Favorite meals as a kid?

[sellersm]

School lunches? Mine came in a paper sack from my locker! Tuna fish in the winter, PB&J in the warmer months (which aren't very many in NY). It wasn't until I was much older that I found out that stew wasn't supposed to be mostly water and vegetables... My fav thing my Mom cooked was her pumpkin pie: it was made like custard (on the stove) and not baked. I still don't like baked pumpkin pie.

[Monky]

My mother was terrible in the kitchen.. still is to this day. Most of the food I had growing up was from Schwans. Pizza and corn dogs.

[theGinsue]

My moms goulash (which I can make almost identically), fish & chips and spaghetti. Give my mom a piece of meat (ground beef, pork chop, etc.) and she'd cook it into fine fine rock or piece of leather.

My grandmothers "fried corn" and new potatoes & peas (wish I had the recipes for those).

[TheGrey]

Income in our household while we were growing up was often seasonal, so things were pretty creative. I fondly recall many things being made with tomato soup, as it was $.25/can (or less, with coupons.) Sloppy Joes were a favorite. Any leftover meat could be recycled into chili the following day. We kids would also devour elbow macaroni mixed with a can of tomato soup like it was going out of style. Government/commodity cheese made the BEST grilled cheese sandwiches. Hotdish ranked right up there, too.

[rondog]

Oh man - my mom came from a big Missouri farm family, and they were po'. So she grew up learning how to cook, and do the best possible with what they had to work with. As a young adult, she went to some cooking school and really honed her skills. By the time I came along in '56 she was pretty damn good at it. Dad was an electrical contractor and it took a few years before he was really successful, but mom always had what she needed for the kitchen. To say we had plenty of calories is an understatement! We didn't eat fancy, but we ate well and it was always homemade. No wonder I'm a fat boy.

She made a chicken and dumpling dish with big, fat, thick homemade noodles in it that was to die for! Some simple cabbage, potato and pork stuff in the crockpot that I still dream about. Spaghetti and homemade meatballs and sauce. Her SOS was made with tuna, and just killer. And the cakes, pies and cobblers - jeezus.....

So much, this really brings back some memories.

[blacklabel]

Chicken fried steak and eggs.

[Irving]

Always wanted to try SOS.

[theGinsue]

I forgot "slop". "Slop" was nothing more than tuna casserole, but the sound it made when served onto the plate sounded sort of like "slop", so that's what it got called. My mom made a great tuna casserole.

Hotdish ranked right up there, too.

What's "hotdish"?

[theGinsue]

Always wanted to try SOS.

True, original, SOS was made with chipped beef. Never cared much for that version, but the ground beef version was quite tastey. Easy and cheap enough to make. I'm sure there are recipes all over for it too. Do yourself a favor if you make it, use Texas Toast versus regular bread for the toast under the creamed beef.

[jmg8550]

My mom's meatloaf was awesome. So is her chili. And she also makes the best haggis.