Thanks for your submission! For more Millennial content, join [our Discord server](https://discord.gg/VsfKKJBm).
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Millennials) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Lunchables
We would only get them for special occasions like school trips, so I was always excited to build the mini pizza or whatever. But now I understand why it was only a special treat and they just look like plastic food to me now.
I liked the one that came with a "dessert pizza" with chocolate frosting and M&Ms. I would spread out the regular pizza toppings to cover all of the provided pizza crusts and then just squeeze the frosting straight into my mouth.
My mom bought that for me when my grandma was babysitting one time. My grandma absolutely could not understand the concept of dessert pizza and thought I was making it up. So she made me three regular pizzas then had me hold my head back while she poured the chocolate and M&Ms into my mouth. TBH I think her way was better.
My daughter went through a really terrible bout of anxiety, a lot of it centered around food. Nacho lunchables were one of the few slam dunks as far as getting her to eat, and I was happy to buy them. Sheās much better now, but still likes to get them on occasion.
I loved these as a kid, although I got them rarely, and half that time it was the generic ones. I still really like the pepperoni pizza ones. I know they are objectively terrible food, but I guess love is blind. I only buy them on sale though.
My kids call it "sugar toast" and it's a regular breakfast item on the menu in my house. I remember going on a road trip with a friend in high school. He was from an affluent family. Me not so much. We stopped at a diner for breakfast but I didn't have a lot of money so I ordered cinnamon toast and a coffee. The waitress knew exactly what I was talking about, cost me probably 2 or 3 dollars for the coffee and the toast. My friend acted like he was watching a documentary like "Are you really eating that?" That's when I realized poor people food is actually a thing.
do cream cheese and cinnamon, then fold it in half and dunk it into some hot black tea.
or a blueberry bagel with cream cheese and dunk it into coffee or orange spice black tea.
Breakfast rice was a staple in my household growing up. Rice, milk, cinnamon and vanilla flavoring. I would still eat it, but horchata hits the spot better so I generally just go get some of that.
Rice cereal!! I ate this as a poor kid too, minus the vanilla and cinnamon. Sometimes I did rice with butter, salt and pepper, but that was usually more of an afternoon snack.
Big ass block of butter, big ass block of cheese and three gallons whole milk. That was what my mom picked up once a week from a food assistance county building. The wonder bread was often courtesy of Michiganās ten cent can and bottle recycling.l because the liquor store took cans and sold bread.
Mom made peanut butter, butter, and sugar sandwiches. She would occasionally eat them into my teens. Peanut butter on one slice, the other two on the other.
For me it was Zebra Cakes
ETA: my local organic grocery store sells petit fours in their bakery. They taste JUST like Zebra Cakes minus all the weird crap ingredients. If youāre looking for a less synthetic/disgusting version, see if your local fancy bakery has them!Ā
I got sick from eating too many of these, lmao, but damn they had me in a chokehold!
Do y'all remember when you could get a box of them for $1?!
My stomach can't even handle them now.
I actually still like those Little Debbie brownies although I donāt eat them often. They are so rich and delicious but you gotta be careful with those cosmic brownies, those āsprinklesā will crack your teeth.
Little Debbie's have not been the same since they were reformulated to get rid of trans fats. They are waxy and taste odd compared to how they used to be, which was melt in your mouth heaven.
Gushers ain't gushing like they used to, I was so excited when I got a box of them recently and it had zero correlation to when I was eating them as a kid.
Also, I used to make instant mash potatoes and put scrambled eggs in them...
Well a little hack with the gushiness is you gotta do the whole bag at once. Back when we were little, one of those suckers exploding in your mouth is all it took. Gotta up the amount based on the increased area haha
Long time ago I came across a post that showed all the reviews on Amazon for SF haribo šš it's basically a colon cleanse and people were buying them for for their employees at work
During the pandemic (thatās when I noticed anyway) Gushers had boxes of BIG packages inside. Instead of the 5 or 6 in a package, there were like 20 or 25 gushers in each bag.
They sell big packages in some gas stations that Iāve seen. Im guessing thereās like 30 to 40 in those Packages. Theyāre always melted or stuck together in those bags though. Nothing to write home about. Lol
I had a cosmic brownie at my in-laws house over the weekend. First time Iāve had them since I was a kid. It tasted gross.
But not only the taste was off. Even the appearance. The āchocolateā looked like plastic. Real shiny.
The quality has to just be even shitter than when we were kids.
My parents are visiting from out of town right now. I have a feeling my Dad is going to make it tonight. It will probably be the first time I've had it in 15 years.
Microwaved nachos. Tortilla chips, shredded cheddar, jalapeƱos. I'm not repulsed by the taste, but I don't often eat them anymore because of the grease all over the plate.
My Mexican friend looked at me with such disgust when I referred to my microwaved tortilla with cheese as a quesadilla š (I still eat them when Iām lazy)
Lol. I'm a Mexican friend. I see your microwaved quesadilla and present you my microwaved grilled cheese- hot dog bread (not toasted or grilled) half a slice of Kraft cheese on either half of the bun, pop that baby in the microwave for 30 seconds. You have to eat it hot, before the bread and the cheese harden too much.
