Hellobee Boards Topic: What were dinners like growing up?

Hellobee Boards Topic: What were dinners like growing up? https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 07 May 2026 13:56:38 +0000 StbHisMrs on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1456182 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 19:33:22 +0000 StbHisMrs 1456182@https://boards.hellobee.com/ My Mom is/was a great cook. We had a lot (and I mean a ton) of salmon and cod, steaks, pork chops, chicken, and roasts, always a salad, veggie, and a starch. We ate together, but in the living room in front of the tv. I cook almost the same, sometimes I get stuck in a rut and cook a lot of pasta though. I'd love to sit at the table and eat as a family, but we don't always. JennyLayneAZ on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1455779 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 17:03:31 +0000 JennyLayneAZ 1455779@https://boards.hellobee.com/ They were pretty boring/normal I guess? My parents, to this day, will grill a meat (chicken/pork/burgers/whatever), plus a baked potato (usually), some sort of beans, a veggie or two on the side (corn, green beans, spinach) and salad. For every dinner. Always. LOL When I was little we'd eat at the table as a family. I was the youngest (brother was 7 years older, sister was 3 years older), so when it was just me left at home, we'd still all eat together, but in the living room watching tv together lol I definitely think it's shaped my dinner habits, as I don't mind not having a huge variety in our menu, and this drives DH crazy. He gets bored with foods easily, but he's such a picky eater I tend to cook the same meals every week! jhd on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1455749 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 16:54:45 +0000 jhd 1455749@https://boards.hellobee.com/ we ate together. and we ate lots of baked potatoes. i really don't remember much else! ;) dh's family didn't sit down and eat together often but that is important to me since my family did. yin on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1455744 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 16:53:09 +0000 yin 1455744@https://boards.hellobee.com/ My parents worked at the restaurant, and we lived above it. My parents would make us a dish with meat and veggies and expect us to eat a lot of rice. We didn't eat meals together since those are usually the busy hours at the restaurant. As a parent I try to make well balanced meals with quality ingredients. I offer variety (something that was rare in my family) and often try new recipes to expose my family to different foods. I'm proud that DS1 can identify most fruits and vegetables in their raw and cooked form. We also don't eat rice at every meal (only a few times a week). I try to educate my parents on eating healthier, but they don't listen to me. They avoid eating fruit because my dad has diabetes, but they still eat rice and bread. They don't eat many veggies because it's expensive and doesn't go on sale often enough. Sigh. Freckles on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1455717 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 16:45:07 +0000 Freckles 1455717@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Always homemade (my grandma made most of the meals) and together at the dinner table, even if it meant that dinner time was 8pm. My parents worked 12 hour days and eating together was very important. Takeout/eating out was a treat. We usually had rice, side dishes (banchan), and some sort of protein or stew. I usually make everything from scratch, and we eat together at the dinner table even on nights that DH works late. It's something i want to instill in LO from an early age. We probably eat out more than when i was a kid though! lavender on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1455430 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 15:56:38 +0000 lavender 1455430@https://boards.hellobee.com/ My mom was also traditional Chinese, homemade soup, a veggie, protein and a bowl of rice. Now when I cook, it's always a starch, veg, and protein. yoursilverlining on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1455420 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 15:55:22 +0000 yoursilverlining 1455420@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We always ate dinner together, at the table and it was almost always homemade from scratch. Stuff like takeout pizza was a treat and we never had boxed stuff. Rice was almost always a side dish along with a green salad. We eat in front of the TV now, but once LO gets a little older we'll eat as a family at the table together. winniebee on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1455396 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 15:49:58 +0000 winniebee 1455396@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Sit down dinner with protein, Baggie and starch. But pretty plain cooking (veggie with butter, chicken in a simple marinade, instant white rice). LuLu Mom on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1455369 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 15:43:44 +0000 LuLu Mom 1455369@https://boards.hellobee.com/ My mom was a frozen casserole (she made freezer meals before freezer meals were popular), quick dinner (tacos, spaghetti, ect.), or hamburger helper with veggie and fruit. She worked 10 hour days and dinner needed to be something quick. Not always the healthiest, but she tried. I do a little better, but am similar and will used box stuff. rattles on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1455363 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 15:43:22 +0000 rattles 1455363@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Sit down dinner with a