Probably my only vegetable nourishment to speak of for years.

I spent way too long living on carrot sticks. And corn.

The odd part about my childhood pickiness -- which involves some deep aversions akin to ita vs. eggs, but also bad raising in the form of getting away with very limited choices -- was that I was 30 before I realized that my dad is really bad about eating vegetables himself. I honestly thought that we were eating a grand total of two veg for all those years because my dad was mistakenly catering to my tastes. Nope -- he didn't like them enough to bother with them until he married a foodie.

Any mixture of ground beef, onions, macaroni, and tomato products revives wretched memories of the childhood dish "slumgullion" (etomology unknown). I think I would be physically ill if confronted with such today.

In my defense, I am sensitive to the acids in fresh tomatoes, to the point where I get acid burns. It has be fairly well processed before I can tolerate it.

Any mixture of ground beef, onions, macaroni, and tomato products

This makes me think of this cheeseburger-macaroni stuff the hospital MADE me eat in the recovery room after birthing K-Bug. They said I wouldn't be allowed out of recovery until I ate most of it. My family - they had deserted me to go to Denny's.

To this day, I can't do anything with cheese, meat, and noodles smooshed together. Nope.

Frozen peas are a wonder. I eat them frozen. I also use them as ice packs.

Now I am hungry and I already had oatmeal. A bunch of oatmeal. I should be full.

Instead my arteries are all clear and happily getting blood to my brain so I can fully realize I want some real food. Preferably with bacon.

It's Ro-Tel. A classic.

I read somewhere that a kid needs to try a new dish multiple times (10?) before liking it. This seems to have been true with my kids -- neither liked asparagus when it was first introduced, but they've both become asparagus fiends over the years.

"slumgullion" (etomology unknown)

I believe it's related to 19th-century mining. I know there's a canyon in Colorado by that name.

Heh. I make a cheese, beef, macaroni, and tomato product. It's easy, and these days my cooking choices are all about the easy.

Ro-Tel is a key ingredient in the macaroni salad we ate growing up. Ro-Tel, Cheez Whiz, cubed green peper, macaroni. That's it.

It supposedly came of a 1950s can of Ro-Tel and has persisted in my family for that long.

To this day, I can't do anything with cheese, meat, and noodles smooshed together

Cheese for me is the miracle worker. Put cheese on anything, and I'll have a go at eating it.

I'm all about the easy too. The pizza dough from scratch this weekend was an exception because Leif wanted to make pizza. It's awfully cute to watch a three-year old kneading dough.