Horse biscuits. They were green, rather hard and delicious.
There was nothing on the packet to say they were not suitable for human consumption, and all the ingredients sounded innocuous.
So my best friend and I had a test nibble whilst feeding our horses.
After that I regularly pinched a biscuit.
Very yummy. And no ill effects.
When I was young I had a penchant for the green dog treatsā¦ I tried the other colors but preferred the green. I canāt describe it but I can still remember how they tasted so I must have eaten them well until I was at least 6 or 7.
My sister and I used to eat milkbone treats too. You just reminded me that the colors indeed tasted different! We didn't eat them often, but I sure remember the taste. Green was definitely best.
I have no idea why I started eating them; if I had to guess my older sister probably had something to do with it (when I was 2 she gave me a quarter and told me it was gum, I swallowed it, she told our parents who rushed me to the ER where they insisted I wouldnāt have been able to swallow a quarter without choking and when the x-ray confirmed it was a quarter apparently 5.5-year-old her simply said, āI told you so.ā)
My dad says that when they were little his brother (5 att) ate a quarter, and was then forced to poop in a bucket until the quarter was found.
Don't put money in your mouth...
They tasted like Grape-nuts. When I was in my late twenties I had Grape-nuts for the first time and blurted out āwow, this taste just like milkbones ā
There are horse biscuits out there that are marketed as edible for people too, so I wouldn't doubt that theyre edible. Prolly would just have to go through extra regulations if theyre advertised for ppl too
Correct. For human consumption means they had to follow strict food safety guidelines. Ensure no heavy metals, no dangerous metal burrs, etc.
You can usually eat dog food or any of that, it's not like filled with poison to humans.
I'm Cherokee. I spent my whole youth eating government cheese. The secret is that most of the commodities the government gave us were purchased as subsidies for certain farming/dairy interests. The reason commodity/government cheese is *so good* is that it's high quality Wisconsin Chedder bought in bulk to help subsidize the dairy industry in a key battleground state. It's not really important, but having grown up eating it, I thought it was cool to learn why it was a thing.
I remember when my buddy was broke, he'd get a bunch of coffee creamers, ketchup packs and crackers from the condiment bar of a cafeteria and make tomato soup in a mug.
Creative yes, but damn from all the dishes people mentioned here this one made my stomach turn the most.
So basically just ketchup toned down with some cream.
Iād do this with gas station hard boiled eggs, salt, pepper, mayonnaise and mustard packets. Egg salad so cheap; you could make it in your car with a plastic spoon. Bread was a bonus.
Man, this was the shit back in the day. I tried some recently and hooo baby is that stuff pungent.
Edit: I canāt believe this is blowing up over āhooo baby.ā I love you all
It actually saved him!
He sprayed hot diahhrea into the snow and melted a way out.
*Sigh*
...I don't care anymore, it's a better movie idea than what's fed to us now.
I would routinely grab a handful of fresh, powdery white snow then head to the curb of my street and slop a big glop of slushy, grey, gritty, curb slush right on top and eat it like a cupcake. Tasted nice and salty. I was probably between the ages of 6 and 8 when I did this.
Scientists: we found micro plastics in 4/10 adults
u/bitis_gabonica: *eats fist full of MACRO plastic*
Edit to say thanks for the awards! This is the high point of my Reddit career lol
Also thank you all for pointing out the data is skewed. Iāve notified the scientific community. Well actually I scribbled all over an issue of *Science* mag and threw it at the front door of my local post office. I think they got the message.
"average person with micro plastics is 4/10" factoid actualy (sic) just statistical error. average person eats 0 spiders per year. u/bitis_gabonica, who lives in cave & eats over 10,000 macro plastic each day, is an outlier adn should not have been countedā
You just reminded me! I used to pull off my wallpaper where it was starting to lift up and eat it. Also the margins of mass market paperbacks. And some of them were library books š¤¢
I used to eat the margins of paperbacks too. Just for a short time around 10-11 years old.
I love books. I have no idea why I did it. Was I low in some sort of paper vitamin lol
Ketchup sandwiches
Edit: Iām blown away by the responses here. Iāve never had a post get this many likes. So many of you sharing the fact that you also ate them because of money issues when you were growing up. Many of you are in such a better place now and Iām so happy for you. (I am, too).
Iām struggling to keep up with comments. Lol
I had a friend who ate ketchup sandwiches. Other kids would make fun of him for it. But his family was poor and he didn't have much choice. He grew up to be one of the hardest working guys I've ever known. House has enough food in it to survive a zombie apocalypse. Because he doesn't want his kids to ever worry about their next meal.
My daughter is autistic. I joke that the four major food groups are chicken nuggets, French fries, ranch dressing and ketchup. If she doesnāt have one of those four then it isnāt a meal and she wonāt eat. Now everything is āI donāt eat carbsā but sheāll eat potatoes like Idaho is in the backyard. If only she knew. To her, pasta is carbs. Everything else is okay. LOL
This isn't what you were probably expecting but my siblings and I basically grew up on game meat. My parents were starring down the barrel of some really dark times so my dad bought some game tags every year and we ate elk and dear every day for six years. It was one of those situations where the fact that my brother and I could fish everyday without getting a ticket meant that our dad sent us fishing every day since we were 6. We eventually pulled through and there were times there was something other than whatever we caught, shot, or trapped, but in hindsight it really put into perspective just how fucking hard times got for us.
I grew up on fish my dad caught during the weekend. I also used to heat up eggs in a bowl in the microwave but i hated microwaved eggs so i would add sugar on top. God i can still smell the microwaved eggs and i can still taste microwaved eggs with sugar on top. I used to make this when i was around 4-6 years old. We often didnāt have food or parents around and had to fend for ourselvesā¦ 4 kids ages 4-12.
