Is creamed tuna as disgusting as it sounds?

I think it might be if you used mushroom soup as someone here posted. But made with a simple bechamel and some peas, served on toast, it's pretty good. We also used to have creamed hamburger from time to time, served over a baked potato. My mom often did that on days when she and dad were going out and the sitter would have to be the one to listen to us whine about the boiled spinach that always went with it.

That's one thing my parents loved that I never understood--boiled spinach with vinegar poured over it. ETA I never heard of eating raw spinach till the wilted spinach salad became a Big Thing in the late 70s. But then, when I was a child fresh vegetables were local and spinach is very hard to grow in FL, so it was usually only available frozen.

My sister and I would each have a Carnation breakfast milkshake in the morning before high school. They were mostly sugar, and of course, artificial flavoring. Shudder.

Cream of mushroom soup ruins everything it touches.

My creamed tuna is similar to writersblock's. A little garlic or onion-y something in the sauce helps elevate it. The peas make it pretty. And yes, on toast. A little hot sauce on top perks it right up.

Whats really funny is that I still eat & love many of these things that you all think are nasty. I adore white bread! I wouldn't dream of eating a bologna sandwich with mayo & a touch of Dijon mustard on anything but white (must have plain potato chips too). I also enjoy a can of chef boyardee occasionally, beefaroni is my favorite. Still like Jello, fluffanutters, Kraft singles cheese, Velveeta cheese for my homemade Mac & cheese, cucumber sandwiches (YUM), iceburg lettuce (glad I wasn't a big fan of Romaine) and DH favorite salad dressing is Catalina. I also use it as a marinade occasionally. I also never had fresh spinach until I was out on my own but I honestly don't mind canned with just a touch of vinegar.

What you all are calling creamed tuna, we called tuna pea wiggle, it was served over saltine crackers and you couldn't pay me enough to eat that now. I was forced to eat liver, I have never once bought or cooked it as an adult.

We only had Cheerio's, Rice Krispies & Cornflakes as kids. Once I was on my own, I bought all the sugary cereals and it didn't take me long to discover that most are pretty nasty. I do like Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Spoon Sized Shredded Wheat & Raisin Bran.

Writersblock - I love spinach with a dash of vinegar! I only use vinegar with the frozen spinach though, never the fresh stuff. (Why? I have no idea.... )

Maybe that's because I just adore spinach in any way though.

I still occasionally enjoy a batch of salmon croquettes, and I'd beg my mom for the bones too - they still are my treat. My mom made them often and we ate them with malt vinegar, British style. Maybe because my dad's family immigrated from England.

These comments are reminding me of so much from my past, and it's interesting to see how much many of us have in common, along with how many of us are different. Food memories are definitely a fun topic!

I just recalled Cap'n Crunch was 1 of my all time fave treats - no milk, just dry for a snack. I don't think my mother allowed us to eat it for breakfast.

And those powders for flavoring milk - Nestle's Quik in varying flavors and something called PDQ, which came in eggnog flavor. I remember purposely using too much and not stirring very well, so there would be sweet syrupy sludge in the bottom. And the manufacturers also suggested sprinkling them over ice cream, which we did.

We also ate Space Food Sticks when those came out - I think they would definitely make me gag now - if they were still around.

And how about instant iced tea? I haven't had that in decades - maybe never will again. There used to be a 'recipe' for an orange spice tea made by mixing Tang and instant tea and some pie spice, I think.

These beg the question are you no longer eating them because of your awareness of their nutritional content or lack there of or have you lost your like of them? A few of these I no longer eat--but it isn't because I wouldn't enjoy them.

There are a lot of sugary things I ate then that I wouldn't eat now.

Basically because my sweet tooth has taken a gander off into nowhere, and I've let my fat tooth come out. SO much more savory and enticing!

My step father was German. We had boiled potatoes every night and sauerkraut several times per week. He would put butter on the potatoes and mash them together with the sauerkraut. I have never eaten boiled potatoes again. And I have sauerkraut very occasionally.

Our salad back in the late 70s and early 80s was iceberg lettuce with tomatoes and apples, dressed with Good Seasons Italian you mixed with oil and vinegar yourself.

I almost wish I could go back to those days WRT to bread. We didn't have very good bread, so it was not a temptation. Today, I have good bread at my fingertips and boy do those calories add up.

PS writer's block, I have a fantastic recipe for kale from Alice Waters where you finish the cooked kale with some red wine vinegar. It is delicious.

