The most GenX dinner | TheaterFire

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FlippingPossum@reddit

That was my Kid Cuisine of choice. 😂

I'll take a meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas as my nostalgia meal. Might replace meatloaf with shake n bake pork chops.

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Lesh_Philling@reddit

Creamed chipped beef on toast. My mom and I love it, nobody else does though.

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Deaner_dub@reddit

Beef Stroganoff on egg noodles made with the obligatory can of cream of mushroom soup

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notevenapro@reddit

I just made a crockpot of that last week. Stew beef, beef broth, cream of potato and stir in cream cheese at the end.

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WritingRidingRunner@reddit

Meatloaf made with ketchup, A1 steak sauce, and seasoned Italian breadcrumbs.

Hotdogs and Pillsbury crescent rolls.

Spaghetti from a blue box, sauce from a jar, and salad with Wishbone Italian dressing and croutons.

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TOW2Bguy@reddit

Damn, I miss having dinner with Dad now.

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Hungry man TV dinners, but homemade - roast a whole turkey breast, mashed potatoes, veb blend or green peas, canned cranberry gel, stove top, and wonder bread & margarine (I use real butter in all my cooking and only use margarine to spread on bread).

I make homemade salsbury steaks the same way.

I do have 1 hungry man dinner and a family sized frozen pan of Stauffers salsbury steak in the freezer for when I don't feel like cooking though.

Stew using ground beef and canned vegetables.

Rotel dip nachos

My whole life a quick meal has been a can of tuna, diced onion, a handful of shredded cheese, 2 spoons of miracle whip, 3-4 dashes of Louisiana Hot sauce, and tons of black pepper - mixed and eaten with club crackers or, when I'm feeling healthy, lettuce wraps/on a plate of greens.

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Usual-Asparagus-1299@reddit

PB&J

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UnusualSnow506@reddit

Meat loaf.

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Usual-Asparagus-1299@reddit

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I found lots of recipes for Salisbury Steak online and making it yourself is really very good!

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NaDarach@reddit

Does anyone remember "city chicken"?

Cubed pork or veal on a stick, breaded and fried.

Also, fruit cocktail from a can. There were never enough cherries.

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Fantastic-Pop-9122@reddit

There were always too many cherries yuck!!

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NaDarach@reddit

Then I guess if you ever feel like splitting a can of fruit cocktail with someone, I'm your guy!

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Blerkm@reddit

City chicken was awesome!

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NaDarach@reddit

Hey! My people!

It's rare that anyone remembers city chicken. Haven't seen it anywhere in decades.

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Blerkm@reddit

I grew up in central PA in a Polish family. City chicken was always a treat! My grandmother made it.

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AdEastern9303@reddit

Came here to say city chicken. It is the one food that completely vanished from my life once I became an adult and moved out of the Midwest. Therefore, it is the one lost food I most associate with childhood.

Honorable mention:

Kraft Mac-n-cheese Sloppy joes Breaded frozen chicken patties Breaded frozen veal patties Dearborn Sausage hot dogs

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Exulansis22@reddit

I found a recipe for city chicken years ago and I’m still making it. Yum!

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WeirdPop5934@reddit

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Necessary-Peace9672@reddit

Baked beans & PopTarts!

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Melzie0123@reddit

TV dinners for the latchkey kids - the one with the brownie 😋

Just bought a box last night after decades…

Had to replace the Lucky Charms I polished off Tuesday night…

I'll have to try this, thanks!

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Personal_Valuable_31@reddit

I'll give it out. I modified my grandmother's. My husband loves it.

1 lb 80/20 hamburger 1/3 cup seasoned bread crumb 1/3 cup grated parm cheese 1 or 2 eggs 2 tbsp worcestershire 1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 tbsp each onion powder, garlic powder, seasoning salt OR beef better than bullion (don't want a salt lick)

1 tsp black pepper

Mix it well. Form into a loaf

I use a cake pan (10x10 usually) lined with parchment paper. Gives the grease a place to go. Cholesterol and all.

Bake off @ 350° F for about and hour, until internal temp hits 165°F.

I usually glaze with just ketchup. Old school. Starting about 30 minutes before it's done, add another layer at 10 minute intervals. 2 or 3 thinnish coats so it's caramelized and gooey sticky.