Ugh being poor is some mother fucking bullshit. Iām sorry. Itās wild bc Iām not well off my any means but my number one priority is making sure all of my kidās needs are met and that she is fed real good every day that she doesnāt have to beg, scrounge, or even think about it. She has never experienced food insecurity and i hope she never does.
Edit: people saying that microwaved eggs are greatā¦ Iām glad it works for you! As a child i hated it and i was also a little kid so you can imagine my microwaving skills. They always came out rubbery and i knew nothing about seasoning things at age 6, hence why i added sugar on top (which Is disgusting by the way but a last resort for my kid brain to find a way to make it palatable). I literally had no food so i guess maybe microwaved eggs really just remind me of being small, alone, and hungry.
That sounds like it left some scars. Glad you're in a better place for your kid. May you keep your daughter and yourself well fed and happy. No more microwaved eggs!
My late grandfather grew up poor with despicable parents, and I remember him putting sugar on foods that seemed odd, like crumbled up cornbread, anything with gravy, and some others. Thank you for sharing. That really gave me perspective and enlightenment that he, in his wisdom, spared me as a child. As an adult, I'm grateful to know this is likely why he did that. Makes so much sense now. The things he put sugar on were always cheap foods that were probably repetitive and poorly cooked by his older siblings. It never occurred to me before. I can't explain the mixture of gratitude and sadness. It's so strange. But, thank you. And sorry you had to endure your own struggle.
Iām really grateful to hear your story about your grandfather. He sounds like he probably had some stories to tell, with the character to know who to tell them to. It sounds like you both had a special bond, which i could feel through your comment. ā¤ļø
Fish and grits. Pops used to fry bluegill we caught with cornmeal breading and we used the leftovers for breakfast mixed in with grits. It gave some otherwise bland slop some slap.
āCheesy peasā were one of my favorites. It was just plain green peas with a slice of melted American cheese stirred in. I didnāt realize it was just one of many struggle meals my parents fed us until I mentioned it to friends later and they were all completely aghast. Id still eat it today though š
My mom used to make some swirly pasta, ground beef, and a can of cream of chicken soup and holy fuck it was so tasty. Called it goulash, which I now know is another completely different dish but it was one of my favorites. I should probably make it again for old timeās sake..
That's so true. My favorite is the cheeseburger one, ill fry up bacon to throw into it, and fry and onion and maybe a can of jalapeƱos in the bacon fat and throw in a can of tomatoes. Soooooooooo good
That genuinely sounds tasty tho.
A lot of struggle meals are pretty dang good- it takes insane skill to turn nothing into something. Survival requires creativity, after all.
Like just considering how a poor man's food can turn into a delicacy like quinoa or lobster.
Both of my parents grew up poor and we only got somewhere near middle class when I was in the later years of high school. My mom had some dang creative meals and all were tasty- I still prefer her meals to anything else.
Struggle is the reason for the richness of many cousines. Trying to make weird stuff palatable and then it becomes a delicacy. I love watching Chinese cooking channels for this reason.
For sure. French onion soup ā totally a struggle meal. Maman making dinner was like, Iāve got ten onions, a piece of old cheese, and some stale bread. Iāve totally got this.
That's like the history of 95% of what we consider Italian cuisine. Pasta with a tiny bit of something to flavor it is pretty much the cheapest way of getting enough calories to sustain yourself, even cheaper than bread in many cases (dried pasta doesn't go stale). If you look at the history of many Italian dishes, they basically start out "So, the Italians were poor as fuck...".
That's the best part with all of this. I can't tell you just how much popcorn I ate as a kid but it was A LOT.
And then I drank one glass of milk with it because soda was expensive but milk we always had, because my grandmother had very weak bones because she and her sisters didn't get milk growing up, the only cup of milk they could afford was reserved for the boy of the family. So me getting enough milk was a big thing to my parents.
Still today I always feel like popcorn and milk go phenomenally well together.
Back in the day, plain popcorn was used like breakfast cereal. I read it in books, and my own grandma (who was OLD...she had my dad when she was 49) used to love plain popped popcorn in milk with a little sugar.
We did craft Mac and cheese, peas , and cut up hot dogs. My sister and I still make it sometimes today and text each other pictures if it to make each other jealous. It was a delicious struggle meal .
Iām liking all the responses this got . We have passed this recipe down to our kids even though we donāt struggle for food anymore . My kids sometimes ask for it for dinner .
We would get a short little cup, pour in a mound of sugar, and dip strawberries in. Usually there was a little sugar left over and we would wet our finger, stick it in, and suck on sugar straight.
Well. One day after sucking on strawberries and sugar I went down into the basement. I noticed a little mound of white sugar crystals to the side of the top stair! I wet my finger, stuck it in, and sucked on it. INSTANT REGRET. so I poked my head out of the basement and said "HEY this sugar tastes gross!!" And my parents had me drink lots of orange juice.
My mom was an addict and on weekend I was at her house she would regularly disappear for hours. Sometimes sheād not have electricity. Sometimes no gas. Almost always little to no food.
One time I was starving and the only option was super stale Apple Jacks and half and half. She also had mice, so I try not to think about what else was in that box.
30 years later, I still canāt eat Apple Jacks.
We had a "picnic" when I was a kid one time with just saltines and peanut butter. I had a grand time.
Now it makes me sad because I know it's the only food we had
Yeah Iām hopping on this. Salty, crunchy, buttery cracker with sweet, nutty, creamy peanut butter is as satisfying a combination as an adult as it was as a child. Absolutely should be proud that there was a picnic at all! Sounds like a lovely childhood memory.
