What kind of food...

[pediRN]

did you eat growing up? How/did it influence how you cook?

I had to chuckle at the "rice" thread we had a while back--at those that didn't know about rice and gravy. Almost every meal we had growing up consisted of a meat and rice and gravy. When I moved into an apartment with 2 other girls, they used to make fun of me because they would argue that every meal did NOT have to have rice in it! :o

We also ate alot of fish and seafood. My dad loved to fish so we had a lot of broiled fish, and we always had gulf shrimp or crawfish available. Gumbos, etouffes, creoles, fish stews, etc were common around my house. I was lucky that my mom and my grandmother were great cooks. When I was in high school, I had a few guy friends that loved to show up to Sunday dinner every week for the food! And Dh put on 20 lbs the first year we dated, he blames it on my mom's cooking, lol.:p

I still make alot of the things we had growing up, but I have branched out too. I cook alot of easy mexican dishes and I like to try new stuff.

[Alli~cat]

Meat, starch, 2 veggies, and bread, almost every night. Spaghetti once a week, and an occasional casserole. My dad's fairly picky about seafood and doesn't really like to try new things, so we had our "staples" that we ate. When my mom went back to school, we started eating more frozen/quick dinners, but he sure was glad when she was able to cook again LOL.

And since DH and I were both raised that way, it's pretty much how our kids are being raised.

[Michiana Mom]

The only time we ever had rice was with chop suey (suburban chop suey that is basically crock pot beef stew with soy sauce served over rice - there are no actual Chinese vegetables involved.) It wasn't until I was older that my mother discovered the Lipton rice mixes in the pouch like Noodles and Sauce, so she'd make those once in a while.

No seafood, ever. Not even fish sticks. My mom had an occasional Filet o Fish during Lent and we had tuna salad, but that was it. Her specialty was lasagna, and aside from that it was pretty basic - casseroles, tacos, burgers, pork chops. We also rarely had poultry - she refused to touch raw bird (even though she had no trouble mixing a meatloaf by hand, go figure) and only made one turkey in her entire life (she was heavily medicated at the time, too).

This is why DH does most of the cooking here, too. He grew up with old fashioned southern cooking, but he's branched out. Honestly, he is an amazing cook (unless it's spaghetti from a jar :p ) and most of what he makes is what he's learned from watching Food Network, not from what he grew up with. The little bit that I do is the same, though I bake more than cook. There are a few things I make that he likes and thinks I do better, but it pains him to say it.

[katieboosmama]

Southern country, Meat Veggie starch and bread every night, sometimes rice and gravy, others mashed potatos.

[Admin Irock]

My mother is 100% Chech, and my dad is a farm boy. She became a health nut, and he'd eat anything put in front of him.

Not a fun gastronomical youth.

Meat, starch, salad, veggies. Every single night. Fish a lot as the meat. Homemade bread that would never rise correctly, so full of whole wheat, still now, the smell of 100% whole wheat makes me vomit slightly in my mouth. She used oils and butter and salt so minimally, nothing had taste. I took 10 vitamins before school each morning, was burping garlic pills by 3rd period, I often wonder how I got boyfriends.;)

What did I take away from all this? Knowledge. I know a meal cooked from scratch is easy, and so much better for you. BUT......I have a picky husband, so have modified. I've learned it's OK to have a salt shaker on your table.:p

My dad doesn't like spice at all, I was in my 20's before I realized that something can be spicy and not necessarily HOT. Oh, and I was about that old before I ever saw a steak medium rare, not everyone cooks them til they curl!

[girlysoxfan]

My mom was not a good cook, nor did she ever plan ahead & most dinners were chicken & an over cooked vegetable & white bread w/ butter. She just didn't have it in her...still, today she can't get 2 things hot at the same time. So, my style is to do opposite of what she did ;*)

[fula97]

My mom is an ok cook. She has about 15 dishes she is really good at. My dad was a better cook. We never ate processed food growing up and I still don't nor did we drink sodas and sugary drinks which I rarely do now and don't stockpile it in my house. But we had a least 2 veggies a night limited starch and a protein, and we purchased fresh fish, meat, veggies which I continue to do

I do have a weakness for sugary cereal though. I used to eat it at my cousins house and I love the stuff. At home every morning M-F it was some type of hot cereal and sat we got to eat cold cereal on Sat (shredded wheat, rice krispies or corn flakes :p ). I rarely buy sugary cereal cause i will eat it everyday.

