Do kids still eat fish sticks?

[Princess_Meghan <3]

I ate fishsticks as a kid, and I still eat them!

The kids I babysit don't eat them, though. I asked them if they liked fish sticks, and they told me they're icky.

 

[Minnesota!]

my kids (and me and DH) love them! But we only buy them 1 - 2 times a year.

WHen we were first married, our "fancy dinner nights" were fish sticks and mac-n-cheese.

 

[Baileymouse]

DD (8) loves fish sticks!

 

[ford family]

My son (6) loves them but I prefer not to serve them - so unhealthy, plus I want him to eat what the adults eat. Everyone gets the same meal.

Really? Our children, now all grown up, still eat them and even with no kids at home we often have them for breakfast.
Bird's Eye fish fingers, white fish in breadcrumbs simply grilled and served with malt vinegar. Not sure what is unhealthy about that?

ford family

 

[Sarah_Rose]

Oh man, I haven't had fish sticks since I was a kid.... and now I want some.

I'm sure my son would eat them with no complaints, but he's only 1.5 and is still in the "I eat everything!" stage. I hope it continues for awhile.

 

[Janepod]

Really? Our children, now all grown up, still eat them and even with no kids at home we often have them for breakfast.
Bird's Eye fish fingers, white fish in breadcrumbs simply grilled and served with malt vinegar. Not sure what is unhealthy about that?

ford family

Can't speak to Birds Eye specifically as we don't have that in the States (at least not in my area) but the Van de Kamps and Gortons are basically just deep fried fish - small amounts of fish, mainly additives. Plus (again, only speaking of the States) fish sticks are generally cod or pollock, which don't have much in the way of nutritional value when compared to, say, salmon. Much better to have a fish filet!

We do eat fresh fish for dinner 2-3 nights a week. Tonight it was grilled salmon. I just like to feed my family unprocessed food. Works for us.

That being said, when I'm in the UK I do enjoy fish and chips! They said on the news here the other night that the average Englishman eats it 332 times a year - can that be true?

 

[Coconut36]

Really? Our children, now all grown up, still eat them and even with no kids at home we often have them for breakfast.
Bird's Eye fish fingers, white fish in breadcrumbs simply grilled and served with malt vinegar. Not sure what is unhealthy about that?

ford family

I don't think those are the type of fish sticks in question...are you in the US? When I google Birds Eye Fish fingers it directs me to Birds Eye UK.

What I believe is being discussed here are the kind readily available in the frozen section..heavily breaded fish (and I believe it is generally rather processed fish all mushed together to form a "stick" not a solid nice piece of fish) that is fried and then frozen to be warmed up in the oven or microwave. Generally full of fats, grease and unnecessary amounts of carbs from the breading.

No my kids don't eat them. I never ate them growing up and neither did either of my parents. I never viewed them as a "kid food" either.

This is nutritional info on Gorton's Fish sticks:

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
6 sticks (104.0 g)
Amount Per Serving Calories 250

Calories from Fat 126

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 14.0g 22%

Saturated Fat 3.5g 18%

Cholesterol 20mg 7%

Sodium 380mg 16%

Total Carbohydrates 20.0g 7%

Sugars 2.0g

Protein 11.0g
Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 2% • Iron 4%

 

[dizcrazee]

I love Maria Callender's chicken pot pies. The crust is so much flakier that Swanson's.

We eat the Marie Callender's pot pies too! We all love them. They also have really good fruit pies, made just like the pot pies with that same great crust.

 

[luvsJack]

We have some in the freezer. My 5 year old DD likes them and they are good to throw in the oven when we are eating something she won't. She likes to dip hers in applesauce though.

When I was in child care we had fish sticks once a week and usually had apple sauce with them. Almost ALL the kids would dip their fish sticks in their apple sauce! I never did get why--guess its a taste kids like for some reason!

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I was reading another thread here where the OP said how chicken nuggets are such a staple on kid's menus these days.

It struck me, that when I was a kid, the greasy, crunchy, finger food that you dipped in a sauce, usually ketchup, not tartar sauce, was fish sticks.

I don't think chicken nuggets were invented until I was about 15 and the McDonald's commercial had to explain that they were (back then) all white meat chicken breast with no bones.

When I think of it, other than an occasional McDonald's filet-o-fish, especially around Lent, or walking by the frozen seafood section of a supermarket, I don't come across even talk about fish sticks anymore.

Has chicken nuggets killed the fish stick industry?

One can still get fish sticks. But they aren't nearly so popular as they were when I was younger. I think the price of fish going through the roof did in fish sticks more so than did chicken nuggets. For me, my elementary school did in me ever wanting fish sticks again. A fish stick on a hot dog bun with the rankest tartar sauce slathered on it you could ever want to eat. And our food got delivered. It wasn't cooked at our school. So it was lukewarm when we got it. So no fish sticks for me.

 

[scrapquitler]

I was reading another thread here where the OP said how chicken nuggets are such a staple on kid's menus these days.

It struck me, that when I was a kid, the greasy, crunchy, finger food that you dipped in a sauce, usually ketchup, not tartar sauce, was fish sticks.

