Tuna noodle casserole and baked beans and wieners. Yup! And during the poorest times Kraft Mac and Cheese at 25 cents a box was a lifesaver.

I was going to mention fish sticks too, but I think I bought Mrs. Paul's fish fillets--more fish, less breading. I made it through the 70s with my Betty Crocker Cookbook. I didn't cook from cans much but I did use Rice-a-Roni, the San Francisco treat! as a side dish quite often. And Hamburger Helper.

I made quiche 2-3 times a month for about 2 yrs until husband finally

said he didn't like it. After that whenever I made something new I would

ask if he liked it. If he didn't say no then I made it again and again. His mother was a terrible cook so maybe mine was ok.

hubby worked his way through college and made a big pot of ( sludge ). A small amount of ground beef with tomatoe sauce and loades of macaroni.

took me years to get him to stop making it after we married.

we have been married 38 yrs now.

love these stories.

These stories are so heart-warming!

My brother and I have been cooking since we were in grade school when my mother put "make supper" and "clean up supper" on our chores list. We had a large family and our mother was a terrible cook. Our grandmothers, though, were excellent in the kitchen and we picked up their techniques. By the time I married, I was a very experienced meal-planner, grocery shopper and cook. And a good thing, too, because my MIL is wonderful in the kitchen!

My mom was a great cook and I learned from an early age to make things from scratch. I often cooked for my roommates in college and assigned them prep and cleanup duties.

My husband and I started living together in 1973 and I don't really remember what we ate but he was always appreciative (his mom was a terrible cook). I do remember figuring out soufflés were really easy so we had one maybe once a week.

Memory kicking in: Lots of red snapper and veggies from the garden.

I made porcupine meatballs last Thursday. My daughter was home for the holidays and she requested it for dinner. My kids loved it growing up.

Hmmmm.....fishsticks...did I cook those or was it only my mother who did? I do remember fishsticks. And mom made the chipped beef on toast mentioned above though I never did. My mom made a lot of stuff in an electric frying pan so I asked for one of those on my bridal registry and got one. I think I used that quite a bit - she made her pot roast in that with browned potatoes and carrots. I must have made that. I don't think I ever got the hang of her chicken with white gravy which she also made in there and I thought was really great as a kid.

When my mom would work-I remember with every meal my dad would serve cottage cheese with paprika sprinkled on.

Bummer, because with the paprika,returning the cottage cheese to the container was not possible.

My mother was a wonderful cook and I learned much from her. When I married for the first time in 1966, it was in the heyday of Julia Child on TV. That's a when I truly learned to cook! When I married again in 1978, I was a very experienced cook. ZERO memories of Hamburger Helper, canned soups for sauces, cut up franks. My mother did not cook that way nor have I ever.

What remember from those years in s fixing complicated, high calories dishes that were fabulous. Asparagus? Always with hollandaise. Steak? Always with Bernaise. Ah, those were the days! I'd weigh 300 lbs if I cooked and ate that way today!

My Mom was not a gourmet, but I do give her great credit for never using anything from boxes and only very rarely from cans, and for grocery shopping and cooking each day.

I concur with Anglophilia about early-marriage cooking (this was the late 90s)... my goodness everything was rich. Like Beef Stroganoff or Chicken with Dumplings. My DD2 pointed out to me that we only have gravy on Thanksgiving, and that is true. And we only have bacon on Christmas (except sometimes in a salad as garnish).

Our eating habits have changed a lot, and my DH is open to eat almost anything. When we married, he was a bacon/cheeseburger with fries and a beer guy. Now his signature meal is a Caesar with grilled chicken and fresh brewed unsweetened iced tea.

I grew up in an Italian household and my mom was a great cook. My Dad was a butcher and owned his own small grocery and butcher shop. We always ate well. :-) My mom actually was way ahead of her time and insisted on very balanced meals with lots of fresh veggies and green salads.

When I was about 15, my mom went to work at the grocery store(me too, on Saturdays), so I would cook dinner every week night. I was very used to helping my mom in the kitchen so it came easily to me.

When I got married in 1980, I received the good housekeeping cookbook as a gift and purchased two additional cookbooks. The NYT 60 minute Gourmet by Pierre Franey. I think I cooked every meal in that book multiple times in the first few years of marriage. I also bought the next one... more 60 minute gourmet! I still use this cookbook!