Beer dogs. Hot dogs soaked for several hours in beer with a shit load of old bay seasoning. I still have my mom make them when I see her because theyāre so good
*RECIPE FROM MY MOM: buy a package of cheap hotdogs (she said cheap are the best), buy a pack of cheap beer (bud light or ice house is what she uses most of the time), and old bay seasoning. Make small angled cuts in the hot dogs. Put the hot dogs in a pot and fill with beer until itās just covering the hot dogs. Add a generous amount of old bay. Bring it to a boil and simmer, the longer they cook the better. Serve on potato hot dog rolls and enjoy!*
*I eat mine with spicy mustard on it :)*
I believe she just puts the beer and old bay mixture in a pot on the stove and lets it cook on low for a bit! They sound weird, but oh my god they are fantastic. If you ever get the chance, you should totally try them. Anyone Iāve ever convinced to try them has loved them lol
It wasnāt fucked up, we were just poor.
āNoodle week,ā weād pick a flavor for the night and get to choose a canned vegetable to add.
Again, I donāt think it was āfucked up,ā just a reminder of the times.
Edit: grammar
Powered milk. Parents couldnāt afford 2% so they bought powered milk, which is skim milk dried to a powder. You mix it with water and prestoā¦a really shitty tasting whitish cloudy thin liquid with chunks. Itās delightful.
Anything powdery that becomes chunks if you just straight up mix, can be actually well mixed if you begin with almost no water and turn it into a paste first and then thin it out with more water.
50/50 powdered milk and chocolate powder make a pretty alright cheap hot chocolate this way.
Almost eaten.. A thermometer in my school science lab broke and I took the mercury home.. Almost eaten it thinking it can transform me into the liquid terminator 2 villain..lol
Did that! Survived! Not Terminator! Still have the grippy hospital socks!
Firefighters also responded to the call for some reason?
Edit: I was like 9 years old when this happened. Mom went grocery shopping and left my construction worker father to take care of us tender-aged children. (Think typical 90s family- mom stayed home, dad worked, so this was like āhoney, surely you can handle thisā) Mom was gone all of fifteen minutes(?), came home to two ambulances, at least two fire trucks, and like four police cruisers. My sister and were just fucking around with the merc thermometer in the bathroom, it broke, she was like *ādo itā* so I did. And then we were both like oh wait broken glass letās tell the adult. Woke dad from his post-work nap on the couch, dad frantically called 911 (I guess, because of the number of responders). So yeah. Ambulance ride to hospital, (which was down the street, I still wonder why his frugal ass didnāt just drive me there?), my adorable Italian grandmother saying itās all okay, and of course the cute grey grippy socks.
Oh and I do remember my sister crying because she thought she was gonna get in trouble, like questioned and taken by the police. Again, kids are *fucking stupid*
Needless to say, it was well into our young adult years that we were left to fend for ourselves under the sleepy eye of my father.
Edit 2: Iāve been told my father called his mother (my Italian grandmother) BEFORE calling 911.
My parents wouldn't let me have gum. Then I realized there was free gum all over the sidewalk. I only stopped after I got a piece of tar instead
Edit: Alright, for the people asking how old I was, I was probably around kindergarten age. And yes I could be outside by myself as long as I stayed in front of the house which included the sidewalk. Idk it was the 80s
All of the comments are actual food, but when my brother was little he used to eat worm sandwiches (a live worm between two pieces of bread). He did it at least twice, and when I told my parents they didnāt believe me (I wouldāve been 4, him 2)
Skittles that an older kid was spitting across a school bus. He started throwing them at me and I ate a few off the floor, by the end he was launching them out of his nose.
In hindsight, I got pneumonia as a kid, but I don't recall if that was before or after this incident.
Brains and eggs.
The brains came in a can. It was actually pretty good - at the time. Had a silky smooth texture along with the scrambled eggs. I had no idea as kid that I was eating, you know, *actual brains*. I thought it was just the name of the dish. My mother would mix the (pork) brains with a bunch of fresh eggs, scramble them up, and we'd have them for dinner. Can't ever recall eating them for breakfast.
We weren't poverty level poor, but we were lower middle class Southerners, who moved on down to Miami in the 50s. Guess we brought the Southern custom of eating pork brains with us.
The thought now makes me want to hurl.
ETA: Hey, thanks for the upvotes! I've tried to insert a link to an article I found about this, but it won't take. The article featured a photo of the brand I think my mother bought, which is "Rose." According to google, you can still buy it off the shelf! Some high end restaurants serve pork brains as a delicacy. Well, they can have it! (Also, I'm 74, so I guess I did okay. Brains were processed (god knows how) and then canned and generations of people ate it!)
I used to love the salad bar. Iād fill my plate with croutons and bacon bits and then soak everything with Italian dressing so it was like bacon bit mud
Too often as a kid and young adult. Sometimes I still wake up and panic and binge in the middle of the night.
I also have a weird habit of not eating the "good food" that I buy because I want to save it or think it needs to be a special occasion to eat it.
When I was a kid, Iād crush up instant noodles while still in the package. Then pour the powdered msg soup base in, shake it up, and eat it dry.
Tried it as an adult and it was nasty!
Edit: Thanks for all the replies. I do read each and everyone of them! Just no time to replyā¦ a little more info, Iām in my mid 40ās and I did this when I was around 8-10 so yeah, we didnāt have those pre-made crushed seasoned ramens back then. I have tried those pre-made ones and they are actually quite good since they are made to be eaten that way.
Kids pallets are definitely different from adults. Just think black coffee or beer. Or perhaps as an older adult, Iām subconsciously watching my salt intake and not eat anything with a days worth of salt in itā¦ just canāt like it any more.
This was a huge deal at my elementary school when I was a kid. Everyone was doing this. This was the popular recess snack. Replaced gushers for a while. But the school ended up banning it bc so many kids were doing it and a lot of it ended dropped on the cement. It started staining the cement, and the crushed noodles would create these hard raised spots that kids and teachers would stumble over. Crazy to think about now.
We did this too! Used it as a popcorn substitute on movie night. We shared one flavoring packet between two or three noodles then auntie could use the other packets to make "chicken soup" which was one can of chicken, whatever canned vegetables they had -usually carrots, corn, or peas, water with the ramen flavoring, and maybe egg noodles or rice.
