Life before chicken nuggets

[daannzzz]

I have noticed on many forums and threads that many kids will only eat chicken nuggets when not at home... I assume it may be at home as well. In any case there were no chicken nuggets when I was growing up and I don't remember being stuck on one item when we went out. Is there any one food that kids wanted when they ate out before the nuggets arrived?

 

[Dax]

I have noticed on many forums and threads that many kids will only eat chicken nuggets when not at home... I assume it may be at home as well. In any case there were no chicken nuggets when I was growing up and I don't remember being stuck on one item when we went out. Is there any one food that kids wanted when they ate out before the nuggets arrived?

French fries?

 

[msjprincess]

hamburger?

 

[Momvic5]

My mom always said the chicken leg was the food of choice before the chicken nugget.

 

[Acklander]

When I was a kid eating out, I'd always order plain spaghetti with butter on it (no sauce). I think Chicken Nuggets are probably healthier

 

[Rora]

As a kid, I always ordered chicken fingers when we went out. But, I'm an 80s baby so I'm probably lumped in with the Chicken Nugget Kids.

 

[turkeymama]

My mom always said the chicken leg was the food of choice before the chicken nugget.

This is exactly what I thought.

 

[Metsfan520]

We didn't eat out much when I was a kid. There weren't a lot of family friendly restaurants-most of the chains weren't open in the 1960s in NY. When we did eat out, we went to Chinese restaurants, where we'd order chicken chow mein.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I grew up in the 70's and no-one I knew went to restaurants all that much. McDonalds was a huge treat and I only remember doing it a few rare times and even then I don't remember being asked what I wanted. Now that you mention it, I can't remember anyone ever opening their mouth to complain about what was on the table in the homes either. We just sat down and ate whatever was in front of us, not just at my house but at friends houses too, I would never have dreamed to open up my mouth to complain.

 

[AKL_Megs]

Chicken Nuggets have been around since the 1950's. Chicken McNuggets, since 1980.

It's only REALLY since the late 90s and into the 2000's that parents coddle their children and accept the fact that (medical issues aside) their children "don't like ANYTHING" but chicken nuggets and breadsticks. Bull.

Kids of my generation (80's) and before ate what their parents put in front of them and liked it, or went to bed hungry.

 

[deegack]

Dd hates chicken nuggets. She's a pasta/veggie girl as long as there is no sauce of any kind on the veggies

 

[GeorgeG]

When I was growing up eating out was an ocassional treat and there really weren't any fast food restaurants. Most meals were eaten at home and we all learned to eat properly with forks, spoons and knives. I have a neice and nephew, both now grown with kids of their own, who still don't know how to use a fork and knife. Sadly, it's a sign of the times.

 

[nmmom95]

Chicken Nuggets have been around since the 1950's. Chicken McNuggets, since 1980.

Chicken McNuggets came out when I was 11?!? Man, I'm old! I actually hate chicken nuggets. My DS12 ate them when he was little, but he hates them, too. My DS7 still eats them sometimes. I don't remember eating out a lot when I was a kid.

 

[kirstenb1]

Fried chicken was my go-to food if we went out.

 

[Frantasmic]

On the trail, it was biscuits and beef jerky ya young whippersnapper.

 

[monkeybug]

My mom always said the chicken leg was the food of choice before the chicken nugget.

My kids call this "chicken on the bone" and it's their favorite! Little weirdos!!

 

[daannzzz]

OP here: I was 4 in 1960 and we did not go out much until the later part of the decade. There were not many fast food places and I do not remember many of the restaurants we went to. I know I loved french fries but also that I could not eat them at every meal or have them as the only item. I think I ordered a hamburger most of the time. We had a place nearby called Larry's that serve seven burgers for a dollar and seven bags of fries for a dollar. Once the first taco place opened up, before Taco Bell I ended up latching onto 25 cent tostadas.

 

[Tina]

I vaguely recall chicken McNuggets hitting the McDonald's menu when I was 11 or 12, I think. All I remember is that they were crappy, kinda chewy, and not very chicken-like. I hated them. I went right back to my cheeseburger and fries. Even today, I don't care for chicken nuggets as a result of the poor quality I first experienced at McDonalds.

We ate out occasionally as a kid, but I always ordered from the regular menu like a regular patron. Our most common restaurant was Big Boy, who had a kids menu, but it was just smaller portions. I always loved their fish n chips. But at other restaurants, it was the same deal. Normal food.

At home, my mom also put the same thing on my plate that she put on hers. Rarely did it come from a bag in the freezer, warmed in the microwave. I ate a variety of meats and vegetables. I see kids today that only eat chicken nuggets, pizza, or macaroni & cheese. I wonder, at what age do they make the leap to real food? Do they know what real food is?

 

[Colleen27]

It's only REALLY since the late 90s and into the 2000's that parents coddle their children and accept the fact that (medical issues aside) their children "don't like ANYTHING" but chicken nuggets and breadsticks. Bull.

Kids of my generation (80's) and before ate what their parents put in front of them and liked it, or went to bed hungry.

This! But I think you've got the start of it pegged as a little too recent - my brother, born in '82, and several of our childhood friends were just as coddled as the worst of the picky eaters we read about here on the DIS. It was only luck/personality/birth order that spared me the same fate - as the oldest, I was exposed to more variety and more home cooking, before my parents divorced and we started eating more heat-and-serve and drive-thru dinners, and even as a kid I liked to try different things.

And chicken McNuggets when we were kids, before they went to all white meat, were gross! I remember getting bits of gristle sometimes that taught me to stick to the cheeseburger happy meal when I had to endure McDinners.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

I'm a kid of the Nugget time (born 1987) but I was more of a grilled cheese or macaroni and cheese gal. If I did eat chicken, it was usually a drumstick.