1980s Food

Nacho cheese flavored Tostitos were my favorite snack. Wish they would bring them back. I also miss Twigs.

Nacho-Nacho Man, I wanna be a Nacho-Man!

I'm still bitter about the death of Frusen Gladje, which was superior to Haagen Dazs in every single way.

One thing that I find hilarious about the difference between food back then and today is that there were very few flavors. Back in the day, it was just a small handful of flavors for everything. For example, with chips, you had the choice of plain, ranch, salt and vinegar or BBQ. That was it. There was none of this other crazy stuff (buffalo, pizza, sriracha, ketchup, etc.). Same with ice cream. It was chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, chocolate chip, mint chocolate chip, rocky road, rum raisin and pistachio. No crazy ass birthday cake, cheesecake, brownie, turtle tracks, etc.). Oreo was Oreo. There wasn't anything like red velvet Oreos, caramel, birthday cake, etc.

General Mills (not Carnation) Breakfast Squares, a cake-like Frankenfood with boosted nutrition. There's a few broken hearts, years later.

right r3, back then there was one kind of Wheat Thins, Triscuits, Fig Newtons, etc.

Nouvelle Cuisine hit the Midwest

"1980s Food" ??

Damn. Missed out. At the time I was living on canned Albacore tuna, Olive Oil, and menthol lights at the time - by choice.

"Grumpy Old Men Alert" at R3 and R5!

80s fraus must have wept when they stopped making Whitney's yogurt.

WEHT endive, anyway? It was everywhere!

I was thinking about alfalfa sprouts today and how you don’t see them anymore because of the salmonella scares. I used to buy them in a carton to put on sandwiches and salad. I don’t miss them at all.

Starfruit is toxic, and should only be used as a garnish. They really don't taste great, but they are pretty sliced on a salad.

Kiwis might be less available because they are so popular overseas and are exported.

Starfish food ?

I read in a magazine that Adam Ant loved cappuccino. I sought it out and thought I had found it. Of course I made my mother buy it.

Yes, R13, starfish. That's what we used to say in the '80s, instead of 'present hole.'

i also miss the nacho cheese tostitos, i see they have a salsa version out right now. They didn't look good.

i begged my mom for the Ice Cream Cones cereal, i eventually got them, and they didn't taste like ice cream cones

Perrier was huge, then disappeared, but now I’ve noticed it’s very recently been repackaged and is making a comeback.

these were so good, the nacho cheese ones were my favorite.

32 years later i still remember this ad

Sundried tomatoes in fucking everything.

Silver Palate cookbook.

Pesto.

You're disgusting r15. Let's be friends!

R19 omg that commercial literally was my childhood. But I still don’t understand why it was NESTLE-S? Where is the “s” in Nestlé?

And so true r20.

[quote]But I still don’t understand why it was NESTLE-S? Where is the “s” in Nestlé?

The jingle has gone "N-E-S-T-L-E-S...Nestle's makes the very best" since Danny O'Day and Farfel sang the praises of Quik in the 1950s.

OMG! Chicken Marbella, the height of culinary sophistication in 1980s. Capers - how exotic!

Koogle

Remember when plain cottage cheese was a huge diet fad in the 1970s and 80s? I cannot believe people were able to stomach more than a spoonful of the stuff. Celery sticks with some dip was another diet fad.

Speaking of which, do people even do dips anymore? I don't think so, because now chips come in every flavor under the sun. But back then, dips (particularly French onion) were all the rage because of how few flavors there were at the time.

Yogurt. Yougurt. Yogurt.

[quote]Yogurt. Yougurt. Yogurt.

Especially Dannon "fruit on the bottom".

And yogurt ice cream, which never took off.

R28 yogurt ice cream? Do you mean frozen yogurt? Which not only “took off” but is still quite popular today.

When guacamole first showed up nobody wanted to eat it cuz it would kill you. Glad that’s over. I always liked it. That was before lettuce had salmonella. At home pizza came in a box and everybody just put hamburger on it. We’ve come a long way since then. At home Chinese was la choy out of a can too. Nasty shit.

R28 UES and frozen yogurt like Columbo Co “yum” bo. The original was 40 Carrots which of course is still there.

Then came TCBY which was my favorite - there are still a couple in the South I think but it is missed.

[quote]When guacamole first showed up nobody wanted to eat it cuz it would kill you.

What??? Where did you live?

R31 here sorry meant yes NOT UES. And Idk what they are talking about with the guac either.

R10. Hanging out w arugula and radicchio

Kiwi are absolutely everywhere, OP.

It's like the Hunger Games - OP is in the wrong district, has no food lol.

I remember a potluck dinner in 1988 where four of the ten guests brought pasta salad. My first exposure to it, by the way.

Milk Way Milkshakes. They came in a cup in the freezer section. Vanilla ice cream swirled with caramel and chocolate. You put them in the microwave to soften them up a little bit. They weren't around long, but damn they were good.

Short-lived treat Spoon Candy of the 70s was replaced in our pantry by Magic Shell!

RIP

Everyone bought a wok because of Martin Yan’s Yan Can Cook.

Kiwi have never gone out of favour even though Delia Wheelwright had the nerve to proclaim them lower-middle class.

Chinese Chicken Salad

I remember when Old El Paso started selling hard taco shells in my area and we had tacos at home for the first time. Our neighbors came and watched us eat the first one, laughing. They didn’t eat with us, just left after watching us eat these weird, new tacos.

[quote][R28] yogurt ice cream? Do you mean frozen yogurt? Which not only “took off” but is still quite popular today.

I'm sorry. I meant that. I forgot what it was called; that's how long ago this was.

And yes, it's still popular but never took off the way it was supposed to. Frozen yogurt was hyped as The Next Best Thing that was going to completely kill regular ice cream because it was so much healthier. But then the hype kind of petered out and now it's just another frozen treat alternative. But it didn't become the "ice cream killer" that everyone said it would be.

Spa cuisine

What kind of tacos had you been eating

Serious question: what did starfish taste like?

[Quote] And yes, it's still popular but never took off the way it was supposed to. Frozen yogurt was hyped as The Next Best Thing that was going to completely kill regular ice cream because it was so much healthier.

I believe the term is FroYo.

