Weird Childhood Foods

[jazzoboe]

Stacy- I totally had cinnamon toast like that, too! And I would be lying if I said I didn't still make it for myself once or twice a year. At least I use whole wheat bread now

Also, peanut butter and butter sandwiches. My mom ALWAYS made our peanut butter sandwiches like this growing up, and I've always assumed that it was just another one of the odd things she got from growing up in Australia. I still eat them that way, too because I got used to it and peanut butter seems impossible to swallow without it. My husband might think I'm insane though...

Other than that we never ate anything weird that I can think of. We always had basic meat and veggies, but now that I'm grown up and cooking for myself I've become very aware of how much processed/prepackage/not so healthy stuff we ate. I suspect it is mostly because my mom learned to cook from her mom when she was a kid in the 50's and 60's, so a lot of that stuff was new and super convenient back then. Lots of fresh veggies, lean proteins and whole grains in my house now, thanks. Too bad I have an awful sweet tooth...

 

[JewelFreak]

Cinnamon toast! I forgot about cinnamon toast! My mother kept cinnamon & sugar mixed in a big salt shaker & gave us that (with butter). Especially when we were sick, it was a big treat.

We also occasionally had brown-sugar (w/butter) sandwiches, and sometimes ketchup sandwiches -- just butter & ketchup, ick. I think she got that stuff as a kid during the Depression when there wasn't much in the larder to eat.

--- Laurie

 

[Cluless]

Ok you all ate normal foods. My parents were on a very tight budget, mom was a very good cook oh but some of the stuff we had to eat, tripe with scarola(green leefy vegetable) stale bread soaked in hot water with potatoes a drizzle of oil and chilli peppers ( I quite like this one) oh and when in season dandelions not store bought the one you have to go pick in the fields where dogs did their business yeah always a treat oddly enough I love them and dad up until before he passed would still go pick some and give me a call to let me know he had if I wanted some.

 

[Skippy123]

I never did anything too weird. I do remember seeing kids eat mac n cheese w/ketchup, YUCK! I don't like ketchup though. . .

 

[FrekeChild]

Man, I thought my mom was a terrible cook. I'm so lucky compared to some of you!

My weird one was scrambled eggs with ketchup. My mom was soooo grossed out by eggs, but she coped and cooked them for me anyway!

I also used to drink pickle juice, and I would drink Tabasco sauce directly from the bottle. My breakfasts as a kid were usually white bread with butter...sometimes with sugar and cinnamon.

My mom was NOT a good cook though. My dad was a huge trooper and he'd force his way through a healthy serving and then go eat cereal. He'd even compliment her the entire time!

Lots of weird/gross casseroles...

 

[iLander]

Ok you all ate normal foods. My parents were on a very tight budget, mom was a very good cook oh but some of the stuff we had to eat, tripe with scarola(green leefy vegetable) stale bread soaked in hot water with potatoes a drizzle of oil and chilli peppers ( I quite like this one) oh and when in season dandelions not store bought the one you have to go pick in the fields where dogs did their business yeah always a treat oddly enough I love them and dad up until before he passed would still go pick some and give me a call to let me know he had if I wanted some.

What do you do with dandelions?

Tripe, though, that wins my personal prize for ewwwwww. . . I saw it in the store once when I was a kid, and when someone told me what it was, I was like this for a week.

 

[iLander]

Man, I thought my mom was a terrible cook. I'm so lucky compared to some of you!

My weird one was scrambled eggs with ketchup. My mom was soooo grossed out by eggs, but she coped and cooked them for me anyway!

I also used to drink pickle juice, and I would drink Tabasco sauce directly from the bottle. My breakfasts as a kid were usually white bread with butter...sometimes with sugar and cinnamon.

My mom was NOT a good cook though. My dad was a huge trooper and he'd force his way through a healthy serving and then go eat cereal. He'd even compliment her the entire time!

Lots of weird/gross casseroles...

My grandfather did that, just chewed and smiled. Didn't help my case at all . . .

 

[iLander]

What is with the pickle juice? I used to do the same thing! Then my DS did it.

What is the body craving, besides salt, that makes us drink that stuff? Maybe it is the salt, it does balance out an electrolyte imbalance pretty quickly. But the quantities of salt in pickle juice!