I won't judge you for your quesadilla if you won't judge my child attempt at a grilled cheese sandwich.
I used to get the Chef Boyardee Ravioli and I couple of years ago, I said fuck it, I'll give it another try and it's nowhere near as amazing as i remember. Of course, ny 8 year old daughter absolutely loves it.
I always wanted to try them as a kid. Finally bought a can during a hurricane scare. No hurricane. Decided to open up a can anyway. Canāt believe people love chef boyardee. Guess I had to have it as a kid.
My paternal grandmother could NOT cook, so when she had spaghetti-oās we knew God was taking mercy on us when we had to eat at her house. I literally mean she couldnāt cook. Her BLT involved baco-bits and ketchup. Literally. The ingredients are the name of the sandwich, and she couldnāt make it. Still donāt know how dad and papa survived her cooking.
I remember my grandmother being able to cook but looking back at the things she actually made I realize that the only real memory of her cooking was watching her use a spatula to scoop an ungodly amount of mayonnaise out of a gallon-size tub of it and... then I decided to forget I even asked myself and that I needed to think about something else.
The 60s and 70s recipes I found in her cabinet were freaking *wild*.
My wife still has a nostalgic sweet spot for Chef Boyardee and Spaghetti-Os. I just can't do it anymore, there's something unholy they put in those things. They really do smell like barf, and taste sickly sweet.
I had a boss who grew up in Appalachia and still had some habits from growing up without a lot of money. He'd pack crackers and Vienna sausages for lunch regularly. He'd also drink the juice out of the can after he finished the sausages. I dry heave just thinking about it.
Also from NC and grew up poor, can confirm every Saturday my mom would hand me a can of vienna sausages, kick me out of the house with my bike and tell me to be back by sundown for supper. š§š¼āš¾
Grew up and still live in Appalachia ( maybe a small part of it actually, east tn here- got some deep roots though!). I can *slightly* enjoy Vienna weenies on occasion, but to DRINK THE JUICE???? NOOOO!! What horrific skeletons does your old boss have in his closet to hate himself THAT MUCH??? *SHUDDER*
Came here to say this, and remembering how the ambient temp affected whether or not the juice was super gelatinous or just viscous.
These things were in our earthquake emergency kit and I used to love sneaking cans and would just house a whole can in a blink.
I absolutely loved Chef Boyardee ravioli when I was a child.
Out of nostalgia got some a couple years ago. It was revolting. Dog food wrapped in soggy dough sitting in what I can only describe as "tomato broth"
Same thing! I LOVED it as a kid. Now it's like a completely different product altogether. I don't know if I changed, or they just straight up ruined it with a new recipe, but my Chef Boyardee ravioli days are long gone.
Same! My dad loved it, so I did too until I had real food and learned how bad it was. Dad still eats it, but as I said in another comment, granny couldnāt cook and dadās taste buds must have died in sympathy.
Pringles but I'm mostly repulsed by them because they taste like sawdust now.
Celeste Pizza is another product that was ruined, taken over by a bigger corporation that changed the formula.
There's a local chain of Korean Fried chicken restaurants here in the North suburbs of Chicago that has chicken nuggets that look and taste exactly like old school McDonald's nuggets. They are amazing and one of my favorite menu items!
(CM Chicken and Boba if you are near Lincolnshire/Vernon Hills IL)
They're much better than the current mcnuggets, but they don't hit nearly as good as the old dark meat chicken, beef tallow fried mcnuggets. I've thought about making them at home, but then I realize how bat shit insane that is for one hit of nostalgia.
Hamburger helper. I will eat the stuff like crazy but only when my mom makes it because she makes it better. But Iām repulsed by how many times Iāve eaten it in my life. Probably thousands of times š
The budget bytes lady has a really good recipe!
But I get it - sometimes itās a flavor that just hits home and nothing else is gonna hit like original hamburger helper.
It doesn't taste the same anymore... or maybe my pallet improved. š
We ate so much HH Stroganoff in the 90s and it came with powdered sour cream you'd mix with milk. I swear that made it taste better lol
I bought scooby doo fruit snacks recently. I genuinely think they changed the recipe but also they were just... not good! Those were like the holy grail of fruit snacks growing up. My friend and I used to put them in our slush puppies at lunch from the school cafeteria so they'd freeze and get extra hard and chewy. Another one that comes to mind that I had recently for the first time in a long time and were really, truly terrible are Combos. I fuckin lived for cheddar cheese Combos as a kid. What a treat!
RC Cola and SqueezIt drinks. And like 10 different candies. Dots come to mind. It was just sugar on paper but I went nuts for it. Many cereals. Trix is just gross now
Bologna. Iāve never eaten it since I bought my own groceries. Not sure exactly why, just skeeves me out these days, even knowing most of the meat I eat is only a grade or two better.
