In Harlem , NY my brother and I went to the Red Rooster , a trendy restaurant serving " soul food " , mainly Southern inspired, like grits, okra , collard greens . Really expensive , so we ordered a sharing dish . An entire deep fried chicken ! I found it a bit much , but brother loved it.
In Chicago, with family., every meal was meat . And everything was covered in cheese , even fries. We went shopping for ourselves and bought beautiful fish , snapper, shrimps, lobster . My sister asked for a suggestion for a salad , cousin pointed to one containing apple . Thought it was like Waldorf - horrified to find it was like a sweet mayonnaise - with marshmallows in it ! One family member - an in law - was mainly vegetarian , but did eat the fish with us . She said she was so glad to meet us as the rest of the family acted like she was in a cult.
I grew up in NY and my favourite thing to have now is a slice of pizza and a Coke . Gooey oily melty cheese combo , great but couldn't eat it too often.
We grew up with all the processed stuff , my mother not a great cook. Lunch was baloney sandwiches , or Turkey Pot Pie . We drank Tang , an advert said it was what the astronauts drank- a powered, sugary , orange drink. Or Kool Aid , different flavours . Hamburger Helper was also a favourite , as was Uncle Ben's flavoured rice , all on boxes in the pantry .
I very rarely eat anything processed at all anymore and live cooking from scratch.