nostalgia foods--what foods do you remember as yummy but are gross now?

[MrsRobinson]

Canned tamales! I would cheer when we ate those for lunch. Now, yuck! We have a Mexican restaurant here that makes delicious authentic tamales, so I'm definitely better off.

 

My mom also put a slice of bologna in a bowl, nuked it in the microwave, then filled the "bologna bowl" with cottage cheese. Gross!

[KarenNC]

banana and mayo sandwich (actually "salad dressing")

 

Canned pears with a dob of mayo in the center and cheddar cheese sprinkled on top

 

Vienna sausage

 

the good old 1970's!

 

We had all of those! I still will once in a while still have a banana sandwich (but I use only Duke's mayo, which has no sugar), but my preference if I'm going to do it is usually a peanut butter/banana/mayo sandwich--mayo on one piece of the bread, then bananas, then pb on the other piece.

 

I haven't had the "pear salad" in years.

 

Tried vienna sausage a few years ago (which was pronounced "vy-eener" by my grandmother, btw ;) )--not a fan anymore, very mushy.

 

Let's see:

• Pretty much any packaged cake-type thing (Hostess, etc) is very disappointing, but especially the cream horns with the fake "cream" filling that we got in a four pack in the supermarket. I loved those things, and now they are just nasty. The exception to that is that I still like an oatmeal creme pie every blue moon.
• Fried livermush sandwich (sliced thin, dredged in flour, fried crispy on the edges, with mayo on white bread, sometimes toasted)--I tried one a few years ago and it did not sit well.
• Processed ham and cheese loaf, with the little bits of cheese in the slices of ham, made into sandwiches with Duke's and white bread. I only got those when I had to have a bag lunch for a field trip and thought it was wonderful. Not anymore.
• Turkey and dressing tv dinners, with the dessert in the top middle section of the foil tray, peas with tiny cubes of carrot, and the mashed potatoes with the odd texture around the edges, Swanson, I think.
• For a treat, my mom would take saltine crackers, top them with either peanut butter or a piece of American cheese, then a marshmallow and toast them in the toaster over. It was a big treat when I was a kid, so I tried making for my daughter once. Not as good as I remember.
• LaChoy chow mein in the can with the separate little can of chow mein noodles taped to the top. This was really exotic when I was growing up, as we had zero restaurants serving much of anything but regular meat-and-two-veg (where banana pudding was one of the veg options), chopped pork bbq with vinegar sauce, or hamburgers. Later in my childhood we did get a Pizza Hut, so we had "real Italian" that wasn't just Chef Boy-ar-dee pizza made from the box mix. Going to the "big city" for authentic exotic Mexican cuisine at the Taco Bell was a real adventure. How times have changed (thank goodness!).
• Any "molded salad" involving jello (particularly lime jello) and either cottage cheese or mayo.

 

The ultimate 60s/70s food in our house was the potato salad my mother took to church suppers. She'd mound it up like a mountain, then slice hot dogs in half lengthwise and pan-fry them so the cut side had blackened bits. She laid these on the mound (running top to bottom, fanning out from the top, cut side out) and dot the spaces between with slices of pimento-stuffed olives. Very artisitic! ;)

Edited September 14, 2016 by KarenNC

[Pippen]

As a girl I liked Hostess powdered sugar donuts and grape soda. Together.

[mmasc]

My first thought was the deviled ham in the can. My mom would mix it with miracle whip and put it on white bread. That sounds so absolutely disgusting to me now. Oh, and also the Vienna sausages. What was it with the canned meat back then?!! Blech

[iamonlyone]

Braunschweiger…taken sliced in sandwiches…with Miracle Whip. I loved that for lunch in elementary school.

 

And Pixy Stix—does that even count as a food?

 

Oh! And bananas sliced lengthwise and spread with Miracle Whip and sprinkled with peanuts!

Edited September 15, 2016 by iamonlyone

[skimomma]

Wendy's french fries dipped in chocolate frosty.  I used to LOVE that growing up.  I know several people who had the same experience.  My only explanation is that they used to serve up a frosty with their kids' meals and it would melt while you ate your burger and fries so you would us the fries to catch the drips.  We do not live near a Wendy's now nor do we ever eat fast food but I stopped at one with dd on a road trip last year so I could introduce her to my childhood treat.  She loved it.  Me, not so much.  I think they changed the fries.

[Guest]

butter and sugar sandwiches - soft butter smeared on white bread with white sugar sprinkled over it - My mother would feed us this at the end of the month when groceries were getting low, before payday.

