Years later I found out it was because my parents were running really short of money and [pancakes] was an inexpensive way to feed us kids that also made us happy enough that we didn’t even realize the stress they were under.
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It was boxed macaroni and cheese at my house. In later years my mother wouldn’t eat it because it reminded her of being poor.
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At the risk of starting a “Yeah, we were so poor that ...” contest, boxed mac and cheese would have been a treat in our house at times. In our most desperate periods, we cooked bulk macaroni and mixed it with condensed tomato soup and would have only that for days. We also made milk from huge bags of milk powder and mixed it with water. That stuff was awful. My life is comfortable now, but you never quite forget being poor.
Oh, what the hell...let's just go ahead and engage in a boomer-esque rendition of "We Were So Poor"! Powdered milk...it kept us alive, barely! In our house of 7 kids, we lived on that stuff unless we lived close enough to Grampa's dairy farm. Pro-tip...yes, you can freeze milk; you just need to leave extra headspace. We had a rule that whichever team (we were paired in twos) had dishes that week had to make sure there was a gallon of the powdered milk made and in the fridge for breakfast the next day. Mom would let us use two ice cubes in the rare emergency that the milk had been made late and we had to drink it relatively warm for supper.
We were so poor that when I was 10, we had to live on oatmeal 2x a day for 5 days while we waited for a money order to come from Grandma...the MO was to finance our move back from Phoenix to Michigan. Luckily, school was in session, so we "big kids" got to eat hot lunch at school. I think my little sisters got toast and canned applesauce or peaches for lunch.
I remember big brown boxes with ASDA stamped on the side. The canned beef was the best! There were times when I was making the stew that I had to open another can cos, you know, the cook has to sample her food! Major demerits from Mumsie on those occasions!
I appreciate the simple way I grew up. We were happy and knew there were people in the world that has less than we had.
At the risk of starting a “Yeah, we were so poor that ...” contest, boxed mac and cheese would have been a treat in our house at times. In our most desperate periods, we cooked bulk macaroni and mixed it with condensed tomato soup and would have only that for days. We also made milk from huge bags of milk powder and mixed it with water. That stuff was awful. My life is comfortable now, but you never quite forget being poor.
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Ever have hot dog gravy? It was the ultimate. Way better than milk on stale bread.