protein, one or two veggies and a starch. Caly on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1455355 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 15:41:33 +0000 Caly 1455355@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We always sat down together as a family, all seven of us. Always. My mom always made a made from scratch a healthy well balanced meal which varied widely. And we ate what was served whether we liked it or not. I honestly didn't know any different, all my friends also sat down together as a family, too. I told DH that once our girls are eating actual food, we will be sitting down as a family and making it a habit. ShootingStar on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1455340 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 15:29:45 +0000 ShootingStar 1455340@https://boards.hellobee.com/ It's funny thinking about this. I don't cook or serve meals any way close to what my mom did growing up and still does. My mom will make several things - protein, veggie sides, starch, etc and put them in serving dishes on the table. Leftovers are then served later in the week. I cook pretty much what DH and I can eat in one meal, usually protein/starch/sometimes veggie, and serve on plates that we eat in front of the tv. But when I think about family dinners, I feel at some point that I have to do it the way I had it growing up. My parents are also huge on the low fat/low cal/low carb version of things, which we do not do. We drink whole milk, full fat, full calorie everything. pui on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1455316 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 15:22:05 +0000 pui 1455316@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We always ate dinner together as a family, at the dinner table. I would say most nights the meals were well balanced and healthy, but some nights we just got something more simple, like spaghetti. MoonMoon on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1455306 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 15:19:00 +0000 MoonMoon 1455306@https://boards.hellobee.com/ My mom is a pretty good cook, and I never appreciated the effort that goes into putting homemade food on the table, which she did whether she was wohm or not! We're a bit different-my husband does most of the cooking, and we eat vegetarian, but I'd like to think my upbringing set me up to like a wide variety of food. My mom always includes a salad with every single lunch and dinner, and I don't feel complete without a salad with every meal either! BeachMama on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1455243 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 15:08:07 +0000 BeachMama 1455243@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We always sat together and ate as a family. Dinner was usually a meat, a starch (potatoes, rice, etc), and a veggie. And a small salad to start with. And as kids we always had to drink a glass of milk. It's definitely how I usually make dinners now as an adult. And I'd love to be feeding DD that way, but she's super picky so it's a struggle. Alivoo01 on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1455235 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 15:06:15 +0000 Alivoo01 1455235@https://boards.hellobee.com/ My dad always made a protein, a veggie, and a soup with rice for dinner every night. I loved that spread!! Now that we live on our own, and DH doesn't like veggies, our dinner is just a protein with a starch. I'm hoping to bring veggies and soup back to the table now that DS is here! We also grew up eating dinner together. Always. Unless there was a legitimate excuse (like we had a ball game, had dance practice, etc.) If the timing was feasible, we would eat a snack and wait to have dinner together at a later time that evening. jedeve on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1454711 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 13:42:24 +0000 jedeve 1454711@https://boards.hellobee.com/ When I was little little it wasn't great. Sandwich bread with butter, white rice, and ground chicken patties was my least favorite meal ever! When we got older mom was a much better cook. Probably pretty typical 90s fare - chicken breasts, pork loins, chili, spaghetti. Always two vegetables as a side, usually frozen peas or carrots or salad. Nothing foodie like today - no kale chips or butternut squash and goat cheese! But none of the more 50s style casseroles and meatloafs either. Definitely no takeout or frozen foods unless someone was out of town or dying! When we were in high school she started experimenting a lot more and doing fancier stuff. We did have some kid meals like Mac n cheese or hot dogs but those were only when my dad was out of town. We are much more middle of the road. I feel like I'm having to learn how to dumb down my cooking - casseroles and crockpot meals and the like! We do keep frozen tilapia from Costco and a few frozen lasagnas in the freezer which she doesn't get. She is always giving me salmon recipes. Sorry, not in the budget! But on the other hand, I never do the iceberg lettuce garden salads we had growing up. It's always a darker green with berries, cheese, and nuts. I think it's so interesting how food habits evolve over time! She SAH do didn't have as much need for the quick dinner as I do. But I think there is a much different discussion about food and health now than when the mantra was "low fat ice cream and boneless skinless chicken breasts!" Happygal on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1454636 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 13:31:53 +0000 Happygal 1454636@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Easy, pretty healthy, sit down. We didn't have to clean out plates, but we weren't getting