My millenifriend calls it froyo, and he expected me to know what he meant the first time he said it. He thought it was ever so trendy, and was shocked to learn I’d first eaten it in 1977.

[quote] Yogurt. Yogurt. Yogurt.

Yogurt is still popular. It’s just imperative that you market it as “Greek yogurt.”

R46, we hadn’t. Tacos were unheard of in our part of the South and Tex-mex restaurants hadn’t become common.

I was a latchkey child and had to make my own dinner. That consisted of lots of TV dinners; my favorite was Le Menu. By the time I got to high school I had amassed quite a plastic plate collection.

Also, Budget Gourmet

R26, I still eat cottage cheese. I buy Breakstone's non-fat variety mixed with pineapple chunks. Put it on fresh fruit in the morning for breakfast. It's good.

70s and 80s food. Does anyone remember "Ambrosia" aka "5 cup delight?" Or fondues?

The big difference from the 70s and 80s to today is the availability year-round of what once was seasonal. who'd have thought raspberries, strawberries, or blueberries would be in the stores out of season. Tomatoes in winter are still tasteless. Can anyone remember how they came in a group of four in a rectangular, plastic basket wrapped in cellophane?

I loved Clearly Canadian. But New York Setzer water in the little glass bottles with all those flavors was my 89’s favorite. My dad drank Jolt cola for the extra caffeine and sugar it had in it.

Texas r32

I thought it was because some people make it with mayonnaise. Mayo used to be made with raw eggs back in the day and people were afraid to eat it because if it sat in the sun it made a nice place for shit to multiply. With current processing methods that is not a concern anymore. Don’t know why someone would ruin guac with mayo or sour cream but some do.

Pasta primavera

Chilean sea bass

A trip down the memory lane...

Pasta!

Pasta!

More pasta!

I must’ve had some form of it three or four times a week for dinner in the 80s - yet in the 70s ‘pasta’ was pretty much just confined to spaghetti bolognese. Hardly ever make it now. To me it was the big eighties take-away

Stuffed bell peppers everywhere.

We ate stuffed peppers as far back as I can remember, in the 1950s.

We had always eaten spaghetti, usually angel hair, but it was not until the '80s that I learned to roll my own pasta, and I've been in love with it ever since.

Sushi, obviously

Salmon with sorrel

Oh, poor you, r56, being forced to eat guacamole with mayo in it. That is truly the worst food idea I've read all day. Mine is very simple: avocado, lime juice, diced red onion, diced jalapeno, chopped cilantro, salt. It can also have optional diced red pepper, garlic, and/or tomato, but only very fresh, very good tomatoes. Otherwise, it's just the basics.

I can see maybe serving sour cream alongside guacamole, especially if there's much heat to your chilis. I'm kind of intrigued, in fact, by the idea of putting a little in the guacamole. But only a little.

But mayo? No. Never.

R64 you did not read the last sentence obviously. And don’t know how to do a simple search.

I grew up in Texas and remember eating guacamole with mayo in it, but this was more in the 70s. I remember helping my mom make it.

So it's not some far-fetched idea that R56 just came up with.

The last sentence of what, r65?

And why in the world would I do a search for guacamole with mayo?

R1 Yassss! Nacho Cheese Tostitos were SO much better than Doritos! They were round and lighter, more crispy than crunchy, so you could eat until your stoned heart was content. Unlike Doritos, which give you massive jaw-ache if you over do it. Anna Faris eats them in a movie called Smiley Face and I was jealous and wondered where she got them. I have never seen them anywhere since they disappeared some time in the early 90s.

R1 I just googled it and apparently they DO still make them! Also, "Twigs"? You don't mean Twix, right? They still sell them everywhere. Although they did discontinue a candy bar called Summit, which I loved. Now the closest thing to the Summit is a Watchamacallit. Also delicious.

R69 OMG I thought I was imagining the Summit bar, I loved that thing!

I spoke to someone at Frito-Lay about them once, R68. Apparently, they were only being test-marketed. You and I must have lived in one of the test markets (I was in DC).

R70 right?? Now I can't remember, was it peanut buttery?

R71 Nailed it. I was in Baltimore.

Also, r73, as I remember them, they were Salsa flavored, not Nacho. A white bag with some clear space through which you could see the chips, black print, and the salsa flavor had a red label. There was another label that was blue, but I think that was just the basic chip. Do you remember the color of the Nacho Cheese label?

Also, the reason they were lighter is that they were made of white corn, instead of Doritos' yellow corn.

Yes, the top of the bag was blue and the bottom 2/3 was red. I don't think I tried the salsa ones. Very interesting about the white corn! Thanks R74.

I loved the Summit bars too r69

The first time I had frozen yogurt it was Carob flavor sold at a tiny health food store. That store had an awful stench and the Carob yogurt tasted gross. It was supposed to be a healthy alternative to Chocolate. Early 80s.

WEHT carob?

another junk food that was delicious, lol at the commercial

Summit was like a Twix but instead of caramel in the center it had chopped peanuts.

Actually, a peanut butter Twix is pretty damn close.

But for some odd reason I remember vividly the crunchy peanuts.

R77 i remember my vegan friend made carob brownies once. they were gross. i guess people figured that out.

Anybody mention quiche yet?

Koogle was '70s, R25.

[quote]I remember a potluck dinner in 1988 where four of the ten guests brought pasta salad.

No one wanted to be dubbed "Connie Casserole."

Koogle was the forerunner to Nutella.

Green peppers in a lot of shit

Tofutti!

Teriyaki flavor on everything.

I miss the weird novelty candy from the 80's.

Blackened redfish was all the rage for a while. If you made it at home you had to open the windows to let out all the cayenne flavored smoke.

^Yes.

R86 yes the Tofutti alrooti commercial.

Not exactly good but anyone remember Fiber Trim? The European way to slim

Raspberry vinaigrette was EVERYWHERE. I hated it even back then.

And don’t forget Tab!

R89 every Menne had a blackened something. I liked it but must have overloaded on it because it's not somI would ever order today if it was an option.

Dannon used to make frozen yogurt pops that I loved. Coffee flavored frozen yogurt covered in chocolate coating. I would eat one almost every day. My mom thought they were healthier than ice cream bars so always bought them for me.