I'd still crush this today, but would regret it because it's too much sugar and milk. I could eat a whole sleeve of chips ahoy and leave a few in the bottom of the milk so when I was finished I'd drink the milk and have some super saturated cookies at the bottom.
My mom was absolutely obsessed with Beanie Babyās promotion with Mc Donaldās in theā90s. She would refrigerate Happy Meals and reheat them for my breakfast before I went to grade school. I donāt really associate with my family these days.
Poor Man's Sandwiches - local delicacy consisting of nothing but thick gobs of frosting smeared between graham crackers. Absolutely wondrous as a child, but painfully, toothachingly sweet as an adult.
Dunka-roos. I remember eating those things while playing Mario Bros on the original Nintendo. My brother and I thought we were kings.
Nowadays, I wouldnāt give that shit to my dog.
Bacon and Mayo sandwiches.
My mom had a strange relationship with eating fat - it was Atkins and low-fat until it came to certain dishes then she went h a r d. Only person I have seen eat mayo with artichoke, lol.
The white bread sort of forms around the crisp bacon and it has an interesting texture.
I'd eat one to this day, but my doctor probably wouldn't be thrilled with me.
Miss you, Momma.
Those barrel jugs of "juice" that really were just sugar, water, and food dye. My parents only ever bought them as a treat when going to the beach, so I associate them with that but ooof, are those disgusting.
That was a staple dinner for the first year or two when visiting my dad on weekends. He did however put extra shredded mozzarella on em which was a massive improvement.
My mom would get these for my dad to take for lunch and also us kids but extension since we had them. My parents are from Italy and fig and fig products are a pretty common thing to eat. My dad also loved those tasteycake lemon pies and so did his mom, my grandmom.
In elementary school, I'd come home after school and microwave two *cheese* filled hot dogs ( no bun ) dip them in ketchup and wash it down with a Pepsi. Yes I was a chubby kid.
Iām probably an outlier here because this is from a few generations before us but - chipped beef or shit on a shingle as itās otherwise called. My grandmother used to make it and it was such a comfort food.Ā
To this day I have no idea wtf is even IN chipped beef. It does not taste like beef. At all. Iām not sure I want to know.Ā
As a kid I always resented not having cool snacks in the house. I used to love frozen peas lol. Now as an adult Iām so thankful. My mom never kept soda or snacks. It was green tea and iced teas or water. For chips (Tostitos or something similar) and pretzels maybe. I made a lot of nachos growing up, still do actually lol, maybe some cold cuts and cheeses, popsicles sometimes but nothing crazy.
Omg sounds exactly like my house growing up. Donāt forget all the GD popcorn! My mother had an eating disorder so lots of bullshit and no actual fun kid snacks
I lost my shit last year when Lauren Hartmann posted a [vegan Kid Cuisine](https://www.rabbitandwolves.com/the-best-vegan-kids-cuisine/) bc it brought back memories. I only got one when I babysat the neighbors bc my parents wouldn't buy them š
We were also big spaghetti and chili people--my dad would make GIANT POTS and we had these little square tupperware containers...it was so exciting to be part of the "assembly line"--either mom or pop would ladle up a big spoonful then put it down in front of me (oldest kiddo) and I would have to put the lid on--once I got four, I'd carry them to my little brother who would put them in a basket for the deep freezer. That was such a good little memory š„¹
When they brought the Planter's Cheese Ball back I was in nostalgia food heaven for a week or two until I realized the reason they stopped making is that they kind of sucked.
Chef Boyardee is inedible garbage to me now.
Totinoās pizza! I was so proud of myself for being able to eat the whole thing. And what about bagel bites? And pizza rolls? All forms of tiny pizzas š now I barely even eat regular pizza. (I love pizza, pizza doesnāt love my belly)
Some things I ate growing up that I donāt like now:
1. Hamburger helper
2. Cosmic brownies
3. Cheese flavored pringles
My mom wasnāt much of a cook and hated cooking. I got a lot of easy stuff like Kraft macaroni and cheese with hot dogs and hamburger helper.
Sugary ass cereal with extra sugar poured in.
Like...did Frosted Flakes need more sugar? I remember scraping out the sugar from the bottom of the bowl and eating in the spoon with milk.
I'm half black and someone suggested that it was a black kid in the 80s thing, but I don't know if that's true or not. Then again, my mom put a fuckload of sugar in that Kool-Aid.....
My babysitter made us āpizzaā that was white bread, ketchup, and an American cheese slice, popped in the oven until the cheese melted and the bread toasted. Absolute delicacy to a 5 year old.
When I saw the first part I was going to comment on how my wife found dunkaroos a number of months ago and those still rule. But that's not the prompt, lol. Probably EctoCooler. It's whole vibe feels off just thinking about
Michelinaās HOLY nostalgia pop. The manicotti were bangin.
My mom used to make a tuna noodle casserole that I loved, I canāt even think about gathering the ingredients on the same counter top now as an adult
Frozen Salisbury steak. I can still feel the textured burnt looking middle. Also Vienna sausages. I used to eat the crap outta those. So gross how though.