I have a fantastic recipe for kale from Alice Waters where you finish the cooked kale with some red wine vinegar

Is that the garlicky kale? I do something similar but without the vinegar, and my nephew the chef taught me to use garlic powder (which I normally only use to control pests on plants) instead of minced garlic because you can infuse the oil right from the start.

Yes, that is the recipe! I'll try the garlic powder. Thank you of the tip.

Oh! Sauerkraut! My mother loved it so we had it on the regular. With kielbasa. I wasn't a fan then, and haven't had it in probably 35 years.

Some others I've been reminded of while reading the posts:

Tuna noodle casserole

Canned peas or green beans

We even had canned potatoes at times. ick.

I also recall some plums that came from a can...

Vegetables with sauces or breadcrumbs or...whatever. My mother never just made a simple dish. Everything had to be done with a recipe from a book or from one of the 5000 index cards she kept in shoeboxes. I did not inherit that tendency!

I could go for a pb & fluff sandwich right now, though. My mother would have never bought Fluff (also never had Coke in the house...and still don't, but it was so exciting to go to friends' houses where they had those things!) so maybe that's why I still like it? I have only had it maybe 5 times in my adult life.

We also never had "big name" treats like Oreos because they were too expensive. I don't buy them now because I'd eat them...

This was a treat. The box back then wasn’t so big.

I was a picky and stubborn kid, and for the most part, I eat and like many more things now than I liked as a kid. Bananas are the one thing that I liked when I was very young and stopped liking sometime in elementary school and never warmed back up to.

But everyone else's posts have reminded me of a few things that I got nostalgic for at some point and had as an adult that just didn't live up to the memory (and I will consequently never eat again). SpaghettiOs are one. I can't imaging why I ever thought they tasted good. Pop-tarts are excruciatingly sweet and the pastry is not that great.

There are lots of other things I disliked as a kid but had to eat because that was what was served, and dislike now but just don't ever buy them. Boiled spinach (especially with vinegar, blech!), wax beans, most canned veggies, stewed tomatoes, and liver, among others.

We used to eat creamed tuna (from a bechamel) on biscuits. I liked it and would probably still find it perfectly fine, but it isn't so appealing that it made it into my repertoire. We also would eat chipped beef on toast (toast in this case being English muffins), which Mom made with shredded Buddig brand pastrami and corned beef luncheon meat (the super thin-sliced stuff). That was more dubious than the creamed tuna.

Unlike a lot of the folks who have posted about the ubiquitous boiled potatoes of their childhoods, I still like them (especially reds). But I don't eat them much because carbs, and the amount of butter and salt I would routinely use to make them appealing. Mmm, carbs, saturated fat, and salt. Healthy.

Yes, tuna with a bechamel sauce and I did forget the peas.

For spinach, I put raw spinach on our plates, slice some brie cheese on top, heat up sliced apples in a pan with a little butter and just before they're finished I add a mixture of 2T of white vinegar and 2T of honey to the apples, Let it simmer for a couple of minutes and then pour over the spinach/brie. When I first read the recipe and saw the vinegar I thought it was very strange but it is surprisingly tasty.

My DH loves it and he is very difficult to please with new-fangled recipes - he's the one that loves boiled potatoes.

Thanks for tip about the garlic powder. When I see it in a recipe I always substitute minced garlic thinking I'm going to get better flavour. I won't do that as much.

blfenton that sounds delicious!

blfenton that sounds delicious!

Yes, it does. I'm not opposed to all vinegar any time, just to pouring it over boiled spinach. I do finish a lot of soups with vinegar and those apples sound delish!

I think it's been proven that vinegar on spinach and cabbage enhances the utilization of some of the nutrients in the greens. We always had cider vinegar on both and I still love cooked spinach with vinegar.

One thing I loved as a kid was lamb chops. We didn't have them often so it was a big treat for me. (mom didn't like them so this was a dad cooked meal). Over time they fell off my radar but not so long ago I bought a couple and served them with asparagus and new potatoes. What a disappointment! I didn't like them at all. I couldn't eat them. I did enjoy the asparagus and potatoes though.

Speaking of canned peas - when I go out of town my Mum will invite my husband over to dinner. She makes it a point to serve him things she knows I don’t make, including tuna noodle casserole, meatloaf, and pork chops. She always serves him canned peas because, and I quote, I know you won’t serve those (said as if I’m preventing him from having champagne and caviar).

That is correct. He’s not getting any canned vegetables on my watch.

I don’t know why she thinks he wants any of that stuff. My husband is too polite to say no so he suffers through these meals. I’m glad she invites him and I’m gald he goes and I’m very glad I’m not invited.