Let it rest for a bit before you cut it or it will fall all the way apart.

kalelopaka@reddit

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and greens

Sometimes I love me a Red Baron pizza…

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Sea_Cress_8859@reddit

I bought a box of Steak Ums over the weekend cause the reminded me of being a kid.

They are so thin now you can’t even flip it.

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kitchengardengal@reddit

I bought some Steak Ums sometime back just because I hadn't had them since I was a newlywed in the late 70s, and it was in regular rotation. Nowadays, chopped ribeye is SO much tastier than Steak Ums.

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Ledophile@reddit

CHOPPED ribeye?????………

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kitchengardengal@reddit

You know, like in a Philly steak sandwich.

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catregy@reddit

Ladies and gents you must try these….

I still eat (certain varieties of) Hamburger Helper with faux ground beef!

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VecchioDiM3rd1955@reddit

Old school ice cream flavours count?

Well here is the surprise for you, I'm not actually English. I'm an Aussie and growing up in the late 60's early 70's there was still a lot of association with the King/Queen's English (still speaking with an very English accent with emerging Australian inflections) and traditions back then.

Cube steak (or skin-on chicken theighs) covered in seasoned salt (the orange shit) with canned corn and wax beans!

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Prestigious-Fan3122@reddit

"Beanie weenie"

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FitEggplant77@reddit

I have a hard time finding Beanie Weenies in central PA. Found them in the wild at a Food Lion in WV a couple weeks ago. Bought 4 cans. 😋

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Prestigious-Fan3122@reddit

Oops! When I said "beanie weenie" I didn't mean the canned product by that name, I meant "frank's and beans" in general.

Dude - that isnt GenX. That’s like Greatest Generation crap.

There is much to despise about GenX but at least we were the generation that really understood we Americans needed to eat better food. That generation started the culinary revolution- fuck sakes we introduced sushi.

We shouldnt not claim ownership of bad food from previous generations…

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qriousqestioner@reddit

Cling to whatever sustains you, Miss Karen!

suer72cutlass@reddit

Used to love the veal parmesan in the plastic pocket that you had to boil and squeeze out of the packet! As someone that couldn't afford to go out to eat or purchase veal, these were the best!

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Fried_PussyCat@reddit

Meatloaf, green beans, and mashed potatoes.

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exuscg@reddit

Vienna sausages anyone?

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FitEggplant77@reddit

We have a family recipe. Mom made it for years.

I documented it for my niece. No family get-together is complete without Vienny Sammiches.

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kitchengardengal@reddit

I have never had this or heard of it, but I am going to get all the ingredients and make it. What a crazy meal!

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qriousqestioner@reddit

Yes

Similarly, gefilte fish from a jar!

(If you like them, try gefilte fish. My first Seder dinner in college was a revelation.(There is a version of heaven that is the endless gefilte fish, charoseth, horseradish, matzoh--and chopped chicken liver. Prove me wrong.)

We goyim have largely been missing out. I had friends who would laugh when I asked couldn't we celebrate passover every day!

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Feeling-Pea5281@reddit

Spam, canned green beans, maybe a salad that was just shredded iceberg and carrots with French dressing.

I read about the pizza rolls.

When I was a kid, before microwaves, there were tiny fried egg roll pouches like the pizza rolls. They were always TOO HOT. (Fried cherry pie from McDonald's - level!)

(Also, fuck them for getting rid of those pies.)

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Catnip_75@reddit

Honestly. I really don’t eat anything I grew up eating. I eat so much healthier now. All that processed food I ate as a kid really turns me off.

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qriousqestioner@reddit

Me too and also TOTALLY LOVE IT ALL STILL!

Rarely eat that stuff because I learned to cook for reasons, but it totally can't hurt every once in a while.

Also, as sinful treats go, it's low impact. Nobody dies from one sausage. You're gonna speed. You might get drunk. You might smoke. You'll try something kinky. You'll get a sunburn.

And while you do that, I'm gonna mix a large container of cool whip with toffee brickle.

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MommaBear354@reddit

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Oh god! What were they even made of? 😂

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qriousqestioner@reddit

They still sell) them. And they are not cheap.