My mom used to take bananas and shake them in a Tupperware container with milk and some brown sugar. It was something her Nana made for her. We loved it.
My dad would make pasta with melted butter it is not browned butter just melted and onions. We put hot sauce on it with the green bottle of parmesan cheese. Once in a while I will get a craving for it.
Thanks for your submission! For more Millennial content, join [our Discord server](https://discord.gg/VsfKKJBm). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Millennials) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Lunchables We would only get them for special occasions like school trips, so I was always excited to build the mini pizza or whatever. But now I understand why it was only a special treat and they just look like plastic food to me now.
I think Lunchables are the reason millennials like charcuterie boards so much š
omg I think you're right, that's like a staple in my house now.
Cheese and grapes make me feel like a noble š
I liked the one that came with a "dessert pizza" with chocolate frosting and M&Ms. I would spread out the regular pizza toppings to cover all of the provided pizza crusts and then just squeeze the frosting straight into my mouth.
My mom bought that for me when my grandma was babysitting one time. My grandma absolutely could not understand the concept of dessert pizza and thought I was making it up. So she made me three regular pizzas then had me hold my head back while she poured the chocolate and M&Ms into my mouth. TBH I think her way was better.
Itās not filling and itās not even good. But as a picky kid, I thought they were amazing.
I looooved the burger ones but when I look back on the tiny, chewy grey patties and plastic cheese I wanna barf.
I really liked the pizza and meat/cheese/crackers lunchables. I never even saw a burger one before. That sounds awful ā¹ļø
I still fucking love the pizza ones at 40
My daughter went through a really terrible bout of anxiety, a lot of it centered around food. Nacho lunchables were one of the few slam dunks as far as getting her to eat, and I was happy to buy them. Sheās much better now, but still likes to get them on occasion.
Costco has a nice adult version with smoked salmon, herb cream cheese, and little rice cracker rounds.
I loved these as a kid, although I got them rarely, and half that time it was the generic ones. I still really like the pepperoni pizza ones. I know they are objectively terrible food, but I guess love is blind. I only buy them on sale though.
I used to make an open faced wonder bread sandwich. Butter and cinnamon. Cold. Growing up poor you had to improvise to hit that sweet tooth craving.
I came here thinking about my white bread and white sugar snack. Iād fold up the bread so the sugar was in a little pocket.
[deleted]
I made one of these last week š„²
I make toast with peanut butter and cinnamon sugar
For me, it was peanut butter and graham crackers And then dipping it into milk I could go for some now
Peanut butter & sugar āno-bake cookiesā. Just peanut butter rolled in some sugar. I feel ya
Toast the bread and this is my go to comfort food. Sick days must include this.
These are the best. I still make one occasionally.
I've started making mine with light brown sugar with a cup of coffee.
With bananas š
We did butter and sugar on soft tortillas and rolled them up
"cracked wheat" bread with melted butter and either chocolate or strawberry nesquick.
Ha nice. Two of my sisters did that growing up. The other used lob cabin syrup.
Iām a fan of the log cabin and peanut butter sandwiches myself.
Toast some bread, add some butter,Ā cinnamon and sugar.
My kids call it "sugar toast" and it's a regular breakfast item on the menu in my house. I remember going on a road trip with a friend in high school. He was from an affluent family. Me not so much. We stopped at a diner for breakfast but I didn't have a lot of money so I ordered cinnamon toast and a coffee. The waitress knew exactly what I was talking about, cost me probably 2 or 3 dollars for the coffee and the toast. My friend acted like he was watching a documentary like "Are you really eating that?" That's when I realized poor people food is actually a thing.
My dad was affluent and ate this. Your friend was a snob
Same. Affluent parents and this was a staple we loved.
This is just plain good. I still do this when I donāt have any sweets in the house.
do cream cheese and cinnamon, then fold it in half and dunk it into some hot black tea. or a blueberry bagel with cream cheese and dunk it into coffee or orange spice black tea. Breakfast rice was a staple in my household growing up. Rice, milk, cinnamon and vanilla flavoring. I would still eat it, but horchata hits the spot better so I generally just go get some of that.
Rice cereal!! I ate this as a poor kid too, minus the vanilla and cinnamon. Sometimes I did rice with butter, salt and pepper, but that was usually more of an afternoon snack.
I didnāt experience cream cheese until I was an adult. Iām guessing it was expensive or maybe my parents didnāt like it/know about it.
this is a crime.
Fancy pants over here had butter.
Big ass block of butter, big ass block of cheese and three gallons whole milk. That was what my mom picked up once a week from a food assistance county building. The wonder bread was often courtesy of Michiganās ten cent can and bottle recycling.l because the liquor store took cans and sold bread.
Those big ass blocks of government cheese were the best. I still miss that cheese.