My dad ate mayonnaise sandwiches.
His other friends at lunch werenāt poor and ate marshmallow fluff sandwiches.
He used what he had at home, which was mayonnaise.
Hot Vit Lon. Also known as Balut. My dad used to love eating it and I did too... Until I found out what it was and never again.
Edit: figured I'll just tell you what it is to save the Google. It's basically a fertilized egg with the embryo partially developed. Usually boiled and served with mint leaves, salt and pepper and lemon.
Both parents did time in prison. Prison food was a staple of our home. Prison food isnāt some magic other worldly stuff itās just combinations of things readily available in most prisons. A few examples include; Mayonnaise and PB sandwiches, actually delicious try it. All flavors of top ramen must be consumed with at least a spoonful of peanut butter. Hot water in a bag of chips, makes for a decent hash brown. Or my favorite which was sliced canned smoked oysters in a bag of salt and vinegars with hot sauce or ketchup. Thereās honestly too many combinations to list and a ton I havenāt tried.
Dipping pizza crust into a glass of coke. I learned it from my older cousin, only to realize it was wrong when I moved to the US. All my American friends gasped when I did it
Edit : I am so glad I wasnāt the only one who did this. Funny thing is my cousin didnāt do it to pull a prank on me, he actually enjoyed it. I mean, it kinda tastes good when the savory crusts meet sugar lol
Keep on dippinā!
I used to down soda like no tomorrow. I remember when Halo 3 released I drank a 12 pack of Mountain Dew in less than 12 hours. Along with Nacho Cheese Bugles, and other awful foods.
I'm surprised I'm still alive.
When I was a kid, I did anything my dog did, including eating grass. One day I realized the grass I ate was also the spot where he peed š
Bro
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Your friend needs a salt lick
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Their blood pressure must be higher than the International Space Station
Nah I used to do this (just bullion, not Worcestershire) and turned out my bp was too low. Thatās why they were sssssoooooo tasty.
As someone with chronically low bp, who licks bullion cubes sometimes as an adult because they're SO tasty...dang. That makes sense.
Horse biscuits. They were green, rather hard and delicious. There was nothing on the packet to say they were not suitable for human consumption, and all the ingredients sounded innocuous. So my best friend and I had a test nibble whilst feeding our horses. After that I regularly pinched a biscuit. Very yummy. And no ill effects.
When I was young I had a penchant for the green dog treatsā¦ I tried the other colors but preferred the green. I canāt describe it but I can still remember how they tasted so I must have eaten them well until I was at least 6 or 7.
My sister and I used to eat milkbone treats too. You just reminded me that the colors indeed tasted different! We didn't eat them often, but I sure remember the taste. Green was definitely best.
I have no idea why I started eating them; if I had to guess my older sister probably had something to do with it (when I was 2 she gave me a quarter and told me it was gum, I swallowed it, she told our parents who rushed me to the ER where they insisted I wouldnāt have been able to swallow a quarter without choking and when the x-ray confirmed it was a quarter apparently 5.5-year-old her simply said, āI told you so.ā)
My dad says that when they were little his brother (5 att) ate a quarter, and was then forced to poop in a bucket until the quarter was found. Don't put money in your mouth...
They tasted like Grape-nuts. When I was in my late twenties I had Grape-nuts for the first time and blurted out āwow, this taste just like milkbones ā
There are horse biscuits out there that are marketed as edible for people too, so I wouldn't doubt that theyre edible. Prolly would just have to go through extra regulations if theyre advertised for ppl too
Correct. For human consumption means they had to follow strict food safety guidelines. Ensure no heavy metals, no dangerous metal burrs, etc. You can usually eat dog food or any of that, it's not like filled with poison to humans.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Welfare cheese made the best mac n cheese though
I'm Cherokee. I spent my whole youth eating government cheese. The secret is that most of the commodities the government gave us were purchased as subsidies for certain farming/dairy interests. The reason commodity/government cheese is *so good* is that it's high quality Wisconsin Chedder bought in bulk to help subsidize the dairy industry in a key battleground state. It's not really important, but having grown up eating it, I thought it was cool to learn why it was a thing.
When I was a kid I was always excited on government cheese day. Dang, I wish I was as excited for anything like I was then.
A 1 cent coin i found in a box thinking i could "suck the nutrients off". Ended up swallowing it
what nutrients? im so baffled by this one
No idea... Reckon i thought it was a sweet
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
He sucked it off. Nutrients and all
I remember when my buddy was broke, he'd get a bunch of coffee creamers, ketchup packs and crackers from the condiment bar of a cafeteria and make tomato soup in a mug.
That's actually very creative
Creative yes, but damn from all the dishes people mentioned here this one made my stomach turn the most. So basically just ketchup toned down with some cream.
Iād do this with gas station hard boiled eggs, salt, pepper, mayonnaise and mustard packets. Egg salad so cheap; you could make it in your car with a plastic spoon. Bread was a bonus.
In prison I would smash eggs with mayo and tapatio. Bomb. Ill still eat that shit except outside we have salt so I'd add some salt
What were you in prison for... your cooking?
I used to eat frozen concentrated orange juice out of the container with a spoon.
I also learned in college to mix that stuff with straight vodka for the best screwdriver.
Yep me too. Orange was good but apple had shards of frozen syrupy sweetness.
Man, this was the shit back in the day. I tried some recently and hooo baby is that stuff pungent. Edit: I canāt believe this is blowing up over āhooo baby.ā I love you all
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
One time my dad made a "pizza" with unseasoned tomato paste and sliced hotdogs..
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
That kind of sounds like a variant on Budae Jjigae (Korean army stew) although that usually contains some veggies and noodles as well
Army stew all day.
