Not your childhood pantry

Interesting and fun question! Just took a trip down memory lane.

I was fortunate growing up in that my mom was a good cook, and she cooked practically every day. We all sat down to dinner as a family. I was also fortunate in that my mom was half Mexican and half Italian, with both her parents immigrants to the U.S., so she grew up with very traditional meals from those two countries and cooked a lot of those things for us. Since my dad is Italian on both sides, with both of his parents from Italy, the Italian food won out in frequency in our home. But my mom also had three kids to raise and a part-time job, so sometimes we had simple "American" type meals with some short cuts using canned items.

My husband and I both love Italian food, and so we cook that pretty often. And I cook many of the things my mom made for us as kids. My husband is a vegan, and so he's more adventurous with weird stuff like nutritional yeast in place of grated cheese, etc. *backs away*

I went through a phase as a young adult when I wanted to be "sophisticated", so I tried a lot of things that were thought of as sophisticated and I snubbed my nose at canned ingredients, used fresh herbs, etc. But that's all stuff my parents do now, too, even in their eighties, so maybe it's an evolution of middle-class American cooking what with the advent of cooking shows, Julia Child's legacy, etc.

So...stuff I eat now that my parents would never - beef carpaccio, various ethnic foods like Vietnamese (I tried to introduce my parents to the wonder that is Pho, and they just didn't get it), Indian, Japanese. My husband and kids LOVE all of these, but my parents don't. Ethnically, they pretty much stick to their roots.

But stuff that's in the pantry is probably pretty similar to when I was a kid.

c.e.lawson said:

Interesting and fun question! - But stuff that's in the pantry is probably pretty similar to when I was a kid.

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Ditto...

However, you won't find any Vienna Sausages, Potted Meat, Deviled Ham or SPAM in the pantry - And definitely no Pig's Feet, Turnips and Rutabagas in the fridge.

Oops, forgot to mention no Kool-Aid - We drank tons of it, because it was only 5 cents a pkg. and sugar was cheap back then too.

We had split peas...oh, 40 years ago. Of course I didn't eat them, I used them on art projects in grade school. We bought a bag of split peas and a bag of black-eyed peas to contribute to the project.

As for the pantry...my working-mom rarely cooked, but when she did, it was basic but super flavorful. I was an incredibly picky eater. No sauces, no dressing on salad. I lived on meat, potatoes, bread, Minute Rice, pasta with butter, and fresh fruit and vegetables (no cooked veggies).

Luckily I've expanded my horizons. Things in my pantry today that wouldn't have been there when I was a kid: arborio rice, cornmeal for polenta, quartered artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, garlic.

Things in there I would have seen as a kid, too: Campbell's tomato and chicken noodle soups, Lay's potato chips and Lucky Charms.

My family was vegan for a lot of my childhood, and I am not vegan now, so it is rather different in that respect.

My husband eats a lot differently than he did as a child. I introduced him to tons of things. Like chickpeas, lentils, yogurt, lamb, parsnips, turnips, cranberries, Swiss chard, couscous, etc

There is no Jell-O in my pantry. I can't for the life of me understand why we ate that for dessert as kids. And with fruit suspended in it as a salad?? No.

Things in my pantry now that would never have been in my mom's pantry?

Black beans, lentils, black-eyed peas, grits, dried chick peas, garam marsala, cous cous, quinoa, salsa.

Well one of my kids can't eat most grains (including wheat) or any dairy products, which eliminates like 70% of what I grew up eating.

My mom used to make the most amazing sourdough french bread. I miss it. She ground her own wheat and baked all our bread from scratch. She even made homemade pasta sometimes.

She did the whole main dish with sides thing where I'm more of a one-pot wonder. I've been cooking almost every night since I was thirteen (eating out with any sort of frequency has never been an option) and I'm tired of it. Glad my husband likes cooking and is getting pretty proficient these days.

Assorted types of pasta: penne rigate, farfalle, fusilli, orzo, angel hair, linguini. Mom only had spaghetti and lasagna noodles.

Real rice, white and brown. Mom had Minute Rice.

Split peas were around at least 60 years ago. Mom used to make pea soup when I was a kid. And they were common enough we got them in the commisary (military grocery store).

I have hot dogs in the freezer (Hebrew National). I like hot dogs.

