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slummin' it!


dvs

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My husband introduced me to "Cincinnati chili": spaghetti noodles, topped with canned chili and shreaded cheddar cheese. I have to admit that it's really good.

I also like spray "cheese" on Ritz crackers, but I can't bring myself to buy the stuff anymore. The shame would be too much. Another favorite childhood "appetizer": peanut butter on Saltine crackers, topped with a slice of cheddar cheese.

My grandfather introduced me to this one: liverwurst sandwiches on toasted white bread, smeared with Miracle Whip. My grandmother preferred to eat her Miracle Whip plain on a big piece of iceburg lettuce. It was her "salad." One day after school, I discovered that microwaving leftover plain white rice with a teaspoon of honey makes a satisfying snack/dessert. This was an improvement over my usual dessert at grandma's, which was a small handful of stale chocolate chips.

Wow, I'm grateful that I can drive myself to the grocery store and don't have to eat like that anymore!

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Sometimes for a quick dinner, I do the same, but sneak in the Idaho buds, made with butter and cream.  I figure with all that extra decor on the outside, the insides will just go along for the ride.  (Where DO y'all get those blushing smilies?)

I can see it now. The Idaho Buds, sitting in their little "jackets", saying to themselves, "WOW, I MUST be a baked potato! See all my stuff!"

:biggrin:

Edited by annecros (log)
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Another favorite childhood "appetizer": peanut butter on Saltine crackers, topped with a slice of cheddar cheese.

I never outgrew it.

But I have modified it a bit. As often as not, the crackers will be Ritz, Club, Stoned Wheat Thins or Triscuits.

I also vary the cheese. Sometimes it's Swiss, sometimes Muenster.

The peanut butter is a constant, though.

And it's usually a late-night snack for me.

Sandy Smith, Exile on Oxford Circle, Philadelphia

"95% of success in life is showing up." --Woody Allen

My foodblogs: 1 | 2 | 3

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Hot Dogs, Chili and Rice

My dad cooked this for us as kids, and I still eat it occaisonally. It's great.

The recipe is incredibly complicated.

2 cups cooked rice.

1 can of chili.

2 or 3 boiled hot dogs, sliced into 1/2 inch chunks.

Combine in a pot. Eat.

YUMMY! :biggrin:

Edited by JLam (log)

"Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit." -- Anthony Bourdain

Promote skepticism and critical thinking. www.randi.org

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Boil macaroni, drain and return to pan, stir through half a jar of Kraft Cheese Spread (is this the Australian equivalent of Velveeta? I've never seen Velveeta on the shelves here). Consume until unable to move. That's my childhood, right there. :biggrin:

Dr. Zoidberg: Goose liver? Fish eggs? Where's the goose? Where's the fish?

Elzar: Hey, that's what rich people eat. The garbage parts of the food.

My blog: The second pancake

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I also like spray "cheese" on Ritz crackers, but I can't bring myself to buy the stuff anymore.  The shame would be too much. 

We introduced our DDIL to Bugles and cheese-in-a-can this Christmas---we had teased her about it for quite some time, waxing eloquent on the great charm of a plateful of little horns, each bearing a glump of the red-spotted clotty cheese mixture--always to an averting of the eyes and a pained expression on her sweet face.

DS, her husband, is the cook in their family, and has jokingly referred to the combination as a Redneck Gougere on several occasions, though we had never actually SERVED a plate of it since they've been married.

So, this year, we made them each a "New Year's Kit"---a gift bag holding a big bag of Bugles and the charming little can, all nested into festive tissue. I haven't heard from them this morning yet, and I wonder if they munched on that wonderful old Southern delicacy. My bet is on No.

But she's having a Mary Kay party soon, so perhaps she'll spring a new taste sensation on the ladies. And their dog has quite an adventurous palate.

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My first post! :biggrin:

Lovin' the posts with all of the initially icky, then strangely compelling combo's...

