts with the best-ever roasted potatoes, minestrone soup, etc.

[Parrothead]

Things were different in our house. Daddy was in the navy when we were growing up so when he was out to sea Mom would fix things like fried rice, veggies, omelets, etc for dinner. One adult feeding two small children. When Daddy was home we had the standard meat, starch, canned veggie. My father, bless him, did not like veggies. For years and years the only time we got something different than canned green beans, canned corn or canned peas was when my dad was gone. Then we got broccoli, carrots, cabbage and more, all fresh.

 

As time went on, Daddy retired from the navy. Then he was home and db and I revolted where veggies were concerned. About that time my mom introduced him to stir-fry which was becoming all the rage. Now if I go home there will be some new veggie dish to try that my dad, of all people, has found.

 

The worst thing about my mom's cooking and what she thought about food was the beef liver. We were forced to eat that once a month until mom realized that the dog ate more than the kids did.

[Heidi @ Mt Hope]

Tacos (everyone's favorite)

Lasagna or Spaghetti

Hamburgers

Chicken and Rice Bake (I think it had stewed tomatoes in it)

Fried Chicken and Mashed Potatoes

Hamburger Gravy over Mashed Potatoes or Rice

Roast with Veggies (Carrots and Potatoes)

Soups/Stews (a variety)

Meatballs/Meatloaf

Ham and Cheese Potatoes

Pork Chops

 

Mom made quite a few other dishes, but these were the standard ones. She was a good cook, but she cooked what she knew we would eat. :)

 

My mom and dad were/are very traditional. EVERYTHING was on the table in a nice serving dish. Even jams/jellies or salad dressing were put in a little bowl or pitcher.

 

We always had veggies with our meal. Home-grown green beans or corn, cooked carrots and peas (blech!!), or salad was common. Creamed spinach or steamed cauliflower with cheese sauce, occasionally. We often had a side dish of home-canned fruit, as well: pears (always served on a plate over a leaf of lettuce and sprinkled with a little cheddar cheese ~ don't ask me why), applesauce, peaches, or cherries. We often had Bisquick biscuits.

 

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Dinner is a favorite childhood memory, as my family loved to eat and talk. We sat down for dinner together every evening. Good times.

[lynn]

Sundays were a roast chicken.

Mondays were some sort of dish made from the leftover chicken- tacos, enchiladas, fajitas, crepes, pot pie, soup, etc.

Wednesdays were pasta, usually spaghetti. I think the Prince commercials brainwashed all of New England to serve pasta on Wednesdays, LOL!

Fridays were fish or vegetarian.

Saturdays in the summer my dad would usually grill something.

 

The other nights were an assortment. My mom is a pretty good cook and there weren't too many of her meals that I disliked. Periodically she would cook stuffed vegetables (peppers, acorn squash, eggplant, grape leaves, etc) and those I always ate the smallest portion my folks would let me get away with ;)

 

You remember that too? "Make every Wednesday a Prince Spaghetti Day". Yep, maybe that's why I still go for spaghetti and/or lasagna on Wednesdays.

Edited March 10, 2010 by lynn

[justamouse]

When I was small my Irish Nana was in charge of the cooking. Split pea soups, chicken and dumplings (the dumplings with the balls of fluff), spaghetti, corned beef and cabbage, she made the BEST lemon meringue pie.

 

Mom was ok, but we were poor. Chicken rice and zucchini in some way shape or form. And tons of veggies. We always had a garden. She made the chicken with vinegar and it was delish.

[Peela]

My mum became an excellent cook as the years went by, but I do remember a lot of chops and sausages, rice-a-riso, steaks, spag bol...those sorts of meals, when I was a kid. Later on she got into gourmet and more international cooking but I do have some fond memories of chewing on slightly burnt chops. We don't eat them now but my mouth waters thinking of them!

[LauraGB]

Yes, but was it the "wonderful" cream chipped beef in a bag that my mom had an unusual fondness for that made its way onto our table more times than I care to count?..........:glare:

 

 

 

Oh my goodness - I had forgotten all about those!

 

Oh, and those single serving frozen pot pies that always burst open in the oven and all the gravy poured out and burnt to the cookie sheet. At least, that's what happened at my house.

