So what kind of food makes you happy, brings back childhood memories, etc?

I'm eating lunch at my desk and enjoying immensely my little pudding cup. Pudding just makes me feel 10 years old again, when everything was right with the world and responsibility was only a word on a vocab quiz. Yum, pudding.

I get the same feeling when I'm sucking on a Tootsie pop.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Answers

Every Monday after school for about a year, WriterMom would take my little brother and me to get Blizzards at Dairy Queen. M&Ms only, thank you.

Also, Jello Pudding Pops. I miss 'em.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Charles Chips, from the can. Makes me happy, happy. So much salt...

A story for my dears. My dad made my lunch every day when I was a kid. He always put in a sandwich, some chips and some fruit. When it was cold, he fixed me soup in a thermos.

One time, he put some of my mom's chili in a thermos, and put some grapes in a ziploc bag as my lunch. I enjoyed it with some milk.

This day was to become known as The Day the Lights Went Out in the Fourth Grade. The reaction it caused in my innards was enough to get me cast in The Revenge of the Exorcist.

A childhood food memory, from me to you.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Charles Chips! Oh, I miss those.

Also Carnation Breakfast Bars--the ones they made before they "redesigned" them, and then took them away altogether. Damn you, Carnation! Damn you to hell!

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

OH MY GOD, AB. I LOVED the old breakfast bars. Oh, how I loved them.

Then they made them all chewy. Who wants that shit? Not I. I liked the old hard, chalky ones that looked like a piece of wood with chocolate on it. Love.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

My God, AB and Al, I thought I was the only one. I loved those things. Peanut Butter Crunch and Chocolate Chip. Mmmm. They got me through high school.

Every time I see a juicebox, or a Capri-Sun, I'm ten years old and mom packed me a lunch with a PB&J sandwich, goldfish crackers, chips, chocolate chip cookies and one of the aforementioned drinks.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Chocolate chip Breakfast Bars were my VERY favorite. Man, do y'all think we should petition Carnation to bring them back? I'd never eat anything else again.

Well, maybe shrimp po-boys, but that goes without saying.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

See, my favorite was peanut butter crunch. Why did they take them away?!

I also love Baskin Robbins Jamoca Almond Fudge 1) because it is the tastiest and 2) because I am filled with nostalgia for it because I've been eating it since before I was born.

I called it "Mocha John" when I was a kid.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Pudding cups rule.

I miss Capri Suns. And I'm known to still munch on my beloved Combos.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Ah, combos. Possibly the best road trip snack there is.

For my entire 5th grade year I ate nothing but peanut butter and marshmellow fluff sandwiches for lunch. I still get a little nostalgic just looking at marshmellows.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

MY Mom used to fix "Pigs in the Blanket" when I was a little girl. It was my favorite thing and I felt all tingly and happy inside when I saw her baking them! Now, I realize that she was trying to make an interesting meal for herself and her child because that was about all she could afford to fix! She could make a loaf of white bread spread with a little mayo, some vienna sausages and a can of pork and beans magicly turn into a fancy feast! Her baked beans are a staple of my summer menu even today. I haven't made the "Pigs" in so long I had forgotten them. My son and I used to have them but I don't think I ever made them for Al because we had money when she was little. I was working!

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Plus, I just didn't like the whole "pigs" in "blankets" concept. Sometimes the names of things will put me off my feed.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

For me it's peanut butter and honey sandwiches. Or bananas in chocolate syrup.

Ah, the Capri Sun - punching the straw through the bottom. Or blowing it back up and faking out your friend.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

Pigs in a blanket aren't weiners in bread dough in PA. It's basically ground pork wrapped in cabbage and smothered in diced tomatoes - halupkis. Personally, I'm not a fan of either way, but my fiance's family still reminds me every time they are served "Now Robyn, you know that we aren't having hot dogs in biscuit dough, right? Remember? Right?"

