When Ryan and I were still a relatively new couple, I wanted to surprise him with his favorite home cooked meal one evening. When I asked him about his favorite childhood dinner, he rattled off the following foods:
- Ham steak
- Peas
- Ramen noodles (with the broth drained, tossed in butter <— He was very specific about this!)
- Fresh strawberries
Easy to please!
Ryan still raves about ham steak and threw one in our cart at the grocery store earlier this week. Last night I cooked it in a skillet with a super-simple glaze of Dijon mustard and brown sugar.
We enjoyed the ham with with roasted cauliflower and broccoli and a sweet potato topped with a bit of butter.
After a friend highly recommended Kerrygold pure Irish butter, I finally bought some last week and must say it is pretty darn fabulous. Just a little bit of the unsalted butter on top of my sweet potato added so much flavor!
Once we were done eating dinner, we took Sadie on a walk around the neighborhood before we parked our butts on the couch and spent some time reading through all of the awesome travel recommendations you guys left on my morning blog post yesterday.
I love that so many of you encouraged us to enjoy a less-structured vacation in Ireland, since that’s what we really hope to do. Though I’m usually a big-time planner, renting a car and exploring sounds absolutely fabulous!
Question of the Morning
- What was your favorite dinner as a child?
I have a few favorites but spaghetti and corned beef and cabbage top my list!
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My favorite meal as a child was hamburgers & macaroni & cheese. Who didn’t love some mac & cheese??
My favorite childhood dinner was most definitely mac & cheese with ham on the side and cooked frozen peas. I still love these foods now, minus the ham since I am a vegetarian! 😉
DITTO!
Although mom did not make mac & cheese often … it was delicious w/salmon patties and lettuce salad + green goddess dressing! The carb sub could often be veggie baked beans also. We never-ever had pork of any kind in our home. I would often visit the homes of gal-pals that did. Never cared for the aroma of piggie. One friend, her mom would make smoked butt sandwiches on toast w/mayo!?!? Yucko. No way for my tummy! Haaa.
Smoke butt sandwiches on toast with mayo?? Um…no thank you!! 😉
Definitely spaghetti. I think I requested it, or made it myself, almost every other day in high school. Hey, I had to carb load for soccer practice!
pigs in a blanket! My hubs loved steakums–gross!!! Have you ever cooked those? I have never seen so much grease. Im real sure pigs and a blanket weren’t too great for you either though. I also loved mac and cheese. Now, I think both hubs and I would say PIZZA!! e
BBQ ribs… hasn’t changed! Corned beef and cabbage is up there, too.
My mom’s chicken parm! It’s still my favorite thing in the world. Also yay to grassfed butter!
Total yummers!!
My moms mashed potatoes!
My favorite childhood dinner that my mom made was definitely corn beef and cabbage, I used to request it for my birthday dinners. My mom always thought that was weird for a kid to want it for a special meal. Favorite meal my dad made was Mac’ n cheese with spam and pineapple! Sounds gross but my dad will still make this for my kids when we visit and they love it!
I like how you made a healthy version of Ryan’s favorite childhood meal! My favorite meal when I was little was parmesan couscous. Oddly enough, I’m American but I loved the stuff!
Probably side salad with chicken in a sauce over noodles OR spaghetti!
I always loved spaghetti, corned beef and pot roast!! Missing my mom’s cooking today!
What a fun question!
Growing up we were lucky to eat homemade meals most nights. Whenever out parents went out we would get to eat tv dinners and called them babysitter meals haha! It’s funny how much we just adored that icky food!
my mom would make “gravy bread” with TV dinners! ohhh man.
I loved homemade macaroni and cheese! Gotta love Velveeta… there’s nothing better than crazy processed cheese product, right? 😉
As a child, my favorite dinner was my mom’s little pizzas! Super easy.. english muffin, tomato paste, mozzarella cheese, and any toppings 🙂
I loved breakfast for dinner! My dad would make me eggs in a basket. I’ve perfected the perfect circle in the middle of the toast and make it for my husband now.
Either my stepmom’s lasagna or my mom’s tacos. Still love both dishes to this day, which is why I request them from my wife on an almost weekly basis and campaign to go out to dinner at places that serve either dish! (Of course, Mexican lasagna is the best because it combines both of them)
My favorite was my mom’s chicken parm and spaghetti or my grammies spaghetti and meatballs! You’d never guess I was a good little Irish girl with those choices! haha
My favorite meal was my dads lasagna, and it still is!
Try coconut oil on your sweet potato, it will change your life!
Mine was Swiss Steak! It’s round steak in a sauce made of ketchup. Of course. Because every kids loves ketchup!
Aww that is so cute! My boyfriend’s favorites are really similar! Steak, green beans, baked potatoes and he really loves fresh raspberries. And French toast. Can you tell he’s from the Midwest?
Ha, when I was a toddler, spaghetti and bananas were apparently among my favorite foods! But as far as I can remember, I really loved this cheesy chicken casserole dish my mom used to make, and burritos, burgers and homemade pizza were also really good nights…but if I had to pick a favorite, probably the teriyaki salmon my dad makes! Restaurants can’t beat it.
I am loving your workouts, btw. I tried one of your arm circuits and I am so sore, but it wasn’t too bad and didn’t make me hate weight lifting like I normally do! So thanks 🙂
so glad you liked the workout, erika!
Roast beef with horseradish sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy and lots of vegetables out of my Dad’s garden. YUM!