I loved porcupine meatballs . And now I make porcupine meatballs in the skillet . It's deconstructed , not actually meatballs just ground beef. I have it on my menu for this week actually . Quick and easy in one pan . For my busy days I have these go to recipes . My husband still asks for hamburger helper . Thankfully I came from a long line of good Cajun cooks both men and women. I watched and learned . Living on the farm pretty much everything was fresh from the farm and fields . I don't remember anything canned other than the things that mom canned from the garden. We always had a great hot meal on the table .

http://www.thirtyhandmadedays.com/dinner-ideas-porcupines-skillet/

I grew up in a meat and potatoes house in the 1960’s and ‘70’s.
My mother rarely made dinner from a box
and instead relied on good cuts of roasted meats and usually canned vegetables,
but I don’t think that she used any spices beyond salt and pepper and butter. She was not an inventive cook and I learned
about exotic things like olive oil, salmon, avocados, zucchini and pasta from
friends and eating in restaurants. I’m a pretty good cook myself, and I still l
use my old copies of Joy of Cooking and 60 Minute Gourmet.

DH and I were huge Julia Child fans, The French Chef shows and Julia Child and Company. I still have (and use) those cookbooks. I remember making monk fish (billed as poor man's lobster). Not even close.

My mom was self taught. I think her main instructor was the Campbell's soup people. I remember fighting with my siblings over who got to lick the measuring cup that the potato flakes stuck to! I remember the day mom introduced long cooking rice (white) to our home. Not the same as the instant we knew so well!! She was a newlywed in the 60's. Me it was the '90's and nutrition and quality were a standard thing so I can't say my style has changed--freshly made from scratch, balanced meals, nothing fancy or adventurous. My menu making ensures a variety of starch/protein/vegetables each week. Far from gourmet but healthy and basic is my forever style I guess. I can't say anything about meal prep and eating was an EVENT I wanted to celebrate. I see my kids taking the opposite approach. Shopping daily, cooking together with their significant others..they make an event out of it.

I still do shake n bake chicken and pork, but I use homemade shake n bake now.

Mom was never big on herbs and spices so her cooking and initially mine were pretty bland. As I recall, I started learning about flavoring from Pierre Freney...interesting to see how many here also used his recipes.

Whatever cooking shows Mom watched seemed to have 0 influence on her cooking. I do remember her enjoying the galloping gourmet, but not so much for his recipes but his humor, esp as he kept getting drunker as the show went on. But I do have his bench scraper yet from many years ago which is a wonderful thing.

My mother was a pretty good cook. She cooked from scratch, and made sure we ate balanced meals. I remember her baked mac-n-cheese, beef stroganoff, burgundy beef. Dad wasn't much on pasta, but we would eat spaghetti on occasion. Otherwise, I guess we ate the standard stuff, nothing sticks out in my mind. Oh, I fondly remember the ground beef-tomato-macaroni dish. She called it slumgullion. Pure comfort food.

When I married in 1987, I made much of the same stuff. I have never been one for canned soups and boxed stuff. About 10 years ago we switched to eating meatless at home, so that was a new adventure. DH will eat most anything.

I'm a child of the 70s. My mom cooked dinner every night but used a lot of "helpers" - she was an ok cook but preferred baking. She is Irish so had a lot of meat and potatoes influence growing up. I was a picky eater so I probably am not the best judge of my childhood meals - hated onions and mushrooms and fish. Some of my least favorite meals were salmon patties and Salisbury steak that she made in an electric frying pan. She did make porcupine meatballs - we all loved those. She did hers in a pressure cooker. Despite being Irish, she made a really good marinara sauce and lasagna. Lasagna was always my requested birthday dinner.

My father, OTOH, loves to cook. He's Italian that is his favored cuisine to prepare. I don't remember him cooking much when I was younger, but by my teen years, he was making homemade pasta,. He loved making cannellini and manicotti but he doesn't make pasta much these days but does a lot of veal, chicken and vegetable dishes. Around the time he started experimenting in the kitchen, I was working at an Italian restaurant, so these two influences are where I really learned how to cook. I used to love cooking, but now with four kids with very different palates to please, and a busy schedule, it has become a chore. I'm looking forward to when things settle down and I can back to enjoying cooking. My youngest is an adventurous eater and du likes to cook also, so I imagine when she's the only one left at home, we will have some fun in the kitchen!