We went through gallons of Crystal Light in our house. Because, you know, it was so much healthier than Kool-Aid.

Diet Coke came out around 1984 (around the same time aspartame/NutraSweet.)

[quote]Pasta! Pasta! More pasta!

Bonus points if you had the ubercool tri-color kind.

Chicken Cacciatore was a thing that seemed to be big in the 80s i think ?

my dad would eat the tri-color pasta drenched in italian dressing, ugh

Who remembers My Great Recipes? Did anyone actually order these things?

^^ Sorry, commercial starts at the 1:39 mark.

I remember as a kid the only way you could get RANCH DRESSING at home was a Hidden Valley brand envelope of powdered spices you added to buttermilk (the 80's? or late 70's?) It seemed like no one had heard of it, then suddenly everyone was doing it. Then it took over the world.

Keebler Pizzerias.

Chicken Tonight.

R97, I think chicken cacciatore was bigger in the 70s which is when my mom got a crock pot. It was a crock pot staple in my house. I still make it a lot.

The Dairy Queen Blizzard, introduced in 1985.

Thanks for putting that jingle in my head, R103. “J feeel like Chicken Toniiiiiiight...”

[quote]Speaking of which, do people even do dips anymore?

r26, people do hummus now.

I miss Lean Cuisine's zucchini lasagna.

Chicken Tonight, Chicken Tonight - haha.

Kraft (I believe) Handi-Snacks. Those cheese and crackers with the little red scoop.

Is Hi-C still around?

R110 Yep. And so is Five Alive.

[quote]Chicken Tonight.

My mom went back to work in the early 1980s so my parents would have money to help us in college. She had a cupboard full of Chicken Tonight. We had every single flavor ever made.

My parents would come home and I would start singing, "I don't feel like Chicken Tonight, chicken tonight!"

We knew it was a fancy party if my mom broke out the Sociables.

Stouffers French Bread Pizza.

Bagel pizzas

Planters Cheese Balls. A band bus staple.

Lunch Buckets, which a friend of mine called Buckets O’Shit.

Skittles

[quote]We knew it was a fancy party if my mom broke out the Sociables.

Only on New Years Eve for our family. We did have Chicken In A Biskit more frequently. But my favorite was always Bugles, going back to the 1960s when I was a toddler.

Just remembered another blast from the past: Capri Sun. When this debuted, everyone dropped their lunchbox thermoses.

Freshen-Up gum

Fruit Roll-Ups

LOL, R121. I remember that gum. Everyone I knew called it cum gum.

How could I have forgotten about cum gum?! Everyone called it that.

Planters cheese balls tasted strangely buttery. I don't know why they didn't just taste like regular Cheetos.

[quote]Chinese Chicken Salad

Yes, and curried chicken salad as well. Both very "exotic" and everywhere!

Also strawberry and goat cheese on salad with black pepper.

I still love them all.

My brother always has Capri Sun in his fridge. It’s supposed to be for his kids but he and I are the only ones who drink them.

Chicken in a Biskit was a big hit starting in the 1960s. I couldn't live without a box.

Chicken cacciatore goes back centuries. My father made it in the '50s, and he must have learned it in the '30s. And the lady who taught him, well, take it back to the 1800s.

Wasn't there a lot of ambrosia around in the 1980s?

Every finer department store's restaurant had a croissant chicken salad sandwich. I liked mine with a peach New York Seltzer.

Brie

Chicken salad always falls out of croissants. In fact, I don't like it much on any kind of sandwich. Better to eat the bread separately, or not at all. Does anyone remember Taylor's chicken salad in the Village in the '80s?

I was working at McDonalds when this nonsense called the McDLT was foisted on us. Took up so much space. Double the styrofoam. No-one ordered it. Let's get Jason Alexander to sing a forgettable song about it!

R126. My favorite along those lines was Friendly's Asian chicken salad. It was the best of them. Then in the early 2000s they totally changed it and it sucked.

Republican Donald Rumsfeld is responsible for forcing the FDA or paying them off to give the okay to Aspartame, (Nutrasweet). He and they knew how dangerous it was before it ever hit the market. When they first marketed it they pushed it towards children as a "healthy" alternative to sugar. In fact they mailed, free and unsolicited, brightly colored gum balls sweetened with Nutrasweet to just about every home across the country. I don't think a company would dare do that these days. If nothing else they were a choking hazard to young children who got their hands on them.

Sunny Delight

Sounds about right to me, R7.

What I remember most about 80s food and nutrition was all the "experts" dropping like flies.

R97 Cacciatore was chi-chi in the 80s? To me it was a treat we had at Polo's from as far back as I can remember. It was the crown on a Sunday afternoon of shopping with grandma at the Emporium.

S.F. provincial alert-sorry.

Jolt Cola was my thing in 1985. Still love the fact that it’s double the caffeine and sugar!

[quote]Speaking of which, do people even do dips anymore?

There's a huge one in the Oval Office.

In the 1980s Burger King tried waiter service and baked potatoes and steak sandwiches served after 4pm. The first time I saw it I went into a Burger King with my father and said this is never going to work. They used the same teens behind the counter to now bring the food to the table and no tipping was allowed. The experiment failed in about 4 months. What on earth gave BK the idea that it would work?

R137 "All the sugar and twice the caffeine!"

Carl's Junior tried the same thing about 2005, R139. It didn't work for them either.

[quote]That consisted of lots of TV dinners; my favorite was Le Menu.

Thanks, R52. What discussion of the 1980s would be complete without Le Menu? Damn, they were good! (Especially the sirloin tips featured in your YouTube clip.)

Deep fried Monte Cristo sandwiches from Bennigan's, served with raspberry compote by a cute gay waiter with 3 points of flair

Just remembered another one: Orville Redenbacher was the premiere popcorn brand of the 1980s.

One of my big three. I loved the hors d'oeuvres, the crudites, and the desserts. Perfect nut crust for tarts was, well, perfect. Plus, this was my first cookbook with photos. My original 1982 copy still smells like the chemicals that make the pages glossy. But that's what it took those days to get photos in cookbooks.

Another of my big three '80s cookbooks. I used this one a lot. Their cookie and brownie recipes were foolproof. Also, the best carrot cake recipe.

Another of my big three. Nice to read, but I lived in DC, where organic/local was very much in the future. I used it very little.