[bookfiend]

Very boring ones, the same every week - which is why I learned to cook!

[JFSinIL]

Too many canned veggies - with salt and butter added - creamed stuff and gravy (folks grew up on farms in Kansas during the Depression) - did I mention salt and butter added to just about everything? Cakes from mixes - with lemon jello/7-up poured on top to soak in, then CoolWhip dumped on the mess (need I add I did not eat it?). Overcooked roasts - I never saw a meat thermometer or had a roast anything not the consistency of plywood until I was married. Pork chops cooked in cream of mushroom soup fro THREE HOURS - taters added the last hour. I never had a tender pork chop until I was married, either.

 

The only fresh veggie ever made was broccoli - and that had to be dipped into lemon butter (and salted) to be edible according to my folks.

 

I was taught to sugar my Coco Krispies, too. Yum - sugar high!!!

 

First meals at my future mil were a revelation - veggies were fresh and not over cooked nor sauced, salt was not added to anything except at table if needed, roasts were tender, tomato "gravy" was made from stratch, not Ragu.

Edited March 10, 2010 by JFSinIL

[lllll]

spaghetti

chili and rice

fried chicken (usually burnt) and rice and (brown) gravy

corned beef and cabbage

gumbo and rice

hamburgers (always dry and rubbery)

fried cube steak (usually burnt) and rice and (brown) gravy

7-layer casserole (a ground beef, rice, and veg thing)

scrambled eggs and homemade biscuits (my personal favorite)

salad to go with some of the above - when she felt like it

a lot of cream of canned soup type recipes which I can't remember now

veggies, mostly from cans

always milk to drink :ack2: - yuk, yuk, and double yuk

 

She always managed to overcook the meat. Thus, when I went on my first date at 16yo and the guy asked me if I wanted to go eat T-bone steak, my instant response was "NO!!" He was shocked and asked me if I liked T-bone steak. I told him I had never heard of it, so he began to describe it. He finally gave up and we went to McDonalds instead.:)

 

On another date, a guy took me to eat pizza. I had never seen a pizza and I hated cheese. I think I scraped the top off of it, ate a few bites of the crust, and left the rest. He kept looking at me like I was from Mars or something, until he finally asked me if I liked pizza. I said "No" - again. Don't think I ever heard from that one again. :)

[Crissy]

Hamburger patties with fried potatoes and canned vegetables.

Hamburger patties with Rice-a-Roni and canned vegetables.

Hamburger patties with instant mashed potatoes and canned vegetables.

Spaghetti and garlic bread. On special occasions, I think. ;)

[Chels~]

Hamburger Helper.... a lot.

Chef Boyardee... a lot.

Spagetti...

Hot dogs, hamburgers, etc.

 

Actually I did a great deal of the cooking once I got older because she worked.

 

 

 

My story is pretty much the same except add in boxed mac n cheese, top ramen, frozen pizza and lots of McDonalds. Occasionally my dad would bbq some Chicken and we would get a salad slathered in Ranch dressing.

[mysticamethyst]

McDonald's

Hardees

Wendy's

Pizza Hut

La Gondola Spaghetti

Arby's

Steak & Shake

 

 

Not kidding. :glare:

Yep, that is me too, but no La gondola, KFC. I got was in awe of home cooked meals when I would go to aunts house for holidays.

[Cindy in C-ville]

I remember this hamburger macaroni casserole that I just loved. We did have steaks every Friday. My step-father was the meat manager for the grocery stores that his parents owned. Usually once/week was flounder or trout that we had caught. There were plenty of canned green beans, pears with a dab of mayonnaise on top (yuk!) and apple rings. She usually had a "salad bar" out - lettuce and then toppings to choose. I loved them then, but yuck! There were also plenty of jello "salads." We had our fair share of chicken pot pie and TV dinners, but usually only when mom had to be out at night. Every Sunday night we were over at my step-granmother's house - usually for oysters when they were in season. But, since my mom didn't eat oysters, she always brought a frozen pizza for us. :) For that, I will be eternally grateful!

[Crimson Wife]

Cakes from mixes - with lemon jello/7-up poured on top to soak in, then CoolWhip dumped on the mess (need I add I did not eat it?).

