Everyday Systems

I was talking to both sets of grandparents the other weekend. (I am lucky to be 29 and still have everyone! God's grace) and they were saying that restaurant eating use to be an event. People only went out to eat once a month or less. It was a time to get dressed up, a real occasion. Now we eat out all the time. They also said that most people ate three times a day. Much smaller portions than we see in restaurants today. And most food was homemade. None of them snack. My grandparents eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. On Sunday, there is a fancy dinner and the family comes and dessert is served. But only Sunday. No wonder they are all a normal weight. You can learn a lot from the days (and people) of old.

P.S. My grandparents eat NOTHING non or low fat. They said these products didn't exist in their generation. There was just milk, cheese, fruits, veges, bread, rice, meat, etc. There was also a lot less fast food.

While my family ate out quite a bit, it was due to the fact that they were self-employed and worked 12-14 hours a day, usually heading home somewhere between 7 and 9 PM. I (only child) never went home after school, I went to the business. So, we usually ate before going home.

But, you're right. I remember going to a fast-food restaurant (only one in our town) while I was in high school. It was a treat for Saturday afternoons -- not something you did day in and day out and sometimes 2 or more times daily.

You're right about eating 3 meals a day. Eating 24/7 just wasn't done.

Sounds a lot like No-S, doesn't it?

You know, you also didn't hear about people have problems or issues with food. It's a lot like the article from the New York Times that's linked to on the main page; there were unspoken rules and traditions about eating and you just didn't do anything differently -- with rare exceptions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/magaz ... a1&ei=5070

Here's another one from earlier this week by the same author. I've not read it real thoroughly, but a quick overview seems pretty good. I'd like to read his book.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magaz ... nted=print

By the way, you're very lucky to have both sets of grandparents. By the time I was your age, both sets of grandparents AND my parents were gone.

I grew up in the fifties, and restaurants were a special event, and we had to dress up and behave. Not an everyday thing!

My dear Grandma used to cook just regular food: meat, potatoes, vegetables ("for roughage" she would say"), canned fruit, freshly-squeezed orange juice, oatmeal, brewed coffee, Jello salads. It was the best food in the world!

I was a kid in the 50's and 60's too. Another thing people use to do is sit down as a family and have their meals. I always insisted on my kids and spouse sitting down every evening and at least having dinner together. We took our time with our food and ate home cooking. I can't believe the way families eat now, hardly ever at the same time and more like snack and go at home or fast foods out. It's a junk food world for sure. I know that what I cook at home is much healthier than most of the meals I ever ate out.

I know that what I cook at home is much healthier than most of the meals I ever ate out.

Not only that, it tastes better, too!

That's why I always call this the 'grandma diet' because that's how my grandparents ate when I was a kid and my parents too--I grew up in the 50's, 60's, and some of the '70's, and that is exactly it--Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with desert on Sunday.

It's just so sensible and simple.

I love it!

Great topic! I grew up in the 70's and we ate this way too-Breakfast, lunch and supper, with a SMALL snack after school. Dessert was a rare treat and we ate at the same times, everyday-and eating out was a BIG treat. I think about that often and am grateful my parents brought us up that way. I never had a weight problem before I moved away from home and got a job where I could eat on every break and have frozen yogurt every day, not to mention all the eating out in general.

On weekends we'd usually have homemade popcorn and split 2 twelve ounce sodas between the three of us kids... boy would we watch the one doing the splitting closely

I'm reading a book now called Mindless Eating (really interesting!). One thing I found interesting was that apparently dinner plates used to be much smaller, like about 8" in diameter instead of the much larger "regular" plates we see now. They said people will fall in love with an antique plate design and ask if they have the regular dinner plate size to go with the "salad" plate they love so much. Turns out those ARE the dinner plates No wonder people are eating so much more now! I highly recommend this book, it gives lots of insights into why we find ourselves wanting to eat so much and so frequently nowadays.


Hilary

One thing I found interesting was that apparently dinner plates used to be much smaller, like about 8" in diameter instead of the much larger "regular" plates we see now.

I remember the dishes that my mom had when I was growing up in the 50s-60s. While the dinner plates were smaller than those I have now (10"-10 1/2"), they weren't as small as 8". They were 9"-9 1/2". Her "good" china had dinner plates that were about 10". These were the only sets of dinnerware she ever had and were probably bought in the late 1930s when she and my dad married.