# Stove Top \[stuffing\] instead of potatoes! How common were potatoes?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 8, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562 "2011-12-08T22:41:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![toodlepip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@toodlepip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toodlepip)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/61 "2011-12-09T17:27:09Z")
Growing up in the 70s/80s, we had boiled potatoes at least five times a week. Pasta and rice were quite adventurous. My great uncle thought spaghetti was animal food. Now we might have boiled potatoes once or twice a week. It’s one of the big changes to people’s daily diets I’ve seen since I was a kid. Back then, proper dinner meant meat or fish with potatoes and veg. Lunch was a sandwich and a piece of fruit. Kids drank milk, a LOT of milk, with every meal. Families with children went through staggering amounts of milk every day. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/62 "2011-12-09T17:54:11Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > My parents (in Saskatchewan, Canada) grew potatoes in their garden in the city, and they grow potatoes in their garden at their cottage. In addition, I had two sets of grandparents who grew more potatoes than they could eat and who would give us some. > > So during potato season (i.e. summer, fall and part of the winter), we would have potatoes for supper probably 5-6 times a week. Almost always boiled. > > Now I almost never eat potatoes at home. don’t let a boiled tater childhood put you off spuds. there are tater types that are very good baked. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/63 "2011-12-09T18:13:05Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Another vote. Back in the days of the Stove Top Stuffing rebellion I’d say potatoes in one form or another were at least on the menu twice a week. I just thank Og that those fracking nasty instant Potatoes Au Rotten didn’t take the lead. We called them Potatoes Augh Rotten! So we mostly had free-range potatoes. Or praties, as Mom learned from my late father’s family… Occasionally, rice or noodles would substitute. (Not pasta; this was before the invention of pasta. Except for Chef Boy-Ar-Dee; in the box, not the can.) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/64 "2011-12-09T18:15:57Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > don’t let a boiled tater childhood put you off spuds. > > there are tater types that are very good baked. I actually quite like potatoes (boiled or not), but now they’re an occasional treat rather than a staple. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/65 "2011-12-09T18:59:04Z")
My mom lives in Idaho. I heard a rumor that they might grow these so-called “potatoes,” and that you may be able to buy them if you search around. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/66 "2011-12-09T20:07:00Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > My whole family, from generations back, are from coastal southern Georgia. We ate rice and grits at most meals, and potatoes were far less common (born 1969, for reference.) My stepdad is from West Virginia, and even though he has lived in SE Georgia for 40 years now, he doesn’t think it’s a proper meal unless potatoes are on the table. Back in the day, though, when everyone was a “locavore,” you’d have served and eaten what was cheap and available. Potatoes are hard to store in areas like this, with lots of hot humid weather and no root cellars. Back when my food mostly came straight from the farm, potatoes were very seasonal: late spring and autumn. > > (And Stove Top? Ick. That’s what people eat when they’re improvident enough not to save their stale bread to make homemade dressing /stuffing!) This. Grew up in Georgia myself, albeit Atlanta rather than the coastal southern part of the state. We had rice or corn with dinner far more than we had potatoes. Born in 1951. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/67 "2011-12-09T20:12:57Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > My “family” (that is, my single mother) didn’t “serve” jack shit, ever. I heated up TV dinners for supper, or had canned soup, or canned refried beans, or failing that, I ate breakfast cereal for dinner. Always by myself as my mom ate her meals in her room with the door closed. Your TV dinners never contained potatoes? Granted, I have very limited experiences with TV dinners, and have consumed probably five in my entire life, but it was my understanding that potatoes and some meat-like substance is all TV dinners were. You get a slab of grey colored meat covered in gravy, a hunk of goo that supposed to be mashed potatoes, and then maybe corn or something. In answer to your question, I almost never ate potatoes growing up. The Central American family served rice as the starch nearly everyday. I say nearly only because I’m sure there must have been an exception at some point, even though I can’t recall one. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/68 "2011-12-09T20:28:41Z")
Potatoes, usually baked or mashed, were my family’s favorite dinnertime starch of choice. I still like potatoes but don’t eat them as often as I did growing up. I hated Stove Top Stuffing as a kid. For one thing, it’s flavor packet went very heavy on the onions and celery–two of my least favorite vegetables. Also, it’s always tasted too salty and processed to me. I like stuffing better now but I prefer homemade. If I have to go with a mix, my first choice is [Mrs. Cubbison’s](http://www.mrscubbisons.com/products/stuffings.php). Stove Top is tolerable in a pinch and in occasional small doses. