Anyone want a FOOD CHAT

[Cheerypeabrain]

Well my parents weren't very well off, they had 6 children to feed and only one wage coming in. We weren't allowed to help ourselves to anything either...however I seem to remember eating vast quantities of chocolate-spread sandwiches (ew) as a nipper...no wonder I'm a fatty now! The only cooked meal of the week I remember is the Sunday roast which was almost always chicken...I only had the veg as apparently I wouldn't eat meat as a child...I think I ate meat for the first time at about 14...

I am dreadfully fussy...maybe it's now a food-phobia it's been going on for such a long time. I'll eat chopped mushrooms and tomatoes IN other stuff like bolognase, stews and curries BUT I've never eaten either 'on their own'....I grow tomatoes but at 50 years old I've never been able to bring myself to bite into one! I just can't do it...(shudder)....I don't eat lamb, or roast pork (but do eat bacon) and I'm allergic to shelfish...nothing could induce me to eat kidney or brawn....and don't like smoked salmon, baked beans or marmite........BUT as I do the shopping and the cooking...none of this is a problem, I just cook it for OH and leave it out of mine ;D

[Deleted]

Reading this thread has reminded me of my childhood meals - with lived with my maternal grandparents, my mother worked full time as she divorced my father when I was only 2
My Grandfather grew loads of fruit and veg, and fortunately one of my Uncles was a butcher and another was a baker
We used to have dinner at lunch time every day - roast on Sunday, cold left over roast with bubble and squeak on Monday which was wash day, stew and dumplings on Tuesday, chops on Wednesday, can't remember what was on the menu for Thursday, fish on Friday and I can't remember what Saturday's meal would be. We always had home made puddings too. Never had rice (other than as a pudding), curry or pasta - meat and 2 veg was served up for every meal

But my mother was horrid to me - if I didn't eat all of my dinner she would bring it out at tea time, warmed up over a pan of boiling water, if I refused to eat it I would have to go to bed hungry and believe it or not she would try to make me eat it for my breakfast!!! I hated my mother for doing that and I still don't like her to this day

[Chuckles]

rita said:

But my mother was horrid to me - if I didn't eat all of my dinner she would bring it out at tea time, warmed up over a pan of boiling water, if I refused to eat it I would have to go to bed hungry and believe it or not she would try to make me eat it for my breakfast!!! I hated my mother for doing that and I still don't like her to this day

Your story had me in stitches Rita. I have a mates twins staying this week (11yr old girls). Yesterday I did our usual Veg Bake, I use everything left over from the weekend. Pre cook veg...Cauli, Broc, carrots, parsnips. Fry off red, yellow and green peppers and mushrooms. Fry chopped up bacon until really crispy. Layer it all in a deep dish, cover with cheese sauce, top with mash and a little grated cheese. Bake in oven. Well, because everything was all in one dish they picked and messed with it and hardly ate any of it, despite the fact that they eat all these things normally. I was really mean and punishment was they only got half of the giant cookie OH got them on way home from school, I ate the other, you should of seen there faces. ;D ;D

[Plocket]

rita said:

But my mother was horrid to me - if I didn't eat all of my dinner she would bring it out at tea time, warmed up over a pan of boiling water, if I refused to eat it I would have to go to bed hungry and believe it or not she would try to make me eat it for my breakfast!!! I hated my mother for doing that and I still don't like her to this day

My mum used to do the same with me and I've promised to NEVER do it to LP.

[Plocket]

greety said:

I was really mean and punishment was they only got half of the giant cookie OH got them on way home from school, I ate the other two halves, you should of seen there faces. ;D ;D

Now that IS mean!!!!! ;D

[Chuckles]

plocket said:

greety said:

I was really mean and punishment was they only got half of the giant cookie OH got them on way home from school, I ate the other two halves, you should of seen there faces. ;D ;D

Now that IS mean!!!!! ;D

But I ate all my tea so deserved a whole cookie they were those big chocolate ones that Tesco do ;D

[sweetleaf]

Serving warmed through food is REALLY bad! Think of the bacteria that would have had time to build huge colonies....... :oI think it was common practice back in the day, but thankfully no more, since we are more educated about food hygeine.
If a child doesnt like a particular food I always wait and try again some time later, no good making an issue out of it. Frequently as they grow older, their tastes change. My son however, will never eat carrots as my ex made him choke them down age 7, and now he has panicky, sicky feelings on sight of them!
Daughter would clamp her lips together and refuse to eat even blended beans or sweetcorn,at weaning, and still wont eat them 17 years later, so the plan doesnt always work!