This was delicious. No lemon cola after this ever tasted quite right.

It was only the food of the 80s that gave some happiness in the Reagan era, which was the beginning of everything horrid in this country. Sadly, the racist, hatred for the poor, only the very rich are good, and the religious right should run this country remains and is stronger than ever but the good food is gone. Although food in the 50s - 70s was ever better and was real food. I can't say I remember the 50s personally, while I was alive I was a baby but I sure as hell remember the 60s and 70s. Such good food that came and went in the blink of an eye and replaced by plastic frankenfood.

R148= 70s

Reese’s Pieces

r146 Did you have this one, too?

Close, 65. :) But those who aren't this old will live with no memory of what real food tasted like. If you think organic food today tastes like real food back then, think again.

Sushi and oh-so-exotic edamame.

Nestle Quik.

Wine coolers; I worked in a convenience store in the 80s, and these were very popular.

Nestles Quick was around way before the 80s but what was new in the 80s was sugar free Nutrasweet sweetened Nestles Quick and I have to say it tasted exactly the same except it could cause cancer and brain damage.

[quote]Wine coolers; I worked in a convenience store in the 80s, and these were very popular.

OMG, yes! Remember those Seagram's commercials starring Bruce Willis? "Seagrams...golden wine cooler! It's wet and it's dry!"

SNL had a hysterical line about Bartles and Jaymes. I forgot what year or skit it was, but one of the female cast members in a skit takes a sip from a bottle and goes, "Mm. I love a good BJ!" Very racy for its time.

R84 - think it was the other way around. Nutella had been popular in Europe for years - and one of the big North American food conglomerates did Koogle as a rip off of it. I loved it (they had it here in Oz too!) and still remember the tv ad for it - something about earing koogle every day right after schoo-gle.

To the carob naysayers - still occasionally see carbo bars in some upmarket delis and healthfood stores here - but it’s exoensive and competes against expensive, organic, sugar-free , paleo chocolate bars - which are (apparently?) quite healthy now...

There was a health food place bavk in Sydney near where I worked all through the eighties that made really nice carob milkshakes. Seriously - delicious! And not trying to be chocolate - but just carob. Had a really more-ish, nutty quality. Only thing I’ve ever liked sonething carob.

Also remembered : pride of place at every eighties catered buffet affair was Vitello Tonnato - platters of poached veal, thinly sliced then coverecin a tuna-flavoured mayonnaise. Sounds weird - but whe done well it was heaven! It was everywhere back then - the kinda disappeared. Haven’t seen it in years.

Also - the Moosewood vegetarian cookbooks! Might have come out in the late seventies? But they were so popular in the early eighties - along with The Vegetarian Epicure. Memories of university years... lol!

Capri Sun is probably more popular now than ever, as anyone who has witnessed an American middle school lunch room lately.

r69 Twigs were a snack cracker made by Nabisco. I have seen there is a Facebook page asking to bring them back.

The Enchanted Broccoli Forest cookbook.

Elmer’s Paste.

Yum.

Bartles & James, the original 'Drinkie-Poos' -

Hot Pockets

R162 - indeed! It looked like a complete joke to me - but had friends in a student household at the time who actually cooked The Enchanted Broccoli Forest - - the recipe the title of the second Moosewood Cookbook - and all swore it was really good!

Even so, I thought it looked like a novelty act and steered clear.

My partner then - and still! - wasn’t much of a cook, but discovered a cake recipe in one of the Moosewood books that was pretty simple and quite nice that he made - over and over - and over! - again. Till I eventually (and quite cuntily) started referring to it as Boring Cake. He took umbrage and stopped making it completely. It’s been years since we’ve had it - and I find myself missing it... sigh.

Free hot appetizers at bars: mini hot dogs, nachos, etc. You would buy a drink and eat an entire meal of free appetizers.

Maybe this happened in the 70s, but I was too young to go into bars then. It was a big thing in the 80s with college students.

R159 I first tried Vitelli tonatto in the mid 90s, but it was st an NY restaurant (Petaluma) that opened and became bigin the mid 80s.

Speaking of that place, has designer pizza been mentioned yet? And goat cheese salad?

disgusting

Steak-umm

And Sizzlean

Are we fatter now because food actually tastes better now?

[quote]...but what was new in the 80s was sugar free Nutrasweet sweetened Nestles Quick and I have to say it tasted exactly the same except it could cause cancer and brain damage.

Oh, give it a REST! If you don't think a generation of lawyers weren't salivating to sue the pants off of every manufacturer causing CANCER you're wrong. They didn't because it's just hysteria. Please spare me your accusations of "BIG PHARMA!"

Why would you make a product that kills off your own customers? You must read Natural News website, and Dr. Mercola!

Everything served on black square plates to look more “gourmet.”

The aforementioned strawberry and goat cheese salad, with spinach. Putting ripe fruit in a green salad was a new concept to many Americans in the '80s.

Speaking of: a spinach salad with warm bacon dressing as a first course was very popular in the 1980s as well.

R175 nah spinach salad was totally 70s.

r176 wins. Nothing says '70s like fondue except spinach salad, with its mushrooms, bacon, and "creamy" dressing.

Martha had what was called Vitello Tonnato last night at a restaurant in Southampton. It looks like deli-sliced meat served with a tuna mayo, though, instead of classic Vitello Tonnato, in which the meat marinates in the mayo all day before serving.

R177 as were crepes (like from the Magic Pan).

I think I liked crepes best of the three, r179. Eating too much raw spinach did this weird thing to m teeth, and fondue was usually not done right, rendering it too boozy a lot of the time.

My favorite creperie was in the Rainier Bank Building in Seattle. Crepe de Paris?

I remember The Magic Pan restaurant chain, the only place our family would go to and have dessert for dinner. It was always really dark inside, with pin spots, and you could see the hot pans turning on a giant wheel in the middle of the place. The staff seemed formally dressed. The laminated menus had French on them, so my dad complained. It felt "fancy."

There was one in Dallas attached to Northpark Mall that was infamous in the 80's because some rich woman cut into one of the crepes with her fork and the hot insides squirted on her skin and burned her. It was in the The Dallas Morning News because there was a lawsuit, or something. I think it was on the local TV news too (I just tried Google to find some evidence of the case). It tainted their reputation locally as "the place that rich lady burned herself on a crepe" but didn't hurt their business as they were in that location forever.