I was a newlywed in 1974. I was, and am, a lousy cook. It just seems like a big waste of time to me. I like to eat though!! DH says we lived on hamburger helper and instant mashed potatoes in those early years.

Flash forward to last month when I was trying to fix something my 6 year old grandson would eat. He lives with his mother, my former DIL, and is very picky. He likes kraft mac and cheese, and I was fixing something else with ground beef for the rest of us. So I thought I'd mix a bit of ground beef in with his mac and cheese to make it healthier. He took one look and said, "hamburger helper! I love hamburger helper!!" LOL!

Annie, that sounds like a good idea to have on hand. though ive never had the original. I might sub Panko. But don't you need an egg wash to make crumbs stick?

I was a newlywed in the 90's and we were in our thirties with established careers/jobs so we never lived through the mac & cheese or hamburger helper years.

I had subscriptions to Cooking Light and Bon Appetite magazines, alternating between dishes with less than 30% fat to dishes with heavy cream + butter + beef + throw in some extra butter and don't forget to let the wine breathe.

We both weigh less now than when we got married, thanks to exercise and better food choices.

My mother often worked 2 jobs growing up so was too busy to cook much and things such as Hamburger Helper, Shake-n-Bake, Campbell's soup etc all factored heavily into what we ate at home. Frozen Green Giant vegetables drenched in that nasty cheese sauce was not uncommon either. My mother also adored Kraft Mac n Cheese. Some things I liked and others I detested (the blue box and the frozen veggies) but I had no real foundation when I was married at 18 (in 1996) other than curiosity. It worked out for me that I had few preconceived notions.

I had a Pillsbury general cookbook that I swiped from my mom's house (she did not use it much) and I found things to try out of that. I had my fair share of hits and misses. There were some funny times. I once made pumpkin pancakes out of a magazine. Our toddler loved them. Not long after that, there was a time DH asked me something along the lines of, "you aren't making something exotic like pumpkin pancakes are you?" Not long after that I was making pumpkin drop doughnuts. He asked if that was something I came up with on my own or if it was a recipe somewhere. His palate has been broadened considerably in the past 20 years and he now appreciates the food and we can laugh at those times I was quite ready to bop him on the head. I am quite grateful that my early cooking years coincided with the recent expansion in tastes and variety and that my kids have had less exposure to food from a box than I did.

I was first cooking as a couple in the 80's and I used the Betty Crocker cookbook. The Chicken Cacciatore recipe from that book was what I used to "wow" dinner guests for at least a decade.

I grew up with a foodie/whole food/no sugar kind of mother and when I went to college I learned about Rice a Roni, Tater Tots and Kraft Mac and Cheese. Gained 15 lbs overnight, probably all sodium from the Rice a Roni.

I was well into college before I realized everyone's mom didn't cook like my mom; I was at a roommate's house for dinner and her mother used canned veggies and canned fruit and I was shocked.

I was about 20 when I started collecting cookbooks from the 1930's through 70's and a lot of the foods in those looked like a dare: SPAM in jello rings with hardboiled eggs, shrimp and grapefruit salads with Cool-Whip, goodness knows what all. My boyfriend at the time was very happy with hamburgers or spaghetti, so I wasn't very tempted to pin Vienna Sausages to a meatloaf as they suggested.

mtnrd, i'd not use panko only because they are a bigger crumb and this calls for a finer crumb. No egg wash needed. Just rinse the meat so it's damp and the crumb will stick fine. I press any bare spots in with more with my hands.

Maggiepatty, my late MIL worked in a food factory for many years where, among other things, they made Vienna Sausages. No one, and I mean no one, in the area will touch a Vienna Sausage. Way too many first-person stories of "accidental" ingredients that went into those sausages.