 

My aunt used to make a similar cake every holiday dinner and I *DREADED* having to eat a slice to be polite. :ack2:

[chaik76]

Mmm! We had lots of yummy things for dinner growing up! (My Nana loves to cook!)

 

Pot roast with carrots, potatoes, and other veggies.

 

Pork chops. Almost always with mashed potatoes.

 

Fish...usually haddock...this was something Pop made. Always with rice.

 

Hot dog rice (Pop again).

 

Roasted chicken.

 

Steak.

 

 

Sides were usually mashed potatoes, noodles, or rice.

 

Ham and green beans (this is sort of like a soup, but not quite).

 

Chicken and dumplings.

 

Chicken rice soup.

 

Chicken noodle soup.

 

 

Lots of time, pizza for Friday nights during lent.

 

Pork roast.

 

Very occasionally, stir fry (only Nana liked it).

 

What else?

 

Um...Meatloaf (which I hated...we didn't have it often, which was good).

 

Cube steak (still don't like it).

 

 

Sides were usually mashed potatoes, new potatoes, baked potatoes, rice, or wide egg noodles and a vegetable.

 

There were some casseroles too...tuna noodle (the only one I liked...I think I've blocked the others out!!!), quiches (detest) and stuff like that.

 

But usually a meat, a starch, and a vegetable.

 

 

 

It wasn't until I was grown that I realized that my grandmother liked to make lots of other types of foods too...but that neither my Pop or me would eat them, so she usually didn't. As she got older she started experimenting with things she liked more and more.

 

Oh...and she made awesome deserts, too!

 

I'm a meat and potato kind of gal. A meal isn't a meal unless there's meat in it!!!

 

 

Lunch was usually sandwiches or something like that.

 

Breakfast during the week was oatmeal or cereal. Very occasionally eggs or something.

 

During the weekends she often made eggs and bacon, or waffles, or pancakes or something like that.

[joannqn]

My mom never had a schedule and was a horrible cook. The only spices she used were salt, pepper, and garlic salt. All three of them were used on everything she made for dinner. Spaghetti was Hunt's tomato sauce with browned ground beef, salt, pepper, and garlic salt over spaghetti noodles. Pork chops were fried until dried out with salt, pepper, and garlic salt on them. Meatloaf was ground beef with egg, salt, pepper, and garlic salt. She used hamburger helper a lot. Frozen pot pies made me hate pot pies until I tried a homemade one and now I LOVE them.

 

My dad cooked occasionally, which was always a treat. He used spices and herbs liberally. Usually he was grilling something. He added beer and tons of spices to bottled bbq for chicken and ribs. He made steaks, hamburgers, and hot dogs on the grill.

[helena]

My house was no pork, beef, or poultry so I had limited access to that stuff. My grandmas house was where I got meat, she was from Veracruz, and cooked all the dishes from that area (grandpa is from Sonora, super yummy meat dishes). My mom and dad cooked all of her seafood recipes. My dad was a fisherman so we ate a lot of seafood, which went one of two ways. Broiled fish like halibut, white rice and steamed veggies. Yuck! Come to find out this was a common meal for kids in the 70s in So. Cal who had "healthy" parents. The other seafood meal was the Mexican route, seafood, beans and rice type stuff, lots of fish tacos.

My moms BF is from Sri Lanka, as are many of her friends and employees, the ladies made her an honorary Sri Lankan :) when she was cooking meals as good as them. I was so sad when I got to India, and realized how different the food is, compared to the south and Sri Lanka.

My dad studied Japanese cooking for a few years under a couple of chefs, I remember bringing sushi for lunch in 5th and 6th grade, those were good times too.

I never ate american style cooking until I went vegetarian, my vegan friends turned me onto beef stroganoff, meatloaf, even canned beans and jarred salsa.

My BF was Hawaiian, I remember being so confused at their dinner table, ground beef, rice, koolaide, every time.

 

Writing this made me remember how good my parents could cook. I remember one holiday at my grandparents, my dad had made shrimp curry. It was so good people were laughing hysterically, and began to tear up and cry. Years later the book and movie 'Like Water for Chocolate' came out and I remember thinking it must be a Mexican thing :lol:, so emotional!!