Margarine! It’s so healthy! I waited years to enjoy butter.

R71 I grew up in Eastern North Carolina. Nacho cheese Tostitos were also available there, for what seemed like several years.

The 80s is when Americans started to get really fat so the food must’ve been laden with sugar or it’s worse counterpart HFC. People used to eat three large meals a day back in the 50s/60s and they were slim and trim.

[quote] The 80s is when Americans started to get really fat so the food must’ve been laden with sugar or it’s worse counterpart HFC. People used to eat three large meals a day back in the 50s/60s and they were slim and trim.

Why It Was Easier to Be Skinny in the 1980s

A new study finds that people today who eat and exercise the same amount as people 20 years ago are still fatter.

A study published recently in the journal Obesity Research & Clinical Practice found that it’s harder for adults today to maintain the same weight as those 20 to 30 years ago did, even at the same levels of food intake and exercise.

The authors examined the dietary data of 36,400 Americans between 1971 and 2008 and the physical activity data of 14,419 people between 1988 and 2006. They grouped the data sets together by the amount of food and activity, age, and BMI.

They found a very surprising correlation: A given person, in 2006, eating the same amount of calories, taking in the same quantities of macronutrients like protein and fat, and exercising the same amount as a person of the same age did in 1988 would have a BMI that was about 2.3 points higher. In other words, people today are about 10 percent heavier than people were in the 1980s, even if they follow the exact same diet and exercise plans.

“Our study results suggest that if you are 25, you’d have to eat even less and exercise more than those older, to prevent gaining weight,” Jennifer Kuk, a professor of kinesiology and health science at Toronto’s York University, said in a statement. “However, it also indicates there may be other specific changes contributing to the rise in obesity beyond just diet and exercise.”

Just what those other changes might be, though, are still a matter of hypothesis. In an interview, Kuk proffered three different factors that might be making harder for adults today to stay thin.

First, people are exposed to more chemicals that might be weight-gain inducing. Pesticides, flame retardants, and the substances in food packaging might all be altering our hormonal processes and tweaking the way our bodies put on and maintain weight.

Second, the use of prescription drugs has risen dramatically since the ‘70s and ‘80s. Prozac, the first blockbuster SSRI, came out in 1988. Antidepressants are now one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the U.S., and many of them have been linked to weight gain. . . .

R69 I assumed he meant Nabisco Twigs.

Twigs were kind of like little breadsticks. Sometimes you get something similar with your soup at restaurants (in a cellophane wrapper.)

Not only do I remember putting mayo in guacamole, but also adding chopped tomato back in the 80s. Chicken tetrazzini was a big buffet party dish back then too.

[quote]Not only do I remember putting mayo in guacamole...

You may remember doing it, r189. Doesn't make it right.

Those little laughing cow cubes in different “flavors” at cocktail parties.

All the hot cookie stores, especially Mrs. Fields.

Star fruit was flavorless back then. Has it improved? They have "successfully" industrialised kiwi to be mostly tasteless nowadays.

Eating tapeworm infested chunks of raw fish was the height of fashion!

Star fruit was strictly decorative, it tasted of nothing. I still love a kiwi though.

Remember nouvelle cuisine?

R195, that type of plating is still commonplace.

"Why would you make a product that kills off your own customers?" You mean like the tobacco companies??????? You give it a rest R173 and stop getting your news from FOX.

R192 and David’s cookies. There was one right near me on 78th and 3rd. Miss both of those.

Also, combos, which I hated, and pizza bagels, which I kind of liked.

Speaking of bagels, the late 80s is kind of when “gourmet” bagel places (before that it was just Lenders) began to become popular, first in places like NYC, then eventually all over the country.

[Quote] Also, combos, which I hated

What's a combo??

Mid80s—BBQ Chicken Pizza

R170 Steak-Umms are still around.

R199, a combo is a pretzel nugget infused with nacho cheese. They, too, are still around and with different flavors.

I think there’s a lot more factors at play in R196’s post, such as the ubiquity of stores and restaurants being open 24/7; the fact that Americans are working longer hours; the absence of the “nuclear family” so prolific in the 50s; the woman of the household having to hold a job and, therefore, not being home all day and cooking a healthy meal for the family, etc. There’s a shitload more to it than just chemicals in the food and anti-depressants.

Remember Stella D'oro? These were big in the 80s. I hated these. My mother used to buy the bread sticks all the time.

Cuisine minceur, for mincing gays everywhere!

[Quote] a combo is a pretzel nugget infused with nacho cheese. They, too, are still around and with different flavors.

Doesn't sound all that great but thanks for answering.

Pizzeria Combos.

Love Combos!

Beluga caviar and burnt champagne

Godfather’s Pizza.

This might be more 90s, but for about 5 minutes blooming onions were all the rage. I remember the small restaurant I worked in as a teen introducing it on the menu to disastrous results. You had to use these giant onions that took up a ton of space in the freezer, the machine to cut the onion was hard to work and the onion would fall apart in the fry vat, so it would come out a mess.

Hawaiian pizza also became big in the 80s, even though it had been around long before. I remember it being the butt of jokes in cheesy sitcoms.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

[quote]Doesn't sound all that great but thanks for answering.

They're delicious but they're very salty, which is why I haven't touched a bag in years.

Are we ready for any of these to make a comeback?

R213 Pasta salad deserves a comeback. It’s my favorite lunch in hot weather. But not the squicky kind that feels like you dragged the bottom of your fridge and then tossed all the bits together in mayonnaise.

[quote](Remember that Pringles tagline, "You can't eat just one?")

Wasn’t that Lay’s tagline in the 80s too?

I'm not sure whether it was an 80s food or whether we were just introduced to it in the 80s. Our town got a brand new mall in 1981. They had booths that served nachos & warm cheese and bread pretzels (like the type from NYC carts) with mustard.

Everyone from the 1970s threw down their Orange Julius and flocked to these food booths in the new mall. Seriously, there were lines to buy pretzels that you squirted mustard on.

Pasta salad never went anywhere. It's completely ubiquitous with countless varieties. It's like saying carbonated soda deserves a comeback.

