Recently, I posted about the odd food combinations people grew up with and realized were a little strange later in life. Well, almost 400 of you chimed in with the nostalgic meals you loved (and still do) that may sound strange to others. Here are just a handful of them, and I need to know if you'd also eat these or pass on them.
1. "I used to eat mayonnaise sandwiches. As the name suggests, it's just white bread and mayo. Grew up in the Midwest with modest-income parents. I thought it was normal until I moved to the West Coast, and my now-spouse told me it sounded disgusting. It still sounds good occasionally, TBH."
2. "Hot cocoa powder on pasta! Learned it from my Croatian family — it only really worked with a very particular Croatian brand (Kras Express). The powder would melt and you'd basically get chocolate pasta! Conchiglie pasta was the best for the dish. It was something my mom would make if my brother and I were upset, or if we got back home somewhere really late and needed a quick meal."
—Anonymous
3. "Applesauce on pizza is the best in our family! All my friends thought we were super weird, but we loved it and still do!"
4. "Not me, but my father. He grew up in the Depression and would have sugar sandwiches. Just what it sounds like, sugar between two slices of bread!"
—Anonymous
5. "For our family, it was savory French toast: garlic paste, salt, and pepper in the batter. Dad would use toothpicks to attach cheddar to the bread and then keep re-dipping the bread in the batter and cooking it until the cheese was fully encased with the bread and the toothpicks could be removed. Glorious."
6. "My Dad used to make toad in the hole using vegetarian hotdogs, tomatoes, and onions, all resting in Yorkshire pudding batter and then baked in the oven. My goodness, it was absolutely foul."
7. "Hot coffee with milk, sugar, and a piece of Colby cheese dropped into it, then spoon the cheese out when it melts. My mom's whole family did that with breakfast. Guess it was an Eastern Shore of Virginia thing, never saw it anywhere else."
8. "Sliced bread dipped in a glass of Coke or Pepsi."
—Anonymous
9. "Mine was applesauce and Cheerios. Basically, applesauce instead of milk. I always hated milk."
10. "Grilled cheese with pineapple (rings, cubes, or crushed). Didn’t know it wasn’t 'normal' until I had grilled cheese for the first time in college and asked, 'Where’s the pineapple?' Crickets!"
—Anonymous
11. "My younger brother and I would always eat white rice with slices of cheddar cheese and nothing else."
12. "Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup and crushed-up Oreo cookies. Had that for lunch almost every day when I walked to school and went home for lunch. Delicious."
—Anonymous
13. "My mother made creamed tuna on toast: can of tuna, milk, corn starch for thickening, butter, salt, and pepper. Mix all ingredients until thick and bubbly. Serve on toast. My brother and I still make it. Nobody else will touch it."
14. "Hot dogs topped with ketchup and peanut butter. Also, a sandwich of French fries topped with...you guessed it, ketchup and peanut butter. Yum."
15. "My ex-husband’s grandmother introduced me to ramen (no soup or seasoning) with Hormel Chili (no beans) and shredded cheese. I still eat it, and so do my 30-something-year-old kids."
16. "My mother made this for us as kids: half a pear on lettuce leaves with mayo and shredded cheese on top."
17. "When I was pretty young, I watched Mr. Rogers wrap a piece of American cheese around a banana, take a bite, and comment that it was very good. Naturally, I ran to the kitchen to try it, and it became a regular snack until I went to college. No one I’ve ever met has tried it, but I loved it."
18. "I used to eat 'mustard ice,' which was literally just mustard poured over a cup of ice. Twelve-year-old me would get home from school, run to the freezer, make my mustard ice, and then sit down to watch Sabrina: The Animated Series. Don't ask why I liked it; I have no idea. No one else I knew ever did this either, so I have no idea where I got it from!"
19. "Spaghetti and ranch! I absolutely love it with a salad and garlic bread. The ranch makes the spaghetti sauce nice and creamy. My husband is repulsed by it, but it’s so delicious to me."
20. "When I was a kid, my mom would make spaghetti and serve it with banana sandwiches. The sweet banana (with a little added sugar) on white bread was a great complement to the salty spaghetti. I didn’t learn it was odd until I was at a church youth group meeting as a teenager. We were planning a spaghetti dinner as a fundraiser and brainstorming items to buy. I offered to bring the bananas, and everyone got quiet and stared for a moment."
—Anonymous, 46, New Hampshire
21. "A bowl of chili with a peanut butter sandwich. My parents were at a friend's house, and that's what was served. They thought it was weird until they tried it. Then they told me about it, and I questioned it until I tried it. Surprisingly tasty!"
22. "For the past 70 years, I always top French toast with a lot of Tabasco and ketchup."
—Tom, 75, Virginia
23. "Tuna salad inside a Jell-O mold with vegetables mixed in instead of fruit. The Jello-O used was either lime or orange."
24. "My grandma made Spanish rice with sliced bananas on top for the garnish! My friends all gave me the side eye until they tried it!"
25. "My mom makes homemade chunk sweet pickles. She would make us peanut butter and sweet pickle sandwiches. The amount of times I was asked if I was pregnant in high school was ridiculous."
Are there any slightly odd food combos you grew up eating? Let us know in the comments below or fill out this anonymous form!
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