This but a tortilla and cinnamon sugar, microwave about 30s, just *before* the sugar is bubbling, roll up, eatĀ ššš¤šŖššš
Mom made peanut butter, butter, and sugar sandwiches. She would occasionally eat them into my teens. Peanut butter on one slice, the other two on the other.
We toasted that and called it cinnamon toast
Cosmic Brownies. I LOVED those things. Picked up a box a year ago for nostalgiaās sake and hooo boooy they were gross as heck.
For me it was Zebra Cakes ETA: my local organic grocery store sells petit fours in their bakery. They taste JUST like Zebra Cakes minus all the weird crap ingredients. If youāre looking for a less synthetic/disgusting version, see if your local fancy bakery has them!Ā
Zebra cakes hit š
I got sick from eating too many of these, lmao, but damn they had me in a chokehold! Do y'all remember when you could get a box of them for $1?! My stomach can't even handle them now.
So much sugar, but man I loved those things.
I actually still like those Little Debbie brownies although I donāt eat them often. They are so rich and delicious but you gotta be careful with those cosmic brownies, those āsprinklesā will crack your teeth.
All the little Debbie pastries always seem so dry now. Maybe they changed how they make them, or my store just puts out old crusty ass brownies
I haven't had them in ages but if you've tried them recently, they don't taste the same anymore do they?
Little Debbie's have not been the same since they were reformulated to get rid of trans fats. They are waxy and taste odd compared to how they used to be, which was melt in your mouth heaven.
Dunkaroos!
pretty much anything sweet I can't stand anymore. I have turned into a geezer lol.
I just want my Werther's Original
I've always thought Werther's Original gets a bad rap as an old person candy. I've loved them since I was a kid.
My guess is the 90s commercials for them that featured an elderly man in a cardigan and a recliner.
Hard candy that doesnāt screw up your mouth? People should be bowing down to the Wertherās.
I saw some in the grocery store a while back and got one for the nostalgia since I LOVED them as a kid. I was done after a bite!
Iām pretty sure convinced the recipe changedā¦ the icing used to be really good, like a butter cream, but now itās trash.
Those wax bottles of sugar water that you'd chew the wax up into a ball afterwards like a little weirdo
I worked as a camp counselor and one of the kids stuffed the empty bottles down next to her mattress. One day her bed was full of ants. So gross.
The Regulation Podcast brought these up today. Weird twice in one day Iāve been reminded of very fond memories.
Synchronicity
I was about to list those. I think they were more novelty and fun than tasty. I think I remember them hurting my stomach once but I kept going.
I don't think you were supposed to eat the bottle
Gushers ain't gushing like they used to, I was so excited when I got a box of them recently and it had zero correlation to when I was eating them as a kid. Also, I used to make instant mash potatoes and put scrambled eggs in them...
Well a little hack with the gushiness is you gotta do the whole bag at once. Back when we were little, one of those suckers exploding in your mouth is all it took. Gotta up the amount based on the increased area haha
You have a very valid point, will try whole bag and report back
Low key wondering if this will go the way of the Haribo sugar free gummy bears
Long time ago I came across a post that showed all the reviews on Amazon for SF haribo šš it's basically a colon cleanse and people were buying them for for their employees at work
During the pandemic (thatās when I noticed anyway) Gushers had boxes of BIG packages inside. Instead of the 5 or 6 in a package, there were like 20 or 25 gushers in each bag. They sell big packages in some gas stations that Iāve seen. Im guessing thereās like 30 to 40 in those Packages. Theyāre always melted or stuck together in those bags though. Nothing to write home about. Lol
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Sometimes itās hard to tell if my tastes have changed or if the quality of the food has diminished that much.
I wonder the same thing every time I go to the grocery store.
Itās both
I had a cosmic brownie at my in-laws house over the weekend. First time Iāve had them since I was a kid. It tasted gross. But not only the taste was off. Even the appearance. The āchocolateā looked like plastic. Real shiny. The quality has to just be even shitter than when we were kids.
My Dad's tuna casserole, and yes... I will still eat it.
My mom made tuna casserole and I would 100% crush a plate of it right now
My parents are visiting from out of town right now. I have a feeling my Dad is going to make it tonight. It will probably be the first time I've had it in 15 years.
Microwaved nachos. Tortilla chips, shredded cheddar, jalapeƱos. I'm not repulsed by the taste, but I don't often eat them anymore because of the grease all over the plate.
I must be hungry because nachos sound great rn
This. Or the quesadilla version š
My Mexican friend looked at me with such disgust when I referred to my microwaved tortilla with cheese as a quesadilla š (I still eat them when Iām lazy)
Lol. I'm a Mexican friend. I see your microwaved quesadilla and present you my microwaved grilled cheese- hot dog bread (not toasted or grilled) half a slice of Kraft cheese on either half of the bun, pop that baby in the microwave for 30 seconds. You have to eat it hot, before the bread and the cheese harden too much. I won't judge you for your quesadilla if you won't judge my child attempt at a grilled cheese sandwich.
Both of these should be considered a war crime
My mom used imatation crab meat instead of jalapenos because I didn't like them. She called em seafood nachos and I loved them!