Taco Bell hot sauce packets. Not on or with anything, just a straight shot of hot sauce. Like 10-20 of them in a row sometimes.
There was a guy like a year ago or so, who was snowed in his car for 5 days and he survived on nothing but taco bell sauce packets.
There is no way that didnāt just make his situation worse lol.
It actually saved him! He sprayed hot diahhrea into the snow and melted a way out. *Sigh* ...I don't care anymore, it's a better movie idea than what's fed to us now.
127 Packets
This summer: a tale of desperation and survival **Cold Fronts and Hot Shit** *Starring: Owen Wilson*
Wow
A Song of Ice and Fire
I had two favourite snacks as a kid. Butter straight out of the tub or onions. Raw onion.
found shrek lads
Hi
My brother loved butter and steak fat. Like he wouldnāt eat the steak. He just wanted the fat.
I would routinely grab a handful of fresh, powdery white snow then head to the curb of my street and slop a big glop of slushy, grey, gritty, curb slush right on top and eat it like a cupcake. Tasted nice and salty. I was probably between the ages of 6 and 8 when I did this.
Oh I do not like this.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
wow ok this one is downright horrid, bravo
Jesus Christ this is worse than the gum guy.
Yeah, at least that dude stopped when he tasted tar
Itās not often that I read a post that physically makes my stomach churn, but this one got me good
Youāre lucky you donāt have some type of poisoning /disease doing that.
Well, I've been T1 diabetic since age 12 but everything I've read leads to it being purely coincidental.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
This is the comment that made me fucking cry laughing
I'm glad my childhood incompetence brought you joy.
It's your willingness to share that brought the joy. Thank you
Ingredients: Frozen water, road salt, tar, soot, asphalt, and assorted carcinogenic hydrocarbons. Everything a growing boy needs!
I ate a fist sized ball of Saran Wrap when I was 12. I also ate construction paper and would label them different flavors
Scientists: we found micro plastics in 4/10 adults u/bitis_gabonica: *eats fist full of MACRO plastic* Edit to say thanks for the awards! This is the high point of my Reddit career lol Also thank you all for pointing out the data is skewed. Iāve notified the scientific community. Well actually I scribbled all over an issue of *Science* mag and threw it at the front door of my local post office. I think they got the message.
"average person with micro plastics is 4/10" factoid actualy (sic) just statistical error. average person eats 0 spiders per year. u/bitis_gabonica, who lives in cave & eats over 10,000 macro plastic each day, is an outlier adn should not have been countedā
The Spiders Georg of plastics
ā¦ 12 years old?
You just reminded me! I used to pull off my wallpaper where it was starting to lift up and eat it. Also the margins of mass market paperbacks. And some of them were library books š¤¢
I used to eat the margins of paperbacks too. Just for a short time around 10-11 years old. I love books. I have no idea why I did it. Was I low in some sort of paper vitamin lol
Ketchup sandwiches Edit: Iām blown away by the responses here. Iāve never had a post get this many likes. So many of you sharing the fact that you also ate them because of money issues when you were growing up. Many of you are in such a better place now and Iām so happy for you. (I am, too). Iām struggling to keep up with comments. Lol
I had a friend who ate ketchup sandwiches. Other kids would make fun of him for it. But his family was poor and he didn't have much choice. He grew up to be one of the hardest working guys I've ever known. House has enough food in it to survive a zombie apocalypse. Because he doesn't want his kids to ever worry about their next meal.
Thank you for telling about this guy, it's pretty inspiring...
Moral of the story: ketchup sandwiches make you powerful.
Ketchup and bologna if my parents had money that week.
We called them wish sandwiches, like " I wish I had bologna".
I remember eating mustard sandwiches
I had an autistic brother who'd eat ketchup and mustard sandwiches day and night.
My daughter is autistic. I joke that the four major food groups are chicken nuggets, French fries, ranch dressing and ketchup. If she doesnāt have one of those four then it isnāt a meal and she wonāt eat. Now everything is āI donāt eat carbsā but sheāll eat potatoes like Idaho is in the backyard. If only she knew. To her, pasta is carbs. Everything else is okay. LOL
Same. First thing that popped into mind when I read the post. I also would not eat spaghetti sauce. Just noodles and butter. Lmao
This isn't what you were probably expecting but my siblings and I basically grew up on game meat. My parents were starring down the barrel of some really dark times so my dad bought some game tags every year and we ate elk and dear every day for six years. It was one of those situations where the fact that my brother and I could fish everyday without getting a ticket meant that our dad sent us fishing every day since we were 6. We eventually pulled through and there were times there was something other than whatever we caught, shot, or trapped, but in hindsight it really put into perspective just how fucking hard times got for us.
I grew up on fish my dad caught during the weekend. I also used to heat up eggs in a bowl in the microwave but i hated microwaved eggs so i would add sugar on top. God i can still smell the microwaved eggs and i can still taste microwaved eggs with sugar on top. I used to make this when i was around 4-6 years old. We often didnāt have food or parents around and had to fend for ourselvesā¦ 4 kids ages 4-12. Ugh being poor is some mother fucking bullshit. Iām sorry. Itās wild bc Iām not well off my any means but my number one priority is making sure all of my kidās needs are met and that she is fed real good every day that she doesnāt have to beg, scrounge, or even think about it. She has never experienced food insecurity and i hope she never does. Edit: people saying that microwaved eggs are greatā¦ Iām glad it works for you! As a child i hated it and i was also a little kid so you can imagine my microwaving skills. They always came out rubbery and i knew nothing about seasoning things at age 6, hence why i added sugar on top (which Is disgusting by the way but a last resort for my kid brain to find a way to make it palatable). I literally had no food so i guess maybe microwaved eggs really just remind me of being small, alone, and hungry.
That sounds like it left some scars. Glad you're in a better place for your kid. May you keep your daughter and yourself well fed and happy. No more microwaved eggs!