As a poor 20-something, a coworker originally from Memphis introduced me to the wonder of Ro-Tel brand canned tomatoes (diced) with green chilis, microwaved with Velveeta. It was a feature at all of our work get-togethers.

When I was a kid and went to visit great-grandmother with the family, the question was always what kind of yucky food would we have to eat to be polite. It was almost always some kind of dry cookies/cake with tea (leaves floating in the cup, natch)...one day, my sis and I were served the most delicious snack of cooked elbows in some tangy brownish sauce. When asked, great-grandmother proudly showed us the bottle of A-1 sauce!

"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" - Oscar Wilde

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My first post! :biggrin:

Lovin' the posts with all of the initially icky, then strangely compelling combo's...

As a poor 20-something, a coworker originally from Memphis introduced me to the wonder of Ro-Tel brand canned tomatoes (diced) with green chilis, microwaved with Velveeta. It was a feature at all of our work get-togethers.

When I was a kid and went to visit great-grandmother with the family, the question was always what kind of yucky food would we have to eat to be polite. It was almost always some kind of dry cookies/cake with tea (leaves floating in the cup, natch)...one day, my sis and I were served the most delicious snack of cooked elbows in some tangy brownish sauce. When asked, great-grandmother proudly showed us the bottle of A-1 sauce!

Great first post BeeZee! Actually that Ro-Tel/Velveeta concoction is a much more "high class" version of that dish. As I've seen it, it's usually Velveeta and some generic jarred salsa.

Welcome and Happy New Year. :smile:

Inside me there is a thin woman screaming to get out, but I can usually keep the Bitch quiet: with CHOCOLATE!!!

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I didn't think to include this in my last post, but one of the most painful things ever is to crave a slummin' type of food and it just isn't around anymore. For very little money when I was a kid, there was a neighborhood carryout called Mr. T's. You could get all the usual carryout stuff such as burgers and dogs. But what I craved and really crave to this day was their fried chicken wings served with a condiment called Mambo Sauce. These were whole wings BTW, not like today when they split one measly wing and sell it as two pieces! :shock: You could get different amounts of wings of course: 2, 4, 8 or more, with slices of generic white bread, with or without fries, and my beloved Mambo Sauce. I've searched high and low for a recipe for that sauce but can't find one. I guess one of my projects for the new year will be to get into the kitchen and try to come up with my version of that sauce. Of course, being that this is eGullet, there just might be someone out there who knows what I'm talking about. Got a recipe? :smile:

Inside me there is a thin woman screaming to get out, but I can usually keep the Bitch quiet: with CHOCOLATE!!!

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Aside from things mentioned already...

Cook packet of ramen, add chili. Tada!

When really, really broke: slice a potato. Fry in skillet. Have with ketchup or barbecue sauce if available.

Cook up some white rice. Slice an onion (or half of an onion), fry. Add a sprinkle of brown sugar, if you've got it. More if you want something sweetish. If you have soy sauce, add that. Dump on top of rice.

When we had visitations with my father, every Sunday night was the same meal: mac'n'cheese, hot dogs (no bun - sometimes, they got creative and sliced these), and corn. And every week, my mother would complain that we were having two starches for dinner. Ha.

Also pretty ghetto was when they'd freeze/refrigerate McDonald's hamburgers/cheeseburgers to have later... bought on sale.

Oh... and they had canned beef stew that still looked like a can when removed from the can. That was okay, but only the first 500 times. After that, it was scary.

Misa

Sweet Misa

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Well, I used to live in conditions that would most definitely be considered "ghetto" : we had couches in our backyard, in the middle of the kitchen, our doors were never locked because we had nothing worth stealing, our microwave cost us 10 dollars, we had dozens of empty "OE" 40oz malt liquor bottles (as well as literally hundreds of regular empties), at one point we even had a friend brewing us some filthy cheap liquor. Between 3-5 people living there, we had 4 automobiles, only 2 of which worked. Our house was where everyone in the 'hood was always hanging out, I'd come home from work and people I didn't know would be drinking/smoking in our house already, party didn't stop until the sun came up. Police would come over all the time (only 1 person ever got arrested in our house though, usually the police had nothing on us).

