I have a favorite conversation question: What was your most hated meal as a child?
This is a great question for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that you get to witness actual time travel as your interviewee is instantly taken back to his/her childhood dinner table. And the scowl you see next is the exact look they produced the first time they ever laid tastebuds on [blank].
Another interesting fact is that one person’s Despised Dinner always ends up being another’s Most Requested Meal. Take, for example, the Cream Tuna on Toast that donned the large table of my youth. Ours was always flecked with peas and hard-boiled eggs, and my singular focus during the meal was figuring out how to make it look like I had eaten more than I actually had. When discussing this topic with my sisters-in-law a few months ago, Janet revealed that Cream Tuna was the meal she requested on her birthday. (Because apparently she had never heard of pizza.)
As a compliment to my mom, there were not many meals that triggered my scowl reflex. She is a great cook who prepares wonderfully colorful and tasty dishes, but we are not talking about her fajitas right now, nor her Chicken Confetti. We’re talking about those few dishes that called for discreet spits into one’s napkin, and long bathroom visits in hopes that the meal would wrap up and end before one’s return to the table. Neither were very successful, but anything is worth a try, right?
So, without further ado, here’s my top five list of Most Hated Childhood Meals:
1. Cream Tuna on Toast. It was almost palatable when served on fresh biscuits, but even then, it was basically just a great way to ruin a perfectly good biscuit.
2. Milk Toast. For years I believed that this was not an actual meal, but something my parents dreamed up and said was a meal. Bleckt.
3. Liver. I believe we only ate liver once during my childhood, and although I don’t remember anything about it, I am deeply bothered by the fact that I can properly describe it as pasty in texture.
4. Prego Spaghetti Sauce. We bought a case of it once, and I guess we were normally spoiled by home cooked spaghetti sauce, because this stuff was like licking tomato paste off the insoles of my brother’s gym shoes. By the time we reached the last jar, I vowed I would never eat the stuff again. Even when Prego is on sale, I can’t bring myself to buy it.
5. Pot Roast with Roasted Carrots, Potatoes, & Onions. I know, I know. Half of you are in uproar, thinking seriously of never clicking on this site again, but I’m telling you—I hated this meal. I’ve never liked mushy cooked carrots, and I prefer my potatoes mashed or fried. I’ve grown up since then and I can tolerate this meal now. But, in the ten-plus years that I have been living on my own, I have never cooked this meal. Not even once.
Okay, that’s my list. A list I will probably regret writing as soon my mom reads this and feels guilty and apologetic for ever disappointing me as a child. She’s funny that way. But she should know that most nights I was delighted with my dinner, often asking for seconds. Unlike my children who, upon seeing their dinner each night, could only be more devastated if Disneyland burned to the ground and I was holding an empty gasoline can.
So, please tell me—what was your Cream Tuna?
I will be perfectly honest, when I was thinking about the answer to your question, I couldn’t think of one thing I hate that my mom makes. I know she is an amazing cook, but I must have blocked out the things I didn’t like, because I know there were some meals that I refused to eat.
I do remember my brother Alex hating spaghetti. One night my mom made him eat at least three bites (she thought he really did like it). After the first bite, everything he had eaten the entire day came up with the bite of spaghetti. After that, my mom stopped making us eat food that we didn’t like.
What a great post!! I needed to add some comic relief to my endless reading of bankruptcy pleadings, lawyers just are’t as funny as you are. I have to say that just reading the descriptions of your first three most-hated meals I feel compelled to call and thank my mother for never subjecting me to such things. I think my most hated childhood meals include meatloaf, sheperd’s pie and this terrible pork & beans with hamburger concoction that despite my dad’s generous addition of brown sugar is the probably cause of me refusing to ever eat hamburger again (haven’t touched it in 15+ years). I’m sure there was something more specific I hated as a kid but (apologies to your mother) I know I can’t top cream tuna on toast – blech!
Creamed tuna on toast is still one of my favorite comfort foods. I don’t feel apologetic about it. It made me laugh. And I do love milk toast. We haven’t had that for quite a while. Thanks for reminding me. It’s only good with good, heavy Italian style bread or homemade bread. Don’t ever try it with wonder bread. Another comfort food I love is Italian vegies over melted cheese on toast. Again, you have to have good bread to start out with. MMmmm. So easy and almost as good as Thanksgiving dinner without all that fuss.
How about clam chowder???? Where does that rank?
