re: Food and activities us OT Poors had growing up

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is cinnamon toast poor?

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The cereal or actual toast.

Both… no.

I could sell my grandmother’s cinnamon toast she used to make in the broiler at a stand at the fair and make fat stacks.

Doughnuts made from canned biscuits

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Doughnuts made from canned biscuits

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I made these for my kids when they were young and they suggested I open a doughnut shop selling them. I still think they are the best doughnuts. Greasy and good.

Every dish had something added to make it go further.

Red beans had hot dogs and plain white bread.
Gumbo had eggs
If we ever ate good it's because we caught it or killed it
Hung around the ballpark until concession stand closed and they started passing out what was cooked

Beautiful

Vacation was camping at Indian Creek for a few days in the summer. If you were really lucky, my get a weekend in Houston at Astroworld.

My grandma knew somebody at the school board so we used to go to the schools and get the day old milk. They were throwing out and poured into jugs.

I was a kid in the 50's and reached teenage years by 65.

My dad died when I was 8 so my "stay at home mom" had to leave the house to find work, so home cooked meals got pushed aside for the most part many days of the week.

I can remember many nights of meals coming from a can or out the freezer being heated up on the stove. One of my favorites was a packet of frozen sliced beef in a thin brown gravy that you could put the plastic packet in boiling water to heat and then make sandwiches with the beef.

Back then I ate LOTS of cans of potted meat with crackers, Vienna sausage and plenty of cold cut sandwiches on white bread.

We were poor for the most part and didn't get out to eat much but maybe once a month we'd head to the Frostop in Arabi on St. Claude and Aycock St. for a Lot-O-Burger with fries and their root beer in the frosted mug. That was the big treat.

Then, being Catholic, it was considered a sin to eat meat on Friday's until the church stopped that nonsense in 1966. We'd often eat catfish I caught on the Mississippi River or other seafood like shrimp, crabs and oysters. They were real cheap back then.

We also resorted to powdered milk, occasionally getting those powdered eggs instead of real eggs and they all tasted like crap, but you ate it or went hungry.

Most of our home cooked meals came when my grandma would take a bus from uptown down to the Lower 9th Ward to stay with us a few days and she'd do it right. That old lady could cook up a storm and we all looked forward to her staying a couple days.

We were always guaranteed a great home cooked meal on Sunday at one of my aunt's house. My mom, 2 sisters and I would be there along with my aunt, uncle, grandma and a few other relatives for the weekly family gathering to eat.

As I got into my teenage years I'd have a job that took up my weekends so I missed out on those meals during that part of my life, but I remember them like it was yesterday.

i guess i didnt think we were poor.

yes cheese toast, my mom would sprinkle cinnamon on it. i still eat that to this day.

Milk and cornbread.

hot dog wieners and ketchup, no bread.

we used to recycle cans for money.