R217 It never went anywhere as far as home cooks were concerned, but I thought that article was talking more about the restaurant world.

[quote]Wasn’t that Lay’s tagline in the 80s too?

Yes, you're right, R215. It was Lay's. (Sorry, Pringles.) I don't remember why I misremembered it. Ah, the "magic" of advertising!

R218, but it was never big in the restaurant world, even in the 80s.

R220 Really? I remember it on just about every menu unless it was somewhere formal...Then again, I grew up in the South, maybe it was a regional thing.

By the restaurant world, I thought we were talking about more formal, high end places.

Anyway, my point was it's silly to talk about something so ubiquitous needing a comeback. Pasta salad is the blue jeans of cuisine. Sure, you could imagine some froofy high end version of it becoming a "thing" again, but really it's just dressing up the most common thing ever.

[quote]Sure, you could imagine some froofy high end version of it becoming a "thing" again, but really it's just dressing up the most common thing ever.

Fancy restaurants are good at that. See: polenta and grits.

Lay's slogan was "Betcha can't eat just one."

[quote]You had to use these giant onions that took up a ton of space in the freezer

You can freeze onions? Wouldn't they get all mushy?

My father, who never gets happy or excited about anything, adored Godfather’s pizza.

R225 you’re not familiar with frozen onion rings?

R225, come to think of it, it was probably the walk-in refrigerator.

Ketchup, the vegetable of the 80s, according to Reagan.

I have not watched or cared about the Daytime Emmys in so long, years. It is joke for sure R16. I do watch GH here and there but an Emmy win now is ridiculous.

r182. That must be where they got the idea for the crepe episode on Seinfeld!

VIENETTA!!!!!!!!!

Fucking classy as shit!

I think they still have Vienetta in Europe.

Kiwis are still available here. That red swiss chard, bok choy etc.

As to coffee I buy the green dried beans and roast them myself. Then grind for french press and brew and best damned coffee ever.

Does anybody else pine for Cunty Morning cereal?

LOL, I remember Viennetta. All it was was regular ice cream with thin, crunchy layers of chocolate but, yeah, like R232, it was supposed to be "classy."

Whatchamacallit and Summit candy bars had major marketing campaigns.

Also, Cookies and Cream ice cream hit the big time in the 80s. Now every dessert in the world has a Cookies and Cream flavor.

R237 that’s true. My family actually moved to NYC in ‘82 and lived a few blocks from the Sedutto’s that introduced it that year (maybe even that summer). We all thought it was the bomb. I had it at least 3-4 days a week.

Sigh if only I could do that now. I hardly even eat ice cream anymore.

remember tato skins? i

Shake 'N Bake

Hamburger Helper

Tex Mex

I LOVED Tato Skins and I don't understand why they were discontinued.

Was that on Broadway in the 60s, R238?

Honey Nut Cheerios came out in 1979, but was MAJOR throughout the 80s.

It seems like the 80s was when the quality and flavor of food improved. No offense ‘70s, or even worse, ‘60s food -blech!

Ricearoni, the San Francisco treat.

Heidi's Frogen Yozurt.

Fromage Frais yogurt (with Robin Leach doing the commercials).

Rice cakes.

Fried mozzarella cheese.

the Duncan Hines cookies were so good

Ice Milk

The Cake Bible

Tex Mex ( in the Northeast)

[quote]I miss Lean Cuisine's zucchini lasagna

I ate that for lunch at work once and puked it up later that day. I went home early and the next day my boss told me I was green from being so sick.

r246 Rice-A-Roni was more like '50s or '60s.

Thanks for the info about Twigs. I have never heard of them, but then again I don't care for sesame seeds so they were not on my radar.

I do remember the blackened/Cajun craze at nearly every restaurant in the 1980s. Also, every restaurant had some version of pasta salad on their lunch menus. You couldn't go anywhere in my city for lunch without seeing pasta salad on the menu.

Remember when Riunite was a thing?

I still love this tuna pasta salad recipe I make. It has tiny shell pasta and mayo, onion, celery and fresh diced tomatoes. Really good for lunch in the summer. R257 Yes I do remember! My dear sweet aunt (who is in her 60s, still enjoys her Riunite on ice...VERY nice.)

[quote]Rice-A-Roni was more like '50s or '60s.

No, it wasn’t. It was a staple of every game show in the late ‘70s into the ‘80s as a parting gift. A “lifetime supply of Rice-A-Roni....” Why I can still hear Johnny Olson saying it now. Of course, they don’t say how much a “lifetime supply” is.

R259 is right. Bizarre even for back then. What kind of a lame prize is that?

[quote]No, it wasn’t.

Uh, guys...?

r261 Of course there was Rice-A-Roni in the '60 (and '50s, when it was invented). I think all r259 meant was that it didn't go away in the '70s or '80s.

Oh yes! packaged soft cookies! Before Soft Batch, all we had were dry crumbly things.

r262 Then why not say hamburgers or macaroni and cheese were 1980s food, too?

I don't know, r264. I don't give a fuck what you do. Honestly.

I listened to 60's music in the 80's (how could you escape it on the radio?) but I wouldn't call it 80's music.

I still listen to 60s music on one of those radio stations that plays real oldies.

And the food in the 60s was better than the food in the 80s. By the 80s Frankenfoods were already on our shelves.

I ate a lot better in the 1980s. That's when I really learned how to cook. The '60s were about convenience foods, mostly, at our house. My mother didn't learn to cook until 1969.

R261, the thread is not food INVENTED in the 80s, it was a nostalgic look at the food that we remember from the 80s, regardless of whether it’s still around today.

I used to like Riunite's Christmas commercial when I was a kid.

In another thread, I was reminded of how much I love cornbread. It's something I didn't discover until the 1980s, so for me it's an '80s food. Doesn't mean no one ate it before me, and obviously, it'd been around for centuries.

People learned to cook in the 1970s and '80s in a way we hadn't cooked at home before. That's what '80s cooking means to me. Much of it had been around before, but we were learning to make it better, fresher, more authentic, more "from scratch."

You bitches are taking me BACK.

Steak-Umms, Combos, Riunite and Stella D'Oro were the apex of '80s food in my parents' household.

And man, it all looks vomitous grouped together like that.