Some things we both had: canned sardines in olive oil, canned refried beans and dry pintos, salsa, enchilada sauce. Mom and Dad both grew up in AZ. We had Mexican food at least once a week, even when we were in Europe in the 50s and the Far East in the 60s.

MM

GeorgeK said:

I was wondering, staring into that pantry where magic sometimes springs, do you eat as an adult what you ate as a kid?

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When you said "that pantry where magic sometimes springs", I thought "Dominos!" straight away So I can tell you that I used to always eat pepperoni pizza and now I can't stand it. Go figure. But I've overcome my disgust for mushy peas and I'm slowly getting addicted to them instead, surprised by the discovery that they don't actually taste like the boogers they pretty much look like! That's about it really, I guess I haven't grown up that much

I was just thinking of this the other day. I came to the realization that my mother never used canned stuff, except for canned chicken broth, and a few miscellaneous items. It was after I had moved out that I started using canned fruits and vegetables, even if it's not that often.

I tend to have a lot of similar stuff in my fridge and pantry that I grew up eating. I rarely buy soda, but I grew up rarely drinking soda. And I tend to cook with fresh fruits and vegetables. And all the stuff that kids hated, I tended to like, except brussel sprouts, so that hasn't really changed either. And my mom never made brussel sprouts. I only had to eat that whenever we went out to eat and it was part of the meal.

My mother was and still is an excellent cook, but she was limited to a small budget, and what was available in the store at that time (middle of NW Ontario). She would make a big dinner on Sunday (some type of roast with roasted root veggies) and would use the left overs in various meals the rest of the week - soups, stews etc. I do this as well because not only do I love leftovers, I'm a lazy cook and when I'm working full time I just want easy.

She always had potatoes, carrots, cabbage, onions and turnips in the pantry because they were inexpensive, and they stored well. We'd have a lot of dishes with potatoes, carrots were cooked till mushy (I despised them) but I loved mashed turnips (still do). I usually have potatoes, onions and carrots in my house now but I will confess that they get thrown out a lot.

I also remember that my mother would have powdered skim milk on hand, make a jug of it and mix it with regular milk to make it go further. I loathed that stuff and even today I'm not too fond of milk. She would have canned vegetables - I hated canned green beans but I didn't mind canned peas, in fact I keep a couple of cans around to make creamed peas on toast - which was a childhood favourite of both my husband and myself. Our kids think it's revolting.

One thing that my mom always had on hand in her cupboard which I never do, is "Chef Boyardee boxed pizza" - basically a bag of yeasty dough mix, a tin of tomato sauce and a pouch of parmesan cheese. We'd typically make this on a Friday night and as I recall we really loved it. I'd like to do it again just to see if it's the same taste as I remember.

My mother never had yoghurt in her fridge (but does now and also Kefir) but always cottage cheese, which I also love.

She would make fried liver, onions and bacon in gravy - I haven't had it in many years, but I really liked it. I do not have liver lovers in my house.

My mother would deep fry things - doughnuts (both a cake type made with mashed potatoes (her German mothers recipe) and a risen type) corn fritters, battered fish, breaded chicken etc. I never deep fry anything - ever.

She would make headcheese (pork simmered with spices and vinegar and then poured onto a plate, chilled til it solidified, and then sliced to put on rye bread) which I loved but I've only made once. We'd also have pork hocks baked with sauerkraut. I've never bought pork hocks in my life but she and my dad will still have this occasionally.

She would also bake from scratch everyday and we always had dessert - dinner wasn't complete until we had something sweet to end it. It could be a small snack type cake, cookies (we always had home made cookies), a fruit kuchen (a German dessert - biscuit type bottom, layer of fruit and a streusel topping (I still make this especially in the spring with rhubarb), it could a homemade caramel or chocolate pudding, or canned fruit over ice cream. She'd can wild blueberries and raspberries in the summer and we'd eat them all winter - sometimes we'd have this with Dream Whip. She no longer bakes every day but she does bake more often than I do.

There is almost no cross-over between my pantry and my parents'.

They were all about canned and dried soup and lots of frozen meals. Gravy, rice, oatmeal etc. was always instant. Little in the way of homemade anything. They always had cereal and orange juice in the house. Skim milk. parmesan cheese in a can. Cheddar, bright orange, was as fact as cheese got. Legumes never happened, nor did yogurt.