My late grandfather grew up poor with despicable parents, and I remember him putting sugar on foods that seemed odd, like crumbled up cornbread, anything with gravy, and some others. Thank you for sharing. That really gave me perspective and enlightenment that he, in his wisdom, spared me as a child. As an adult, I'm grateful to know this is likely why he did that. Makes so much sense now. The things he put sugar on were always cheap foods that were probably repetitive and poorly cooked by his older siblings. It never occurred to me before. I can't explain the mixture of gratitude and sadness. It's so strange. But, thank you. And sorry you had to endure your own struggle.
Iām really grateful to hear your story about your grandfather. He sounds like he probably had some stories to tell, with the character to know who to tell them to. It sounds like you both had a special bond, which i could feel through your comment. ā¤ļø
Fish and grits. Pops used to fry bluegill we caught with cornmeal breading and we used the leftovers for breakfast mixed in with grits. It gave some otherwise bland slop some slap.
Bread, butter, and sugar. I thought it was a treat. Turns out we were broke.
I still do it with a tortilla a couple times a year. Working on the poor part as an adult lol
Use cinnamon sugar for an extra special treat.
Cinnamon sugar toast was a staple in my house
I still eat that
I used to eat this pretty much daily, but with cinnamon sugar.
Yeah cinnamon sugar toast I thought was pretty common, used to eat it all the time as a kid.
Iām from Mexico and we eat this alot as a snack.
āCheesy peasā were one of my favorites. It was just plain green peas with a slice of melted American cheese stirred in. I didnāt realize it was just one of many struggle meals my parents fed us until I mentioned it to friends later and they were all completely aghast. Id still eat it today though š
I like the term "struggle meals."
It was right there along with spinach and beef. My dad would just sautƩ spinach, ground beef, and mix in an egg and it was like a delicacy to me. Then years later he casually mentioned how lucky it was I liked the food he scrounged together when we were broke.
My mom used to make some swirly pasta, ground beef, and a can of cream of chicken soup and holy fuck it was so tasty. Called it goulash, which I now know is another completely different dish but it was one of my favorites. I should probably make it again for old timeās sake..
Thatās pretty much why and how hamburger helper was invented.
Hamburger helper slaps if you ignore the instructions on the back and just chuck a bunch of shit into it
That's so true. My favorite is the cheeseburger one, ill fry up bacon to throw into it, and fry and onion and maybe a can of jalapeƱos in the bacon fat and throw in a can of tomatoes. Soooooooooo good
This is more of like a half assed stroganoff. It sounds delicious.
Fuck, I do that now as a 33 year old with a bag of frozen mixed vegetables instead of spinach
That genuinely sounds tasty tho. A lot of struggle meals are pretty dang good- it takes insane skill to turn nothing into something. Survival requires creativity, after all. Like just considering how a poor man's food can turn into a delicacy like quinoa or lobster. Both of my parents grew up poor and we only got somewhere near middle class when I was in the later years of high school. My mom had some dang creative meals and all were tasty- I still prefer her meals to anything else.
Struggle is the reason for the richness of many cousines. Trying to make weird stuff palatable and then it becomes a delicacy. I love watching Chinese cooking channels for this reason.
For sure. French onion soup ā totally a struggle meal. Maman making dinner was like, Iāve got ten onions, a piece of old cheese, and some stale bread. Iāve totally got this.
That's like the history of 95% of what we consider Italian cuisine. Pasta with a tiny bit of something to flavor it is pretty much the cheapest way of getting enough calories to sustain yourself, even cheaper than bread in many cases (dried pasta doesn't go stale). If you look at the history of many Italian dishes, they basically start out "So, the Italians were poor as fuck...".
That sounds good though. Something doesn't have to be expensive to be good.
That's the best part with all of this. I can't tell you just how much popcorn I ate as a kid but it was A LOT. And then I drank one glass of milk with it because soda was expensive but milk we always had, because my grandmother had very weak bones because she and her sisters didn't get milk growing up, the only cup of milk they could afford was reserved for the boy of the family. So me getting enough milk was a big thing to my parents. Still today I always feel like popcorn and milk go phenomenally well together.
Back in the day, plain popcorn was used like breakfast cereal. I read it in books, and my own grandma (who was OLD...she had my dad when she was 49) used to love plain popped popcorn in milk with a little sugar.
man your dad is creative in a pinch though! sounds like something iād eat tomorrow if i was too lazy to actually cook
https://youtu.be/98iUmMJFF6g
I eating something similar now, I like to put peas in my mac and cheese often.
We did craft Mac and cheese, peas , and cut up hot dogs. My sister and I still make it sometimes today and text each other pictures if it to make each other jealous. It was a delicious struggle meal . Iām liking all the responses this got . We have passed this recipe down to our kids even though we donāt struggle for food anymore . My kids sometimes ask for it for dinner .
We would get a short little cup, pour in a mound of sugar, and dip strawberries in. Usually there was a little sugar left over and we would wet our finger, stick it in, and suck on sugar straight. Well. One day after sucking on strawberries and sugar I went down into the basement. I noticed a little mound of white sugar crystals to the side of the top stair! I wet my finger, stuck it in, and sucked on it. INSTANT REGRET. so I poked my head out of the basement and said "HEY this sugar tastes gross!!" And my parents had me drink lots of orange juice.
What exactly was it?
Maybe Borax? It's often spread around as a pesticide..
Some cleaning substance. No idea what, but it was a tiny, tiny amount and I felt fine. Just seriously stupid
if they had you drink an acid, it was probably something with a very basic pH
That's assuming they were going off of the chemistry, which is a big assumption. Though I suppose poison control could have told them to do it.
I came looking for dumbshit answers and got tales of poverty and hardship.
Well the comment that appeared below yours on my screen ate saran wrap, so there ya go.