Fruit & Fibre was delicious, particularly the raisins/dates/walnuts variety.

If I recall correctly, the 80s was the beginning of the "comfort food" movement. That's why things like Almost Home and SoftBaked cookies became popular, because they were supposed to make people nostalgic for home cooking.

Carnation Instant Breakfast got a second wind in the mid-'80s with this jingle, and my parents fell for it.

^ You reminded me of this abomination, R273. It debuted before the 80s but it felt more of an "80s" thing to me. My favorite comment from this video:

[quote]After years of eating all that crap, he only lived to be 64

We used to eat the Carnation breakfast bars as both my parents worked. I found some TGIF brand “potato skin” chips at Dollar Tree that are similar to Tato Skins.

Steak frites at "Café Lux" in NYC:

Cajun blackened was indeed everywhere. I remember going to Red Lobster, in Pittsburgh of all places, circa 1987 with my parents and grandma. The waiter asked if they wanted their fish Cajun blackened and they all said yes as they hadn’t had it before . It came out so spicy that they declared it inedible. Grandma talked about that meal for the next 20 years.

I loved Grape Nuts when I was a child. Of course, I used to pour about a pound of sugar into the bowl with it.

They yummy entree and dessert crepes served at the Magic Pan restaurant chain. They also had the best chocolate mousse!

Grape Nuts! Oh man, I haven't thought about them in years. I used to love them. I liked them as is with just milk and in the winter would cook them in milk like I would oatmeal and add butter and sugar and they were absolutely delicious that way too, not really crunchy anymore but still with a little crunch, enough to make it a nice different kind of hot cereal.

anyone remember these?

It might be the ultimate '80s food of them all: Chicken McNuggets, which rolled out nationwide between 1981 and 1983.

Burger King's chicken tenders at least taste like chicken.

Chicken McNuggets taste like breaded cartilage and beak.

Did Olestra (and its accompanying anal leakage) "come out" in the '80s?

R286 Olestra was the 90’s. Loved that shit...and the shit afterwards!

" being forced to eat guacamole with mayo in it. "

That was very much a gringo thing. In university, I was friends with this white girl from California. I saw her dump a whole bunch of miracle whip into some mashed avocados. That was her guacamole "recipe." From California.

I can't believe not one mention of fucking Quiche! That nasty ass shit was all over the place in the early 80's. Bleck!!!

Thank god sprouts on burgers died out. Those two should never mingle.

TexMex. You could now serve Mexican food as a gringo and betaken seriously if you called it TexMex.

" being forced to eat guacamole with mayo in it. "

That's disgusting. I live in California and these days no one here gringo or not would dream of doing that. Although I will say when I travel to the East Coast they still do that shit And they also buy that gross premade shit in the stores that has been sitting on the shelf for days. And then they say they don't like Avocados and California.

Does anyone remember Pizza Cheese? It camp in squares like American cheese but it had mico bits of pizza flavor to it. I think it was a lot better than Pepper Jack which is totally different.

Balsamic vinegar became popular. Raspberry vinegar, too.

Here's the very funny "Supersizers" 80's episode with cutie Giles Coren.

I remember a particularly good steak au poivre, which seemed to be everywhere, and a great Cobb Salad, which was showing up a lot on menus then. I used to be addicted to a grilled chicken sandwich at Au Bon Pain, when they were just a local Boston chain, it was a chicken breast marinated in tarragon, and grilled, on a crusty baguette with bernaise mayo, tomato and romaine....still crave those things.

R283, I can honestly say I don’t remember those at all. I’ve never seen them. Were they good?

And r293, I’ve never heard of yours either, but I wish not only I had, but that it was still around. That sounds tasty as hell.

Hamburger Helper was definitely a 70s thing but the proliferation of flavors may have come out in the 80s. When it first came out we begged my mom to try it (Hamburger Helper helps HER make a great meal!) and she did. When she served us (all 7 of us around the table at 6 pm, what a concept!) my dad took a few bites and declared it disgusting (it was). He didn't even want to feed it to the dogs and it went in the trash. Money was tight in the 70s and you just didn't waste food. We ended up having scrambled eggs for dinner that night and my mom never bought a prepared meal again.

We ate a lot of Hamburger Helper. Loved it.

One place I worked had a frozen yogurt machine, but my college had a soft serve dispenser, which I preferred.

Miss my 80s metabolism...

I like Chris Koetke of Let's Dish. Most times, he just cooks, and he has that Midwestern friendliness thing going on that reminds me of my dad..

Did anybody mentioned nouvelle cuisine? I spent an absolute fortune on it back in my architectonic tuna and won ton skin salad days.

Paul Corcellet Raspberry Vinegar

My 70's boyfriend had a cousin that they took in due to unfortunate circumstances. He was morbidly obese and we soon found out why. Every day he would eat an entire pan of cheeseburger Hamburger Helper with a side of Wonderbread(the entire loaf) It was washed down with a 2-litre Pepsi Cola. The rest of the family was quite trim and fit. Cousin Todd passed in 1987. He was almost 400 lbs. A vegetable never passed his lips.

Sorry R298, but your dad sounds like an asshole. Your mom put dinner on the table for SEVEN of you and he had no appreciation, regardless of how quickly it was prepared.

R305 R298 I was going to say she must have used 2 boxes. One box doesn't make a whole lot. In fairness to your Dad, they are gross, but my Dad wouldn't have even taken one bite.

Tuna Helper's Tuna Tetrazzini was really good, for that time period and that sort of food. We never had the Hamburger Helper, but we did the TH Tuna Tetrazzini a lot. They still sell it.

This is for you r281 from your fellow Magic Pan fan. Damn, I loved that place.

In the 60s Ragu made the best sauce for chicken cacciatore. All you had to do is brown the chicken in a skillet, add their jar sauce, cover and cook for about 40 minutes. I've had that dish in really upscale Italian restaurants and ma and pa ones and tried making it myself and have never had one that tasted as good as the one that came from Ragu's cacciatore sauce. So of course they stopped making it but still make their shitty regular sauce. Oh and it was way before they used HFCS in their sauces. It had real ingredients. I think it was gone by the 80s. As was Bird's Eye Cool and Creamy puddings. The best tasting pudding in the world, better than making it from scratch with cocoa and melted quality chocolate, etc. It came out the same year as Cool Whip and somehow that plastic crap is still on the market but the amazing product was short lived.

