What was your childhood diet?

Tea-and-Cake_3

I grew up in the 80's and my diet was a reasonably healthy one with a mixture of homemade and processed foods, my mum worked full time so cooked from scratch (shepherds pie/kedgeree type meals) when she had time and fed us fish fingers, mash and peas type meals when she didn't.

Her mum (my grandmother) fed her a terrible diet post war in the 50's of mostly pie and chips, fish and chips, chicken and chips etc as she (unusually?) worked full time.

My great grandmother raising her 8 children in the 30's fed them porridge for breakfast, jam sandwich for lunch and a soup or stew and potatoes for dinner every night but I think this was probably a very healthy if somewhat boring diet. I am interested in trying to replicate this sort of diet for my family as I spend too much time cooking from scratch but making meals that take too long to prepare with too many separate elements (eg chicken casserole with dumplings and potatoes and a green veg) which means too much time preparing and clearing up the mess! I am time poor as well as cash poor so fancy copying my great grandmothers meal plans.

What was your childhood diet and that of your family going back a few generations????


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sjprmc01

I was born in 76

We used to have pasta/rice salad which was pasta/rice with apple, spring onion, tuna, sweetcorn, wee cubes of cheese, anything else that could be added! I used to drown it in soy sauce or salad cream

When I was really small I loved fish (whiting?) boiled in milk

I remember a lot of sausages and we also used to have bean feast with pasta a lot

Don't really remember so much the meat and 2 x veg thing

bacardi66

I grew up in the 70s - very traditional British food, Shepherds Pie, Toad in the hole, Sunday roasts, sausage and chips etc and things like blancmange and semolina for pudding. We never ate anything like Chinese or Indian food.

When I left home I discovered the delights of food from all over the world and love everything from Japanese to Lebanese.

And Ive never eaten semolina since!

Steve059

I was born in '55, so it was a long time ago.

We were not well off.

I remember oxtail stew in a big pot, with bones in it that looked as if they'd come from a baby diplodocus.

I've also just recalled having fried fish in breadcrumbs for tea. Only posh people had healthy diets or dinner back then.

And roast beef on Sunday, with Two Way Family Favourites and then The Billy Cotton Band Show on the radio.

OP, thank you for these memories.

Pooky

I was born in 73 and my childhood diet was very basic. Lots of potato based meals (didn't try pasta until I was 13 or rice until I was 15) sausage and mash, cottage pie, jacket spuds, egg and chips etc. very plain, home cooked food. My grandad grew loads of veg and salad so salads featured highly during the season. Corned beef, salad and a scoop of mash (always served via the ice cream scoop) seemed to be a constant meal. I hated it so maybe that's why I remember it?

Breakfast was always toast for me but parents had cereal (I detest cereal) and lunch was a marmite or sandwich spread sandwich and a tomato cut in half. We had one pack of crisps a week and occasionally a penguin biscuit....oh the joy that day was.

Sunday was called a roast but it was roast potatoes, sometimes a joint of meat but most of the time a chop or sausages with veg. In the winter there was always a never ending stew pot on the go, it seemed to last all week and again I hated it but it was warm and filled your belly.

Sunday night was cheese on toast, my favourite night of the week. Birthday parties were sandwiches, home made cakes and crisps.

The variety of foods was very limited, as was my parents budget but we grew up happy, healthy children. My parents still eat this way and are active, healthy pensioners. I went on to love pasta and spices and sauces and variety and im sure my weight has suffered because of it.

Last year I made a risotto and asked Mum and Dad to try it, they had a teaspoon each, both tried it, said yes, very nice. I asked if Mum had tried to make it or if they'd had it since and she said, no, we don't need any new fancy foods in our diet.

seabright

Born in 1970. I remember a lot of mince. Runny, brown mince. It was awful.

Sometimes we'd have meat loaf. Made with mince.

SailorSam

We use to live with my Nan when i was little, she did some part-time work off and on but most of the time was at home. She cooked proper meals, good old fashioned English food, and we'd have scones and apple pies with custard. After we got our own flat my Mum was always working full time, we probably had lots of chips and eggs and stuff out of tins and packets, being a single parent i suppose we were poor and couldn't afford lots of things.

anniemf2508

I was born in 1978.
There was a lot of meat and 2 veg meals.
Sunday lunch was always a roast, sunday tea was a buffet...sandwiches, pickled onions, prawn cocktail made with prawns out of a can.

Monday would be left overs.
Then the rest of the week would probably be a stew and dumplings,shepherds pie,pork chops.
Saturday dinner was usually some kind of convenience food...crispy pancakes, turkey drummers etc and chips.

We rarely had take aways and if we did it was fish and chips.
The occasional time we'd have KFC would be if Mum was ill and Dad couldn't cook.

My mums cooking was good hearty food but it was very bland.
I never knew you could grill pork chops before i left home...mum always did them in the oven in gravy, so the fat was still floppy.

thehappybutterfly

I was born in 1969 and can't actually remember eating meals as mealtimes were so traumatic for us kids

The only two things I vividly remenber were white puddings in a 'plastic' skin and mouldy pizzas bought from a man in a pub

bargain_hunter_2

We had terrible food growing up ! My mum was on her own with 4 kids, and worked full time - we got processed food most of the time - anything from crispy pancakes (yeuch) to any kind of shop bought pie, to egg and chips (deep fried !). Don't remember much hm food at all - Sunday dinner was generally chicken or chops, with steamed pudding (tinned) for dessert. Times were hard -I never experimented with food til I married -even now there's something's I cannot eat (aforementioned c.pancakes, tinned ham to name but a few). Not blaming my mum, she tried her best and worked very hard to keep food on the table and clothes on our back, we were clean, and fed , a lot of families in our area were in the same boat. She still has trouble trying 'new' hm food at mine :rotfl: I had to coax her to try hm lasagne one day! I think we're all more aware of what we're eating -I make most things from scratch and try to batch cook for freezer for ready meals.

thehappybutterfly

Oh, and bacon steaks cremated for 8 hours in the slow cooker :eek: