I remember the spaghetti . The sheet cake with the pink icing . And of course the rolls .

Late 60's junior high (now "middle school") cafeteria served an item called a Golf Ball. Not sure how it got the name since it was slightly larger than a baseball and smaller than a softball. Essentially a meatball with a greasy-ass tomato gravy. Replete with a side of canned vegetables boiled to mush. I loved 'em. Others not so much. At least once a week a golf ball would be seen rolling across the cafeteria floor to the consternation of the cafeteria monitors.

In grade school… for some unknown reason, perhaps as a warning… the principal, every morning, would announce the days menu over the intercom.


I do remember the milk in those little red wax cardboard containers that you had to get lucky to open correctly!

That milk was strangely good… I didn’t know it till I started school, but you could get milk ALREADY mixed up… you see, I was raised on powdered milk… yuck!

The really ironic thing about that is, my dad and granddad in my early days were dairy farmers

Attended parochial school for elementary classes. Those church ladies could cook. Tater tot hot dish, hamburger gravy over mashed potatoes, Maid-Rite sandwiches, lasagna casserole, German sausages with potato salad and any number of side dishes. I didn't appreciate at the time how good I was eating. This was in the sixties a time of plenty.

The pizza in our lunchroom always had granules of something like cornmeal on the bottom of the crust. And I don't remember it being equipped with meat of any kind. Just cheese and a very bland tomato sauce.

Most of elementary school I ate lunch that was brought from home. (mostly PB&J and Strawberry Quick in my little lunchbox thermos. Just the smell of it now sort of makes me physically and emotionally sick. School was bad for me in ways I never realized till I was older and things like that would make it all hit me.)

As I said I brought lunch from home. It was at home that I ate cafeteria food. '74-'75ish my maternal grandfather died and my grandmother went to work for a few years as a lunch lady in a Jr. High. She brought lots of food home and we ate lots of it. I can still taste the day old cheeseburgers, english muffin pizzas, chocolate milk just about to, and often spoiled. Years later when my sisters got married, her husband worked in an elementary school and would bring a lot of food home. I'd tease her about "affording her kids all the nutritional benefits she was given as a child."

My father's parents lived across the street from a grocery store. That grandfather would bring us all the dented thrown away canned goods, out of date dry goods, bread, chips, cakes and what have you. It's one of those things where you look back and realize "Despite never wanting for anything as a child, we were a lot more poor than I realized."

quote:

Originally posted by cas:
...english muffin pizzas,

Now that brings back some memories. One of mom's gourmet meals.

quote:

Originally posted by drill sgt:
Early 1960"s in jr. high school my favorite was the friday "fish sticks". .............................. drill sgt.

I wouldn't say they were my favorite but we were in an area with lots of Catholics and Friday was also fish sticks, every week.
Also in the '60's elementary school days.

Pasta was cheep and the school got government cheese I'm sure, so we had Mac and Cheese twice a week. That was 58 years ago, and I still can not eat Mac and Cheese to this day.
Rod

A sandwich, fruit and a box-drink was my lunch for about 9-straight years. Occasionally some cut-up carrots, apples or, a cookie would find its was in there; sandwiches were basic deli meat, when times were tougher I sometime got a split hot-dog or, just cheese sandwich. I came of age as smaller bags of chip, cookies and dessert snacks hit the market, so my friends had all sorts of stuff in their bags that they'd sometimes share. First time I ever ate Doritos, Ho-Ho's, Twinkies, and Funonions was from a generous friend.

Getting to high school it was more of the same however as I earned money, I could take advantage of the open-campus policy and buy lunch instead at a deli, taqueria or, market in the surrounding neighborhood.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by cas:
...english muffin pizzas,

Now that brings back some memories.

This and creamed chipped beef on toast.

First couple of years in parochial school the food was horrid. SOS served with lima beans still gives me nightmares. Eat it all or face the anger of Sister Mary Alice. In public school I was fond of the rectangular pizza, pigs in a blanket, enchiladas, and meat loaf. Fish sticks were tolerated.

Back in the 50's when I went to grade school we all walked home for lunch. there were a few kids that stayed at school for lunch. On the rare occasions that I ate at school it was Tuna sandwich,egg salad sandwich,roast beef sandwich. Usually I enjoyed one of these when we went on a field trip.
In JHS we stayed at school to eat. I remember chicken and tuna casserole. A cup of ice cream was the meal highlight. In HS nothing stands out in my mind except the cup of chocolate ice cream.

I remember in 7th grade we started seeing a few choices, maybe two, at lunch. Fries appeared along with a pretty unpleasant 'hamburger'. Then there was this small, baked (or maybe deep fried?) 'burrito'. It was pretty small, like a large egg roll size, with a smattering of a kind of meat sauce that was like a really loose, bland chili that wasn't simmered at all, and so was very liquid.

Those actually weren't too bad.

quote:

Originally posted by 83v45magna:
Fries appeared along with a pretty unpleasant 'hamburger'.

Oh yeah. I remember when my school district debuted "hamburgers", which turned out to be (purportedly) soy bean patties, which were soggy and completely lacked any flavor. Not popular at all.

Yes! The one we hated:

"Beanie-Weinie."

'Nuff said.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by cas:
...english muffin pizzas,

Now that brings back some memories. One of mom's gourmet meals.

And pizza bagels.

Aside from the pizza, which Para already posted....and I'm going to try that recipe!! We had a thing called Western Burgers. Not burgers per se, but like a dough pouch filled with seasoned meat. They were my favorite school lunch. Ate em with mustard, and would eat 3-4 of them in high school. Sooooo good!

Western Burgers

From scratch chicken pot pie (baked in the big steam table trays) was really good.

I was talking to my brother today about this topic and he reminded me of high school. The one year I went to DODS (Department of Defense Schools) in Germany in the 70's, we used to go across the street to the imbiss and have currywurst and pommes (fries), half liter beer, and a shot of appelkorn. Seem to remember it being less than 5 marks. Really sucked coming back stateside and not being legal to drink.