A Traditional Meal
Before 1971, the traditional meal in the United States consisted of a meat, a starch, and a vegetable. In the 1950's this was commonly seen as meatloaf, beef roast, pork roast, pork chops, or ham, paired with a potato of some sort (e.g., mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, potato salad), and an item like corn, peas, beans, or another vegetable that was in season (gDonna).
http://thedinnerconcierge.com/fall-dinner-menus/meatloaf-with-gravy-mashed-potatoes-peas-igrill
But, for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction.
And overall sizes have increased as well.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3343129/Take-portion-sizes-1950s-beat-obesity-say-scientists-warn-portions-20-years-ballooned.html
There really is no such thing as the traditional meal in the US today, as America has incorporated the foods from around the world, and each one is just as common and enjoyed as the others on any given night, including among the fast food restaurants (Kittler).
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/10-best-fast-food-restaurants-10-worst?sec=poplifetime&utm_expid=.53hHQ_sIS_GVYl9TPM4psw.2&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
Courses To Make A Meal
Staying home for dinner is typically different than going out to dinner. At home, most Americans eat all of the parts of their meal at the same time, but when dining out, other than at fast-food-style restaurants, there is usually bread, followed by an appetizer, then soup and/or salad, of course the main entree, and then the meal is finished off with dessert.
http://beingthesecretingredient.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-tisket-tasket-bread-and-butter-basket.html
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/hearty-mexican-chicken-soup-121343.aspx
|
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/sausage-stuffed-mushrooms-recipe-1940639
https://recipes.heart.org/recipes/1128/mediterranean-salad
|
Meal Cycles
As explained by Helen Veit, an instructor at Michigan State University, "in the 18th and early 19th centuries, 'Americans regularly ate a light supper as their evening meal because they were eating dinner - the biggest meal of the day - around noon.' The main reason this started to change 'was that more Americans were working outside of the home and farm, so they couldn't readily return home to cook and eat in the middle of the day.' As for a fourth meal, some Americans 'did eat a separate meal first thing in the morning, when they would have quickly eaten cold leftovers before doing a few hours of work, only sitting down later in the morning to a larger, hot breakfast'" (NPR).
We now see Americans are eating more and more of their meals away from home and a lot of the food consumed at home isn't considered a home-cooked meal, but instead are "ready-to-eat" foods that require little time on the consumer's part (Smith).
We now see Americans are eating more and more of their meals away from home and a lot of the food consumed at home isn't considered a home-cooked meal, but instead are "ready-to-eat" foods that require little time on the consumer's part (Smith).
https://manlyparkkitchen.co.nz/about/