Julie, def check out the Powerscourt estate and gardens in Wicklow, Ireland. It’s maybe an hour or 90 minutes outside Dublin? First, there’s a gorgeous palace-type building with an awesome mostly natural and organic restaurant inside and some adorable shops. Outside, there are beautiful flower gardens and fountains and walking trails. Here’s the website: http://www.powerscourt.ie/gardens I also thought Windsor Castle (an hour outside of London) and The Tower of London were among the most impressive sights in England when I lived there.
Corned beef and cabbage?? How funny! I remember my mom making this and the house smelling HORRIBLE. SO bad, I’d use it as an excuse to go to my friends house where her parents hated it. Will you have it on St. Paddy’s Day? I might have a slice (so long as it’s cooked nowhere near me). It’s one of those things for me…like walking into Subway and then smelling like a hot sub sandwich all day! LOL
My mom’s meatloaf and english muffin pizzas. They were a regular meal for us–my mom would put out toppings (sausage, olives, mushrooms, etc) and we’d get to make our own.
Hmmm probably my mom’s pasta salad! It was cold and she made it with fusilli pasta, a pesto sauce, and then chopped red peppers, pastrami, cucumber, black olives and scallions. I still love it!
Spaghetti was always my favorite, bow tie pasta (at the time, I ate it with chicken), and anything with mashed potatoes were a winner in my book! I also used to LOVE corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day
My favorite meal when I was little was Hamloaf with Au Graten Potatoes. I always requested it for my birthday!
My all time fave childhood dinner was dads corned beef with broccoli and mash potato with heeeaaapppsss of cheesy white sauce! Best!
I am with you on the the corned beef! I used to request it as my first meal when I returned home from summer camp.
“Green Spaghetti” from the green Kraft box 🙂 or noodles with butter and parmesan mmmmmmmmmm 🙂
Noodles with butter and Parmesan was my staple in college!
that was my typical “come home from the bars” fourth meal. 😀
I forgot to comment yesterday, but no matter what you do in Ireland, you absolutely mus go see the Cliffs of Moher. Just the drive there, though the hills and crazy switchback roads, is an adventure! It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever been in my life, and it is so special.
Also, stay in the B&B’s while you’re there, not the hotels. They’re so friendly, it’s like staying with family you never knew 🙂
Have fun! Ireland is awesome!
This is so funny- I was literally just thinking about this a few minutes ago! My favorite childhood meal was this beef casserole type dish called “Talerine.” Think cheddar cheese, ketchup, noodles, ground beef, corn… it sounds and looks disgusting but is actually quite tasty!
I was a huge ham steak fan too – my mom would heat/glaze the ham steak then finish it off by cooking pineapple rings in the same skillet and putting them on top. SO good! I also loved the nights she got all chef-y with her pasta maker and made homemade fettuccine carbonara.
Spaghetti Bolognese or Savoury mince served up with a slice of bread and glass of milk!
I love Kerrygold. I just tried it for the first time a few weeks ago and it tastes so good!
Kraft Macaroni and Cheese was definitely a win with me. My parents were young when they had me, so my mom was creative with low-budget meals, and I remember her making Kraft mac n’ cheese and adding canned tuna and peas to the mix. It sounds odd (my husband turns his nose up when I suggest it), but it really is great!
My favorite as I remember was hot sandwiches with a lot of cheese (passion for that from so long) and the dinner at grandmothers house like sweet milk noodle (made by my grandmother) soup.
I have one more recipe on my blog. I think u can try to surprise your boy in the morning with this one – easy to make. http://monikasrdl.blogspot.com.es/
I loved and still love mashed potatoes, roast beef, gravy and a yummy salad. My mom makes the best gravy!
Hmmm… I think my favourite meal as a child was definitely tortellini with red sauce. I know that’s so boring, but I honestly went nuts for it. Taco night or burger-grilling night would be a close second. (Ha, my family sounds so unhealthy. We really weren’t, I swear!)
I’m Mexican so my favorite childhood meals are very different from others. I loved Mexican rice with beans, albondigas soup (meatball soup), but my absolute FAVORITE is my moms chicken molé. It’s a chocolately, spicy, peanut buttery savory chicken dish. It’s AMAZING!!! I’m so lucky to know how to make all of these and make it for my kids. They already love the first 2.
My childhood favorites were spaghetti; cooked cabbage with ham, carrots and potatoes and meatloaf with mashed potatoes! (I still enjoy ‘me all)
I can’t believe the stuff I used to eat! It’s crazy to think I just ate whatever I wanted without a care…
I still think that nothing beats the homemade butter…. We have stopped buying any store bought butter ever since we discovered how much better tasting and healthier it is when made fresh from heavy cream at home. Over baked potato and sweet potato it’s even more heavenly.
My favorite childhood dinner was white bread covered with a lot of home made cream and sprinkled with sugar all over it. Toasted in a sandwich maker or most of the time I used to eat it as it is.
Tuna noodle casserole!
mac & cheese all the way!
ramen noodles w/butter?
i’m intrigued.
have you ever thought about joining a running club?
http://www.runningathousandmiles.com/2013/03/running-clubs.html
Hi. Renting a car and exploring is the only to visit Ireland. There are so many hidden gems. Hopefully the Ring of Kerry is on your list with stops in Sneem & Kenmare. Try to visit the Avoca Cafe & Shop along the Ring if you can – great food, great gift shop and a beautiful view.
I loved ham and Mac and cheese ss a kid too and Heavenly Hamburger!
My mom used to make cottage cheese and noodles. Oh my how I loved it. I’ve tried to make it but it just doesn’t taste as good 🙁