What was your least favorite food as a kid?

July 3, 2024 | Sparkle Wednesday

As a kid, I usually brought a cold lunch to school. My lunch typically consisted of a sandwich (mostly peanut butter), pretzels, a piece of fruit, and milk purchased for three cents (doesn't that make me sound like I'm about one hundred years old?) at school—nothing fancy. My best friend, Colleen, always had a deluxe lunch—a Holly Hobby thermos filled with Chef Boyardee Ravioli, an individually-packaged bag of chips, a Twinkie, and some cut-up fruit. Her parents owned the grocery store across the street from her house, so she had plenty of access to junk food and always had “good stuff” in her lunch. And, because she was such a good friend, she was good about sharing.

Occasionally, I'd take hot lunch because we were running low on decent lunch supplies or if pizza was on the menu. Remember how you could tell what was for hot lunch by simply stepping into the school? One smell that I can still conjure to this day is the aroma (more like stench) of gravy train. Oh, how I detested gravy train. No, I'm not talking about the actual dog food.

The human version of gravy train consisted of cooked hamburger and onion drenched in a bland gravy, and served over watery potatoes. Check out the recipe and see if you're familiar.

I remember one time in grade school when gravy train was on the menu, and I couldn't get myself to choke enough bites down to be excused by the lunch lady. Those days, you'd have to show your lunch remains (and that you'd eaten your lunch) to be excused for recess. As much as I pushed the food around my plate, the lunch lady sent me back to eat more. This happened several times. Finally, I escaped by placing a heaping scoop of gravy train into a couple of napkins and shoving it into my sock. The lunch lady fell for my plan, and I was released! And that's how much I hated gravy train. BTW - I still find the thought of gravy train utterly disgusting.

What about you? What was your least favorite food as a kid?