The food that makes me feel like a kid is those cookies that come in a big round tin. Some have the little drop of hardened jelly in the middle, some are just sugar cookies with big square crystals of sugar on top, some are oatmeal raisin, but the raisins are tiny and dry, and some are chocolate chips. Each cooky is about 2 bites. Serve with warm kool-aid, and I am suddenly in Vacation Bible School again.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2001

There are only a few things that white bread is good for, and a grilled cheese sandwich is one of them.

-- Anonymous, August 04, 2001

Spaghettios, grilled cheese, and cherry Jello turn me into a 5 year old slobbering idiot every time.

-- Anonymous, August 05, 2001

m.m.m. spaghettios. There's nothing better.

-- Anonymous, August 05, 2001

Oh, my mother used to make me grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, which for some reason seemed very, very exotic. I thought she was so clever for adding ham.

-- Anonymous, August 06, 2001

Well, she was, H. In France those are called "Croque Monsieurs."

Except I bet she didn't yell at you in French to hurry up and decide. Not that that happened to me or anything.

My mother just used to make fried spaghetti. Mmmm.

-- Anonymous, August 06, 2001

Croque-monsieurs (pronounced "croak-messieus" for those of you who learned useful languages) are actually slightly different from grilled ham and cheese sandwiches here. I believe they use Gruyère cheese, and toast the bread first.

-- Anonymous, August 06, 2001

Look at WG with the real facts. I'm just country come to town comparatively.

-- Anonymous, August 06, 2001

AB, I had my last croque-monsieur (in a real live Paris café, served by a real live surly French waiter) in April, so I've got a slight advantage.

-- Anonymous, August 06, 2001

For me it's bananas and chocolate syrup.

I guess it says something that my mom always had to disguise fruit in either jello, chocolate or peanut butter.

-- Anonymous, September 10, 2001

Ben & Jerry's retired my favorite flavor ever (Cool Britannia -- strawberry pieces and fudge-covered shortbread in vanilla ice cream). Damn them. They're not even owned by Ben & Jerry anymore.

-- Anonymous, September 10, 2001

Writergirl,

Just wanted to let you know that I found this under new flavor's at the Ben & Jerry's site.

"S.N.A.F.U. Strawberries Naturally All Fudged Up ™ 2-Twisted!™ Strawberry & Vanilla Ice Creams with Strawberries, Fudge Covered Shortbread Cookies & Fudge & Strawberry Swirls"

Not exactly the same, but pretty close.

-- Anonymous, September 12, 2001

The spaghettio's were great - but only with meatballs or the little hot dog slices. The plain variety for some reason wasn;t as palatable.

Then, when I was a little older, I moved up to the Chef boyardee ABC's and 123's. There was not turning back to the Franco American label after that!

(and speaking of blowing up empty Capri Sun packages, I used to slide them into my shirt sleeves with the straw sticking out through the neck of my shirt, and then blow the pakages up - looked like a great big bicep = )

-- Anonymous, October 13, 2001

My mom's pigs-in-a-blanket were halved hot dogs, velveeta sliced thin and crescent rolls. It's my birthday today and I'd eat a whole raft of them if I could get someone to make 'em for me, just because of the "comfort food" and "warm-fuzzy" factors involved.

And I don't really LIKE them all that much, to be honest. It's pure nostalgia.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001

It's L_L! Happy Birthday! May pigs in a blanket never let you down.

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

Hot damn! It's L_L!

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

man oh man. I missed L_L !!! that's who I forgot we were missing in the forum.

as for nostalgia food....macaroni salad. I dunno what it is, but reminds me of fourth of july at grandma's...I want some of it actually. potato salad is good too. yeah.

hmm candy - I liked nerds and life saver pops - which aren't really as good as I remember them..feh. life saver swirls are MUCH better and I don't think I had them when I was little.

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

I found this site because I was looking to see if Carnation still made there peanut butter or chocolate chip breakfast bars. I am 6 months pregnant and i cant get the enjoyable childhood memories of eating breakfast bars out of my mind, my mom would buy my sister and i a box for the week and were told to have 1 and only one before school each day, well my sister and i could and did easily go through the whole box as an afterschool snack in a day. I like the suggestion to petition carnation to bring them back, I think my son would love them when he grows up as much as i did!