I grew up with 9 kids. We were too poor to ‘hate’ anything my mother made. We knew that we’d better pig out at dinner because there was no such thing as ’snacks’ when I was young. Our house was not full of candy, crackers, and sugared goods unless mom made a batch of cookies. And those would be gone in one day anyway.
The only thing I remember not liking very much was some weird spaghetti thing she used to make. All of the younger kids loved it…not me. It contained ground beef, cream of mushroom soup and tomato soup. That was the sauce. On top of spaghetti. Let’s just say it was the thing I liked the least.
But I’ve gotta say this. My mother is the most awesome cook I have ever known. She’s like the Macgyver of cooking. She could take a crusty piece of bread, some butter, and a jar of old pickles and dream up the most amazing dish on the planet. My wife, who is also a great cook, also acknowledges this fact. And don’t even get me started on her baking skills. That woman makes the most amazing pies and cookies…they just melt in your mouth.
Sorry….I digressed a bit. As soon as my I felt the drool on my hand, it jerked me back to reality.
Orange spaghetti…..blech.
I have to agree with the cream tuna on toast. even if cream tuna on toast tasted good it looks way too much like vomit delicately placed on toast.
I also have to agree with Liver. Orange meat = terrible.
I am not a fan of anything with stewed tomatoes in it. I do love tomatoes though.
I am not a fan of soups with lots of little things in it. Once again it reminds me too much of vomit. I do like some creamy soups.
There is a reason I am the voluptous woman that I am now. I was a great eater as a child. Here are the top 5 things siblings hated, but I loved:
1.) Gluck – It’s really Tuna Casserole but my dad always called it “gluck” because he had missionary companion who would just look at it and say “gluck”. Seriously – I didn’t know until I was 10 that other people had “Tuna Casserole” I thought it’s official name was “Gluck”.
2.) Hot Dog Casserole – Noodles, tomato juice, velveeta cheese, and sliced hot dogs all baked together. I don’t even know where my mom got this recipe. Seriously I wouldn’t even think of putting this concoction together and don’t think I’ve ever made it myself (or had it in over 20 years either.)
3.) Creamed Tuna on toast – Mmmmmm. It made my sister want to throw up. But I loved it’s creamy goodness. True comfort food. I haven’t had it in years and just talking about it makes me want to make it.
4.) Chicken Casserole – Made with torn up bread, chicken, a white sauce, onions and baked.
5.) Cabbage and Meatballs – Technically I think this was once “stuffed cabbage” but my mom just made the meatballs and cooked it in tomato juice and cabbage. Then when it was done she’d thicken the tomato juice stuff and make a gravy that we’d put on mashed potatoes.
The one thing I can thank my mother for is that she didn’t believe in serving us liver (although she and my dad actually liked it.)
Well, I am truly sorry for those of you who can’t appreciate the creamy goodness of Tuna and Gravy (creamed tuna on toast). My mother was a MASTER at this meal. No offense Mom Crowley, but she didn’t poison it with peas & corn & hard boiled eggs (yuck!). She didn’t put any extra stuff in it. It was just white sauce with lots of pepper and tuna. Then we slathered it on toasted bread (yes-wonder bread, but had Grandma Sycamores been invented–oh the joy…).
Unfortunately my children have apparently inherited Aunt Tiffany’s taste buds. A few years ago, I made this and Elizabeth is still scarred from the experience. All we asked of her was 3 measly bites. She insisted that it was making her gag and vomit in her mouth–oh puh-lease! Finally, after an hour she choked it down and I haven’t made it since. It’s so sad..
My worst childhood meal memories all involve nasty vegetables. I hated the fozen veggies my mom bought because they weren’t normal. She bought weird vegetable concoctions called “Broccoli Medely” and “Corn Carnival”. They all had a strange
exotic taste that was truly disgusting. But the all time worst were frozen honey glazed carrots. I used to take a deep breath and fill my mouth full and then mumble that I needed to use the bathroom. I then flushed my mouthful down the toilet and happily returned to the table. I think they were fooled untill the time I pressed my luck and tried excusing myself to the bathroom with my full plate in hand. I told them I just wanted to eat while using the bathroom but they didn’t buy it.
Stew – man I hated stew! The meat and potatoes were ok, but all the rest of it was not. I still don’t eat it unless I’ve got no other options, and then I pick around the carrots and peas.
When I was a missionary I was served a casserole made of sweet potatoes and hot dogs. So weird.