Mom was a great cook and made lots of homemade meals (lots of Crisco, Margarine!) along with the occasional TV dinner and packaged food. Anyone remember Steakumms? We ate Americana: chicken and dumplings, fried catfish, Spanish rice, meatloaf, chef salad, salmon patties, tuna casserole, ham hock and beans, etc. Every Sunday she made pizza using a Chef Boyardee pizza kit and the only time we could have soda with dinner. Friday was always fish - not because we were Catholic but Mom grew up in a Catholic neighborhood.

I'm a pretty good cook myself and a lot of what I make is reminiscent of Mom's food which is strange because I never actually helped her cook - just watched. I was a newlywed in the late 80s and my husband was Hispanic. So I learned a lot of Tex-Mex dishes from my MIL - enchiladas, carne guisada, Caldo de Res, Arroz con Pollo... My 2nd DH is very thankful to my ex-MIL!

In 40 years I've probably made at least a hundred meatloaves, but I don't think I've ever made a great one. Maybe maggiepatty's Vienna sausage studded meat loaf is THE ONE! I'm sure it makes a beautiful presentation. ;)

The vienner wienner studded meatloaf cracked me up!

I was born in '65 to a working mom. I was so envious of my friends' SAHMs and loved every bite of tuna casserole and jello mold dinners I ate at their houses. At my house, I had instructions for starting dinner from the time I was about 8. My dad grilled a lot. I prepared salad, scrubbed and started potatoes, etc. My mom believed in fresh food way back then. I learned to love asparagus, Brussels sprouts, fresh sea food and spices.

My first meal as a married woman was a broiled steak, mushrooms sautéed with fresh garlic and butter, salad with freshly made vinaigrette and asparagus. My new husband wouldn't touch the mushrooms or asparagus, wanted Thousand Island for the salad and put his steak back under the broiler until it was (to me) inedible.

i bought an old copy of the Betty Crocker cookbook and he was happy.

I can cook a wide range of food. Southern food is my favorite but I'm still best with fresh foods, simply prepared.

The first meal I cooked for my husband was stuffed Cornish hens. It was so horrible we threw it all in the trash and went out for dinner. My husband loves to tell that story but luckily and smartly follows up with what a good cook I am now.

I fancied myself a vegetarian for a long time, and the first "gourmet" meals I cooked (I wasn't married but cooked for many friends) in the 1970s were from The Vegetarian Epicure. I still have it and still find some of the recipes excellent. Anyone remember it?

Oh ya, Cornish hens. I remember cooking a couple of those back in the day. I'm sure I haven't cooked one in at least 30 years though so I guess they didn't do anything for me.

3katz, my meal was so bad I never made Cornish hens again. Actually, it was my stuffing that somehow came out putrid and it put me off Cornish hens forever.

Thanks everyone! It's been fun reading about the menus of yester-year. I remember quite a few of these. I too had the Joy of Cooking cookbook. My mother and mil were both excellent cooks but TOTALLY different. Mom cooked very upscale meals when dad was home. We often had "breakfast for dinner" when he wasn't home. To this day I'd love to have breakfast for dinner. He was a commercial airline pilot and she was always making dishes to compete with the fancy meals he ate while flying all over the country and South America. She and MIL were both SAHMs

My MIL was a very basic cook with very little money to spend on groceries. They were in the ministry, very small churches and lived on and made it on an income no one here could even imagine. God always provided tho. What they lacked in possessions, they made up for in love and service to their community. They were the most giving and kind people I've ever known. One of my MIL's famous dishes was southern style chicken and dumplings. I was going to make it for my parents one Sunday afternoon. I stayed home from church to have it ready when they got home. This was a REALLY big deal...or at least I'd made it into one. Bless my heart. I dumped all that golden delicious chicken broth down the drain. So that meant no broth to make the dumplings with and no broth for the "soup" part of the chicken and dumplings. Water and chicken bullion cubes didn't cut it!

I used to make Cornish Game Hens served on a bed of wild rice. Tuna casserole was a staple. Did anyone else have canned pear halves with a dollop of mayo and shredded cheddar cheese on top? I think they were served on a lettuce leaf. I tried it not too long ago but it didn't taste like it did 40 years ago :o

Oh Monicakm you reminded me about one of my favorites, Virginia Willis's recipe for New Southern Chicken and Herb Dumplings. I add a tiny bit of spicy sausage to mine. Since my boys are off on their own and one who turned vegan I no longer make these big pots of delight. Same with yummy tuna noodle casserole, not enough people to eat it. My husband and I mostly stay away from cheesy high carbs. We do cheat occasionally though but I would not temp us by having that much deliciousness in the house with just us two here.

