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[dahliagirl]

My mother was a child during the war and did not have many sweets.  Our sweets were fairly restricted - we were always skint for one reason    But with the grandchildren, she had a thing about buying them sweets  - there are sweets everywhere these days and I was trying not to over do them, but she just had this thing about granny buying sweets and making a fuss about them.  I used to bin some of them    Anyway, I found a bag of fizzy shoelaces and other stuff in the cupboard after she died.  I think the effect of the war and austerity, then the eventual return of plenty and all the new ways did muddle people's attitudes to food.

Attitudes have changed. I found so many children being given crisps to tide them over until tea time, and fizzy drinks when they were thirsty.  I always thought these were treat foods for a special occasion.  Gave mine bananas and water    Mean parent.

[Pennyfarthing]

I took my Mum shopping on Sat and her trolley is full of sweet stuff!  4 iced doughnuts, bag of mini milky ways, large cherry pie, Creamy yoghourts, lemon sponge cake with lemon icing, large bar of galaxy, raspberry Swiss roll, packet of 4 sultana scones ..... It will all be gone by next Sat. 

She's always had a sweet tooth but she would tell you otherwise however at 91 I tell her to have what she fancies and she does.

I may have told this story on here before but not so long ago a young man in his twenties was beside us at the till and he looked at her basket of sweeties etc and said "oh you're going for the healthy option are you?" Her face was a picture and she gave him this withering look and spent the journey home telling me how she "rations it out." Which is the biggest lie I ever heard!!

Jamie Oliver would have his work cut out with her I tell you. 

[CLKD]

  …… R they things your Mum would have cooked years ago though ?

[SadLynda]

Only time my parents eat anything 'proper' is when I do it.  Instant microwave foods are an easy option for them, they even eat pizza as its 'easy'.

My daughter and SIL eat the same way - as its 'easier'.

I always cooked meals for mine, though basic they were still home cooked. Daughter was rationed too as she had the same gene as her Father and would easily put weight on, though her Father and mine would stuff her full of sweets, chocolates and biscuits as I was the 'mean' one.  Once she reached 18 she did what she wanted and as a result is now very overweight.  Such as shame as her prom dress was a size 14 and she looked great then.

I am also a firm believer that the change in diet is one of the things responsible for my generation having so many health issues and joint problems, just my opinion though.

[Pennyfarthing]

…… R they things your Mum would have cooked years ago though ?

Well as I'm sure you know there wasn't the variety of stuff around when she was a young woman and she wouldn't have been able to afford it anyway. There was no money left over in our house for luxuries like sweets although I do recall my Dad making trays of toffee on a Sunday afternoon. 

She doesn't cook much now. She goes out to a luncheon club two days a week and gets proper food at mine most weekends.  She does still have a day when she makes cottage pies or homemade soup and freezes them so that keeps her going for a while.  We have discovered that both Aldi and Lidl do steam meals for about £1.40 and she reckons they're lovely.  She gets salmon in dill with potatoes and veg, haddock in sauce with veg and this week tried chicken pieces with bacon, potatoes and leeks. 
 
And she still has room for all her sweet treats!! 

[Ju Ju]

Rationing and poverty certainly took it's toll. I was a skinny little soul, who didn't need huge amounts to eat, but was 'naughty' when I couldn't all my dinner. I remember sitting looking at the over large portion after everyone else had gone or having it served up cold for the next meal. Mum says has said since, with better understanding, that she should have trusted me to know when I was full up. She grew up when food was short and there wasn't the information out there, just what you learnt from your own parents and friends.

I did crave sweet things as I got older, but I was rationed sweetie money, tuppence on Wednesday and sixpence on Saturdays. My parents were aware sugar was not healthy.

Mum cooked from scratch. There was no other option with a limited budget. I believe the biggest problem today is in the hidden ingredients in processed food, which is easier to prepare after working hard and often cheaper. And sugar can makes things taste better and is addictive.

[honeybun]

I really do think it's to do with the way you were brought up and what you ate as a child....and if you could be bothered doing the same with your own kids.
Having trained and worked as a chef I never did get on with ready meals. As a newly wed we were very hard up as mortgage rates went through the roof. I remember having £12 a week to spend on food and we ate ok on that......ok it wasn't easy but with the aid of a pressure cooker we ate cheaply but healthily..
My kids can both cook, and don't do many ready meals...they just don't like them.

I never gave out many sweets, I didn't like having hyper active kids. I always made packed lunches.
I was the daft new mum who never bought baby food but made my own.

It's how we were taught and how we teach our children.
 I also think JO should s* d off to be honest.
I really don't need him to tell me how to eat.


Honeybun
X

[CLKD]

You don't Honeybun but younger Mums need a push towards the veg. markets and kitchen  ……..