My dad is Nigerian so rice was included most nights even if he was the only one who ate it. My family has a diverse set of friends so we ate a ton of foods growing up from various cultures which I continue to do and I can cook a lot of different types of food.

[qdmom]

We had meat, starch, veggies and home-canned fruit for dessert growing up.
We usually have meat and starch or salad or vege. It's a really good night if we have at least 3 different food groups on the plate and a down right feast if there's 4.
We had hash and cornbread for supper tonight - that's only 2 things - very typical for me.

[Renyg11]

My mom is pure Norwegian, and thinks pepper is a spice. She wasn't a bad cook, just not spicy. She usually made a simple meat (meatloaf), spuds, a veggie and salad. My mom makes the best cheesecake in the entire world. I'll share the recipe if anyone wants it.

My dad is pure Italian and grew up in a community where everyone was either Italian or Mexican. My dad sent my sister and I to his mothers each summer as teenagers to learn how to cook.

My dad has an uncanny ability to know when I've made a lasagna and has about a 90% accuracy rate of just showing up for dinner that night.

Going to my parents house for dinner is always interesting, you never know who will cook. It could be potato sausage and boiled potatoes or italian sausage and pasta.

[Admin Jorelanu]

My Mom would get into cooking "ruts" where she'd serve the same thing or small group of things over and over and over.

At one point she served turkey ham at least 5 nights a week and lunch was turkey ham sandwiches and half an apple. I didn't eat ham for nearly 10 years after I moved out.

My mom always had a main dish and a veggie for dinner at least and 99.9% of the time, the veggie was frozen mixed vegetables heated in the microwave. YUCK

Needless to say, we eat quite differently than I did growing up. We eat mostly fresh vegetables, never have the same meal more than 2x in any given week. Ham and frozen mixed veggies might appear 1x a YEAR around here.

My mom is now in her biggest rut ever, she serves grilled chicken twice a day, 365 days a year.

Jore

[ILuvMoni]

We had Mexican food 97% of the time....lots of rice,& beans.

[fula97]

My mom is now in her biggest rut ever, she serves grilled chicken twice a day, 365 days a year.

Jore
I would shoot myself :)

[Admin Jorelanu]

Same here...

I don't particularly like to go visit because of the severe lack of food options.

Jore

[SavinSheila]

My mom's a very good cook but not a gourmet. We had lots of fried chicken, chicken fried steak, cream gravy, mashed potatos and homemade french fries. These items are more of a treat now days. She makes simple foods but everything is done from scratch. If she makes nachos she makes her own tortillas and refried beans(not can.) She makes homemade flour tortillas to make chicken enchiladas to die for.

When I left home I cooked a lot from recipes and had more variety then when I was growing up. Even though we did not have as much variety at home they let us order and try new foods at restaurants. As children they allowed us to order Lobster, steaks, escargot, oysters, and foods that were not found on the typical Texans menu 40 years ago.

[MomMeg]

My mom is a great cook. She really cooks some of everything. We had roasts, spagetti, pork dishes, chicken casseroles etc. She also made sure everything was balanced. We always had to try stuff and had to have "no thank you" helpings if we didn't like something. I really didn't want to learn how to cook growing up so I didn't spend time learning from her. I would bake stuff just not cook. When I left home, I regretted it!! I figured if I could read a recipe I could cook - not quite. I still struggle.

When my mom came to my house to help after DS was born, she was shocked by the meat I kept on hand - ground beef and chicken breasts - that was it. She really didn't know what to do with ground beef other than spagetti sauce but she couldn't do that because she makes SERIOUS spagetti sauce that takes an entire day to cook and involves sausage too.

