Spaghetti with Prego sauce, baby.
That was every Monday (you could set your clock to the weekly menu).
Tuesday - chicken
Wednesday - meatloaf
Thursday - liver (my father ate it, my sister and I didn’t).
Friday we brought something in.
Saturday I went to the deli for franks and french fries, maybe a knish
Sunday - I don’t recall.
I never knew beets could taste so good. All I ever had was canned beets, pea, carrots. No wonder I’m a foodie. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Tuna noodle casserole 
One of my grandmothers cooked the very last breath from veggies, the other cooked them perfect. Btw, “canned” to me means what we put up ourselves in mason jars, that I brought up from the cellar (not wine) not from a tin.
Congee, minced pork with dried squid, steamed whole fish, dried salted fish, black bean spareribs
We had a large garden and my mom canned or froze everything. Raised dairy goats, steers, hogs, and chickens.
Always had an abundance of protein and veggies. So dinner was some meat, 2 vegetables, 1 starch and sometimes a dessert. We always ate at home.
Liver and onions at least once a month.
Mac and cheese. Made with large elbow noodles, cheddar cheese and a can of Campbell’s condensed cream of onion soup. Sometimes with a can of tuna added in…
Family would write a weekly menu, everyone would sign off…then if during the week you didn’t want what was made you got breakfast cereal and milk (which my brother ended up having at least 4-5 nights a week)
Western Meal in One is a Mexican casserole my mom learned from our Japanese maid, (1960 Hakata Administrative Annex, Japan).
1 lb ground beef
1 Bell pepper diced
1 Medium onion diced
1 tblsp chili powder
Brown the hamburger and drain the grease. Add bell pepper, onion and chili powder with a quarter cup of water and simmer while preparing the rest:
In a large casserole bowl add/stir:
1 can of kidney beans (black beans if you prefer), liquid drained
2 cans of stewed tomatoes and all liquid
1/2 cup of instant rice, 3/4 cup if you want
1 more tblsp of chili powder
? Cayenne chili powder if you want some heat
Add the cooked ground beef mixture and stir it all up. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, stirring at least twice and add water if needed.
Shred a pound of sharp cheddar. Stir the casserole and cover with the cheese. Bake 15 minutes and serve.
You can also add black olives or other items you like. The same process is 15 minutes in the microwave and 3 to 5 minutes to melt the cheese.
I add Lawry’s seasoned salt and pepper to mine on the plate. I eat a lot less when Carrie heats up some flour tortillas and I make mini burritos.
what David said. No more overcooked meat, fish, and veggies.
Oh I got another - Tuna and/or Hamburger Helper. My parents would eat it too! We’ve all moved on.
SOS - "$hit On a Shingle
Chipped beef, butter, flour, milk and pepper over toast
Sounds gross, but is quite tasty
I used to regularly get Leo’s chipped beef (a sixteenth of an inch?) with French’s mustard on pillowy white bread for lunch. And I think Mom did make the SOS occasionally. What the heck is chipped beef anyway?
I’d never had it until I was married and my mother-in-law made it for me. She puts minced hard cooked egg in as well. Very tasty indeed.
My mother was good cook of mostly simple food and there wasn’t much money, but vegetables were always fresh. We had roast chicken, meatloaf, various casseroles with ground beef and noodles, food on the grill in the summer, a few big soups, some pasta dishes. We almost never had steak or lamb, and seafood only at the beach. But I still enjoy the food I was raised on.
Ugh…yeah, thanks for reminding me. I hated that shit.
My father flew bombers in WWII. My mother had standing orders:
NO chipped beet on toast
NO Wonder Bread
NO White Chicken meat
Not mine, but one of Juan’s (many) favorites Egg Salad.
Just hard boiled eggs diced course, can of tuna, a good pour of EVOO, salt and pepper.
Loved this when made from scratch. We still have it occasionally. I used to be the weekend cook in my frat house and I’d make this every so often. The guys loved it and ate a ton of it, but had to call it “Tuna Shit” of course.
food I ate growing up:
Flank steak- marinated or not, sliced thin against the grain
Skirt steak pin wheels_ rolled skirt steak seasoned with parsley breadcrumbs and garlic. rolled and sliced
Stuffed green peppers- with ground beef, tomato sauce and rice
Salad with wishbone italian dressing
Roast chicken
Canned sweet potatoes
Frijones- dried great northern beans, marrow bones and stewed chuck steak cubes with tomato sauce- cooked for hours on the stove.
lots of Coca Cola in 16oz glass bottles
I had this a few times and hated the green peppers. What’s strange is I don’t mind that flavor as long it isn’t too overpowering in wine.