Growing up in Ohio in the 1970s-80s, we always had a set "flexible" meal schedule, but instead of shepherd's pie, it was a casserole of some sort: tuna, egg noodles and condensed mushroom soup and ground beef, canned peas and tomato sauce were common. Mashed potatoes were also a staple at dinner time, along with some sort of corn (canned, creamed or cobbed). This schedule fell by the wayside the older me and my siblings got, though, because of school-related activities that cut into the dinner hour.
Answer to side note #1: My mom and grandparents always called it "hamburg", but I've never heard it anywhere else in the country (I've been to 45 states).
Answer to side note #2: Yes, we still eat creamed corn! I spice it up, though, with chopped up jalapenos (or habaneros if it is for just me).

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Every Friday night was pizza night from about age 13 onwards or so (estimating). Otherwise, we didn't really have much of a schedule, and my parents weren't much for cooking.

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It's a tradition in New Orleans to eat Red Beans & Rice on Mondays :)

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'hamburg is definitely regional, i never heard it till i came to new england!

when i was a kid, my dad made the "barry special" - an interesting concoction of hamburger meat, corn, and ketchup all cooked up together. although i don't repeat the dish as an adult, it has found a special place in my heart (or maybe my arteries..... whichever!)

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I've never had that. I think we'd just go out and eat once a week, so I could choose Friday, Saturday or Sunday. With my boyfriend, for awhile we had Chicken Tuesdays.. just cuz we'd go to Boston Market on the way back from Best Buy (when all the new releases come out on Tuesdays) HAHAHA.... we go thru obsessions more. Like dumplings 4x a week. Or a certain restaurant at least 3x a week but they always end after a month or so. Hahahaha... we usually eat a few of our favorite things at least once a week.. so that KINDA is like that?!?! But as a kid we never had that. It was whatever my mom wanted to cook! HAHA...

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I have sort of a Pavlovian response to the sight and ticking sound of the "60 Minutes" intro, because my mother always -- ALWAYS -- made spaghetti on Sunday nights. We'd roll the TV into the kitchen doorway and sit down to eat at 7:00 sharp.

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Get some John Cope™ Brand Toasted Dried Sweet Corn.



You'll be able to make great creamed corn and more!

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Whoops! Forgot the link:

http://www.copefoods.com/

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Hooray for my mom's creativity every Sunday! (Your kids forgive you for that botched stew.)

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Every week I have the following, pasta night, fish & salad night, soup night, crockpot night, vegetarian night. So it's more like a theme, I don't cook the same thing week in and out.
Hamburg??? NEVER heard that before.

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Thursday night was always corned beef and cabbage night when I was growing up, followed by Yuck Fridays which were either tuna-noodle casserole or creamed tuna on toast. Then, Saturday breakfast with corned beef hash and fried eggs. Theother days of the week were pure whimsy on the part of the main cook in our family, my dad. (Mom cooked on Friday nights.)

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I just had to respond to this one! We didn't have exact "days' for dinner but every week we had the same type of meal, just rotated to different days: steak with potatoes, spaghetti or mac & cheese, and roast beef were featured on at least one day every week.

My mom loved to cook so we always had a completely new meal every day. Our refrigerator was brimming with leftovers at all times (probably why my family struggles with their weight now...)

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I fondly remember that (many) Saturdays growing up were: homemade Boston baked beans (with that beautiful chunk of pork fat, yum!), franks (hot dogs) and homemade brown bread warm from the oven (made in a coffee can!). It does not get much better than that, folks. My parents are both from Massachusetts and my Dad is from Boston, so this was, and may still be, a traditional Saturday evening Boston dinner.

Currently in my family, we do the "Every Other Wednesday Homemade Meatballs and Pasta", or EOWHMaP for short. Yum!

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On Sunday night it was mom's night off...so she only grilled pancakes.

In the 50s, it was bologna sandwiches for Saturday lunch. At just 5 years old I got to walk down to the butcher's place, and order 50 cents worth of bologna.

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When I was younger my mom would have “Party Picnic Tuesdays” during tax season when my dad wasn’t around a lot. She would let me and my sister pick our own dinner and we would set up an indoor picnic in the living room, complete with blankets and baskets!

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Friday was always fish and chips night in my family. The fish was takeout from my dad's favorite bar. I remember Styrofoam containers with big hunks of cod and always soggy fries.

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Everyday we knew what we were going to eat. Mom cooked everything from scratch. Sundays was always potroast, Saturdays fish or tuna sandwiches, homemade fries handcut,seasoned and lightly floured and fried also homemade lemondae on the stove. Homemade cornbread everyday! everyweek pinto beans, string beans and blackeyed peas from scratch! Thank you mom....Rest in peace~

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Oh and dinner was always at 6pm sharp! Sundays would be earlier like at 3 or 4 pm

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The City Hamberg , Germany was famous for a style of preparing ground beef. That style was later brought over to America, and was served as "Hamberg style" steak. Eventually, someone got the idea of sticking it between a bun and called it "hamberger".

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Growing up in Germany, there were fixed meals: every Saturday it was (and still is, as I mostly join my parents then for a meal) Spaghetti with really hot tomato sauce and on Mondays mostly a Minestrone.
But those were the only fixed ones.

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