 

My family has faced a lot of hardship, the food is what made everything ok. KWIM?

[Krista in LA]

If my dad wasn't going to be home for dinner, which he often wasn't, we would have white rice with milk, cornbread with milk, cornmeal mush with milk, or what was fondly called perlew which was a combination of milk, eggs, and flour cooked. Yeah, we were poor.

 

When dad was home it was usually -

Kraft spaghetti from the box

fried chicken and potatoes

fried pork chops and potatoes

what she called goulash but is more like chili with macaroni

chicken pilaf

sausage and potatoes

 

We had a huge garden, so there were always plenty of fresh or home canned vegetables at every meal.

[BridgeTea]

Fried meat, boiled potatoes, and gravy. Serve with a canned vegetable. Wash, rinse, repeat.

 

Mom worked, volunteered, headed committees, and spent time with friends. The cookies were definitely all store-bought. :lol: I have lots of great memories of my Mom. She's just not wearing an apron in many of them! We definitely went out for burgers and fries more than other people I knew, and this was in the sit-down restaurants in the 60's and 70's. We weren't very creative eaters...

[GraciebytheBay]

My mom did a good job of cooking every night, considering she worked full time and was a single parent. I remember:

 

Baked macaroni and cheese

Chipped beef on toast or over mashed potatoes

Chicken Tonight - Here is the commmercial. Does anyone remember this?!

 

 

Beef Tonight

Goulash

Spaghetti

Liver and onions (blech)

Roast beef

various crockpot meals after she discovered this wonderful invention

Appian Way Pizza (a boxed pizza mix that I made myself)

Chef Boyardee Ravioli (on Sundays after church)

 

[BeckyFL]

Lots of good stuff: roast beef and mashed potatoes, swiss steak, ham and wonderful macaroni salad with tuna and chives from our garden (this was my requested birthday meal), boiled ham and cabbage, and lots more. I also remember her making hard candy, chocolate candy, cake doughnuts with nutmeg (her mom's recipe), popcorn balls, gum drop roses for birthday cakes, etc. All of this, working full-time as a nurse AND keeping a spotless and organized house. I miss her! Sigh......

[Lawana]

Lots of casseroles. Lots of potatoes- pressure cooked for 16 min. Mashed potatoes were always instant, despite the fact that my mother grew up on a potato farm in Idaho. One chicken for 7 persons. One pound of ground beef for spaghetti for 3 meals. Or, if things were not going so well that day, the dinner meal of white rice, a canned vegetable, and sticks of "rubber" cheese was always an option.:glare:

I was 7 when my youngest brother was born. Since cooking was "women's work," it was up to me as the eldest daughter to prepare dinner for the rest of the family while my mother was in the hospital. 4 nights straight of boiled hot dogs, instant mashed potatoes, and a canned vegetable. But it was all good, since it was prepared by a female.:tongue_smilie:

[Joanne]

I got a job as a waitress when I was 13. My mom stopped cooking at that point and they'd come up to the restaurant and eat. I'd wait on them. They were good tippers.:lol:

 

Before that, and before the undiagnosed/untreated depression:

 

spaghetti (from some complicated combination of tomatoes, sauce, paste. Never already prepared sauce)

 

Swedish meatballs.

 

Pepper Steak.

 

Steak.

 

Baked chicken.

 

Meatloaf.

 

Kielbasa

 

Hot dogs, only a certain brand

 

If she wanted to get industrious, she'd make chicken cacciatore

 

We never had tacos, lasagna, rice, beans or a variety of veggies. Corn and green beans, thank you. And salad was iceburg, cucumber and a sliced tomato.

[helena]

Lots of good stuff: roast beef and mashed potatoes, swiss steak, ham and wonderful macaroni salad with tuna and chives from our garden (this was my requested birthday meal), boiled ham and cabbage, and lots more. I also remember her making hard candy, chocolate candy, cake doughnuts with nutmeg (her mom's recipe), popcorn balls, gum drop roses for birthday cakes, etc. All of this, working full-time as a nurse AND keeping a spotless and organized house. I miss her! Sigh......

 

I enjoyed reading this, thank you. It all sounds so wonderful :)

[Lawana]

I almost forgot. "Honeymoon" salad- "lettuce alone," it was the only kind we ate.