any special orders, either. I know it shaped my views about the family dinner. Have good manners, talk with each other, and enjoy! regberadaisy on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1454624 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 13:30:59 +0000 regberadaisy 1454624@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @snowjewelz: LOL! Quart takeouts are the best! I made a big batch of soup last weekend and poured them into Qt containers to freeze. Each Qt has the perfect soup amount for noodle soup for LO & I. Little tricks. ;) Now I have 5 QT containers of homemade stock! snowjewelz on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1454584 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 13:26:36 +0000 snowjewelz 1454584@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I think it's totally fair to be influenced by how you ate growing up! I grew up the same way as you; the home made soup, veggie dish, meat dish and usually another 'wildcard' dish. I saw how hard my mom worked on dinner; all of us were perfectly fine having pasta or whatever every now and then, but my dad is the one who wants the traditional Chinese meal every night. I don't have LOs yet, but I feel like I'll be like that too eventually! Right now it's just me & DH so we don't cook that much food all the time. If we made soup we gotta drink it for a whole week :shocked: MrsH on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1454580 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 13:26:00 +0000 MrsH 1454580@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Main dish with veggies and a starch. regberadaisy on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1454517 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 13:17:32 +0000 regberadaisy 1454517@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @looch: hah yes! It wasn't until I was a adult did I have *real* Italian, American, Korean, etc etc. Growing up it was ALWAYS Chinese! IRunForFun on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1454511 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 13:16:30 +0000 IRunForFun 1454511@https://boards.hellobee.com/ When I was very little we hardly had any money, so I remember a lot of hot dogs, soup, grilled cheese, macaroni, etc. Then later on it was always a protein (chicken, pork, venison), a starch (potato, rice, pasta), and a vegetable. Kind of plain, but oh well, we were fed and the food was relatively healthy! looch on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1454510 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 13:16:05 +0000 looch 1454510@https://boards.hellobee.com/ My parents STILL maintain a 6 pm dinner time, with almost all the food home cooked. Me, I don't pretend to follow the same rules. I think certain convenience items are a great help and we eat a wider variety of food than my parents do. mrbee on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1454499 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 13:14:09 +0000 mrbee 1454499@https://boards.hellobee.com/ After I hit 10 or 11, everyone just made and ate dinner themselves. Two working parents and other life stressors made family dinner impossible. Bao on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1454489 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 13:12:14 +0000 Bao 1454489@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Just basic stuff, casseroles, burgers, soups, lots of grilled food in the warmer months. Almost always a veggie on the side. psw27 on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1454473 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 13:08:08 +0000 psw27 1454473@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I remember a lot of chicken breasts, broccoli and salads! I remember groaning with my brother "chicken again??" I think she was just trying to be healthy! autumnlove on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1454455 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 13:05:25 +0000 autumnlove 1454455@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Healthy and sit down. I feed my kids healthy food but I'm not going to pretend like unhealthy (and tasty) food options don't exist....they can splurge on unhealthy food from time to time! regberadaisy on "What were dinners like growing up?" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-were-dinners-like-growing-up#post-1454445 Thu, 27 Feb 2014 13:04:19 +0000 regberadaisy 1454445@https://boards.hellobee.com/ This is strictly a curiosity question. What were you dinners like growing up? Do you think it affected how you eat as an adult and what you want to feed your child? I freely admit to being a food snob especially when it comes to what I feed my child. And I think I am starting to realize it is because of the bar my mom set when I was young. She worked 12 hours day, 7 days a week. My dad worked in a restaurant so he was never home till 11pm-12am. But my mom got a full balanced meal on the dinner table every night. She always had homemade soup, a meat dish, a fish dish, and a vegetable dish. Once I got old enough I would help with the dinner prep before she got home to help take a load off her. I think because of that I/we push very hard to get a full balanced meal on the table for our daughter almost every night. Don't get me wrong. I have plenty of days where I am too tired and will throw together a quick shrimp fried rice or a quick noodle soup. But even then it's stock froze in the fridge with noodles, veg and seafood. I've learned to plan ahead with frozen fresh homemade items for my lazy days. Again. This is not meant to be a "I'm better than you" post and I am saying this only because I fear this is how it comes off. Anyway, I blame my mom for setting a high bar! ;)