I never buy canned or dried soup. I don't buy anything instant. I never buy frozen meals or entrees. The only cereal I keep in the house is old fashioned oats. I always have whole milk and yogurt, and I love stinky cheese. Legumes of all varieties are a regular part of my diet. I don't drink juice; I eat fruit. I cook cuisines my parents never so much as tasted.

The only thing I have in my cupboard that my mother had in hers is pasta, and I don't think she buys it now that my dad is dead.

The only thing that remains the same from childhood to adulthood is the pasta. Otherwise, it couldn't be more different.

Childhood: lots of Mac and cheese and for some strange reason I'll never understand, canned asparagus, though I never ate it because it only tastes good when you don't can it. Also, jello, peanut butter, salsa and honey. But my stepfather didn't have much of a pantry going on, everything was in the fridge.

As an adult: heirloom lentils, ramen noodles, tuna, potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, sometimes apples depending on if I plan on making cinnamon maple pork loin that week or not, black beans, cream of celery soup, chipotles in adobo and almost always a can of green chiles. It's so odd, how much flavor that little bitty can is able to add to a dish.

Haha. Australia was a culinary desert when I was a wee 'un. A time-traveller from our 1980s kitchen would have seen my squid ink pasta and been like WHAT IS THIS SORCERY? BLACK SPAGHETTI!?!?

Yes and no. A lot of the baking and root vegetable staples are the same. Then that's about it. Because my father was a far pickier eater than an child I ever met. Everything had to be canned and then cooked into mushy, flavorless submission. Snacks were sugary or greasy or just not made of anything found on Earth. And then there's the corned beef hash ... oh god I still remember that smell and want to puke a little. (If we're including the fridge: they also kept enough Coke to quench the thirst of a small army and all sorts of processed meats.)

I think it's fair to say my food choices are a lot fresher and flavorful than what I grew up with. There isn't a single can in sight, unless we're counting the spousal unit's La Croix. Actually, spousal unit is a good person to blame. We went as natural as was sane to help keep their blood pressure numbers down. Plus both of us have quite the palette for pungent foods.

What's wrong with the jello with fruit? I heard a lot of rap about it in elementary school, but I actually like it. I never make it (I'm not good with making jello), nor did my mom (dessert was usually fruit), but if I got to a buffet and they have it, I'll get it. It's cool and refreshing.

GeorgeK said:

Ah yes, dried milk. Forgot about that one. Make it with ice and double the dried milk. Cottage cheese...I'm more of a ricotta guy now but yes there was cottage cheese in the fridge.

And. (shudders) cottage cheese in jello was a thing

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Oh my God, my mom made this lime jello blended with cottage cheese and pineapple and then gelled. We call it the Green Globula. Thanks for the memories!

My mom was a very good cook, and a fairly adventurous one -- they didn't have foodies in the 60s, but there were definitely people who were interested in food & cooking, & she was one. Always fresh fruit & veggies (except for frozen peas & spinach, & pickled beets), very few canned things except for broth, beans, canned fish & tomato sauce. Her pantry had a lot of herbs & spices, dried pasta & rice, crackers, bread crumbs, raisins, oils & vinegars, & a jar of preserved kumquats that I can only assume must have had sentimental value of some sort because it was there for 20+ years untouched. In the fridge, mostly the fresh veg, dairy, & condiments. There was always frozen orange juice for years, but she switched to the refrigerated stuff when that eventually became good. (As apparently so did everyone else!) There was usually a box of Bisquick that my dad used for Sunday breakfast treats, a can or two of corned beef hash ditto. Other baking was from scratch, not box mixes. A lot of recipes from Julia Child, Craig Claiborne & the Time Life Foods of the World were in regular rotation.

As a concession to my childish tastes she would sometimes indulge me with a can of spaghetti-os or beefaroni for lunch, & TV dinners when she & my dad were going out for the evening, but those kinds of thing were never on the menu for family meals. I didn't discover the joys of boxed mac & cheese or cream-of-whatever casseroles till I was a poor grad student in the midwest -- and since I'm no longer a poor grad student in the midwest they're no longer in my active repertoire.