My dad was a pretty good cook too. When he retired, he began doing most of the cooking for he and my stepmom. He was a great griller too!! He was a better cook than my stepmom!!

Megan

[Admin Randy's Wife]

My Mom, Grandma (lived with us), Dad and Step Mom are all excellent cooks! So, that definitely influenced me - I love to cook, we all love to cook as a family and we LOVE food! :D

Dad and SM always made omelets, the best pancakes, homemade pastas, baked goodies...yum!

Mom always made things like king ranch chicken, roasts, smothered pork chops, chicken fried steak...soooo good, all of it!

Grandma always made sure our meals were balanced, had to have a GREEN veggie at every meal. She made lots of casseroles - tuna casserole, goulash and meatloaf.

One thing I had growing up that I do not and will never do in my home....was every week was planned and we knew what we were having every night. Monday was leftovers, Tuesday was tuna casserole, Wednesday was sandwich night, Thursday was wild card night, lol -, Friday was take out or fast food, Sat and Sun Mom cooked. I just hated not having any variety really and knowing what to expect every night. Life is too short to eat the same thing week after week, so that is why I change things up all the time at my house and am constantly trying new recipes.

[rosefall]

The staples that come to mind from growing up is fried cubed steak, macaroni and cheese, boiled shrimp, baked "fried" chicken, lots of beef, lots of canned vegetables, taco bar nights, spaghetti that she would make special sauce for me without meat. :) We generally had meat, corn or potatoes, a canned vegetable and salad.

She's a good cook, but what we ate growing up isn't what I prefer to eat now, and actually she's branched out a lot since I've left home (which is something she complained that her mom did, lol).

The only thing that irritated me about her cooking was that every day she would ask, "what do you want for dinner tonight?", and she still does when we're there unless she has something big planned. I try really hard not to ask DH, but to just make something. I'm working really hard at trying to make a weekly meal plan, but lists just aren't me.

Funny enough, when I was pregnant I actually bought Bisquick for the first time to make her baked "fried" chicken.

[Admin jengirl]

My mom is a very good cook, but pretty simple. We ate lots of casseroles, a roast or two and lots of chicken dishes with a ground beef night thrown in there every once in awhile. We'd always have a veggie side and everyone would get their own little bowl for salad. No milk or pop with dinner, just water.

Still, everything tastes better to me when Mom makes it!

[Lucy]

Southern country.Meat, starch,veggie, bread. Beans and cornbread, spaghetti, cubed steak, tuna casserole, salmon cakes, liver and onions, burgers, homemade fries, chicken and noodles, fried chicken, roast, etc. My mom was a great cook.

My one complaint is all meat was VERY well done and most never touched the bottom of a pan because everything was fried in grease. We certainly always had a grease jar.

I still cook a lot of the same things but healthier versions and we eat a lot more rice and stir fry things I did not grow up eating.

[katfam]

It is funny, because some of it I've embraced and others I've completely tossed out the window.

I embraced cooking from scratch and making nice, meals for my family. My mother is a fabulous cook, but she tends to stick to standards and always a potato and a veggie.

My dad will eat a few veggies, and my mom can't really eat them, due to a digestive disorder, so while we did eat them, there wasn't much variety. I serve way more vegetable varieties in my home. We also had big, nasty, brown, potatoes just about every night. They were either baked or mashed. I only rarely buy red pototes and roast them. We never had salad, so I considered that a huge treat if we went to a restaurant. If we had pasta, it was with spaghetti sauce. It was never anything fancier than that.

We're all picky eaters...me especially. I think it has a lot to do with how we were fed and how there was no dissent allowed. It makes my mother crazy, because I have done things differently and my kids are the least picky eaters you'll ever meet. She HATES to admit that I am right.

[bellaboodaisy]

We ate most of our meals at my grandparent's house. Grandma was from Sicily & Grandpa from San Marino.

Most meals consisted of antipasti, some sort of homemade pasta (ravioli, gnocchi, fettuccine, etc), roasted veggies from the garden outside, homemade bread, a roasted meat (rabbit, chicken, duck, beef, etc) or some sort of seafood like clams or mussels and dessert was grandma's cookies and or fresh peaches from the tree outside dipped in grandpa's red wine made in the basement cellar. There was always a huge spread.