Oh man, I’m sorry that you’ve never had good Lima beans.

One of my uncles used to grow limas, man, those things fresh were so good. I still put Lima beans in my baked beans recipe, it’s really good

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qriousqestioner@reddit

Oooh!

Ratio??

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qriousqestioner@reddit

Hmm.

I love fried bologna.

My mom used to make us PBnJ fried like grilled cheese.

When the peanut butter on my pancake smudges the bacon or ham or sausage that accidentally touched the syrup, I feel I have won at life.

I have to be in a very specific mood for a burger at a restaurant. I haven't been in that mood for quite some time.

I don’t know why they call it Helper.

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First full dinner I ever cooked, at age 12 and for our family of 5, was shake and bake BBQ chicken, with canned green beans and mashed potatoes.

Man. Where’s the Banquet fried chicken with instant mashed potatoes and canned corn? Extra points if your mom had the fortitude to make an envelope of instant gravy….

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strangeicare@reddit

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There's nothing I still eat from my childhood because I've pretty much cut out all processed food these days.

But my favorites that stuck with me until my late 20s or so were Swanson Chicken Pot Pies (always picked out the peas and would do so today), Chef Boyardee Ravioli (just fine cold) and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (hated Velveeta).

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Xantric@reddit

Chef Boyardee pizza kit!

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fraukau@reddit

Adding that to my grocery list.

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qriousqestioner@reddit

Related: Kraft brand spaghetti in a box.

Alao fideo! (Growing up we called it Mexican spaghetti)

And now I want to eat all the things.

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IdyllwildGal@reddit

Yes! My husband makes this every now and again and adds extra toppings. Sooooo good!

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ufka1@reddit

Bologna sandwich with chips inside

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fraukau@reddit

This and only this.

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edorhas@reddit

Same thing, but replace the mac and cheese with reconstituted mashed potatoes. Just like school lunch!

I still eat the Hungry Man Fried Chicken dinner, with brownie damnit, every so often and it still hits just as hard as when it was my "living large" dinner in college.

Sometimes I really crave classic Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni, but, unfortunately, since they changed the recipe some years back, it tastes nothing like the original.

Yes, peanut butter toast!

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NomadicPurple@reddit

I got tired of the increasing crappiness of most frozen entrees. They are nowhere near as good as we remember. I make most of my comfort food from scratch now (I’m single and work at home so I have time and no other palates to appease). I have two portions of homemade Salisbury steak in my freezer. I might make a couple of small chicken pot pies for my next freezer stash.

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ExtraAd7611@reddit

Also not as good as we remember: the Salisbury steak TV dinners we ate in our youth. Some things are way better in our memories than they probably actually were.

qriousqestioner@reddit

My poor little brother had that with stroganoff. Sorry.

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Fresh_Ad4765@reddit

Cottage pie

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Empty_Divide153@reddit

Ortega corn taco shell (hard) tacos, made with ground beef, shredded cheddar, l&t, sour cream and Ortega taco sauce. Yum!

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monkeyjedi276@reddit

I make my tacos the way I was brought up with. Ground beef, can of tomato sauce, French cut green beans, and shredded cheese.

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Bayler@reddit

Bologna on white with a Kraft single, mayo, and mustard, cut in half corner to corner.

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Kinda_ShouldaSorta@reddit

Tuna casserole

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Dry_Studio_2114@reddit

I had this last night...lol

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UnicornFarts1111@reddit

I used to eat that but instead of mac n cheese, we put the gravy from the Salisbury steak over egg noodles. Usually served with a side of green beans.

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wrenchedups@reddit

Chunky soup. With a spoon.

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Can you even call it a kit now that they removed the packet of "cheese"? My mom was the classic, "If you want to choose what we eat, you can make it yourself" so I ended up making CB pizza about once a week during my high school years for the whole family (with a bag of shredded mozzarella naturally). At some point in my 20s I was invited to a homemade pizza party where they had thought it would be good ironic fun to make CB pizzas, and were flailing spectacularly with the dough (very easy to tear holes in it, and you had to go off the instructions to let it rise enough). Luckily I was there with my gen-x latchkey skills to save the day!

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Away-Equipment4869@reddit (OP)

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Away-Equipment4869@reddit (OP)

Yep