I don't think chicken nuggets were invented until I was about 15 and the McDonald's commercial had to explain that they were (back then) all white meat chicken breast with no bones.

When I think of it, other than an occasional McDonald's filet-o-fish, especially around Lent, or walking by the frozen seafood section of a supermarket, I don't come across even talk about fish sticks anymore.

Has chicken nuggets killed the fish stick industry?

My DD has never in her life touched a fish stick. DS8 goes in phases. He will eat them a couple times a week for 5-6 weeks, and then he'll refuse to eat them for months. Then he'll want them again.

We never had chicken nuggets when I was a child. I don't think they were invented until I was in high school.

Really, there wasn't a lot of fish in our lives either, fish sticks were mostly the only fish we had besides canned tuna, except when it was fishing season and my grandfather went and caught some. I think fresh 'real' fish is more common now and thats why people don't have fish sticks too often (because lets face it, compared to regular fish they are gross)

 

[disykat]

If my dh goes grocery shopping (which thankfully he doesn't do often!) we have fish sticks! I think they're a comfort food from his childhood. The kids and I lilke them occasionally, but groan if he buys them more than once or twice a year. He also likes fried fish, which I will make for him on rare occasions. We generally have our fish grilled, but also like it baked, or "oven fried.

 

[Imzadi]

Can't speak to Birds Eye specifically as we don't have that in the States (at least not in my area) but the Van de Kamps and Gortons are basically just deep fried fish - small amounts of fish, mainly additives. Plus (again, only speaking of the States) fish sticks are generally cod or pollock, which don't have much in the way of nutritional value when compared to, say, salmon. Much better to have a fish filet!

We do eat fresh fish for dinner 2-3 nights a week. Tonight it was grilled salmon. I just like to feed my family unprocessed food. Works for us.

That being said, when I'm in the UK I do enjoy fish and chips! They said on the news here the other night that the average Englishman eats it 332 times a year - can that be true?

I saw a show on the food channel where they had a Brit make REAL fish & chips. It's nothing like the processed fish sticks I'm talking about. It's not like Arthur Treacher's either. The British fish looked wonderful. Janepod is right, ours are heavily fried and strangely uniformly cut in straight, rectangular, thin sticks.

We eat the Marie Callender's pot pies too! We all love them. They also have really good fruit pies, made just like the pot pies with that same great crust.

Ooo! My waistline did not need to know that!

One can still get fish sticks. But they aren't nearly so popular as they were when I was younger. I think the price of fish going through the roof did in fish sticks more so than did chicken nuggets. For me, my elementary school did in me ever wanting fish sticks again. A fish stick on a hot dog bun with the rankest tartar sauce slathered on it you could ever want to eat. And our food got delivered. It wasn't cooked at our school. So it was lukewarm when we got it. So no fish sticks for me.

 

[Imzadi]

Really, there wasn't a lot of fish in our lives either, fish sticks were mostly the only fish we had besides canned tuna, except when it was fishing season and my grandfather went and caught some. I think fresh 'real' fish is more common now and thats why people don't have fish sticks too often (because lets face it, compared to regular fish they are gross)

Nor in our family, either. Other than the fish sticks, I remember my dad would go to the seafood store about twice a year and get us real fried fish, which tasted very different from fish sticks or a filet-o-fish.

To this day I can't eat tilapia. I've never heard of it before. Suddenly, in the last few years, it's all over the place. I'm suspicious of a fish like that. Where did it come from? Why is it suddenly so popular, but wasn't years ago?

 

[AverageDiser]

DD (10) loves any type of fish! We do homemade fish sticks- egg wash & panko bread crumbs. They're MUCH tastier, not to mention healthier, than the boxed ones. I do break down maybe twice a year and buy the frozen stuff, but that's about it, takes the same amount of time, and less money, to do them homemade.

 

[marcyinPA]

i haven't bought them in a long time, but both of my kids eat them. They were kind of a staple when they were little. They both like any kind of fish, except for tuna. I hate all fish!

 

[Kimbysmom]

I honestly haven't seen a fish stick in years; I didn't even know they still made them. My seven year old daughter is also one of those kids who could live on tuna fish sandwiches and has loved smoked salmon since she was a toddler. Weird kid .

 

[scrapquitler]

Nor in our family, either. Other than the fish sticks, I remember my dad would go to the seafood store about twice a year and get us real fried fish, which tasted very different from fish sticks or a filet-o-fish.

To this day I can't eat tilapia. I've never heard of it before. Suddenly, in the last few years, it's all over the place. I'm suspicious of a fish like that. Where did it come from? Why is it suddenly so popular, but wasn't years ago?

Tilapia is farmed, and it supposed to be 'sustainable'. The only problem IMO is that it is bland and boring. Even more boring than pollock.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

I buy the "ultimate fish sticks" at Costco and feed them to my DH.

They are made out of actual fish hunks and not fish mush or fish flakes.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Sadly, they're the only fish my 11-year-old actually likes. But I keep trying.