Things from my childhood

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I made a comment last week to Kyle about how the 4th of July and watermelon always make me think of Pollyanna.  He didn’t really respond and then a few minutes later mentioned he didn’t know who or what I was talking about.  When I said it was a movie, he claimed he’d never seen it.  [What!?!?]

Growing up, Pollyanna was pretty high in the rotation at our household.  Along with The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, The Music Man, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The King and I, and Fiddler on the Roof.

So now that I think about it, that’s actually a fairly odd assortment of movies.  I mean, Julie Andrews is wonderful, so those make sense, but Bedknobs and Broomsticks is seriously weird.

This collection also explains why Kyle thinks my family is overly (read: obnoxiously) musical.  Every time I sing a song from my childhood (that I assume is a universally well known song) he gives me a strange look.  Often they are songs from Brownies and/or Girl Scouts, so I don’t expect him to know those.  But there are lots of educational songs too…he calls them “Dieden specials”.  I’m going to start writing them down to take a poll.  I really don’t think my family made them (all) up!

Anyway, please tell me other people grew up on Pollyanna and the likes??  Please?

Another thing I loved when I was younger (but probably old enough to know better) was Spaghetti-O’s.  It makes me cringe thinking about it now, but I loved the stuff.  My mom was very picky about what we could eat growing up, and for some reason this was one of the things that slid under the radar.  And I had it pretty often.  [Truly a bizarre situation given the fact that we couldn’t have sugar cereal, or processed lunchables, or fruit roll ups, or sun chips or any of those delightfully horrible things all my friends had]

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So maybe you can understand why when I saw this at Whole Foods the other day and HAD to get it.  Usually impulse buys like this get lost in the back of the pantry, only to be found when I next move, but I actually ate them a few days after buying them.

Pasta rings in tomato sauce don’t sound nearly as hideous as the Campbell’s version.  They’re organic for crying out loud!  That counts for something.

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I had two bowls full (the entire can) for lunch, with leftover grilled corn on the side.

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After lunch I went on a crazy long walk but by the time I realized I had overdone it I was still miles from the casa.  I decided to take the attention off my sore feet with some Menchie’s.  I’ve never been so into fro-yo shops, but during the summer months it’s a pretty awesome solution to the heat.  I was hoping they’d have the peach flavor again, but they were out.  🙁

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Instead I got watermelon sorbet and berry tart.  Both really good (and especially fantastic due to their colors).  I’m a pink lover.

For dinner I was craving a sandwich, so I went with a tempeh favorite.

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Avocado, WF tempeh salad, lettuce & tomato on toasted bread.

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I adore this salad.

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I had a bowl of peas on the side to round out the meal.

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But I was still hungry afterwards, so I made another open-faced version of the sandwich.  Minus half the ingreds.

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And then finished off the pretzels, too.

That walk really worked up an appetite!

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For dessert I had a few oranges.  We got this 10 pound bag at Whole Foods for $6 so I expect there will be a lot of oranges in my future.

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Comments (44)

  1. Katie @ Peace Love & Oats

    Haha I saw Mary Poppins and Sound of Music as a kid out of those you listed and loved them, but never saw the others. And I used to LOVE spagetti-o’s!

  2. Gabby

    WOw we clearly had really similar childhoods! Those movies were all on regular rotation around here! I could probably still recite most of them! Don’t worry, I wouldn’t look at you like you’re crazy.

    I also had really similar rules with food- no sugary cereals or snacks, BUT pasta in a can was fine lol. I remember finding some gluten-free organic canned pasta a while back and I had to buy it too. It was so delicious 🙂

  3. Kate

    I always remember the layer cake she eats in Pollyanna – the one at the festival/carnival/whatever it was 🙂

  4. Jess

    OMG, yes!! Sound of Music. Add to this, Moulin Rouge, Drumline, Remember the Titans, How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days and every single episode of Sex and the City. Yes, that about covers all of our college comfort movies. (Did I miss any?!?!)

    P.S. Of course you ate the entire can of spaghetti o’s. Good girl.

    xoxo

  5. Shana

    I really, really want your metabolism! So much awesome food!

