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What is it exactly that happens to our taste buds between the ages of 11 and
20? Why do we eat certain foods when we are kids but abandon almost completely when we become adults? When
you're an adult, and you move into different social circles and experience new foods and you're a little more
adventurous, you can say that you do or don't eat certain foods because your palate has become more mature (or whatever
the food-centric phrase is). Unless, of course, you're the type of nine-year-old who used to eat caviar,
risotto, Caesar salad, or elaborate chicken dishes.
Below are the 8 foods I loved and always ate as a kid, but don't (or rarely) eat now. What's on your list?
1. Meatloaf: I don't eat much meat in general anymore (just chili during the fall and winter and maybe a random pepperoni pizza here and there), but my mom used to make meatloaf once a week and I loved it. It's probably because (in addition to the above don't-eat-much-meat factor) I don't want to take the time to make it, and if I do have hamburger, it won't be in loaf form.
2. Marshmallows: Used to toast them on the flame of my old stove in the house I lived in as a kid (once started a small fire, but that's a story for another day). Used to plop them in hot chocolate, and even ate them out of the bag as a snack. Now I never have them (nor do I have anything that has marshmallows in it).
3. Lemonade: I had this a lot as a kid, but as an adult, though I drink about a gallon of iced tea every day during the summer, lemonade is too sweet for me.
4. Sara Lee All-Butter Poundcake: Oh, how I used to love this. When I'd go food shopping with my mom, circa 1974, I made sure she got one of these for me (along with one of those giant Hershey's candy bars). I would often eat the whole thing in front of the TV, cold, right out of the aluminum tray. Hmmm...I think I'll buy some this week.
5. TV Dinners: And by "TV dinners" I mean the classic Swanson or Banquet full meals that come in the aluminum trays. I still buy frozen meals, lots of them, but they aren't the same as TV dinners. I bought a TV dinner a few years ago because I hadn't had one in years, and it was rather ghastly.
6. Kool-Aid: Everybody devoured this when they were a kid, and I still drank it (or similar brands) in my 20s, but I haven't had Kool-Aid or Zarex in years. There are many things I'm still kid-like about, but Kool-Aid isn't one of them.
7. Creamed corn: Does any adult eat creamed corn
anymore? (I know, I know, you have your recipes and I'm sure I'm going to get a ton of comments about it). Love
corn in all forms (canned, fresh, on the cob, popped), but this just seems unappealing to me now. Oddly,
this was the type of corn I used to have all the time when I was a kid. I used to mix it with the mashed potatoes on my
plate into a mass of vegetable goodness, but I haven't had it since, oh, 1980.
8. Tuna fish or ham and cheese sandwiches: I used to have one of these for lunch almost
every single day, but now I only eat a few of them a year. I don't eat that much ham anymore, and I'm sick of getting
that real fishy-smelling tuna fish you sometimes get from cans (plus mayo is horrible for you). All my sandwiches these
days seem to center around turkey and chicken. Though I still love grilled cheese sandwiches.
Go figure.
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9-24-2007 @12:08AM Lee said... Some of the stuff I used to eat but won't touch now:
canned ravioli
hostess cakes
swanson or banquet pot pies, I gave those up a few years ago when I discovered Marie Calender's (sp)
fritos
Reply
1-09-2006 @5:17PM Rick Cummings said... I would have added Vienna Sausages and Hard Boiled Eggs to my list. I still loved Grilled Ham and Cheese sandwiches though!
Reply
1-09-2006 @5:38PM M-L said... Was talking about this at lunch today actually:
1.Used to eat but no longer because not forced to by German-heritage, farm-living Grandma: Tongue. I used to happily eat beef tongue until one horrifying day I saw G *peeling* it. ech!
2. Baked beef heart. Didn't really like this, but ate it as a matter of G's discipline. Plates never went uncleaned in my family.
3. Rusty lettuce/leftover salad: mom's to blame on this one. She'd force it on us so as not to waste it. I know this isn't the same question, but now that I'm on my own I won't stand for wilty or less-than-pristine salad.
4. Paste. no, I am just kidding. Peanut butter. These days I get through an 18 oz (this is the 4" h jar, by the way,) in about 8 months. Mom's to blame on this too: when she was pregnant w/ my youngest brother (7 yrs my jr.) PB was the only thing she could tolerate to fix for school lunches. I ate PB, NO J, mind you, for an entire school year. BLECH.
5. Any of those weird sugar/color based candies my friends had. Wax coke bottles, anything by Willy Wonka, candy necklaces, pixie sticks, those sugar dots on paper strips. What the hell are those about?
6. Chocolate chips out of the bag. We used to steal choc chips from the cupboard and get busted all the time. Now, eh, they don't hold the attraction anymore until they're baked in a lovely cookie.
7. Instant oatmeal packets. Nay, cereal of most any sort. I got burnt on this stuff as a kid so now I really have to consciously force myself to get the fiber...