-- Anonymous, October 20, 2001

Diane,

How I wish they still did. Every time I go to the store, I check. Alas. You'd think they'd get a lot of requests to bring them back.

But I don't want them to bring them back different, like they did once. They were all chewy like those other breakfast bars, and they sucked. Not the same.

Peanut Butter Crunch, forevah.

-- Anonymous, October 21, 2001

If there ever was a petition to sign...I'd sign it. I used to eat a box of Breakfast Bars a day! I luved 'em, they had those balls or chunks of something randomly throughout the bar. Why oh Why would they take those away?? The new ones make my stomach hurt anyway....n' their gross. -MM

-- Anonymous, December 13, 2001

I miss Peanut Buttter Crunch Breakfast Bars. I called Nestle and they said that they were discontinued a couple of years ago. If you agree with me please call (800) 225-2270 and choose option 1. They will transfer you to someone that will take your request to have Breakfst Bars put back on the market.

-- Anonymous, December 28, 2001

Wah! Peanut butter/chocolate chip Breakfast Bars were the best. I am calling that number right now.

-- Anonymous, December 28, 2001

Man, I loved those chocolate chip breakfast bars. I am going to email Nestle USA to tell them to bring them back. You can go to their consumer web site and submit feedback, so I encourage anyone who reads this to do that. I want them back!

On a related note, does anyone remember the breakfast bars (from back in the 70s) that were kind of like a brownie, but were specifically intended for breakfast. I loved those things too, but I don't know who made them.

-- Anonymous, December 30, 2001

I LOVED the original Carnation Breakfast Bars. The peanut butter ones were my favorite, but chocolate chip was great too. I loved their crumbly-crunchy texture. I was so disappointed when they turned "chewy" -- no wonder people stopped buying them.

I promise to call the number to request the return of the original recipe. In the meantime, this recipe looks promising, for those who like to cook: http://www.e-cookbooks.net/recipes/1213.htm

As for the "brownie-like" breakfast bars, I remember them too. They were so good. I think they were called General Mills Breakfast Squares, but I'm not sure. The only flavor I remember was chocolate. Were there any others? I remember them being layered, a bit dry, not too sweet.

-- Anonymous, February 17, 2002

Just for a minute, if we could go back to the Pudding issue. For months now, I have been asking around to see if anyone remembers a pudding treat from my childhood. I even asked my mother, who used to buy the damn things and she does not even remember. Does ANYONE remember pudding in a pouch? The pouch was almost like a Capri Sun pouch but the top was perforated and you would squeeze the pudding into your mouth. Please, please someone confirm that I am not crazy and that you remember this phenomenom!

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2002

Man, Dawn... I hope you dreamed that, because that is about the grossest thing I've ever heard of.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2002

I'm with Al. That sounds just so...wrong. Not to mention a mess just waiting to happen. I can just see my Mom taking one look at something like that in the grocery store, visualizing the annoying pudding stains they would create, and snorting heartily before moving on very quickly to the cereal aisle.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2002

"Annoying pudding stains" is the title of my next album.

Dawn, I don't recall those disgusting-sounding things, either, but I can tell you that Mad Mad loves these yogurt things that work on what is probably the same principle. I think they're called "Gogurt." It's pretty gross, but she likes them.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2002

Truly, I swear, they were not gross when I was a child. But, oh my god, the comparison of my pudding pouches to the Gogurt, which the sight of makes me Gogag, is enough to make me think that maybe I did dream them up. Or, maybe, there was another food in a pouch from my childhood and I just think that it was pudding. Sigh...I swear...I am not a food freak. Food freaks are the ones that like that drinkable yogurt...even more Gogagable then the Gogurt!

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2002

Drinkable yogurt? It's called milk. Why does everything have to be all flavored like ass and thick and nasty? Why can't we just eat yogurt with a spoon? I mean it.