  6. Linds P @ BarefootVeggieEater

    I asked my husband if he’d ever seen Pollyanna and he said “no,” so I made him sit down at my mother’s while we were there and watch it. Like literately 2 minutes before IT happens, Mom comes into the living room and goes “Oh has she ___________ yet?” ……………… I could have cried… hahahah!

  7. Irina @ Chocolatea Time

    Haha I read Pollyanna but haven’t seen the movie. In our house we often watched The Sound of Music and re-runs of I Love Lucy (still my mom’s favorite!). And I must admit that spaghettios and beefaroni (ewww) were my go-to after-school meals for many many years :/

  8. theresa @ a spoonful of sunshine

    The Sound of Music, Bedknobs & Broomsticks, and Mary Poppins were some of my childhood staples as well. And I think it is totally socially acceptable to sing songs from them out loud, they are classics!

  9. lynn @ the actor's diet

    this is so crazy – i was just talking about spaghettios with my husband last night? i used to love the stuff…

  10. Haley

    I watched every single one of those movies growing up! To this day I love ‘old’ movies – I’ll take TCM over HBO any day. My favorite moment in The King and I is when she sits down and that huge dress just billows out around her!

    Have you seen Thoroughly Modern Millie – best Julie Andrews movie ever!!

  11. Sara @ sarasmiles

    All of those movies remind me of my childhood! Pollyanna, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and Mary Poppins were definitely some of my favorites. Pippy Longstockings was another good one. I’m pretty sure that if I watched Bedknobs now, I would be like what is this? Very wierd…

    I wish my mom was more strict about what we ate. Pringles, Oreo’s and Cap’n Crunch were staples. That being said, I had to learn nutrition on my own, which would definitel be something I enforced with my own children

  12. Teresa

    I have to confess, I too, LOVED spaghetti-o’s!!! They were a comfort food; so tasty! I found a recipe on VegWeb last year that I made and enjoyed, but I never made it again. May have to do that again sometime… 🙂

  13. Jill in Chicago

    Yes to “Pollyanna” and also “The Parent Trap” (Hayley Mills was big in our house.) I also recently made a reference to “The Flight of the Navigator” and was shocked when none of my friends or boyfriend knew what I was talking about. Anyone else remember that one? A young Sarah Jessica Parker played his nurse!

  14. Lisa

    That sandwich looks so so delicious!! I’ve actually never seen Pollyanna or the Sound of Music. I must have been a lame child. I did love Bedknobs and Broomsticks! I was never a fan of those spaghetti O’s, but I loved those stupid lunchable things. Oh god, those things are pretty gross now that I look back.

  15. Courtney

    I swear my mom had to have been friends with your parents, lol. All of those movies were staples for my sister and I, plus My Fair Lady. I used to LOVE Bedknobs and Broomsticks! I still remember all the songs…ahhhh, the memories 🙂

    Unfortunately, Spaghetti-O’s were NOT allowed in our house, though, so I can’t back you up on that one. I have fond memories of spaghetti squash that my mom grew in the garden and made for dinner though…

    Courtney

  16. Julia

    I just found out there is a Menchie’s three miles from my house! I’d never heard of the place until reading about it on your blog, but cold, vegan dessert so nice right now.

  17. Lou

    West Side Story…. Sound of Music…. Little Shop of Horrors…. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang…. I am a musical nut too, born out of childhood obsession!

    I love huge bowls of peas 🙂

  18. Jessica

    Hungry Hungry Hippie really suits your blog 😛
    Actually if I was able to have what you had today I would probably eat at least three servings of everything, every hour or so xD
    Definitely grew up in a musical family (studying it now!) but never seen Pollyanna or Fiddler on the Roof :'( and I never had Spaghetti-os, (but a whole lot of ramen noodles)
    I love froyo, and am not really picky about where to go (they serve like basically the same flavors anyway) but I gotta say I especially love Menchies JUST because they give out free stickers and spoons xD (I swear I’m not a five year old kid haha)

  19. sarah

    I grew up watching musicals all the time! My husband thinks I’m crazy when I break out in song too. You’re not alone 🙂

    Though, now that I am older and don’t watch musicals very often anymore, I can see why people find them so bizarre. Sound of Music was on the other day and I broke out in laughter when Captain Von Trapp and Maria kiss and confess their love for the first time. They immediately start singing. It’s pretty ridiculous if you’re not into musicals!