On nights my mom wanted to be super nice to me she would add cinnamon to this and put them face up under the broiler. My kids still love this treat. :)

[ktgrok]

Wendy's french fries dipped in chocolate frosty.  I used to LOVE that growing up.  I know several people who had the same experience.  My only explanation is that they used to serve up a frosty with their kids' meals and it would melt while you ate your burger and fries so you would us the fries to catch the drips.  We do not live near a Wendy's now nor do we ever eat fast food but I stopped at one with dd on a road trip last year so I could introduce her to my childhood treat.  She loved it.  Me, not so much.  I think they changed the fries.

 

They did change the fries, years ago. It was a travesty. Wendy's fries were my favorite. Thick cut, perfect. 

[Bensmom]

butter and sugar sandwiches - soft butter smeared on white bread with white sugar sprinkled over it - My mother would feed us this at the end of the month when groceries were getting low, before payday.

 

spaghetti sandwiches - My parents showed us how to put spaghetti (made with ground beef) on bread and eat it like a sandwich.

 

Wow! I had completely forgotten butter and sugar sandwiches. I haven't had one in years! Thanks for making me feel 8-years-old again ;)

 

End of the month meant powdered milk at our house. I thought the plastic pitcher with the pump in the lid was awesome though. I loved to be the one to mix it.

[Zinnia]

I loved Hamburger Helper as a kid, too.  I bought a box a few years ago....so gross.  So gross.

[El...]

Tombstone frozen pizzas

Campbells chicken noodle soup (what happened to it?  Now it's so... not chicken.)

Strawberry Fanta

[Guest]

Rice crispy treats sound so yummy.

 

Doritos have pretty much let me down over the years but I'm pretty sure I'm extending my life every time I avoid eating one :p

 

Snack cakes of any kind, Girl Scout cookies - gross and waxy.

 

Little Caesar's pizza. So, so bad.

[Guest]

Canned tamales! I would cheer when we ate those for lunch. Now, yuck! We have a Mexican restaurant here that makes delicious authentic tamales, so I'm definitely better off.

 

My mom also put a slice of bologna in a bowl, nuked it in the microwave, then filled the "bologna bowl" with cottage cheese. Gross!

Canned tamales exist? What!?

 

And that Bologna recipe sounds straight from the bowels of hell.

[Cecropia]

Van Camp's Pork n Beans

Manwich

Andy Capps Hot Fries

BBQ potato chips

cheap bologna

"Gushers" fruit snacks with a liquid center

jello jigglers

shelf-stable tapioca pudding

instant quaker oatmeal with a gimmick -- weird fruit sludge to swirl in, or dinosaur eggs...

and I, too, agree with spaghetti-o's

[solascriptura]

Reading some of the replies now... I gotta say, who thinks up some of these combos? Banana and mayo/miracle whip? Vienna sausages? This is a repeat food that I ate as well. I remember liking them too, but I'm pretty sure that if I ate it now, it would make me think of dog food. Pretty sure they don't sell them in Vienna either.

[cjzimmer1]

Yep.  Especially the Brown Sugar ones.  My husband likes to drown them in butter and microwave them.

 

The brown sugar are the only ones I will eat.  I used to buy several boxes at a time in college and eat them for breakfast on my way to class (I never got up early enough to go to the cafeteria).  But I would warm them in a microwave for about 30 seconds.  I never liked them toasted because I thought they were too dry that way.

 

[1GirlTwinBoys]

Little Debbie's Snack Cakes

Canned Hot Tamales for dinner

 

Oh and my all time fave thing my mom would make for me was canned spam and grilled cheese sandwiches.  OMG!

 

[ktgrok]

 

 

spaghetti sandwiches  -  My parents showed us how to put spaghetti (made with ground beef) on bread and eat it like a sandwich.

 

I thought everyone ate spaghetti sandwiches! We often had bread and butter on the table, and would shove some of the pasta into the bread and fold it over. Yum. 

[RKWAcademy]

Velvetta Shells and Cheese.  I used to eat it as a teenager.  I got a box for my kids not long ago.  All three of us thought it was disgusting. 

 

Bologna.  In fact all lunch meat is disgusting to me now.  Slimy.  I do give it to my kids, though.

[Julie Smith]

When I was a kid the butter was always frozen solid in the freezer, or at least that is how I remember it. So we would use vegetable oil, or some type of oil instead. In Kraft dinner, on toast...

