Life before chicken nuggets

[JVL1018]

Now that I'm thinking about it, back in the late 40s and early 50s we used to get taken to Patterson, NJ (a fair ride from out town in NY) to a place called Johnnie and Hanges. My brother and I thought it was special because we got to eat french fries with big toothpicks. Does anyone else remember that? I wonder if it's still there.

When I was a kid in the 70s, my grandparents lived in Hawthorne, NJ, a few minutes away from Paterson and we'd go visit and my dad and grandpa used to go to Johnny and Hanges to pick up dinner for us.

Johnny and Hanges is now in Fair Lawn, NJ-my husband works about 2 blocks away and we meet for lunch there. It's always busy.

 

[JVL1018]

When I was a kid(I was born in 1971)we did not go out to eat as often as I do as an adult(we go out at least once a week for a sit down meal and get take out at least once).

But when we did, we'd go out for pizza and the whole family would have pizza. No apps, no desserts.
If it wasn't a pizza place, my brothers and I, 9 times out of 10 would get cheeseburgers.

I ate a varied diet at home, my mom cooked every night, no special orders, you ate what she made and you ate at least a little bit of everything. You hate brussel sprouts? Too bad,you had to have at least 1- but you could go through the bowl and pick the smallest sprout you could find. LOL

 

[ilovejack02]

I can remember we ate a picadilly alot . I only ate the chopped beef patty and always wanted mashed potatoes and french fries with it . Dad wouldn't have that, I had to pick one and get a veggie.

DS21 and DS8 are both good eaters, so it hasn't been an issue with them.

 

[Arielle22]

I am 5th of 8 children born from 1959-1974. The only time we ate out as children was when Dad went to McDonald's and brought it home for us. The older kids got quarter pounders while the little ones got cheeseburgers and we all got fries.

 

[CandyMandy]

My childhood predates the chicken nugget but I do remember the treat of choice when parents were going out and we had a sitter.
Mother would let us pick out a TV Dinner........!

Ah, how that brings me back....those were the days.....

 

[Handbag Lady]

I was born in 1968. I was a picky eater but my parents didn't care to cater to my needs and whims and wants. So, I often just didn't eat. Oh, well. No pandering and no nuggets for me!


I did eat, when I ate:

bean and cheese burrito and NOTHING ELSE
Fried chicken
plain cheeseburger (meat, cheese, bun, thanks!)
grilled cheese

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

My wife tells me that our youngest son is a very picky eater. Apparently he will only eat a few things for her.

He eats whatever I put in front of him without complaint. Well, he complained when he was very small, but hunger (and a few other things) put an end to that.

 

[Colleen27]

Theoretically a chicken nugget is no different. It is just a fun way to serve food.

I made shake n bake chicken for dinner this evening. It was the box seasoning, but I have made it from scratch before. In any case, I made the kids bite size pieces using the same chicken that used for the adult portion.

I don't get why a nugget gets such a bad wrap other than it is associated with fast food.

Not only with fast food but with fried food. Most nuggets are fried rather than baked, often made from the lowest quality/highest fat bits of the chicken, and more often than not served with a deep-fried side as well. I think that's where the bad rap comes from - the fact that most of the time chicken nuggets isn't referring to baked white meat bits that just happen to be breaded.

No, I think they were never allergic in the first place. Several of DD's friends have "food allergies", but when you really talk to the parents about them, they will tell you either the child has never,ever eaten the food or that hey don't like that particular food. Most of them have never had a reaction or allregy testing done. It is just a convinent way to avoid a food the child doesn't care for and get a special meal that the little darling will eat made. No one will object to catering to an allergy.

I agree. I don't mean that to sound dismissive of real allergies, which I'm all too familiar with (my husband has a serious allergy to fish, and with the current Omega 3s fad you'd be surprised how many things have added fish oil). But I've seen first hand parents who will label any degree of food intolerance an allergy without medical testing, and I know at least two kids who have bragged on manipulating that - they just say something upsets their stomach each time it is served, and soon enough their mothers call it an allergy and not only stop serving it but also start making sure they aren't exposed to it elsewhere. One of the boys is a good friend of my son's, and he has a laundry list of allergies, among them broccoli, spinach, brussels sprouts, mushrooms, and onions (all foods kids tend to dislike, none of them common allergens).

Knowing his mother, I know her heart is absolutely in the right place and she's genuinely worried that the stomach upset or scratchy throat her kids complain of will escalate into an anaphylactic reaction if she continues to expose them to an objectionable food, but her kids learned long ago how to play her overprotective tendencies to their advantage in some ways.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Not everyone parented like that. I'm not picky, but thankfully my parents didn't subscribe to that method. I always thought that was ridiculous....I don't eat things I don't like so why would I make my kids eat things they don't like. They know where the fridge is and how to make a PB&J if they don't want what was served. No reason to go to bed hungry, that's just silly.

Agreed, 100%

I don't feel that eating food I like as opposed to food I don't like is pandering.

 

[JLTraveling]

Agreed, 100%

I don't feel that eating food I like as opposed to food I don't like is pandering.

I agree to a point. My parents never forced me to eat things that I genuinely didn't like, but they did make me try things a few times to see if I developed a taste for them. Often I did, on the third or fourth try (spread out over several months). I'm now in my 30s and my "don't like" foods are the same that they've been since I was tiny: pickles, beets, "greens" (collard, mustard, etc.), and asparagus. I think it's fine to have foods you don't like, but the list of "don't like" should be infinitely smaller than the list of "do like." I also think there's a huge gray area of "not my favorite, but something I don't mind now and again."

 

[malibuconlee]

I'm from a small town and we didn't eat out much when I was very little. Pizza Hut and McDonald's. Occasionally A & W.

Other than family vacations that was it and the family vacations started when I was about 7.

Even my 2 year old that is very picky will eat a few things. Pizza, chicken, nuggets or breast, pasta with sauce, but not meat. She likes chicken and pork, but not really turkey and not beef at all.

 

[princesshannahsmom]

My DD will eat mostly ANYTHING you put in front of her (how I raised her). But we did have the chicken nugget conversation one time, when she got in to a spree of ordering chicken nuggets EVERY time we went to a fast food place (we eat fast food once every couple of weeks). I told her, I didn't even know chickens had nuggets. She doesn't eat them anymore!!!

 

[tvguy]

Seriously? You think the peanut allergic kid is making it up because he thinks PB&J is the pits? Hives are willed by intense dislike of eggs? I've got to say that I don't think that young children are sophisticated enough to have anaphylactic reactions. Do you think parents of allergic kids have Munchausen by Proxy?

No, I just wonder why there are so many more allergies.

Well, okay in some adults, I do wonder if some of it is in their head. I work with someone who has an allergy to paint fumes. She had a severe reaction and had to go home sick the day the company had scheduled some painting to be done in a remote area of the building. Problem was, the painting got canceled. And two weeks later, when the painting was finally done, and the boss forgot to warn her, she didn't have an allergic reaction.

I say it all the time that I dont remember any of my friends having food allergies and I was born in the 80s.
But let me assure you, food allergies ARE SERIOUS! And I say it all the time, people don't realize how serious it is until they witness someone go into shock or have a loved one who is allergic and they see how different their lives are.
.

Yes, they are serious.