  20. Elise (Post author)

    i have a collection of those spoons! i love them 🙂

  21. Elise (Post author)

    i must’ve done something gooooood. haha. so true how silly it is. i was gretel in our 5th/6th grade musical.

  22. Elise (Post author)

    i LIVED on peas in college. canned though. i was an atypical college kid, to say the least. ok, it seems like im atypical all around. but at least there are a lot of musical geeks out there too 🙂

  23. Elise (Post author)

    i think my OCD self just liked all the little compartments. because the actual food in the lunchables werent exactly things i liked.

  24. Elise (Post author)

    yes!! the parent trap. oh man that was an epic one too…haley mills was so great in that. i need to find these on netflix soon!!

  25. Elise (Post author)

    that sounds so great! if you can find the link send it my way…i may have to go browsing on vegweb…

  26. Elise (Post author)

    i know. if you tried to explain the premise to someone (an adult) now, they’d think you were on drugs!!! its very odd that adults (angela landsbury no less!) agreed to do the film.

  27. Elise (Post author)

    i loved that part in the king and i. and a kiddo hiding under the skirt too!!

    never seen modern millie though…ill have to look into it because i love julie andrews. does she sing in it?

  28. Elise (Post author)

    great minds…

  29. Elise (Post author)

    hahaha…beefaroni. that just made me laugh out loud. what marketing people thought of that name!?!? sick.

  30. Elise (Post author)

    no!! so horrible. kyles still in the dark, so im glad you _____ it (not that he reads my blog though, so i think im in the clear).

  31. Elise (Post author)

    frank and beans!!!!!!!!

  32. Elise (Post author)

    yes!! totally remember that. and i will never look at prisms refracting light the same again.

  33. haley

    There is singing and dancing! And her costars are mary tyler moore and carol channing. I promise you will love it so much it will get its own blog post!!

  34. Elise (Post author)

    convinced!!

  35. Caralyn @ glutenfreehappytummy

    i hear ya there! my fam is very musical too — or at least they are because of me! haha…growing up, i was in a bunch of musicals, including the Sound of Music! And yay for frozen yogurt! NYC has a great dairy free froyo spot with banana soft serve, and GF toppers!

  36. Elise (Post author)

    nyc is vegan heaven. plain and simple.

  37. Emily

    Those were some of my favorite movies growing up too! My family was definitely “artsy” so we watched a LOT of movie-musicals.
    As a kid, I actually hated Spaghetti-O’s. I don’t know why but I couldn’t even stand the smell of them and, to this day, the thought still grosses me out. It’s so funny how all of our taste buds differ.
    Now grilled corn, on the other hand, is something I can’t resist!

  38. Laurasplanet

    I’m pretty sure we are part of the 1% of our generation that have seen the king and I. Not to mention all these movies we watched were recorded off the tv – remember the first time we saw the full version of the sound of music at grandma ichinagas?? (I think the only missing scene was the one where gretel drops the tomato at the market – but still a life-changing scene!)

    Poor Marie has seen like none of those movies – ha!

  39. elaine c.

    growing up, my parents would sometimes get random “american” foods for us that they thought we’d like (we strictly ate home-cooked, healthy chinese food). one time we had those canned beef ravioli things. ick. my brother will still go buy a can once in a while. oh and those “kids cuisines” tv dinners. now those, i liked! especially because every meal had a dessert, haha! oh, childhood!

    and i love the big bowl of peas 🙂 i ate a big bowl of roasted corn the other am after work at 0830. the only thing that sounded good!

  40. Elise (Post author)

    i know. she really got the butt of the deal.

    there had to be other parts than the tomato scene…but yeah, thats the only one i can think of off the top of my head. hmmm.

  41. Stacey

    I’ve been reading your blog for a couple of months and I love it!

    I grew up watching those same movies. I recently caught Bedknobs and Broomsticks on TV and I was surprised I was able to still sing along to all of the songs. I still love that movie even tho it is “seriously weird”.

    Some others were Singing in the Rain, My Fair Lady, Grease and Funny Girl.

  42. Caity @ Moi Contre La Vie

    This made me laugh! My brother and I rented Princess Bride, The Neverending Story, and Grease so many times that I think the video guy thought we were insane. But my parents never said a word, I think they were just thrilled that there was a single thing in life the two of us could agree on! 🙂

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