Meals consisted of random pasta with hotsauce, hotdogs cooked on a barbeque that was found in an alley (don't ask where we got the propane) with processed cheese, the cheapest buns we could find and ketchup/mustard taken from various fast food outlets. Sometimes we'd have frozen hamburgers with just 'spice' (store bought spice blend) and hot sauce, store-bought perogies straight up boiled and a little butter added to finish (or cheap oil if we couldnt afford butter), and often plain rice with a bit of spice and hotsauce. Canned chili was always good, sometimes we'd add some cheese (if any was available). Chicken was a luxury, usually it was cooked plain (or with 'spice'), and added to plain rice, topped with hotsauce, as was canned tuna (served on plain bread). Peanut butter was another staple, added to plain bread. Once in awhile we'd have some jam too. Later as we got more money, breakfast sausages, bacon and store bought hashbrowns (cooked in the bacon fat) became a favourite hangover feast (still is when we hang out again now that we've left the 'hood).

Sometimes I miss those days (parties with 10-30 people every night of the week), but overall life is much better now. No more getting drunk/high every day (or having the police come over all the time), I've got a developing career in fine dining (I've worked in most of the top restos around here as Chef de Partie), and my meals are alot better these days, example would be roast chicken with a jus made from the carcass, beef ribeye or tenderloin, leg of lamb, with a random starch/vegetable. Occasionally I still slum it, rice soup is a favourite (plain rice with a broth poured over top and a little sambal oelek).

Edited by Mikeb19 (log)
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my versions of slummin' always took on an ethnic personality:

Puerto rican: Rice and vienna sausages with peas and olives (poor man's arroz con gandules)

Italian: elbows with canned tomato sauce, onion powder and canned peas (poor man's pasta fagoli?)

English: beans on toast

Chinese: a very soft fried egg over steaming hot white rice with oyster sauce. If you dont look at it, and stir it up quickly, its actually very rich and yummy :huh:

when I lived as a starving student in Ireland we used to buy a 1 stone bag of potatoes for ₤1 (14lbs for $1.50US) Every single meal had potatoes. Meat-and-2-veg generally consisted of pieces a scrawny chicken and potatoes cooked 2 different ways! When I left Ireland it took me ages to look a potato in the eye .. potato .. eye . get it? :laugh:

Peter: You're a spy

Harry: I'm not a spy, I'm a shepherd

Peter: Ah! You're a shepherd's pie!

- The Goons

live well, laugh often, love much

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My family slum foods (really 50s-style cuisine made in the 70s): Casserole #1: ground beef fried with onions, combined with: canned macaroni and cheese, canned corn, canned kidney beans, and tomato paste; and Casserole #2: ground beef fried with onions, mixed with egg noodles boiled with a beef boullion cube, combined with: canned mushrooms, canned tomato soup, and lots of cream cheese. Sprinkle crushed potato chips on top, dot with butter, and bake.

I occasionally get a taste for #2, but manage to stave it off.

In high school, I often made a pot of rice, then mixed it with a can of tomato soup. It was delicious sludge. Pickle or lettuce sandwiches with mayonnaise on white bread. Cream cheese and green olives on white bread. Macaroni and cheese from a box with link sausages and ketchup.

My own poor student days included vats of thin chicken soup, no-brand boxed macaroni and cheese, no-brand ramen noodles, and no-brand hot dogs. Lots of eggs. Cold ravioli from the can, or with melted munster cheese on top.

Current slummy loves include tortilla chips with cottage cheese and salsa and tomato sandwiches on white bread with velveeta and mayonnaise. And I still like Campbell's Veg Veg and Tomato Bisque soups.

