Boomers: back in the day, what food did you parents rely on (canned, boxed, etc.) (grandparent, engage)
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I had wine with dinner from the time I was 6 or 7, well to be fair it was water with a tiny bit of wine in it lol but that was my dad's way of introducing wine without making it something to get drunk on. I still drink wine with my dinner (without watering it down of course) old habits die hard. At about the same age we quit drinking milk with our meals, one of my parents decided it was for infants and baby calves and we only had it on cereal. Yes, I had strange parents but strange in a good way I think.
They did and I'm not sure where they got some of their "theories", but I will never forget the day my paternal grandmother taught me why we only eat butter never margarine. I think I was 4 or 5. She started out by telling me that we 'burn the food we eat' to turn it into energy. Then she got out two frying pans she put margarine in one and butter in the other turned the heat up and told me to watch the pans. I did and commented that the butter burned but the margarine didn't. She said 'exactly right, so which one do you want to put in your body'? I have never bought margarine or used it since then and that was a very, very long time ago.
When I was in middle school, my dad wanted to bring in something where we could get soft drinks from the refrigerator. He was a fan of Coke and all of us kids thought that it would be the coolest. Kind of like a dispenser. (My dad was always into the newest thing out there).
However, my mother - only this once - bought a bottle of Coke. She put a glass on the counter and told us to check in the morning. She put a nail in the glass and poured Coke over it.
In the morning, we came out. The glass was still there. She had a note. The nail is rusty. That will be your stomach. No Coke; none of this soft drink stuff in the house.
The only soft drink I ever remember being there after that was Ginger Ale.
My first visit to Burger King was my junior year of HS and I got in trouble for that. Fast food was a huge no-no and both parents felt the same. They thought it was garbage.
I was well into my 20's and I ran in my mother while grocery shopping. I had a frozen dinner in my cart - it was Scrod - and she threw a fit. Made me go put it back and told me to come over any night for dinner so she knew I was eating OK.
When I had my kids, I had this wonderful woman (grandma for hire) taking care of them. She had worked at Stouffers so I got away with buying the Stouffers Mac N Cheese and a couple of others but that was it.
I will say that my 2 children - now adults - are amazing eaters and cooks - both of them. They love just about everything, very health conscious, read labels and all that.
Oh my gosh, some of those Jello salad concoctions were the worst. I could deal with the canned fruit. But those "salads" with the lime Jello, cottage cheese, Green Goddess salad dressing, mayo and who knows what all else were an absolute horror.
My mom worked full time, but Dad still expected a meat & potatoes meal almost every night. One of the lunches that came from a can was Campbell’s tomato soup. I think it was 10 cents a can. And if it cost more, she wouldn’t buy it. The last time I had tomato soup was when she gave it to me as a kid. I’ve never been able to ever think about it since. It would have to be one of the last things on earth.
My great aunt Ruth used to feed tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches to my cousin and me. My great uncle had a "Trading Post" -- literally a huge wooden building that contained everything you might ever want. Aunt Ruth worked there, and my mom would dump me there during the summer for the free babysitting, while she went off to do who-knew-what.
Great uncle Elmer got his stock by doing house cleanouts. He'd take his finds back to the trading post and the itinerant fruit pickers would buy from him.
I had dinner with them from time to time but I don't remember what we ate. It was certain to be cheap and filling, though.
Oh my gosh, some of those Jello salad concoctions were the worst. I could deal with the canned fruit. But those "salads" with the lime Jello, cottage cheese, Green Goddess salad dressing, mayo and who knows what all else were an absolute horror.
Oh geez, I had pushed those gawdawful things out of my mind. Thanks SO much for bringing back those memories. My mother's favorite was green jello with a can of veg-all suspended in it. Served -- of course -- with a big dollop of mayo on top. She also made a foamy salad with green jello, cucumbers, mayo, and it tasted like probably some vinegar as well. That wasn't horrible, but not exactly as healthy as a "salad" should be IMHO.
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Wow, I loved that comparison....