[Guest]

I thought everyone ate spaghetti sandwiches! We often had bread and butter on the table, and would shove some of the pasta into the bread and fold it over. Yum.

That's still my husband's favorite way to eat leftover spaghetti. I'd die in a carb coma but it always looks delicious :D

[Carol in Cal.]

Mashed Potato Buds

That nasty spaghetti sauce mix from the envelope.  

Tacos, ditto.  With the prefolded, baked to shape taco shells.  

Crescent rolls.

[Miss Peregrine]

 

My mom also put a slice of bologna in a bowl, nuked it in the microwave, then filled the "bologna bowl" with cottage cheese. Gross!

OMG, that sounds horrendous!

[Teacher Mom]

Fig Newtons. As a kid, I loved sharing them with my Dad. It was one of those things we did while watching cowboy shows or martial arts flicks on our terrible TV. Now I can't stand them. Still, when I hear the theme song for Bonanza, I can taste them. Weird.

[MEmama]

This thread is hilarious. Horrifying, but hilarious.

[MEmama]

Another childhood favorite of mine was steak tartar. Raw beef served with...um, I don't remember. Crusty bread maybe? It was such a treat. *gag*

 

Most 70's foods weren't favorites of mine, though. Those awful mushroom soup based noodle casseroles, hamburger helper, stroganoff, vegetables cooked far past their mushy death...many, many nights I was left alone at the table with the uneaten remains of my dinner after everyone had finished, to choke it down while sobbing and cursing elementary curses under my breath. Our dog wasn't allowed in the dining room and thus was unable to provide relief.

 

It's no wonder it took me over 30 years to appreciate Brussels sprouts.

[klmama]

When I was little, my grandma used to make what she called "mashed bean sandwiches."  Van Camp's pork and beans  on white bread, mashed with a fork.  They were a huge treat.  I still like the flavor of beans with bread, but I can't bring myself to make the sandwiches.

 

Grandma tried making me a butter and sugar sandwich for me once, but I hated butter and refused to try it.

 

We did have a special breakfast treat when we ran out of cereal - bread, milk, and sugar.  I remember feeling pure joy as ripped my bread into bite-sized pieces, poured milk over them, and sprinkled sugar on top.  What a treat!  My parents were good sales people.

 

 

 

 

[trulycrabby]

Beans on toast

Cream of Wheat

Space Food Sticks :ack2:

[Cecropia]

Oh yeah, forgot Cream of Wheat.  "Would you like it runny or clumpy today?"

[Ravin]

And Tuna Helper.

I was shocked that my new husband did NOT want me to cook these regularly for supper!

Soon I quickly understood & agreed with him!

 

ETA: the word NOT.  Obviously.

 

We went through a period when I was a tween, and my dad worked on the road, when my mom had a series of surgeries. Since I was the eldest kid (and the only one who could be trusted to work the stove and microwave), I had to do the cooking.

 

We ate a LOT of Tuna Helper, and Hamburger Helper, Mac and Cheese, and "breakfast for dinner" because I could make pancakes.

 

To this day, I cannot stand TH/HH, while my younger sisters do not care for pancakes, ESPECIALLY for dinner.

[Ravin]

I thought everyone ate spaghetti sandwiches! We often had bread and butter on the table, and would shove some of the pasta into the bread and fold it over. Yum. 

 

We have had spaghetti tacos a few times, thanks to iCarly.

 

20 years from now she will be dissing them just like this, lol!

[AngieC]

Potted meat sandwiches. Haven't touched one in 30 years. Plus, a lot of the other foods listed.

[MrsRobinson]

Canned tamales exist? What!?

 

And that Bologna recipe sounds straight from the bowels of hell.

I haven't looked to see if they are still on store shelves but yes, we ate them probably once a month. I'll really gross you out by informing you that they were individually wrapped in paper to keep them from sticking together right in the can, sauce and all!

[Guest2]

Peanut butter and miracle whip sandwhiches ( mayo in a pinch if no miracle whip)

 

Some of the candy...especially the one that you lick and stick in the sugary flavored powder ..here it is. So you lick it, dip in the sugar, and continue the process of coating the candy with salivaand then flavored sugar. Yuck.

 

http://www.stumpsparty.com/event/fun-dips-candy/pgp/zb5f03g?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=&utm_term=PRODUCT+GROUP&stumpstrackid=spps&gclid=CKfOvcWmks8CFdgBgQodOPoNQw

 

Off brand soda made with saccarine .... I used to dream of having enough money to buy shasta.

Edited September 15, 2016 by Silver Brook