8. Hot dogs. Mom used to make "weenie boats" which involved cutting the hot dog lengthwise, but leaving a "hinge." Spoon mashed potatoes (usually leftover instant) and top with
9. VELVEETA. Toaster oven (the above,) until they're hot. Velveeta, nothing melts like it, but...do they even still make it?
Reply
1-09-2006 @5:39PM lil said... Oddly enough, the food I ate the most of and now the least of is canned fruit cocktail with 7-up poured all over it. Oh, and bananas added.
Reply
1-09-2006 @5:50PM claireB said... Uh oh. Maybe I'm not really an adult yet. I eat almost everything on that list. I had marshmallows in my hot chocolate last night. And I have two pitchers in my fridge - one has lemonade, the other Kool-Aid. No kids either. Ahhh. I guess I am just a kid at heart.
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1-09-2006 @7:01PM TOM said... Underwood Deviled Ham sandwiches on white bread.
Loved it as a kid, can't stand the look of it now.
Go figure.
Reply
1-09-2006 @7:16PM Mike said... Pretty much anything from "Hostess", snowballs, cupcakes, 6-packs of donuts, pies.
I do crave Ding-Dongs often though, especially frozen. Luckily I don't have a need to go down that aisle in the supermarket so I'm not tempted. My late-night cravings aren't usually bad enough to make me head back out to the store to get them.
Reply
1-09-2006 @7:25PM Shannon said... Milk. I used to have a few glasses a day as a kid but now I can't imagine drinking an entire glass of milk. I don't even eat cold cereal because of this.
I would also add peanut butter, bologna, slices of processed American cheese, and white bread. Too much latchkey-kid Midwestern living in the 1970s did me in, methinks!
Reply
1-09-2006 @7:34PM Huffy said... Hmmmm, lessee . . .
If take this exercise to heart, my list could be *quite* lengthy; for the sake of brevity, however, I shall mention only a few memorable items. In no particular order, then:
1. Bologna sandwiches on white bread (to which I'd add crushed potato chips).
2. Chop-Ettes (don't ask!).
3. Canned fruit in heavy syrup, including the aforementioned fruit cocktail (minus 7-Up).
4. Canned ravioli (how *could* I have??!?).
5. Tang.
Fun topic, and one that evokes all kinds of food memories!
Thanks,
Huffy
Reply
1-09-2006 @11:33PM Robyn said... i still eat a lot of that stuff too--especially tuna and peanut butter. i eat that stuff every week if not everyday.
i think i've developed some weird tastes since becoming an adult--for coca cola, hot dogs, pickles, and sashimi...
Reply
1-10-2006 @1:05AM michelle said... I used to love Swanson frozen pot pies and a kid. Mostly the chicken or the turkey. Now? Kind of ew.
Oh and also Franco-American SpaghettiOs.
Reply
1-10-2006 @4:18AM Nicole said... My parents gave up on trying to force me to eat creamed corn when I gagged on it at my great-aunt's house. Embarassing your parents like that leaves a memorable impression. To this day I can barely even stand the thought of it.
I was glad that they discovered frozen veggies and quit getting canned. Blech, I hate canned veggies. At least Mom bought real bread from a real bakery. I was never wild about that spongy mass-produced stuff.
We never had Kool-Aid, though. I was raised with Diet Coke, so regular tastes funny to me. I also never got all those sugary kids cerials. The wildest I got was honey-nut Cherios. No wonder I gained weight in college when I could have anything!
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1-10-2006 @1:56PM Myron said... Spagetti-O's. Loved these as a kid but as an adult they are truly disgusting.
Captin Crunch. I would probably still like them but I'm afraid my pancreas explode.
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1-10-2006 @1:58PM Nicole said... 1. Old Home Pies - These little guys pack about 800 calories a pop, but they are good. I would still eat them (mmm...Bavarian Cream) if my adult sensibilities allowed it.
2. Ralston - As a child, this boiled wheat posing as hot cereal was a breakfast staple. Now I shudder to think about it.
3. Goulash - Essentially noodles, burger, and tomato paste (or cream of mushroom soup). Not that it was bad, I just would never make it for myself.
4. Lunchables - It was the highlight of my week if one of these made it into my lunchbox. But now the sodium and calorie contents make me shudder.
Reply
1-10-2006 @5:43PM sarah gilbert said... I totally second the TV dinners (yum, Mexican dinner! o how I loved you) and Hostess anything. As I've mentioned...
but I hated, oh, how I hated, creamed corn! I still can't eat it b/c of that.
Reply
1-10-2006 @6:26PM Miss Tenacity said... 1. Cream o' Wheat. I actually switched to Malt-o-Meal in college but haven't eaten either in many years.
2. Angel food cake. With no frosting/icing.
3. Raisin Bran. Yech.
Reply