I don’t actually remember ever eating a hot dog but I must have as a child to determine that I don’t like them. I haven’t eaten any processed meat since I was old enough to express an opinion (that I’d rather go hungry than eat lunch meat or a hot dog).

My mother served canned peas drowned in butter and garlic powder. I did not learn to like peas until I went to kindergarten and ate plain frozen peas- a big improvement.

Skibby, funny you should mention lamb. Growing up my mom made the most delicious roast leg of lamb. Now I don't care for lamb at all. I'm not sure what changed. Is it possible lamb just tastes different now?

Unless peas are fresh I find them seriously lacking. I use the frozen variety in simmer sauces and pot pies. The one canned veggie I'll buy is LeSueur sweet peas. Dh likes them. When I don't have a fresh green veggie to serve they'll suffice.

Oh! Sauerkraut! My mother loved it so we had it on the regular. With kielbasa. I wasn't a fan then, and haven't had it in probably 35 years.

I make that with apples, onions, potatoes, and cider about twice a year. Leftovers are always better.

Ooooh, lamb chops. I had them as a kid, but wouldn't eat them now. I also had no qualms about eating seafood in my young years, but over the years I developed a fish phobia that's still very much with me, and I absolutely won't touch it if it swims.

When I was pre-school age, I went through a phase where I wanted nothing to eat but grilled cheese sandwiches. This presented a big problem for my mother when I refused to eat what she put in front of me, unless it was a grilled cheese. (Now she'd probably just rub the dinner on me until I ingested some of it, but back then she was very young and inexperienced.) She took me to the pediatrician and explained the dilemma. His solution? "Feed her grilled cheese for breakfast, a grilled cheese for lunch, and a grilled cheese for supper. Before you know it, she won't be able to stand the sight of the goshdarn [I paraphrase] things!" Oh, how wrong he was. A grilled cheese is still my go-to comfort food, and I'd eat one daily if there were any nutritionally redeeming qualities in 'em.

Oh, whew. Creamed tuna is simply tuna in a cream sauce. I was envisioning pureed tuna a la the pink slime them make burgers out of.

I love sauerkraut! I can eat it straight out of the can. But never will a canned pea cross my door. Blech. The ones we got were usually slightly gray.

Aok, have you tried Kuehne sauerkraut? It's the only one I buy now.

https://www.kuehne-international.com/sauerkraut/barrel-sauerkraut

With all this talk about tuna, I'm going to make a tuna casserole for dinner tonight. My DH has a horrible cold and it will be like comfort food for him.

One thing I will not make is casserole with creamed soups in them Do you have any idea how many tuna casseroles call for cream of mushroom or cream of celery soup? It's what my mom used to do and as someone up thread said, which I thought was really funny, not on my watch. A recipe that I finally found is made with a bechamel.

I have never seen the Kuehne products. Where do you buy them? My boss and her husband came here from Germany, I should ask if that's one of the old-country brands they know.

My issue with tuna casserole or melts is that when you heat tuna it seems to get fishy or at least smell fishy as the oils are released.

I still like canned asparagus; to me it is a totally diff vege than fresh (which i also like), in that it is nearly brined. My family won't touch canned asparagus, which I get.

My fave bakery/cafe makes a grilled sharp cheddar on multigrain with granny smith apple and fig jam. Delish and not devoid of nutrition.

I'm full-blooded German and yes, Kuehne is a German brand.

We also had boiled potatoes with most meals and I still like them. Don't make them too often because we are trying too eat less carbs.

Aok, Fresh Market and Walmart. Maybe Whole Foods too. Seems like I've seen it there.

I remember those pizza kits, when we were kids in the late 60s, the crust was like a thin biscuit, and the "cheese" was powdered.

And I mostly don't eat those things I enjoyed in my youth because my eating habits have changed, and those things no longer appeal to me.

When I was a teenager I used to eat a hot fudge sundae with plenty of whipped cream and potato salad-- together.

My dad liked anchovies and soda crackers so I did too. The idea of it now, well let’s just say No!

Also creamed tuna on toast. I never learned how to make it like mom did but I think I might like it again.

My mom grew up on a farm but she cooked like a suburban housewife-only canned vegetables, unless it was a root veg-and those she either boiled or cooked with sugar on them. It's funny, too, because I grew up on So Cal-land of fresh fruit and veggies, but we always had canned. Except fruit. Every single citrus you can imagine was on our street, as well as plums. There was an avocado tree in our backyard.