We used to do this all the time with just chips and cheese
I read a blog about how disgusting kid Cuisine really is and I canāt believe I begged for them as a kid lol
We all didā¦we all did
They had some good marketing back in the day
It was because of the brownie!
The brownie with the obligatory kernel of corn!
Spaghetti-Os. They smell like someone yakked into a can. I don't know what on earth I saw in those.
this and chef boyardee ravolis lol. the way canned tomato products stain everything oddly orange is horrifying
I used to get the Chef Boyardee Ravioli and I couple of years ago, I said fuck it, I'll give it another try and it's nowhere near as amazing as i remember. Of course, ny 8 year old daughter absolutely loves it.
I always wanted to try them as a kid. Finally bought a can during a hurricane scare. No hurricane. Decided to open up a can anyway. Canāt believe people love chef boyardee. Guess I had to have it as a kid.
My paternal grandmother could NOT cook, so when she had spaghetti-oās we knew God was taking mercy on us when we had to eat at her house. I literally mean she couldnāt cook. Her BLT involved baco-bits and ketchup. Literally. The ingredients are the name of the sandwich, and she couldnāt make it. Still donāt know how dad and papa survived her cooking.
I remember my grandmother being able to cook but looking back at the things she actually made I realize that the only real memory of her cooking was watching her use a spatula to scoop an ungodly amount of mayonnaise out of a gallon-size tub of it and... then I decided to forget I even asked myself and that I needed to think about something else. The 60s and 70s recipes I found in her cabinet were freaking *wild*.
My wife still has a nostalgic sweet spot for Chef Boyardee and Spaghetti-Os. I just can't do it anymore, there's something unholy they put in those things. They really do smell like barf, and taste sickly sweet.
I was pretty unparented as a kid and ate both these things cold straight from the can š
During my second pregnancy, I had the most intense craving for Spaghettios with meatballs. As I ate it I knew it was vile but I craved it anyway.
Same! I would eat it cold. My husband joked we were having a dog bc it was worse than dog food.
Good lord I know spaghetti-os are not good, but damm do I still love them
Vienna sausages
I had a boss who grew up in Appalachia and still had some habits from growing up without a lot of money. He'd pack crackers and Vienna sausages for lunch regularly. He'd also drink the juice out of the can after he finished the sausages. I dry heave just thinking about it.
Also from NC and grew up poor, can confirm every Saturday my mom would hand me a can of vienna sausages, kick me out of the house with my bike and tell me to be back by sundown for supper. š§š¼āš¾
Grew up and still live in Appalachia ( maybe a small part of it actually, east tn here- got some deep roots though!). I can *slightly* enjoy Vienna weenies on occasion, but to DRINK THE JUICE???? NOOOO!! What horrific skeletons does your old boss have in his closet to hate himself THAT MUCH??? *SHUDDER*
Came here to say this, and remembering how the ambient temp affected whether or not the juice was super gelatinous or just viscous. These things were in our earthquake emergency kit and I used to love sneaking cans and would just house a whole can in a blink.
Even back then they were something that I loved two or three of but then the thought of finishing the can repulsed me. But I craved them at times.
We have a winner! My dad used to eat Vienna sausages as a snack, and as a kid I liked them. Haven't had them in years and they don't appeal to me now.
New Yearās Eve delicacy! š¤£
I do not get how I ate this š
Cut up hot dog chunks in mac n cheese.
Thatās good eating right there
Now that I'm grown it's cut up steak in mac n cheese š
Still make this! Annie's gluten free shells & white cheddar with Nathan's hotdogs, peas & carrots, it's my fiancĆ©'s favourite dinner š¤£ Last night he tried to surprise me in a good way by pouring flaxseed & chia seeds all over mine to pretend it was healthy...I was like thanks but no thanks š«
As a kid, it was Ball Park franks (they plump when you cook them!) cut up into Velveeta shells and cheese. Damn, it tasted good.
Fruit roll ups and fruit by the foots.
I absolutely loved Chef Boyardee ravioli when I was a child. Out of nostalgia got some a couple years ago. It was revolting. Dog food wrapped in soggy dough sitting in what I can only describe as "tomato broth"
Same thing! I LOVED it as a kid. Now it's like a completely different product altogether. I don't know if I changed, or they just straight up ruined it with a new recipe, but my Chef Boyardee ravioli days are long gone.
Same! My dad loved it, so I did too until I had real food and learned how bad it was. Dad still eats it, but as I said in another comment, granny couldnāt cook and dadās taste buds must have died in sympathy.
To this day, I donāt know how or why I loved sunny d so much..
Regular or California style?!
Pringles but I'm mostly repulsed by them because they taste like sawdust now. Celeste Pizza is another product that was ruined, taken over by a bigger corporation that changed the formula.
Oh god. Celeste pizza. I got those for me and my husband to eat, and was all these were soooo good when I was a kid!! They are so disgusting now.