Also if they kept to a weekly rota of meals in Term Time it would make shopping easier …… and also learnt to 'use up' rather than throw out left-overs 

[honeybun]

I do feel for them though.
I was lucky, I gave up work just before my son was born and never returned for years and years. I had the luxury of doing what I wanted.
But....and it's a huge but....young mums generally have to work. And after a full day the last thing they will feel like doing is cooking completely from scratch even if the did have time.
It's a case of in from work....the best you can do in the way of food for the kids.....homework, bath and bed..,,.then a collapsing knackered woman.
And do they want to spend the weekend cooking and freezing healthy home cooked stuff....nope that's when the washing and ironing gets done.

Not so easy.....so in comes ready meals.....and I don't blame them at all.

I was one of the lucky ones.


Honeybun
X

[CLKD]

I know in some places Home Cooking Courses are being held in Schools so that Mums and kids can cook together.  They then eat before going home.  As children grow up maybe cooking in the holidays - enough to freeze - should be encouraged.  Certainly that's what my neighbours do - at least twice a week the elder cooks the evening meal and at weekends the 11 year old does the Sunday lunch.  My other neighbour who moved away does the same, both her youngsters like cooking and take over the kitchen in the holidays.

But we live rural so maybe it's easier to be encouraged to buy fresh 

[honeybun]

But young kids are in childcare. So when they all get in just before six what do they do then.

In an ideal world mum is at the cooker with apron on and wooden spoon in hand. In the real world it doesn't happen and a pizza gets bunged in the oven.
Better than going hungry.....just ad long as a packet of sweets doesn't replace a meal of sorts.

Honeybun
X

[Dorothy]

I took my Mum shopping on Sat and her trolley is full of sweet stuff!  4 iced doughnuts, bag of mini milky ways, large cherry pie, Creamy yoghourts, lemon sponge cake with lemon icing, large bar of galaxy, raspberry Swiss roll, packet of 4 sultana scones ..... It will all be gone by next Sat. 

This made me laugh so much!  Your mum & mine must be twins - mine loads her trolley with cakes, biscuits, chocolate and ice cream.  The funny thing is that it is all 'in case visitors come' (although World War 3 breaks out if anyone dares knock on the door as she hates having 'strange people' in the house, so I have no idea who these 'visitors' will be) or 'just in case you feel like some dear' (in spite of the fact that I never touch the stuff).  She insists she isn't buying any of it is for herself, she 'doesn't really want all that sweet stuff, we just ought to have it in the house for other people'.  But when the 'other people' don't appear, she 'has' to eat it up before the next week's shopping trip 'in case it goes off'.  Even though the Best Before dates are months away... 

[Ju Ju]

I was in the situation described by honeybun. Working ( as a teacher, with a work load at home too) 2 children, one of which needed support because of learning difficulties, husband who didn't cook or help much (then) and living through continuous exhaustion. I fell back to using quick processed foods for meals. Rubbish food.

So it's not so much how you were brought up, but how you choose to respond to it. My daughter puts me to shame and is a brilliant cook, with a very limited budget.

[Pennyfarthing]

I took my Mum shopping on Sat and her trolley is full of sweet stuff!  4 iced doughnuts, bag of mini milky ways, large cherry pie, Creamy yoghourts, lemon sponge cake with lemon icing, large bar of galaxy, raspberry Swiss roll, packet of 4 sultana scones ..... It will all be gone by next Sat. 

This made me laugh so much!  Your mum & mine must be twins - mine loads her trolley with cakes, biscuits, chocolate and ice cream.  The funny thing is that it is all 'in case visitors come' (although World War 3 breaks out if anyone dares knock on the door as she hates having 'strange people' in the house, so I have no idea who these 'visitors' will be) or 'just in case you feel like some dear' (in spite of the fact that I never touch the stuff).  She insists she isn't buying any of it is for herself, she 'doesn't really want all that sweet stuff, we just ought to have it in the house for other people'.  But when the 'other people' don't appear, she 'has' to eat it up before the next week's shopping trip 'in case it goes off'.  Even though the Best Before dates are months away... 

OMG and I thought mine was a one off.

In fairness to her it's only in recent years that she has had the money to treat herself to sweet stuff. As I said, we grew up on a very limited budget and she trained in cookery at Technical College.  She is a really good cook and could make a meal out  of anything although she has no need to these days.

dad grew all his own veggies so we ate really healthily.   She used to make lots of stews, cottage pies, homemade soups, fish pies as well as apple pies, sponges etc.  When we were kids there wasn't much in the way of convenience foods so most people cooked this way.  I think ready meals like Vesta boil in the bag meals didn't come in until I was about 16 and anyway there was no way she could have afforded to buy those for all the family.

One day last year she was staying at mine and by tea time was complaining of stomach ache.  Of course that was my fault as I'd cooked the lunch!  I pointed out that we had all eaten the same and we were fine and it was most probably the FOUR doughnuts she had eaten that day!!   

Honestly I could write a book about her!

[Dorothy]

They MUST be twins!  I cook dinner, we both eat the same, but Mum follows with a huge bowl of icecream and 2 mars bars...and then says my cooking makes her ill because she feels so sick