My Grammy-who was an amazing cook used to take canned peas and drain off the juice. She'd saute garlic in olive oil, then she'd add the reserved juice, cooking it down till it thickened. She'd then heat the peas and pour this thickened pea juice with garlic over it. You never tasted anything so delicious! She was Italian, so virtually everything was cooked with OO and garlic! And that could transform anything. Even green salads, made with iceberg lettuce, were enough to bring tears to your eyes with the vinagrette she'd make.

The packaged pizza mix-other moms made that but ours was always, always homemade. My mom would stuff anchovies in the dough and everyone raved about her pizza. She'd cut the pepperoni thick and then she'd top the whole thing with fresh mozzarella and grated parmesan then sprinkle oregano over the top just before baking. I hated that pizza.

I’m told I ate pickled pig feet as a small child. I have no recollection of that. I do remember eating many potted meat sandwiches and “vienny weenies”.

Cattyles…..I ate pickled pigs feet many times and still do as an adult...lol

Jello. Only eat it now on that day before one of those procedures we must get every 5 or 10 years.

Packaged pizza mix. It was all we had in the mid 60’s small town, and we teenagers thought it was so cool to make and press out dough on an pan and have pizza at a sleep-over.

iceberg lettuce. I’m sure I have had it as an adult, but I try to avoid it.

Thankfully my mother was a wonderful cook, my dad hated casseroles and lunch meat, so we avoided a lot of really bad stuff. He did eat sardines and saltines once in a while, and he had the kitchen totally to himself when he ate them.

Canned LeSeur baby peas. One of the only canned foods my mother did buy other than tomato paste or sauce. I still like them on occasion. Loved them with her homemade mashed potatoes with butter. I would mix them together on my plate.

Enjoying all the food memories here. Space food sticks on my gosh, loved the peanut butter ones. I grew up with a lot of southern comfort food, still love and eat occasionally but most are so many calories I do not eat often. Overall I do eat quite a bit differently than as a child but there are very few things that are so awful that I think they are disgusting now - Vienna sausages and most “tv dinners” would fall in that category for sure but I crave marshmallow fluff and cranberry jello salad on occasion.

Boil in bag turkey with gravy and the original TV dinners. My mom was a fabulous cook but these were kid's meals for the baby sitter until pizza delivery became a thing. Quisp and Captain Crunch. Sara Lee Frozen Strawberry cheesecake and pepperidge farm blueberry muffins. And I confess every so often I pause in front of the Strawberry Frosted Pop Tarts at the grocery, and the Chips Ahoy. It's probably been 25 years since I last ate those, but I think I would still like them lol. Now I'm hungry too.

Blfenton, your comment about the creamed soups in casseroles reminded me of our favourite treat when we were kids. My mom would smear Campbell's cream of mushroom soup on slices of white bread and then broil them in the oven. We thought it was such a treat. I have no desire to even try this now.

Gardener, I succumbed to the Chips Ahoy at a convenience store on a road trip. I am pretty sure they changed the recipe. And don’t try the Whole Foods version either, still not right. oTOH Whole Foods Oreo cookies are the best.

Many of the processed foods have changed since they first appeared. The quality has gone down to where it's so different than what it was then. Kentucky Fried Chicken actually was good way back when. They served real honey too, not honey flavored sugar sauce.

I too , along with my older sister, ate raw hamburger meat. I can remember my mom seasoning it with salt and pepper and probably garlic and onion, and we would swipe little bits of it from the bowl. Maybe because it was small quantities it did not harm us, but anyway I am pretty sure I would not do it again (though I would be tempted).

Best treat when I was young, and my mother was nowhere in sight, was to pour off the light cream at the top of the glass bottle of skim milk and mix with Nestle's Quik. Mmmm-mmmm. Rich, sweet, delicious! Definitely not something I would do now, lol.

PBJs. I ate them until the day, at the ripe old age of four, I was (unbeknownst to my parents) coming down with a nasty stomach virus. Mom handed me a PBJ for lunch. I took one bite, vomited and have never been able to eat a PBJ again. Yes, it’s “all in my head”, but that’s okay with me. I have never had the desire for one ever after that.

I used to eat a lot of the Lean Cuisine type of frozen dinners. I thought of them as appropriate "diet" dinners. It was a habit I picked up from my mother who seemed to be dieting her whole life. No more. My taste for such stuff has vastly changed since I undertook a lot of nutritional education over the years. I haven't eaten any such frozen meals for a long time. I do buy plain frozen veggies so I don't run out of veggies, but nothing else in the frozen food isles. I also remember at one time eating Eggo waffles for breakfast for years. No more. And as a child we always ate sugared cereal. I think my tastes have really changed quite radically over the years.