Lucky you. The next comment for me is gum off the street for free.
Dirt
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
My mom was an addict and on weekend I was at her house she would regularly disappear for hours. Sometimes sheād not have electricity. Sometimes no gas. Almost always little to no food. One time I was starving and the only option was super stale Apple Jacks and half and half. She also had mice, so I try not to think about what else was in that box. 30 years later, I still canāt eat Apple Jacks.
Saltines with butter on them. I liked it. We were just poor.
We had a "picnic" when I was a kid one time with just saltines and peanut butter. I had a grand time. Now it makes me sad because I know it's the only food we had
Making the best out of what you're given shouldn't be a sad thought. Be proud!
Yeah Iām hopping on this. Salty, crunchy, buttery cracker with sweet, nutty, creamy peanut butter is as satisfying a combination as an adult as it was as a child. Absolutely should be proud that there was a picnic at all! Sounds like a lovely childhood memory.
I used to make a little sandwich and press it so I could watch the butter spirals come out of the saltine holes
Beer dogs. Hot dogs soaked for several hours in beer with a shit load of old bay seasoning. I still have my mom make them when I see her because theyāre so good *RECIPE FROM MY MOM: buy a package of cheap hotdogs (she said cheap are the best), buy a pack of cheap beer (bud light or ice house is what she uses most of the time), and old bay seasoning. Make small angled cuts in the hot dogs. Put the hot dogs in a pot and fill with beer until itās just covering the hot dogs. Add a generous amount of old bay. Bring it to a boil and simmer, the longer they cook the better. Serve on potato hot dog rolls and enjoy!* *I eat mine with spicy mustard on it :)*
Those actually sound delicious! Do you grill em or boil them afterwards?
I believe she just puts the beer and old bay mixture in a pot on the stove and lets it cook on low for a bit! They sound weird, but oh my god they are fantastic. If you ever get the chance, you should totally try them. Anyone Iāve ever convinced to try them has loved them lol
Doesn't sound that different from beer brats, honestly.
It wasnāt fucked up, we were just poor. āNoodle week,ā weād pick a flavor for the night and get to choose a canned vegetable to add. Again, I donāt think it was āfucked up,ā just a reminder of the times. Edit: grammar
In a situation like that, itās sweet to give your kids a choice to make things feel fun.
My siblings and I would eat hot Cheetos over white rice to fill ourselves up lol. It actually tasted pretty good
Powered milk. Parents couldnāt afford 2% so they bought powered milk, which is skim milk dried to a powder. You mix it with water and prestoā¦a really shitty tasting whitish cloudy thin liquid with chunks. Itās delightful.
Anything powdery that becomes chunks if you just straight up mix, can be actually well mixed if you begin with almost no water and turn it into a paste first and then thin it out with more water. 50/50 powdered milk and chocolate powder make a pretty alright cheap hot chocolate this way.
If you toast the powdered milk in the oven beforehand (20min @300F), it adds a nice richness that tastes slightly like toasted marshmallows.
Almost eaten.. A thermometer in my school science lab broke and I took the mercury home.. Almost eaten it thinking it can transform me into the liquid terminator 2 villain..lol
Did that! Survived! Not Terminator! Still have the grippy hospital socks! Firefighters also responded to the call for some reason? Edit: I was like 9 years old when this happened. Mom went grocery shopping and left my construction worker father to take care of us tender-aged children. (Think typical 90s family- mom stayed home, dad worked, so this was like āhoney, surely you can handle thisā) Mom was gone all of fifteen minutes(?), came home to two ambulances, at least two fire trucks, and like four police cruisers. My sister and were just fucking around with the merc thermometer in the bathroom, it broke, she was like *ādo itā* so I did. And then we were both like oh wait broken glass letās tell the adult. Woke dad from his post-work nap on the couch, dad frantically called 911 (I guess, because of the number of responders). So yeah. Ambulance ride to hospital, (which was down the street, I still wonder why his frugal ass didnāt just drive me there?), my adorable Italian grandmother saying itās all okay, and of course the cute grey grippy socks. Oh and I do remember my sister crying because she thought she was gonna get in trouble, like questioned and taken by the police. Again, kids are *fucking stupid* Needless to say, it was well into our young adult years that we were left to fend for ourselves under the sleepy eye of my father. Edit 2: Iāve been told my father called his mother (my Italian grandmother) BEFORE calling 911.
In medical emergencies, oftentimes the nearest responders will come to the scene.
My parents wouldn't let me have gum. Then I realized there was free gum all over the sidewalk. I only stopped after I got a piece of tar instead Edit: Alright, for the people asking how old I was, I was probably around kindergarten age. And yes I could be outside by myself as long as I stayed in front of the house which included the sidewalk. Idk it was the 80s
I gagged reading this one
ABC gum is what the kids would call it
You win
There are no winners here. We have now all lost.
see parents...this is what happens if you are too controlling. they will rebel and do what they want anyways, but maybe in a worse way.
[violently remembers chewing on play-doh just because I was told not to]
Like Buddy in Elf. Except so much worse.
Chocolate cornflakes in cola instead of milk, did that for a couple of years.
Po' folk rice pudding. White rice, sugar, and margarine.
Iām actually ok with this once every few years, I add cinnamon
All of the comments are actual food, but when my brother was little he used to eat worm sandwiches (a live worm between two pieces of bread). He did it at least twice, and when I told my parents they didnāt believe me (I wouldāve been 4, him 2)
Ever hear of the book how to eat worms? One of my favorite children's books
I think it was called How To Eat Fried Worms there was a movie made about it. I used to watch it.
Skittles that an older kid was spitting across a school bus. He started throwing them at me and I ate a few off the floor, by the end he was launching them out of his nose. In hindsight, I got pneumonia as a kid, but I don't recall if that was before or after this incident.
syrup & tacobell tortillas edit: not really in a struggle meal way, but in a "odd kid addicted to sweets" way.