Okay, help me with this one DLers. There was something that I remember eating back in the late 80s. I remember it was some sort of fruit cup type of thing that came on the shelf alongside the fruit cocktails, applesauces, etc. You had to eat it either frozen or refrigerated. They came small cups in a pack. Sort of like a Snack Pack.

Google is of no help to me. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? I was only 5 or 6 when these were out. I remember they were so good, but they didn't last long at all.

r310 These? They still exist.

I just figured it out! Fruit Slushes. Damn, they were good.

Nacho Cheese Cheetos

r205 I still love Pizza Combos, I used to buy those back in high school in the 80's

Carnation Instant Breakfast Bars.

R22 and R23 I know!

R316 remember Shasta

Danish Go Rounds, they were better than Pop Tarts

[quote]I still love Pizza Combos

I used to like them, but over the last several years, the filling seems to have become more powdery.

Grill master Chicken Franks.

R289, see R81.

Cheesecake was the go to dessert in the 1980’s-the thick New York style.

Pasta salads were big too. And spinach dip served in sourdough bread bowls.

I remember a peanut butter filled chocolate cake snack called a funny bone.

There was a chain of restaurants in the Northeast called The Pie Plate. They served a Dutch apple crumb pie that was very sweet and buttery (flavored).

I remember the Magic Pan mentioned earlier in this thread. Seafood Newburg was one flavor, and peach Melba was a popular desert crepe, also hot cherries I think.

There was a bleak period of time where people added mayonnaise to chocolate cake batter, too.

The last gasp of Burger Chef.

When I was growing up, every classy party had to have a watermelon basket filled with fruit balls. As a baby gay, I would ooh and aah over them. I though they were the most elegant things I'd ever seen.

Do you remember Bugles? My sister and I would put them on our fingers and play like they were long fingernails.

They still sell Bugles.

R128 Yes! My mom did it in the shape of a whale. This party cookbook was her bible.

Someone upthread mentioned Diet Coke, but got the year it was released wrong.

Diet Coke was introduced in 1982.

80s food advertising jingles forever imprinted in my brain:

"New Better Cheddars, with sourdough baked right in, new Better Cheddars - the San Francisco style, snack thin!"

"Cheese-filled Combos - Combos really cheeses your hunger away!"

"I've got the fever for the flavor of a Pringles!"

I Laughed when I heard someone added sugar to Grape Nuts, they are already loaded with sugar, 15 grams. Sugar nuts.

The California Raisins. Bonus 80s animation.

Mr. T cereal.

Double lollys. These weren't so much an 80s thing, but the 80s is when I last remember seeing them in every store. They pretty much disappeared.

Don't you want to punch people who say "lollys"?

R338, I think it’s just as bad when people call them “suckers.” No, it’s a lollipop, you nitwit!

[quote]No, it’s a lollipop, you nitwit!

Then call it a lollipop, YOU nitwit!

R340, the nitwit comment wasn’t directed at you. It was an imaginary response to someone calling it a sucker.

No offense intended, lad.

Double Lollys was the NAME of those lollipops, you nitwits!

Anyone got any whipped cream for the humble pie?

And yes I spelled "lollies" wrong!

You made my heart go "giddy-up!"

Sweeter than apple pie!

"Lollies" is still a dumb name. British?

Don't they call popsicles "Ice lollies?"

See's still calls them "lollYpops."

[quote]Don't they call popsicles "Ice lollies?"

Only in Dumbassville.

R350 and R345, They call them ice lollies in England, which I know from watching PBS.

Lmao @ R350!

Aero Bars: Candy bars with 50% more air!!!

Marinating fish fillets in mayonnaise before baking.

Peak Freans

For all you Hawaiians out there:

Primo Beer.

No can heah! Get beah in my eah!

[quote]Marinating fish fillets in mayonnaise before baking.

I never heard of that until 2013. Cooking was much better in the '80s—at least, any cooking I did.

Hotdogs with cheese built in.

Goobers n grape.

Carob, forced on you by health moms.

Lipton onion soup mixed with sour cream (‘60s-‘80s)

Lipton onion soup mixed into ground beef.

[quote]Lipton onion soup mixed with sour cream (‘60s-‘80s)

I still make it to this day. People can laugh at it all they want but it’s always the first thing to go at parties.

R357 you should try Ina Garten's onion dip recipe. OMG it really is the best.

I want some now.

Too many of these recent posts are not '80s food.

Planters Cheez Balls are back for a limited time starting July 1st in stores and online

r360 Since MichFest ended, the market for those has dried up.

Anyone remember that weird Jello dessert that separated into different layers as it set?

r362 Jell-O 1-2-3.

Planter's cheese balls are WAY too salty.

Pudding in a Cloud, bitches!

More fake news R362. Jell-O 1-2-3 was a 70s food, introduced in 1969.

R326 That sounds disgusting.

Adding mayo to cake batter makes it more moist. You don't taste it at all. Think about it, it's just whipped oil and eggs, two things you add to a cake anyway.

My grandma always had a can of Planters Cheez Balls in her pantry. I have no idea why. It's the only time I ever ate them.

r369 see r361. Was Granny a secret lesbian?

[quote] The last gasp of Burger Chef.

R371 I was really bummed when I found out Elizabeth Moss is a Scientologist. She seems too smart for that.

Government cheese and ketchup as a vegetable. Fucking Reagan

The 80's was the last time one could go to those weird jewish fabric and fashion shops on Orchard street and buy pickles from a barrel down there. Also there were still some restaurants in "Little Italy" (Manhattan) and Chinatown seemed a bit exotic. It was the last time you had the remnants of "ethnic" food in many neighbourhoods that had been "ethnic" - german bakeries and butchers on the east side, eastern European food in East Village, bagels and great lox on the upper west side, soul food in Harlem, etc etc etc.

Used to be the most wonderful German restaurants on the upper east side, bakeries too. All gone. Manhattan is just another Disneyland now. Go see the Lion King and eat at Red Lobster and seriously think of moving to someplace that hasn't turned to shit.

R375 that’s sad but true.

Starfish fruit was exposed as the fraud that it is, and you can't put kiwi in Jell-O.