Then again, like the Gogurt and the Yo-Baby (yogurt for infants. For real.), if it makes kids want to eat dairy for strong bones, so they can be gymnasts, or break fewer arms or beat up other kids, I'm okay with it. Same reason I approve of the Harry Potter (heh, I typed "pooter" twice) merchandising ad nauseam: if it's making children read, I'm for it.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2002

PG, I am all for kids with stronger bones but there is something about drinkable yogurt that is so think and goopy that I just cannot deal. Listen to me, Miss Pudding Pouch dissing drinkable yogurt, what a maroon I am.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2002

The maroon meant thick, not think.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2002

Dawn, given previous posts, I expected your color to be more fire- engine red than maroon.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2002

Truthfully, it is more Maryland Terrapin Red then anything. Ooops, wrong thread...sorry!

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2002

I'm still giggling over Harry Pooter. Ha! So much love, PG.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2002

Yogurt as a drink is fairly standard in France -- I think it's called Yop, and you can find it in any Quick, Quick being the most unpalatable ripoff of McDonald's ever. If the author had been French, Fast Food Nation would have been called La Nation Quick, and the first chapter would have been titled, "Why Mayo and Limp Hamburgers Should Never, Ever Mix."

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2002

My mom used to get this stuff from the health food store called Kefir and it was basically drinkable yogurt. (She was a health food fanatic in the 70s. The drinkable yogurt took me back. Oh, the stories. The vitamins she used to pump into us. . .)

That Gogurt stuff is full of sugar. I won't buy it for my kid. My husband bought it when I on a business trip and my son loved it. Naturally.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2002

hello how are you and how do you do you'll feel right at home in a moment or two. ya thats right you'll feel right at home in a moment or two. listen to me i am talking to you that you'll feel right at home in a moment or two....write me back when you can......................sincerly katie

p.s. love you'll p.s.s. this is my other e-mail address wwwhotnetcom2@neopets.com

-- Anonymous, March 01, 2002

that was just bizarre.

-- Anonymous, March 05, 2002

Hi, anyone found something similar to those breakfast bars yet? I have been looking all over. I hear you can buy the carnation ones in canada. I am thinking of finding someone who lives there and sending them the money to ship them to me sort of e-bay grocerying :) If anyone has found a supplier of them or something that tastes like it I would be extatic. I am 6mo pregnant and craving them. THANKS!

-- Anonymous, March 09, 2002

found this recipe on web...haven't tried it...hope it's good...loved those old Breakfast food bars by Carnation

Carnation Breakfast Bars

1 Cup Spanish Peanuts (husked) 1 Cup Quaker Old Fashoned Oats 1 Cup Rice Krispies (crushed) 1/2 Cup Miniature Chocolate Chips 1/8 Cup Light Brown Sugar 1/3 Cup Light Karo Corn Syrup 12 oz. Milk Chocolate Measure 1 Cup oats and arrange in a single layer in shallow pan. Bake at 350F for about 10 - 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Crush Peanuts till medium course.(Be careful not to make peanut butter.) Crush Rice Krispies

Add all dry ingredients in large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Add Karo Syrup and mix again. Should be course texture. Line a square cookie sheet with wax paper. Place mixture in a heap on wax paper and using a flat spatula, pack mixture VERY FIRMLY to about 1 inch thick. Shape into "candy bars". Let the bars dry on counter for about one hour until set.

Melt 12 Oz. Milk Chocolate and cover bars. Refrigerate for about an hour or until chocolate is firm. Flip bars over and cover underside and refrigerate again until firm. store in plastic bags.

-- Anonymous, March 15, 2002

The Nestlé consumer services number is 1-800-225-2270. Someone might call and ask what happened to the breakfast bars.

-- Anonymous, March 15, 2002

I want to know what happened to pudding pops that Bill Cosby used to do the commercials for. Does anyone know where they sell them anymore? The box had chocolate, vanilla, and a twist. They were excellent! All my friends want them back.

estieber@cc.edu (milwaukee, wi)

-- Anonymous, April 03, 2002

Peter! hey Peter! It's me Ronda, we shared Pudding Pops Man!

(ok ok it was funny to me)

-- Anonymous, April 03, 2002

Carnation Breakfast Bars - it's so funny how so many people have searched for that and ended up here. I want them back too and if anyone finds them, in Canada or WHEREEVER please email me - vrlennon@aol.com And if anyone has attempted the recipe posted let us know how it was! Pudding Pops were my other favorite - remember how they would have that thin clear coating of ice on the outside and the soft creamy like pudding was inside? "GOOD THINGS NEVER LAST" Do they?