Today, my pantry is not all that different from my mom's in big ways. There are things she liked that I don't stock -- I won't have vinegar in the house, for one thing, & I lean towards yogurt & ricotta rather than cottage cheese & sour cream. I have more kinds of cheese than she did when I was a child, but that's because the local stores didn't have much cheese variety back then & she could only buy what was available - your basic yellow cheddar, swiss, muenster. (But she really liked bleu cheese & bought it whenever she could.) Likewise the fresh veggies -- there's more variety now, & less seasonality. And farmers markets weren't a thing in NYC in the 60s. I have more Asian foods on hand, but I can't honestly say I use my sriracha or miso any more often than the mayo or mustards they share a shelf with, which were also staples in my mom's fridge. In her fridge there would often be a few bottles of some imported beer - Heineken, or something German. I buy local craft brews.

Jello - she used to make it regularly, with bananas. I keep a few boxes of my favorite flavor on hand (blackberry!!) & from time to time I'll make a batch. With bananas.

Ooh, my aunt made the one with orange jello and carrot slivers. One of my favorites actually! So many jello molds. Although you can't pay me to eat the one with lime jello and marshmallows. Blech!

Things from my childhood pantry:

Spaghetti noodles: I never keep dried or fresh spaghetti noodles in my pantry.
Egg noodles: Often used to make the most deplorable meal: what was supposed to be Swedish meatballs but my mom could never even bother to make it correct. Egg noodles were the most tolerable part. The meat part was ground beef, sour cream, onion, salt and pepper. I heave at the thought of that.
Macaroni: Macaroni is too difficult to make for one person so I don't purchase it.
Spaghetti sauce: Just don't stock it.
Tomato Sauce: Just don't stock it.
Frozen battered fish: No way to make this enjoyable for me.
Potatoes: I never keep potatoes in any form in my pantry. Boiled or mashed, they make me heave. Other methods range from disinterested to very modest enjoyment.
Jello: Jello in plain form was sometimes tolerable. Jello salads are intolerable. It no longer exists in my pantry.
Frozen peas: Intolerable. Just intolerable.

My mom liked trying out different ethnic recipes, so I got fed a pretty wide variety of stuff as a kid, though I did get fed way too much starch, which contributed to the fact that I have had type II diabetes since I was 19. In my house now, I'm the only one who is willing to cook anything more complicated than a frozen pizza, and I just don't have the energy to do things that require me to be standing in the kitchen for more than 45 mins or do extensive clean-up afterwards; I also won't cook anything I can't eat (onions, garlic, cinnamon) or do things like deep frying because the fact that the whole house reeks of oil for the next ~30 hours makes me nauseated.

Things that I was fed as a child but don't eat now: Jello, Poptarts, braunschweiger, pork chops, meatloaf, italian bread, beef stroganoff, fried eggs

Things I eat regularly that my parents didn't: refried beans, lima beans, shrimp

Things both my mom and I cook: beef pot roast with carrots and celery, chicken noodle soup with vegetables, sauer kraut with dumplings, corn or pineapple custard, pierogies, lemon fish.

There are plenty of Japanese sweets I'd eat if I could get them around here: taiyaki, dango, steamed buns or glutinous rice balls with a variety of fillings... And tons of food I like to eat but are just too much effort to be worth making at home, like seafood enchiladas, eclairs, all fried foods, milkshakes...

Things that were in the cupboards (we didn't have a pantry) in childhood that aren't now: Nestle's Quik (chocolate and strawberry), Vienna sausages, Underwood meat spreads (deviled ham, liverwurst, corned beef), Clamato juice, canned salmon, canned tuna, Ocean Spray Cranicot juice--the only reason I don't have that is that they stopped making it. All the freaking cranberry juice combinations out there today, and they ditched the best one? Bring it back!

Things we didn't have then: any Mexican food--I think I had my first taco in my early teens. Hard to imagine life without salsa now (although we did have hot sauce--usually Tabasco). Jarred spaghetti sauce--there were a few available, but they were pretty awful. My mom made her own, although she used canned tomatoes and tomato paste. Srirachi. There are a lot of other things I eat now that I didn't as a kid, but I don't make them often enough at home for bits of them to be pantry staples (like Thai food, and Indian beyond a basic curry).

I still like Jello and fruit cocktail.