You Ate What?!

Fun fact: When I got to college, most of my new friends were from the suburbs of Chicago, even though I went to an in-state school about thirty minutes from my hometown.  Anyone that has gone to the University of Iowa will tell you that 70% of the students are from Illinois.  (note - this is probably not factual, but it sure seems realistic).  My new friends quickly pointed out that I ate "weird" things, that apparently didn't exist where they came from.  Today, I'm linking up with Amanda and her co-host, Anne to tell you about some of this food in the "Tell Me About Your Town" link-up!

Of course, the beauty of Pinterest helped us all learn about different foods we might not have known about before, so I'm guessing that most of these won't be new for any of you.

Puppy Chow.  Oh how I love this combination of crunchy rice cereal, peanut butter, chocolate, and powdered sugar all kept together by too much butter.  When I first introduced this to my roommates, they were amazed and requested it at least once a week. Of course, it now has delicious variations such as cake batter, cookies and cream and samoa. 

Maid-Rites.  Otherwise known as "loose-meat sandwiches".  Have you had one?  It's like a sloppy joe, without the sauce.  I would always get the "cheese-rite", which is deliciously (and chemically) made with the orange, nacho cheese.  Here is a recipe to make one at home!

Tator Tot Hot Dish.  I'll be honest here, "hot dish" was a term that I didn't know until I moved to Minnesota.  Hot Dish = Casserole.  A tator tot hot dish is ground beef, cream of mushroom soup, mixed vegetables and of course, tator tots.  There are variations, but it almost always has those four ingredients.  (Recipe here). 

Corn on the Cob and Pork Chops.  This one is not uncommon, but the fact that it is so common where I grew up deems it special.  Iowa is known for our sweet corn - and buying it from the back of a truck on the side of the road is completely normal.  The other thing Iowa is really good at?  Pork.  A meal of a grilled Iowa chop and corn on the cob is completely normal and frequent in the summer months.

There were a few items that were "Meagan and her sister-isms", but they deserve an honorable mention as well:  Tacos with ketchup, peanut butter and butter sandwiches, "special sandwiches" (tuna and cheese whiz on an english muffin - gag), and ice cream with jelly.  Maybe we were just weird kids - which is entirely possible. :)

This topic fascinates me - please tell me if you had ever had these things before Pinterest shared them with the world?  What is unique to your region?