This thread is making me hungry, after reading what everyone else wrote.
I love onion dip and chips, onion dip made from sour cream and Lipton soup mix, like @janbb. I have some dip in the refrig right now, and a bag of chips which I am trying not to open because then I’ll have a bit every night until it’s finished. Sometimes, to offset the “badness,” I’ll have baby carrots with onion dip.
My grandmother used to make jello salad which had canned fruit in it. It’s a very retro thing.
My grandfather used to occasionally eat Dinty Moore beef stew. I didn’t like it.
My mom made meatloaf, but didn’t add any soup mix or anything like that as far as I know. If I know her attitude toward things, she would say that adds unnecessary salt. Her meatloaf was good. It was mild flavored. No gravy. I’d use ketchup.
My mom also made tuna casserole. Some people think it’s gross. I liked it. I made it once or twice but my daughter doesn’t like things like that so I tend not to make them because it’s too much food for me to eat on my own, and after about three days of the same leftovers I’m done, no matter what the food or how good it is, I tend to throw it out.
Also mentioned on this thread are sloppy joe’s. I love them but it’s not something I’d make at home because my daughter doesn’t like them. If I did make them, I’d probably add onions and peppers because I like texture, even though it’s not part of the recipe.
Also mentioned was cheese fondue. Has anybody ever been to a party with a chocolate fountain? It’s kind of the same concept as cheese fondue. So good. The party I went to that had it had marshmallows and fruit and pretzels. Soo good and memorable.
One retro food that was not mentioned here is blintzes. My mom used to make me blintzes in the mornings. I buy them occasionally. Blueberry or apple. I don’t have them wtih sour cream, I just eat them plain. I think she would saute them in a pan. I bake them in the oven. They’re kind of like egg rolls except apple or blueberry.
Another thing she used to make was “French Jelly pancakes” which I believe was a recipe she got from the NY Times. My mom used to get a lot of recipes from the NY Times and she’d be willing to try new things. French Jelly pancakes were basically thin pancakes like a crepe. They had egg whites but not yolks. They’d be eaten with jelly instead of syrup.
When I was little, another meal I would request and I’m sure my mother didn’t mind, would be TV dinners. Also frozen chicken pot pies. Retro and used to be popular…..