I believe the first meal I cooked for DH was a lasagna, which he loved...but then I've never in 32 years of marriage heard him say he didn't enjoy a meal. That's not so much due to me having amazing cooking skills, as it is to him having an iron stomach that apparently finds nothing distasteful. He could actually beat any 'Survivor' or 'Fear Factor' contestant when it comes to eating competitions, as there is nothing he won't eat! I'm positive it stems from his years as a child in China, during The Great Chinese Famine, as not a single animal part is not eaten, when one is starving. But the upside to that childhood is that he cannot stop complimenting even what I consider a mediocre result, and truly enjoys a meal way more than anyone else I've ever known!

justerrilynn, I only remember a few times that mom made chicken and dumplings but they were the light fluffy ones that floated and were seasoned with an herb that I can't call what was. The broth was clear. MIL's are rolled out in long strips and are quite heavy with a thicker broth. Nothing but salt and pepper for seasoning. DH's birthday was last week. He's been asking for C&D for months! I was going to make them for his bd but was sick. There's a big pot of them on the stove as we speak. He'll be thrilled :D Don't get me wrong, I love them but it's a carb laden meal. I'll be breaking out the Carb Blockers tonight!

amicus, your husband sounds like my brother. Every meal you cook for him is THE BEST he's EVER had! lol

monicakm, it's possible that your brother is a Labrador retriever. Everything is their FAVORITE, at this moment. :) :)

I remember making Impossible Taco pie and other Impossible meals with Bisquick. Easy peasy. Also, I think this is when I started using the crock pot.

monicakm, my mother and grandmother would make that pear half with the miracle whip and cheddar. While I hate to disparage things that others like, that is one thing I found absolutely revolting but if it floats someone else's boat, great.

Had to have something new for my mother in law who was sure I couldn't cook. Found a recipe on a box of Beef Rice-a-Roni for porcupines. Served with salad, vegetable and mashed potatoes. She couldn't think of one thing to say other than ask where I got the recipe. I've been making them ever since....as a side dish and/or as a main meal.

Porcupines - YUM! Right up there with opossum.

Annie, that sounds like a good idea to have on hand. though ive never had the original. I might sub Panko. But don't you need an egg wash to make crumbs stick?

@MtnRdRedux you can use a little sour cream to make Panko stick. Or mayo, which DH is allergic to.

How did I miss this thread five years ago? I see names of those that I miss seeing here 🙁

My mom and my grandmother were great cooks. I learned from both and we have always eaten well. I grew up eating food cooked from scratch and my grandparents and parents always had gardens. My grandmother loved to can and freeze. She made the most wonderful veggie soup that she canned every year. What I would give to have a bowl of that soup!! I have always cooked the same. In our early years, my grandmother would can green beans and other items for me and we would get together and prepare/freeze corn. The Mr. and I don't always have a garden, and when we do it is usually small but I still buy certain things from the produce store and put up. We do grow tomatoes and I love making pasta sauce and freezing for the coming year. I learned to bake from scratch too. Now that I am retired, I enjoy finding new recipes to try. I really do enjoy cooking!

maddielee!!! That would have had them rolling in the aisles at my house.

@maddielee That is absolutely hilarious!! Phallic Salad! OMG and the whipped cream…im rolling! 🤣😂🤣😂

Maddielee is that seriously a cherry on top??!! O.M.G. I have two grown sons - they would be dumbfounded. For 2 seconds. Then the comments would start . …

I almost spewed my ice tea all over my keyboard!!!!

For those interested in candle salad history….

A sorta recent article about the Candle Salad with even more photos.

https://www.vintag.es/2021/12/candle-salad.html

”holiday & festival, WTF

Your eyes do not deceive you. This is not some naughty bachelorette party dessert; it is a vintage fruit salad that was popular in America from the 1920s through to the 1960s. A holiday recipe. Later printed in children’s cookbooks.”