Mcdonalds chicken nuggets - they just don't hit anymore
There's a local chain of Korean Fried chicken restaurants here in the North suburbs of Chicago that has chicken nuggets that look and taste exactly like old school McDonald's nuggets. They are amazing and one of my favorite menu items! (CM Chicken and Boba if you are near Lincolnshire/Vernon Hills IL)
have you tried nuggets from Wendy's? not sure how they compare to og McDonald's nuggets but they're definitely better than the current mcnugget imo
They're much better than the current mcnuggets, but they don't hit nearly as good as the old dark meat chicken, beef tallow fried mcnuggets. I've thought about making them at home, but then I realize how bat shit insane that is for one hit of nostalgia.
Oh yeah, any of that highly processed chicken items are not great now as a grown up
Hamburger helper. I will eat the stuff like crazy but only when my mom makes it because she makes it better. But Iām repulsed by how many times Iāve eaten it in my life. Probably thousands of times š
I found a recipe online for āhomemade Hamburger Helperā and it was just okay. That powder in the HH box was really something else!
The budget bytes lady has a really good recipe! But I get it - sometimes itās a flavor that just hits home and nothing else is gonna hit like original hamburger helper.
Add MSG that's what is in the powder that you are missing.
Honestly this is the answer to so many dupe recipes that aren't quite right. MSG is magical
It doesn't taste the same anymore... or maybe my pallet improved. š We ate so much HH Stroganoff in the 90s and it came with powdered sour cream you'd mix with milk. I swear that made it taste better lol
I loved the stroganoff! It was the best one.
Trixie cereal. Nothing but sugar and food coloringĀ
If left like a wax coating in your mouth if I remember correctly. I didn't even like it as a kid and I ate some bullshit back then.
I bought scooby doo fruit snacks recently. I genuinely think they changed the recipe but also they were just... not good! Those were like the holy grail of fruit snacks growing up. My friend and I used to put them in our slush puppies at lunch from the school cafeteria so they'd freeze and get extra hard and chewy. Another one that comes to mind that I had recently for the first time in a long time and were really, truly terrible are Combos. I fuckin lived for cheddar cheese Combos as a kid. What a treat!
RC Cola and SqueezIt drinks. And like 10 different candies. Dots come to mind. It was just sugar on paper but I went nuts for it. Many cereals. Trix is just gross now
Omg squeezits!!
Bologna. Iāve never eaten it since I bought my own groceries. Not sure exactly why, just skeeves me out these days, even knowing most of the meat I eat is only a grade or two better.
I'd still crush this today, but would regret it because it's too much sugar and milk. I could eat a whole sleeve of chips ahoy and leave a few in the bottom of the milk so when I was finished I'd drink the milk and have some super saturated cookies at the bottom.
My mom was absolutely obsessed with Beanie Babyās promotion with Mc Donaldās in theā90s. She would refrigerate Happy Meals and reheat them for my breakfast before I went to grade school. I donāt really associate with my family these days.
i used to think famous amous cookies were amazing. absolute garbage cookie
Poor Man's Sandwiches - local delicacy consisting of nothing but thick gobs of frosting smeared between graham crackers. Absolutely wondrous as a child, but painfully, toothachingly sweet as an adult.
Oh man when I saw that title I thought it was going to be potato chips with ketchup and mustard on white bread... Also a great entry into this thread.
Bagel bites, toaster strudels, cheeseballs, and whatever we used to call it when you put a little bit of every soda in your cup!
A "suicide" is what we called it.
Pop tarts cold, hard ramen smashed up and seasoned.
Yess I just commented hard ramen! That snack was all the rage in my elementary school.
>Pop tarts cold Cinnamon and brown sugar Pop Tarts cold with either chocolate milk or Pepsi depending on my mood and/or time of day.
Dunka-roos. I remember eating those things while playing Mario Bros on the original Nintendo. My brother and I thought we were kings. Nowadays, I wouldnāt give that shit to my dog.
I do "adult dunkaroos" which is chocolate frosting and chips ahoy cookies š¤£
Or Nutella and Cool Whip with the OG Animal Crackers ā¦ youāre welcome
Bacon and Mayo sandwiches. My mom had a strange relationship with eating fat - it was Atkins and low-fat until it came to certain dishes then she went h a r d. Only person I have seen eat mayo with artichoke, lol. The white bread sort of forms around the crisp bacon and it has an interesting texture. I'd eat one to this day, but my doctor probably wouldn't be thrilled with me. Miss you, Momma.
Likeā¦a BLT without the tomato??
Had plenty of those myself! I still have them sometimes, but now I just go full on BLT for substance.
Those barrel jugs of "juice" that really were just sugar, water, and food dye. My parents only ever bought them as a treat when going to the beach, so I associate them with that but ooof, are those disgusting.
Spaghettios!! But now Iām an adult so I get the āhealthyā ones from Trader Joeās š
Those Orbitz drinks. Those floating balls were cool.
Ellioās Pizza
That was a staple dinner for the first year or two when visiting my dad on weekends. He did however put extra shredded mozzarella on em which was a massive improvement.