When my mom cooked it was more simple. She had about 10 dishes she rotated. She always included frozen mixed veggies and a potato.

I make a lot of the food I had growing up. We also make a lot of other ethnic foods at home. We like a variety & want to teach our kids to broaden their horizons.

[meramr]

My mom was a great cook and loved to experiment. She did keep things fairly basic most of the time though (probably because I am picky). We always had a meat, starch, corn, veggie, and buttered white bread.

The only pasta we had was spaghetti with meat sauce or lasagna, nothing fancy. We would have some taco nights or breakfast-for-dinner thrown in here and there too. Stepdad loved to grill out so we had steak (always medium rare...love it!), grilled chicken, etc. She made fish occassionally too, depending on SD's success on the boat :), but I'm sure I had a ham sandwich those days.

We rarely, if ever, had rice or beans. It is more or less the way DH ate growing up so it is the way we eat now, except he loves black beans and rice so he gets that every now and then. And I eat something else. :o

[Shea]

I ate a lot of "basic" things...Tacos, Spaghetti, Burgers, Steak & Baked Potato...also CrockPot stuff. That's mostly how I cook now. I can't acquire a taste for much else, but I do try to branch out a little.

I'd never heard of rice & gravy til this message board! So I tried it, and I don't like it. I do like plain, seasoned rice by itself...or with fish.

[kellilvn]

My mom made up weekly menus, but usually it was from a set choice of 20-30 different things. She was a SAHM until my youngest brother started school. Then she went to work as a medical assistant, and we started to get more hambuger helper type meals and sometimes my dad would make dinner. When we got older once a week it was one of the kids turn to make dinner....I was always the adventurous one, wanting to try new recipes....my brothers they were usually doing hamburgers or something easy. I still am one to try out new recipes (maybe 1 or 2 a month) and cook the same...meat, starch, veggie. I do have to say I have to use the same spaghetti sauce I grew up with when we have spaghetti....Ragu Traditional meat flavored, it just isn't spaghetti with any other sauce. Hubby's idea of cooking is hot dogs in the microwave or maybe sloppy joes. His parents were both teachers and he says he grew up having a lot of fast food for dinner.

[Gail & LaVan]

My parents are both good cookes and growing up my brothers and I had to try what was on the table. You couldn't just say you didn't like something without trying it first. When dad was active military, we lived all over the place and we tried lots of different foods. I still love trying new things and seek them out. My list of don't likes are short while my likes are long..lol.

[Magwart]

My mom's diet and cooking changed around 1980. She stopped frying food. She got into the low-fat movement in the 80s and never looked back. I grew up thinking skim milk, low-fat mayo, and frozen yogurt instead of ice cream were the "normal" versions of those foods. When she needed fat to cook with, she used olive oil. I figure she saved me about ten years of artery-clogging sat-fat build up in my heart. She and I often laugh about news articles now that are telling people to do things she started doing thirty years ago. Turns out she was a smart cookie.

[STACEY IN CALIF]

We grew up similar to Kari in that we had the same meals over and over~pork chops, spaghetti, lasanga, tacos, burgers, roast, and meatloaf. My dad didn't like seafood or chicken and most of us didn't either. Our sides were always bread, potatoes, broccoli, salad, peas and green beans.

My mom made the best spaghetti and lasanga, but cannot remember her own recipes. My friends loved to come over after school for these.

I am a completely different cook. Except we didn't grow up eating casseroles and I don't make them now. We eat four of those meals on a monthly basis. I'm a huge fan of stir-fry, which we never did. Plus, dh is mexican, so I've put that into our menus. I am not one who can throw things together. I must have a recipe. In fact, right now, I have 10 dinners planned and they are all from recipes.

Growing up I never wanted to cook. Then I moved out and wished I learned. We eat chicken the most. I'm not a huge fan. But, most of the time it's meat, salad and veggie. We eat so much chicken at home that I will always have beef in a restaurant.