I also used to eat raw lemons. Now my tooth enamel is so damaged, it's not even funny. I shouldn't have done that.

 

[chrono]

Some cultures love tripe and do not consider it weird or gross. I've also seen dandelion sold in the local grocery store for consumption.

 

[iLander]

I was a white bread, american cheese and ketchup kid who grew up at grandma's house. Sometimes we had bologna or salami to throw on it. My grandma would feed us leftover cold rice in milk with sugar on top. At least once a week we had meatloaf, dried out, over-broiled sirloin, slimy canned veggies (spinach), prepackaged rice/potato mixes, or spaghetti. We were fed lots and LOTS of cereal. If we mentioned to grandma that we liked a certain cereal she would buy in bulk and force us to finish the boxes before getting a new kind. Let's just say that was 20 years ago and still can't bare the thought of eating Honey Bunches of Oats. Basically we were fed easy to prep, prepackaged, discounted food. The best nights were taco night and pizza night.

Now that I am the adult I buy fresh ingredients and cook from scratch. I love spinach now, but I always use fresh. I love meatloaf now if I make it, but not usually if someone else does. Grandma was (and still is!) an awful cook. Needless to say I did not learn my way around the kitchen from her! I love her, but I don't eat dinner at her house. I bring the lasagna...

Are you sure you didn't grow up at my house? I had the "rice pudding" and shoe leather meat, too! I could never figure out why someone would take a perfectly good steak and fry it for about a half an hour, until it was half the size and dense as a black hole.

It was years of dinnertime scenes, "clean your plate" and all that horror. It really messed up my relationship with food, to the point where DH would make me a plate and I'd burst out crying. He knows never to make me a plate now.

Isn't it nice when we grow up and can reinvent our lives, starting with the food?

 

[Matata]

scrapple. usually fried. I think it was made from leftover icky animal parts.

 

[chrono]

But if you don't think too hard about it, it tastes surprisingly good. Think of it as zero wastage. Then again, my family likes to eat different things like the feet, ears, tongue, intestines and etc.

 

[Matata]

You're right, Chrono. It wasn't half bad. My Italian granny could not get me to appreciate brains, tripe, or sucking the marrow from bones but I suspect she sneaked some of that stuff in the pasta & lasagna.

 

[madelise]

Some cultures love tripe and do not consider it weird or gross.

I never ate tripe in my family (Chinese), but tried it in pho. I love that stuff! crunchy crunchy crunchy!!

 

[madelise]

Man, I thought my mom was a terrible cook. I'm so lucky compared to some of you!

My weird one was scrambled eggs with ketchup. My mom was soooo grossed out by eggs, but she coped and cooked them for me anyway!

I also used to drink pickle juice, and I would drink Tabasco sauce directly from the bottle. My breakfasts as a kid were usually white bread with butter...sometimes with sugar and cinnamon.

My mom was NOT a good cook though. My dad was a huge trooper and he'd force his way through a healthy serving and then go eat cereal. He'd even compliment her the entire time!

Lots of weird/gross casseroles...

MY MOM ALSO COOKED WITH KETCHUP. Fried rice = rice + some vegetables, ham, and ketchup. Eggs? Add ketchup. Soup? Sometimes add ketchup, too!! I thought she was INSANE.. until I went to a local Hong Kong cafe, where they give you "red rice", which is rice cooked in ketchup. LOL! I love that stuff now. I crave the sourness.

I also drink pickle juice, tabasco, siracha, any hot sauce really. I'd lick lemons and limes, MMM!
The best thing was what some of my childhood classmates taught me: half a lemon, with LUCAS candy sprinkled on top. Lick lick lick until there's no more LUCAS, and pour some more!!

 

[zoebartlett]

Gem_anemone, I laughed reading about your grandma because it reminded me of mine. My grandma wasn't exactly the warm and fuzzy type who spent hours showing me how to bake or cook, but she did show me how to make tuna melts in the toaster oven. She showed me with pride in her eyes. Kinda strange...

Freke, scrambled eggs and ketchup is totally normal. Not weird at all.

I forgot, when my mom was little, she used to spread butter on Wonder bread and then put leftover cold spaghetti on top.