Childhood dinners that made your heart sink?

[Harveypuss]

A lighthearted post!

Do you remember any childhood meals, that when you asked your mum (or dad) "what's for dinner?", their answer made your heart sink?!

Mine was Lamb's hearts. My Mum cooked these often, presumably it was a culinary delight and was probably cheap, but I hated them (this was back in the late 70s so you ate what was given or went hungry). I don't know what she did with them, but they were as tough as old boots and really chewy. I'm sure offal like that is probably quite delicious in some top-end restaurant but dear Mum didn't cook it like that! I'm in my 50s now and I've only just told her I hated that meal. She was mortified!

We have this with our son now, aged 17. He hates pasta and when we have a family pasta meal, I cook him something different. He's off to Uni next year, so don't know how he's going to manage as I'm told all students live of pasta as it's really cheap...!

What was your least favourite childhood meal...?

Eww I forgot about banana sandwiches with marg, my mum used to make me sugar sandwhiches, wtf!

We weren’t allowed too much cereal as kids because according to my mum, it “used the milk”! We had weetabix many a time with marg spread on top, it’s making me gag thinking about it!

Liver
Fish fingers
Runner beans

And any kind of casserole.

I never make any of this shit for my kids.

Plus I have never forced them to eat something they don't like.

Shepherds pie made with frozen lamb mince, it was so greasy 🤢

Fish pie.
I don’t mind fish as an adult, but my mother’s fish pie was soggy and bland and unpleasant. All of my siblings hated it, I don’t know why she insisted on making it.

Yeah, I think a lot of us might not have quite such intense and visceral feelings about these foods if we hadn't been forced to eat them. I remember sobbing into a cold plate of rigid, oily spaghetti while my stepfather stood over me bellowing "EAT IT!"

I asked my DS1 (18) this question earlier and he didn't seem to have the same horror of things he didn't like as I do - he remembered not being overly keen on stir fries when he was little, as he found the flavours odd and the texture of water chestnuts confused him...but he was never made to eat it or humiliated for not liking it.

Liver casserole
Rissoles made with left over roast lamb. Bleurgh!

I suspect that either sadpapercortesan or yourcakesareshit must be my sister, either of those gastronomic masterpieces could have been cooked by our mother.
I have been pondering coddle. Even if it dates from the days of cooking over an open fire, clearly, there was a pan, there was heat... Why would you not use a knob of lard or dripping and fry the stuff, rather than boiling it?

Sausages baked in egg. All watery and slimey.

Tongue sandwiches.

Macaroni cooked so it was all dry and congealed and rubbery, just one big lump on the plate.

Watery boiled veg. I roast almost all veg with garlic now.

Liver & Bacon

Just gross

Liver, kidneys, tounge, chops so tough like boot leather.

Summer pudding. Cheap white bread soaked in frozen berries in an old washtub and left in the fridge.

I posed this question to both my siblings , not on group chat so no chance of cheating...

My sister came right back with meatloaf.

My bother, dry pork chops, now funnily enough I don't remember them, then I referenced THE STEW and everything raw, he countered with the fact that my father did a decent stew but that it only appeared once a year if we were lucky and only after he retired.

He summed up THE STEW, he said fathers was a marathon and mothers was a sprint.

Actually I feel vomacious just talking about THE STEW

@Arbadacarba

I wonder how many on this thread had parents who, like mine, grew up during wartime/post-war rationing? My theory is that once rationing ended, they were grateful for any decent-sized portions of meat so didn't really care how it was cooked.

I have another theory on similar lines.

The only part of Britain occupied in WWII was the Channel Islands, food was rationed, women were out in the workforce in many places away from home and we, as a nation, forgot how to cook.

Places that were occupied and had horrible shortages to the point of starvation and I'm sure they talked about food and how to prepare things whereas we as a nation had a lot of food (in comparison) but much of it was bland. Vegetables were not rationed and people could grow their own, offal was also not rationed so featured heavily.

We were too busy to pass on classic recipes and dinner was what you could get and had the energy to cook or what was on offer at the local, 'British Restaurant'.

@Tambora

Did anyone else's dad grow runner beans?

I'd forgotten the endless summers of runner beans. Put me off them for life.

I hated swede, but like it now

My two worst childhood meals ever were chicken soup and poultry.

My friend's Polish mum made me homemade chicken soup with its heart floating in it, because, apparently, that's the done thing to honour the guest. Grim. She swapped bowls when she saw the look on my face! And, on my French exchange, my host family served me a meal of whole cooked small birds (with heads and feet), which I gathered was a delicacy. Basically, it looked like burnt sparrows on a plate. I still don't actually know what type of birds they were, but there was no way I could eat them.

"Stovies" made with corned beef and mashed potato 🤢

Took decades for me to discover the delights of proper stovies made with beef and sausage.

I think the wartime point is interesting - my Grandparents were in the war. Grandad in RAF. Both sets lived through rationing and one Grannys house was bombed.
Maternal GP's were very anxious around food, hoarded and overate. But we're both really good cooks. So although ate things that to many modern palates are gross, they were generally quite delicious!
Paternal GP's grew a lot of their own food. Granny was an excellent baker and could make a little meat go a very long way. We are a lot of potatoes and runner beans 😁

Lots of offal but the worst was Liver and Onions. Mum used to make it was ox liver which was as tough as old boots and had horrible big veins running through it Blergh!

My mum always used to say" Try and eat the meat first, that's the most important bit ", probably a result of wartime shortages and rationing, as others have said. I guess offal was always cheaper too.

Yes!! Gross !

Warm beetroot at school 🤢

Haven't been able to touch it since n the thought of it makes me feel sick 😷

Me and db used to stay at grandparents for a week in the 6 weeks holidays.Dgm gave us Smash which we hated resulting in us nearly retching trying to get it down.

I’d forgotten about my mum and her incessant use of her bloody pressure cooker

My mum used to take the pressure cooker on holiday with us. The only thing I remember being cooked in it was horrible big dry boiled potatoes (I remember nearly gagging trying to finish the dry potatoes - my own DC love potatoes and would happily eat a plate of mash on it's own but I cant bear to watch!)
DH has talked about getting one recently, but I keep putting him off because I'm haunted by the potatoes!😂

@Triphazard101

I’d forgotten about my mum and her incessant use of her bloody pressure cooker

My mum used to take the pressure cooker on holiday with us. The only thing I remember being cooked in it was horrible big dry boiled potatoes (I remember nearly gagging trying to finish the dry potatoes - my own DC love potatoes and would happily eat a plate of mash on it's own but I cant bear to watch!)
DH has talked about getting one recently, but I keep putting him off because I'm haunted by the potatoes!😂

You win! I just howled with laughter at the very thought of taking the pressure cooker on your jollies with you! No getting away from it, even on holiday!