-- Anonymous, April 12, 2002

CARNATION BREAKFAST BARS!!!! AAARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!! WHY DID THEY STOP MAKING THEM!!!! I miss them sooooo much....PEANUT BUTTER/CHOCOLATE CHIP!!! I loved them soooo much that in grade school I used to eat a whole box every day after school...and when I didn't have any money (which was most days), I would shoplift them!!! I could slip a box in my coat pretty easy...MAN! I just had to have them...and when I heard they quit making them I ran all around town (St. Louis) and bought all that I could find...11 cases...but that only lasted me about a year :b

let me know if anyone finds them anywhere... 'm gonna go home and try the recipe TONIGHT! I'll report back tomorrow.

oh, yeah, pudding pops rocked, too!

-- Anonymous, April 22, 2002

Wow -- I didn't realize there was such a movement to bring back the Carnation breakfast bar! Between first grade and sixth grade I bet I ate over a thousand of those things. I was really disappointed when they turned chewy, too. My favorite was the peanut butter and chocolate chip kind, but that got hard to find after awhile and I had to settle for just the plain chocolate chip.

My girlfriend eats some kind of expensive women's energy bar called "Luna" or something like that. There's a chocolate chip flavor that tastes *almost* exactly like the old breakast bars did! They're like nearly $2 each though...but it's the closest thing I've found yet.

Tim Armstrong Wilmington, NC

-- Anonymous, May 03, 2002

Peanut Butter/Chocalate Chip Breakfast Bars!!! Yum! I went through college on those! It's been probably 10 years since they went to the "soft bar" and I'm still angry!!! Bring back the crunchy bars!

-- Anonymous, May 27, 2002

Carnation breakfast bars made the world go round.. I lived on those. Every morning a bar and a big glass of milk. Whoever is in charge of discontinuing items for Nestle is clueless and a moron for getting rid of the breakfast bars.. I want them back!!!!!!

-- Anonymous, June 04, 2002

My girlfriend eats some kind of expensive women's energy bar called "Luna" or something like that. There's a chocolate chip flavor that tastes *almost* exactly like the old breakast bars did! They're like nearly $2 each though...but it's the closest thing I've found yet.

I don't know if my favorite is the one that tastes like the Carnation Breakfast Bar, but I lovvvvvvve the Lunas. My favorite is the Chocolate Pecan Pie, which is obviously everyone's favorite since it's always sold out. Beats the hell out of those Slimfast sawdust- and-glue concoctions.

-- Anonymous, June 04, 2002

I am always looking for those Carnation Breakfast bars too! Damn those Nestle' people. I also miss those things called Boppers, they were like peanut butter rolled in rice crispies and sold in the granola bar isle. Does anyone else remember these? What about those little cinnamon-sugar donuts that you put in the toaster oven I THINK they were made by Mortons. I also miss Peach Hi-C.

-- Anonymous, June 06, 2002

Hi, sorry, new here. I was drawn here by the Carnation Breakfast bars! I remember both kinds - the cake-like square ones (they came in chocolate, and vanilla and butterscotch, if I remember right, and the vanilla ones had a sort of cinnamon-y frosting) - and the ones afterwards with the crunchy peanuty thing going for them. I loved them both! I found a "feedback" section on the Nestle website at:

http://www.nestlefaq.com/

If there's a massive campaign to bring back both kinds of bars I think it'd take off like wildfire, personally:>

Also, bring back pudding pops! Why on EARTH would they discontinue making those? WHY???

From my searching all over the place - the old Top Secret Recipe boards before those went down, the Hometown Favorites online store where the breakfast bars and pudding pops are listed as wanted but not made, plus a LOT of other web sites that mention these products, you'd think someone in some marketing department somewhere would get a CLUE! LOL!

Anyhow, thanks for letting me know I'm not alone;>

-- Anonymous, June 18, 2002