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i saw a lot of mac n cheese, and a lot of tuna, but none together (although it's quite possible i could have skimmed right past it.)

one of my favorite slummin' foods is just a can of tuna (chunk white or light, whatever's in the pantry, but never the good, canned in olive oil stuff) dumped into a prepared pot of velveeta shells n cheese. (full disclosure: i have been known to buy the powdered stuff when i'm running low on cash. which, i suppose, is all the time, but i do prefer the velveeta cheesy stuff.) add a healthy squirt of sriracha, mix, and enjoy in front of the telly.

or: a block of velveeta + a can of rotel and tortilla chips. technically, it's not a meal, but i make one of it often.

lastly, i also enjoy a split link of hormel smoked turkey sausage, smeared with hot mustard, inside a piping hot corn tortilla.

"i dream of cherry pies, candy bars and chocolate chip cookies." -talking heads

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What my boss calls "Tackies" - as in tacky appetizer: Cut a long baguette into 1/3" slices. Mix grated cheddar, cooked crumbled bacon, and diced raw onion. Mix in an egg. Spread on baguette slices and bake until cheese melts. He said he got the recipe from his sister-in-law.

I love cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

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In college, my roommate and I used to come home from Saturday football games, all ready hungover from tailgating that morning, and collapse into bed to "sleep it off." Waking up around 9 p.m., we'd throw together some cooked pasta, frozen peas, a can of tuna, ranch dressing and shredded cheese to fortify ourselves for the second leg of the bender. I'm out of college now, but I still consider this the perfect mix of protein and carbs to have in your belly as a foundation for booze... :rolleyes:

"It is impossible not to love someone who makes toast for you."

-Nigel Slater

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somebody asked for cream of mushroom soup?

one package of frozen hash browns

two cans of cream of mushroom soup

two cups of grated cheese ... cheddar / jack combo is good.

If you have some ham, chop it up and add it in too.

325F for an hour, broiler for 5 min.

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2.  Boil hot dogs.  Make a pocket in each one; cut most of the way through the hot dog, and leave ends intact.  For each, take a Velveeta slice and cut it into strips; stuff strips into hot dog pocket.  Place 1/2 slice bacon over the pocket, secure it to the hot dog with toothpicks, and broil.

No shame in this game. Bacon-wrapped Cheese Dogs (as they were called in my home) are luxurious. Try pancetta!!!!

A huge vat of Rotel dip (for those not in the know, 2 cans of Rotel chiles and diced tomatoes with melted Velveeta) is great comfort for the winter.

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Oh Yes! The Rotel and Velveeta routine. I have to confess that I made that for myself on New Year's Eve. (I never go out on NYE.) It was great! I spent the time schlurping it up on tortilla chips with my champagne while on the phone with friends from around the world. Great time. And it wouldn't have been the same without the "cheese" thing.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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I'm a huge fan of Rotel dip, too. Oh, and tuna casserole made with cream of mushroom.

My boyfriend introduced me to smoked oysters on crackers with hot sauce. Yum. He thinks it's hilarious that I love them so much.

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I'm a huge fan of Rotel dip, too.  Oh, and tuna casserole made with cream of mushroom.

My boyfriend introduced me to smoked oysters on crackers with hot sauce.  Yum.  He thinks it's hilarious that I love them so much.

Oh yes, canned fish/seafood products. Basic formula: crackers (Ritz or Townhouse), cream cheese, canned fish product (smoked oysters or clams, salmon, mackeral, but especially sardines), chopped onions (optional but a nice touch), topped off with the hot sauce of your choice (I prefer Tabasco, Goya, or Sriracha). Rock Creek soda too if you can find it; KoolAid or lawnmower beer if you can't. :rolleyes:

Inside me there is a thin woman screaming to get out, but I can usually keep the Bitch quiet: with CHOCOLATE!!!

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Take a ferry to an island off the Maine coast, hang out with the locals--

Breakfast of (some) lobster fishermen (who shall remain nameless):

Cheez Whiz on white bread, tall plastic glass (or two) of cheap warm vodka.

Whew, that was a strange trip. :wacko:

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