My mom wasn't the best cook, and I grew up in the late 1970's and 1980's, so canned/frozen/microwave food was all the rage during much of my childhood. I do remember one microwave dish she made from the recipe book that came with the microwave that was pretty good. Chicken with green peppers and cashews. I used to love to make a dolled up version of it in my wok until we discovered one of my kids had a nut allergy and we had to banish cashews from the house. But it was pretty good!

Not my mom, but my college roommate's mom is from Puerto Rico and her pork chops with rice and beans are always so good. She still makes them anytime I come to visit.

MMMMMM.
Christmas morning cinnamon rolls.
Mushroom beef stroganoff
blueberry pie
strawberry rhubarb pie
cranberry bread
my dad's
indian food (not sure what it was or even if it was really indian but it had curry and cauliflower)
clams

"Mexican Chicken"

Old El Paso Cheesy Mexican rice, made according to box instructions (2 boxes)
1 can Lance Cheddar Cheese dip
1 8 oz package of sour cream
Boiled and shredded chicken

Mix it all up, bake at 350 til bubbly. I loved this meal best out of anything she ever made. But I also loved (and still love) her pot roast and beef tips.

Cheese and spinach soufflé. I had a little parrot when I was growing up, and on soufflé nights, he was allowed to eat at the table with us, because he loved it too. The dish was fantastic, but having the bird at the table made it even more special.

My mom was not much of a cook but I would like to share my experience with my dad.

He retire when I was 14 and he was a great cook. He said the hardest part was picking the recipe. So I would find a recipe and put it on the counter in the am and he would have it ready that night.

My favorite thing was he made Italian cold cut subs for my school lunch.

This is a great topic. Just thinking about my mom's chicken parmesan evokes snapshots of all kinds of great sounds and images from that kitchen..the sizzle of the chicken as it hit the frying pan, the gooey cheese that stretched as she cut a piece. OMG it was deeelish. And then sandwiches for lunch the next day at school.

My mom was and still is a fantastic cook, but that chicken was hands down the best of my childhood dinners.

This is a great topic!
I always loved it when my mom would wake up a little early and make oatmeal cookies for us to have for breakfast as a special treat. Waking up on a cold morning on a school day to the smell of oatmeal cookies is a favorite memory of mine!

Corned beef. Not like Irish corned beef and cabbage but with brown sugar and pineapple, like how you would do a baked ham. Boiled for a while and finished off in the oven.

I know it sounds gross, but I also used to love her cream cheese and olive sandwiches. Cream cheese and green olives with pimentos in the food processor then spread on a sandwich. Although at some point I had her stop putting them in my lunch because the other kids thought it was weird.

My mom is German, so lots of great traditional German foods. Sauerbraten, soups, lots of things with cabbage. Frigadelen (sp?)-basically fried hamburgers. I really need to get some of those recipes.

She also made what she called "cowboy dinner" which was basically really crappy chili, but I loved it! Canned baked beans, ground beef, frozen corn and a hint of chili powder.

Sounds awful, but a childhood staple: arm steak wit onions and cream of mushroom soup, served with rice. Perfect comfort food.

Eggplant Parmesan - with homemade spaghetti sauce. She still makes it whenever I go to visit! I've never learned to make it as well as she does despite looking over her shoulder for 30+ years. I could eat a whole panful! ?

A wonderful "Asian" chicken salad with crispy lettuce, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, scallions, sesame seeds, crunchy quick fried rice noodles (the kind that puff up in about one minute)' cucumber, and sesame-ginger dressing. A lot of her other mainstays were more typical--meatloaf, casseroles, split pea soup with ham, spaghettti-- but that salad was really good.

My mom used to make this dish called "Reuben in a Pan." OMG it was delicious. It was a one skillet dish, pretty much as described by its title. She hasn't made it in years, not since we all left the house.

She also used to make really good German Rouladen, and sesame flank steaks.

Now she and my dad hardly eat any red meat.

to counter balance some of the negativity around here...

what was your favorite dish that your mom made? (preferably main course/dinner foods - not just her chocolate chip cookies!)

I can say that mine made really, really great stuffing. At Thanksgiving but sometimes she also would roast a chicken for Sunday dinner and make stuffing with it.

Much of what she made was awful, but her stuffing was great!