[toonia]

It wasn't considered bad then sweetleaf, more a case of necessity and a less wasteful attitude. Most of the food was cooked from fresh and unprocessed. My dad worked shifts so my mum heated his meals for him over boiling water and it did get really hot -hot enough to kill off any bacteria.
The danger comes from reheated poultry, dairy products and processed foods like meat pies.

[Dr Bill]

greety said:

.Well, because everything was all in one dish they picked and messed with it and hardly ate any of it, despite the fact that they eat all these things normally. .

Sounds like my mother. She won't eat any "mixed up stuff". If we have jacket potato and cheese (now I'm getting hungry) the cheese has to be separate from the potato.

Mind you, she won't eat anything remotely out of the ordinary. Nothing spicy, garlic is the root of all evil, mayonnaise, anything in a tomato sauce (although she loves tomatoes!), parsnips (unless they are in a stew). Inviting her to a dinner party is a nightmare.

Bless her

[piggingardener]

Children were also much healthier then - asthma was a rarity, now it's an epidemic. Perhaps we have gone too far the other way as far as hygiene is concerned, after all, if we kill 99% of all household germs, we won't build up any defenses against them.

Just a thought...

[sweetleaf]

Too right, Piggin! I have always maintained that a childs immune system needs the odd "challenge" to become strong... its true that farm children are the healthiest, where parents are more interested in good nutrition, than excessive cleanliness.

My problem with reheating food was with serving it up at several consecutive meals if it remains uneaten

[Dr Bill]

sweetleaf said:

Too right, Piggin! I have always maintained that a childs immune system needs the odd "challenge" to become strong... its true that farm children are the healthiest, where parents are more interested in good nutrition, than excessive cleanliness

I don't think there is anything wrong with reheating food which is a day old as long as it is heated properly - piping hot right through. I think many things are improved by a day or so resting to amalgamate the flavours - stews and casseroles particularly

[Plocket]

lottielady said:

plocket said:

I still want to know where LL moors her ship!!!

Plocket its not mine its Mr Lotties - and he told me NEVER EVER ask where he keeps his ship!

LL x

You don't have to ASK him! Doesn't he trust you enough to tell you??

[piggingardener]

I think many things are improved by a day or so resting to amalgamate the flavours - stews and casseroles particularly

Couldn't agree more Dr Bill. I often make a double batch of lamb stew, or veg soup in the winter if we're trying to get things done in the garden, and it always tastes better the next day.

[Plocket]

greety said:

plocket said:

Now that IS mean!!!!! ;D

But I ate all my tea so deserved a whole cookie they were those big chocolate ones that Tesco do ;D

I bet you put them off deliberately then!!!

[Deleted]

Oh, this all sounds so familiar - but I don't think it was rationing, my mum had the same 'never EVER waste food' attitude and she grew up without rationing. Just that, wherever our parents grew up, food was expensive relative to income. Thank heavens, I was never forced to eat anything I don't like (probably because I like most food, except fat), but leftovers were always re-used, cheese rinds melted down as a topping etc.

One thing about that time, I don't remember anyone I knew having food allergies - now they seem to be awfully common. Was that simply because we didn't really know about them, or just because the diet was generally healthier - fewer additives etc.? ... cheers ...

[Deleted]

Well I didn't suffer from having meals reheated over a pan of boiling water -

I never served up unfinished meals to my daughter, and never used denying food as a punishment either e.g. "you can't do whatever, unless you eat all your dinner". My concern was that if I did do that it could have lead on to Anorexia or Bulimia

[lottielady]

plocket said:

lottielady said:

Plocket its not mine its Mr Lotties - and he told me NEVER EVER ask where he keeps his ship!

LL x

You don't have to ASK him! Doesn't he trust you enough to tell you??

There are some things a pirate HAS to keep to himself ! And please don't ask about his Jolly Roger either!

LLx

[Plocket]

Really?? So you don't know about the hidden treasure then? And don't worry I wouldn't dream about asking about his Jolly Roger!!!

[lottielady]

plocket said:

Really?? So you don't know about the hidden treasure then? And don't worry I wouldn't dream about asking about his Jolly Roger!!!