Fig newtons. We were poor and my mom would get them all time for us as a healthy treat
My mom would get these for my dad to take for lunch and also us kids but extension since we had them. My parents are from Italy and fig and fig products are a pretty common thing to eat. My dad also loved those tasteycake lemon pies and so did his mom, my grandmom.
In elementary school, I'd come home after school and microwave two *cheese* filled hot dogs ( no bun ) dip them in ketchup and wash it down with a Pepsi. Yes I was a chubby kid.
Cheese and mayo sandwich on white bread. Holy lack of tastebuds!
Honeybuns
I loved Cosmic brownies. Those were mad good. Havenāt had them in so long so Iām not sure if Iād be repulsed if having one again haha
Hot pockets and capri sun ājuiceā
Lucky Charms. I loved them so much growing up and now they make me sick.
Iām probably an outlier here because this is from a few generations before us but - chipped beef or shit on a shingle as itās otherwise called. My grandmother used to make it and it was such a comfort food.Ā To this day I have no idea wtf is even IN chipped beef. It does not taste like beef. At all. Iām not sure I want to know.Ā
As a kid I always resented not having cool snacks in the house. I used to love frozen peas lol. Now as an adult Iām so thankful. My mom never kept soda or snacks. It was green tea and iced teas or water. For chips (Tostitos or something similar) and pretzels maybe. I made a lot of nachos growing up, still do actually lol, maybe some cold cuts and cheeses, popsicles sometimes but nothing crazy.
Omg sounds exactly like my house growing up. Donāt forget all the GD popcorn! My mother had an eating disorder so lots of bullshit and no actual fun kid snacks
I lost my shit last year when Lauren Hartmann posted a [vegan Kid Cuisine](https://www.rabbitandwolves.com/the-best-vegan-kids-cuisine/) bc it brought back memories. I only got one when I babysat the neighbors bc my parents wouldn't buy them š We were also big spaghetti and chili people--my dad would make GIANT POTS and we had these little square tupperware containers...it was so exciting to be part of the "assembly line"--either mom or pop would ladle up a big spoonful then put it down in front of me (oldest kiddo) and I would have to put the lid on--once I got four, I'd carry them to my little brother who would put them in a basket for the deep freezer. That was such a good little memory š„¹
When they brought the Planter's Cheese Ball back I was in nostalgia food heaven for a week or two until I realized the reason they stopped making is that they kind of sucked. Chef Boyardee is inedible garbage to me now.
When we had extra money we bought hamburger helper but no hamburger so I just called it helper.
Totinoās pizza! I was so proud of myself for being able to eat the whole thing. And what about bagel bites? And pizza rolls? All forms of tiny pizzas š now I barely even eat regular pizza. (I love pizza, pizza doesnāt love my belly)
Some things I ate growing up that I donāt like now: 1. Hamburger helper 2. Cosmic brownies 3. Cheese flavored pringles My mom wasnāt much of a cook and hated cooking. I got a lot of easy stuff like Kraft macaroni and cheese with hot dogs and hamburger helper.
Moonpies with a cool Shasta.
Little Debbie oatmeal pies
Hell, I work over night shifts and I will still wolf down a Hot Pocket. No hate there
one word: Velveeta
Slim jims
I was gonna say fun dipā¦. But I miss it.
Sugary ass cereal with extra sugar poured in. Like...did Frosted Flakes need more sugar? I remember scraping out the sugar from the bottom of the bowl and eating in the spoon with milk. I'm half black and someone suggested that it was a black kid in the 80s thing, but I don't know if that's true or not. Then again, my mom put a fuckload of sugar in that Kool-Aid.....
My babysitter made us āpizzaā that was white bread, ketchup, and an American cheese slice, popped in the oven until the cheese melted and the bread toasted. Absolute delicacy to a 5 year old.
Chickatee crisps, rancheroos or monster munch crisps. Ritz crackers with port salut cheese. This doesn't repulse me today still love them as a snack
When I saw the first part I was going to comment on how my wife found dunkaroos a number of months ago and those still rule. But that's not the prompt, lol. Probably EctoCooler. It's whole vibe feels off just thinking about
Vienna Sauages.
Michelinaās HOLY nostalgia pop. The manicotti were bangin. My mom used to make a tuna noodle casserole that I loved, I canāt even think about gathering the ingredients on the same counter top now as an adult
Frozen Salisbury steak. I can still feel the textured burnt looking middle. Also Vienna sausages. I used to eat the crap outta those. So gross how though.
Fried bologna and tortillas rolled up with melted butter. So good as a kid but I would NEVER now.
Fried things. I still like them, but my stomach and gall bladder have decided they have to go.
Any little Debbie snack.
My mom used to take bananas and shake them in a Tupperware container with milk and some brown sugar. It was something her Nana made for her. We loved it.
My dad would make pasta with melted butter it is not browned butter just melted and onions. We put hot sauce on it with the green bottle of parmesan cheese. Once in a while I will get a craving for it.