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/69 "2011-12-09T20:37:03Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Are you a vegetarian? Yes, 25 years and counting ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/70 "2011-12-09T20:42:02Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Your TV dinners never contained potatoes? Granted, I have very limited experiences with TV dinners, and have consumed probably five in my entire life, but it was my understanding that potatoes and some meat-like substance is all TV dinners were. You get a slab of grey colored meat covered in gravy, a hunk of goo that supposed to be mashed potatoes, and then maybe corn or something. > > In answer to your question, I almost never ate potatoes growing up. The Central American family served rice as the starch nearly everyday. I say nearly only because I’m sure there must have been an exception at some point, even though I can’t recall one. It was usually something like a Stouffers french bread pizza or something like that rather than a multi course meal. Sometimes I had those, though..don’t remember what was in them. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/71 "2011-12-09T22:55:55Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > My reaction to the original Stovetop ad was “What could be better than potatoes?” We had them with every dinner, usually baked or mashed, with French fries when we ate out. Pretty close to my reaction, which was “Stuffing instead of potatoes? Count me out!” I love potatoes, but I do not like stuffing. Not even home made, let alone Stovetop. And to answer the OP, we have potatoes pretty frequently. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/72 "2011-12-09T23:29:36Z")
I’d guess that when I was growing up (born in 1980, midwestern) we had rice 2x a week, pasta 1x a week, potatoes 3x a week, and went out once. And the “boughten” usage is one I picked up from the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, I think. Though I can use it here in the midwest and no one has ever commented on it. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/73 "2011-12-09T23:42:57Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Yes, I’m familiar with the phrase “meat and potatoes kind of guy,” to whom a meal consists, almost by definition, of meat and potatoes (and perhaps other items as well, like a vegetable and a dessert). This is true in much Middle American home cooking, as well as being the basic meal offered in many restaurants, including steakhouses (steak & baked potato) and fast food places (burger & fries). If it wouldn’t kill me I’d eat meat and potatoes every day. When I grew up we’d have potato-and-venison hash for breakfast and meat and potatoes for dinner. I’m pretty sure we had a lot of stove top too. I don’t see why we can’t have them both at once! ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/74 "2011-12-10T00:38:13Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Yes, 25 years and counting You poor thing. Thats like a 175 in carnivore years. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/75 "2011-12-10T00:55:16Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > You poor thing. Thats like a 175 in carnivore years. 🙂 Wow so I’ve outlived everyone! I don’t feel that I am missing anything being a vegetarian. Oh and I can’t eat stove top because it has chicken broth in it. I eat propitiate farm. ---
**Author:** ![Registered\_at\_Last](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc79bd/32.png) [@Registered\_at\_Last](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Registered_at_Last)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/76 "2011-12-10T01:17:06Z")
Ontario born in mid-60s to mother of Irish descent and English born father. I concur with potatoes 5-7 times a week and spaghetti, macaroni , egg noodles or rice taking up the slack. Usually mashed, sometimes boiled and rarely baked (and even more rarely chips\* when we had fish & chips as a treat.) I had a friend who ALWAYS had potatoes, even if the meal included pasta or rice. > [@Sattua](#): > > And the “boughten” usage is one I picked up from the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, I think. Though I can use it here in the midwest and no one has ever commented on it. I ran into “boughten bread” from my rural Nova Scotian in-laws. - french fries .. not crisps ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/77 "2011-12-10T01:40:30Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > My “family” (that is, my single mother) didn’t “serve” jack shit, ever. I heated up TV dinners for supper, or had canned soup, or canned refried beans, or failing that, I ate breakfast cereal for dinner. Always by myself as my mom ate her meals in her room with the door closed. Well, that makes this whole potato-ignorance of yours even stranger. About 90% of TV Dinners have mashed potatoes as a side dish. ---
**Author:** ![bathsheba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@bathsheba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bathsheba)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/78 "2011-12-10T10:10:21Z")
Married to an Englishman. It’s not a meal if it doesn’t include potatoes. My MIL will look hard done by and complain that she is being short-changed if she doesn’t get enough potato on her plate at a restaurant. I could understand if your salmon steak was a bit wee but really, I don’t think they are trying to save money by cutting back on the potato… I don’t like potato. This makes dinner in our house a warzone. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/79 "2011-12-10T14:32:39Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Well, that makes this whole potato-ignorance of yours even stranger. About 90% of TV Dinners have mashed potatoes as a side dish. for a person that thinks there is no bad way to have spuds that was pushing it. lots of pepper made TV Dinners swallowable. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562/80 "2011-12-10T14:40:04Z")
Growing up? In the Northeast? Potatoes, baked, mashed, boiled, fried - 5 days a week. Unless it was spaghetti or pizza, there were usually some form of potatoes alongside the meatloaf, pot roast, or chicken. I’ve only had Stovetop Stuffing maybe a dozen times in my life, it’s pretty vile, but I’ll take a small spoonful with the turkey. Truly, I didn’t know any families who never had potatoes with meals. I would have thought they were some kind of health freaks, hungry all the time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stove-top-stuffing-instead-of-potatoes-how-common-were-potatoes/605562.md?page=5)