[Karen FL]

Breakfast: Frosted flakes or grits with sugar and butter and sausage fried for a very very very long time.

 

 

Mondays: Pork chops with Shake-n-Bake, canned corn, and canned green beans. Buiscuits from the can. At some point, my mom decided to get fancy with the corn and she would add cream style corn to one can of regular corn.

 

Tuesdays: Pinto Beans with Neck bones, very dry half inch thick coarse corn bread made with shortening for my dad and beef stew for us made from stew beef and frozen vegetables.

 

Wednesdays Spaghetti with Ragu with very dry meatballs flavored with Lipton Onion Soup Mix. Black eyed peas for dad

 

Thursdays: Black eyed peas with neckbones and some more very dry coarse corn bread about 1/2 inch thick for dad.

KFC for us usually. Once in a while something else like spaghetti with the very dry meatballs or the pork chops with Shake and Bake.

 

Fridays: KFC for us and very very very coarsely very very dry fried cubed steak for my dad. Or sometimes he might have okra and tomatoes with the dried out cornbread.

For a few years we had fried snapper from a seafood shop. You had to wait about two hours for the cook in the shop to fry our fish after my mom picked out her fish.

 

Saturdays: More KFC

 

Sundays:

 

Every Sunday morning my mom fried one pound of bacon. She also made some toast.

 

Roast beef with frozen stewed vegetables almost every Sunday in the crockpot. Turkey wings and cornbread and sweet potato pie around Thanksgiving time. My mom is a Jehovah's Witness so she didn't celebrate Thanksgiving but she woul make turkey wings, dressing, and cornbread somewhere around that particular day.

 

Sometimes instead of the roast beef after we went to the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. we would go to Wendy's for my mom, McDonald's for my brother and I, and Burger King for my sister.

 

For a few years I wouldn't eat roast beef. To this day, I don't like cornbread.

 

Sometimes I overcook a cut of meat just for old time's sake. lol.

 

What memories. Hmmmm.

 

I learned to cook when I was pregnant with my second son and I don't use any of my mom's schedule or cooking selections.

 

One of the first things my husband taught me when I was learning to cook is how to cook meat without it being so dry. Ha.

 

After school I ate a lot of candy, chips, jelly sandwiches on Dandee white bread, (only jelly, I didn't like peanut butter), Chef Boyardee ravioli, and Swanson TV turkey dinners. My mom wasn't the type to have cookies and milk or anything else ready when I got home from school :) Our refrigerator drawers were always filled with Hershey's Chocalate Bars with almonds and without almonds, Pepsi, Snickers, and Milky Ways. We could take from the refrigerator any time we wanted to. Amazingly enough, my siblings and I are not obese.

 

When I reached the age of 16, I discovered that I liked Coke better than Pepsi and asked my mom to please buy Coke as well as Pepsi. She obliged and I struggled with a Coke addiction until about two years ago.

 

Today, my mother still fills her drawers with the Hershey bars without almonds for my children. She also keeps Mentos and Jolly Ranchers in her purse for my children. :-\. She keeps a lot of sodas and Capri Suns for them and her other grandchildren too.

 

I got to KFC once a year now. I was really glad when they came out with the grilled chicken. Their original recipe chicken gives me diarrhea. I guess I had too much of it as a child. I'm glad it didn't give me diarrhea back then. God was protecting me.

Edited March 12, 2010 by Karen FL

[sassenach]

I'm sure she made more than this but it's all I can remember.

 

Mainstays-

Hamburger helper

shake n bake chicken or pork (w/ boxed mash potatoes and canned vegis)

Taco Bell (we had one around the corner and they had 59 cent burritos)

Fall River style chow mein

Hot dogs and kraft mac n cheese

Spaghetti

Chinese pie (I've heard it called shepherd's pie)

 

Occasional treats-

Split Pea soup

London Broil

 

I liked it then. She was just one in a long line of working moms in my family. I think processed foods were just the only way anyone knew how to cook. I've struggled to cook in a different way. My poor dh jokes about our first year of marriage. "Honey, would you like beef stroganoff tonight or lasagna?"

"Isn't it all just Hamburger Helper?" :blink:

Edited March 11, 2010 by Shannon831