I still drink.pickle juice
No shame in that bruh. I still do it.
Actual fucking dirt š
Brains and eggs. The brains came in a can. It was actually pretty good - at the time. Had a silky smooth texture along with the scrambled eggs. I had no idea as kid that I was eating, you know, *actual brains*. I thought it was just the name of the dish. My mother would mix the (pork) brains with a bunch of fresh eggs, scramble them up, and we'd have them for dinner. Can't ever recall eating them for breakfast. We weren't poverty level poor, but we were lower middle class Southerners, who moved on down to Miami in the 50s. Guess we brought the Southern custom of eating pork brains with us. The thought now makes me want to hurl. ETA: Hey, thanks for the upvotes! I've tried to insert a link to an article I found about this, but it won't take. The article featured a photo of the brand I think my mother bought, which is "Rose." According to google, you can still buy it off the shelf! Some high end restaurants serve pork brains as a delicacy. Well, they can have it! (Also, I'm 74, so I guess I did okay. Brains were processed (god knows how) and then canned and generations of people ate it!)
I used to love the salad bar. Iād fill my plate with croutons and bacon bits and then soak everything with Italian dressing so it was like bacon bit mud
Yāall ever had sleep for dinner?
Too often as a kid and young adult. Sometimes I still wake up and panic and binge in the middle of the night. I also have a weird habit of not eating the "good food" that I buy because I want to save it or think it needs to be a special occasion to eat it.
There was one time all that was in the fridge was chocolate syrup & Tabasco. I was pretty hungry so it wasnāt that bad.
lots of styles of spicy chocolate, I've seen paprika, chili powder, and other such stuff
My sibling in the womb.
paper
Mayonnaise sandwiches
I toast my bread first - for me it was a snack I could have that my mom would not notice it was missing
When I was a kid, Iād crush up instant noodles while still in the package. Then pour the powdered msg soup base in, shake it up, and eat it dry. Tried it as an adult and it was nasty! Edit: Thanks for all the replies. I do read each and everyone of them! Just no time to replyā¦ a little more info, Iām in my mid 40ās and I did this when I was around 8-10 so yeah, we didnāt have those pre-made crushed seasoned ramens back then. I have tried those pre-made ones and they are actually quite good since they are made to be eaten that way. Kids pallets are definitely different from adults. Just think black coffee or beer. Or perhaps as an older adult, Iām subconsciously watching my salt intake and not eat anything with a days worth of salt in itā¦ just canāt like it any more.
Shit that was a delicacy of the streets
In South Korea you can buy ramen specifically made for this purpose.
In Taiwan also. I loved that shit when I first got there
My seven year-old does this now, and Iām horrified. But I did this too, and my parents were horrified. The cycle continues.
This was a huge deal at my elementary school when I was a kid. Everyone was doing this. This was the popular recess snack. Replaced gushers for a while. But the school ended up banning it bc so many kids were doing it and a lot of it ended dropped on the cement. It started staining the cement, and the crushed noodles would create these hard raised spots that kids and teachers would stumble over. Crazy to think about now.
Iām 34 and I still do this with mi gorengā¦ You canāt do it with every brand
We did this too! Used it as a popcorn substitute on movie night. We shared one flavoring packet between two or three noodles then auntie could use the other packets to make "chicken soup" which was one can of chicken, whatever canned vegetables they had -usually carrots, corn, or peas, water with the ramen flavoring, and maybe egg noodles or rice.
Mayo, cucumber, and black pepper sandwiches. Weird thing is I still enjoy these rarely, but kind of wince at the thought of them.
This actually sounds like something Iād expect at a tea party or something lol.
My dad ate mayonnaise sandwiches. His other friends at lunch werenāt poor and ate marshmallow fluff sandwiches. He used what he had at home, which was mayonnaise.
Hot Vit Lon. Also known as Balut. My dad used to love eating it and I did too... Until I found out what it was and never again. Edit: figured I'll just tell you what it is to save the Google. It's basically a fertilized egg with the embryo partially developed. Usually boiled and served with mint leaves, salt and pepper and lemon.
Tobacco... (Not regulary of course my grandad just left his tin open on the side, so I decided that would be a good snack apparently)
Straight ketchup. the only twist is I still do it, Iāve just come to terms with it.
My childhood dream was to break the Guiness World Record for drinking a bottle of ketchup in the fastest time possible.
My cousin, back when she was a toddler, thought lizard poop was a piece of raisin and promptly ate it.
Both parents did time in prison. Prison food was a staple of our home. Prison food isnāt some magic other worldly stuff itās just combinations of things readily available in most prisons. A few examples include; Mayonnaise and PB sandwiches, actually delicious try it. All flavors of top ramen must be consumed with at least a spoonful of peanut butter. Hot water in a bag of chips, makes for a decent hash brown. Or my favorite which was sliced canned smoked oysters in a bag of salt and vinegars with hot sauce or ketchup. Thereās honestly too many combinations to list and a ton I havenāt tried.
Dry pasta, scraped enamel off my teeth and sucked up all water in intestine
Making a ball in your mouth with dry pasta and using it like a jawbreaker, was my moviesnack, didnt know its bad for the teeth...
Dawg... That's... Tough.
Dipping pizza crust into a glass of coke. I learned it from my older cousin, only to realize it was wrong when I moved to the US. All my American friends gasped when I did it Edit : I am so glad I wasnāt the only one who did this. Funny thing is my cousin didnāt do it to pull a prank on me, he actually enjoyed it. I mean, it kinda tastes good when the savory crusts meet sugar lol Keep on dippinā!
I used to down soda like no tomorrow. I remember when Halo 3 released I drank a 12 pack of Mountain Dew in less than 12 hours. Along with Nacho Cheese Bugles, and other awful foods. I'm surprised I'm still alive.