I know all about the hidden treasure - it's mine for the taking

LL x

[rhodadendron]

Earlier in the thread Rita? said that they had dinner at lunch time. I also had dinner (usually meat and two veg type thing plus dessert) for the midday meal. THis was partly because my father worked near to where we lived and came home at "dinner time". When I went to grammar school this meant that instead of having school dinners I had a 3 mile bus journey and half mile walk(each way) to get home, eat and then get back for afternoon lessons. At the time I was pleased I didn't have to endure school meals but with hindsight the effect of this was to prevent me from bonding with the other girls and leave me sleepy (from eating) in the afternoons. I always wondered if this helped stop me from achieving my full potential. Another unwanted side effect was that on Fridays we always had home-cooked battered fish and chips probably followed by steamed pudding and custard. One Friday afternoon complaining that I stank of fish the other girls in the class chucked a bottle of lavender water over me to kill the smell!

[toonia]

Going off at a slight tangent, what do you call meals now? Do you have pudding, sweet or dessert? My builder calls his butties his "dinner" and dinner is at lunchtime on Corrie too. We always talk about school dinners and never lunches! Our main meal of the day was always "tea" and my OH thinks he has "supper" which sounds very posh to me!
Reading this back, butties is another word like crumpet/pikelet! I suppose, being a Londoner by birth I should say "sarnie"!

[anneliesje]

Hi,

I've been reading some of the messages, not all yet, but that will come! And of course this brought back childhood memories <magic>

Both my parents lived through WW2, but nothing had a result on their eating habits. BUT my grandmother had 2 world wars to get through and she was the one! She lived with us and as mum and dad both worked full time, she took care of me. She was 71 years older than me I'm her youngest grandchild. (the spoiled one)
When I was very small she made me eat raw eggs to get strong! I remember this vividly YUK! I haven't eaten eggs from when I was 4 till I was 14 I think as a result of this.
For lunch she cooked very thin beef (she ate it raw...) more than well done with onions and potatoes. The beef I gathered in one side of my mouth till I had to go back to school and there I spit it out.
We also had our fixed menu in the evening, the potatoes were mostly full of grit as she poured the cooking water over the weeds and sometimes she poured the potatoes too
Monday I don't remember, tuesday carrots + peas, wednesday mussels in the season, herring in the other season, thursday spinach or something else green, friday french fries or fried potatoes, saturday my mum cookec, sunday cauliflower with white sauce and fruit salad inclusive gin afterwards ;D

When I was 15 I went to boarding school, where the food was truly horrible and where Soeur Isabelle watched over us to see if we ate everything and she insisted that we used even knife and fork to eat an apple. I had the strangest combinations there and some I still like .

I still love to eat! but NO raw eggs please!

[obelixx]

Hi Toonia - we breakfast, lunch and dine in English and have supper if we have been out late and need a snack before bed. In Belgian French we déjeune, dîne and soupe with optional 10 heures or collation mid morning and goûter straight after school. This gets me in trouble in Paris when I ask for a table for dîner at midday and am pityingly corrected to "déjeuner".

I have a northern tendency to bacon butties. Sarnies is such an ugly word. Sandwiches means something different in Belgian French. It's the special bread roll which you fill as opposed to tartines which are made with sliced bread.

[Chuckles]

Thought I'd drag this Food Gen Chat thread out of the back of beyond.

What does any of you guys with kids think of the Hovis launch of bread with invisible crusts. There certainly seizing a marketing opportunity.

I think kids not eating crusts is possibly something they grow out of and Hovis may be setting a wrong standard. Not sure as I'm not a mum, wondered what you guys with kids thought

[sleepysunday]

Bread without crusts? We'll have a nation of kids without curly hair!!!

[Chuckles]

It's true I saw the Ad on TV last night, not sure how long it's been on the mkt though.

[sweetleaf]

My kids compete for the endcrusts (the heel they call it)
....makes the best bit of toast ever!

[Plocket]

LP doesn't eat crusts but sometimes I tell her just to eat them and she doesn't fuss. I hope it's something she'll grow out of because I hate the waste!! We rarely buy pre-packed bread as I prefer fresh bread from the baker or home-made bread so I don't think this new gimic will be for us.

[Dr Bill]

sweetleaf said:

My kids compete for the endcrusts (the heel they call it)
....makes the best bit of toast ever!

Certainly does - great with beans on!