In my lifetime, I’ve had many cooking disasters. I can vividly remember the yellow cake that reminded me of cinder blocks. I cringe thinking of the time I mixed up baking soda and baking powder. On top of all that, the number of times I’ve undercooked vegetables could fill a book.
However, every once in a while, a mistake turns into something fantastic!
Several months ago, I was having one of those days that lends itself to comfort food and all I wanted was my mom’s spinach dip. I stopped at the store on the way home to pick up all the ingredients. Vegetable soup mix – check. Water chestnuts – check. I had everything else at home, so I was on my way! (I’m sure you can see where this is going.)
I got home and started throwing the dip together so it could sit for a few minutes before I tore into it. I mixed the mayo and sour cream, chopped the water chestnuts, threw in the vegetable soup mix, and noticed that something seemed a little off.
I forgot the spinach. I had no spinach for my spinach dip. There was no way in hell I was going back to the store.
Rather than trashing the whole thing, I added a little more sour cream and another seasoning packet, and my dip turned out awesome! Give it a shot at your next get-together and see what people think!
Jennifer’s Spinach-less Spinach Dip
(Based on the Knorr Spinach Dip recipe)
1 container (16 oz.) sour cream
1 cup Hellmann’s® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise
2 packages Knorr® Vegetable recipe mix
1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts, drained and chopped
Stir together and allow to sit as long as you can stand it – at least 1/2 hour. Don’t serve it super-cold.
I’m writing this post fairly late on Tuesday night. This is important to know, because on Tuesday afternoon, I declared that I was NOT going to write today, because it was going to lead to what I affectionately referred to as BWA. (That’s “Bloggging While Annoyed” to those of you who aren’t in my head.)
I was annoyed. I was annoyed at everything. For those of you who don’t know (which really can’t be many people since only people I know read this…), I had some ankle surgery done a few weeks ago. I am SO lucky that I’m already out of pain and feeling pretty good about things! There is just one little inconvenience. I can’t use my right foot. And my left one isn’t that great. And so life is a bunch of little challenges right now. Those of you who know me (which is everyone) have probably figured out that being kept down isn’t something that I deal with well. Today was one of those days.
I wanted to stand up and stretch. A giant almost-back-breaking arms-out grizzly bear kind of stretch! And then I was going to get back to my life. However, that isn’t in the cards right now, and it was driving me crazy. I twisted in my chair. I laid down and tried rolling around a little bit. I could not get that stretch and things just kept getting more and more and MORE annoying. Everything. Trying to get back to work. Not being at home. Being dependent on other people. My dog. The crossword puzzle. Daytime television. Everything. That is when I declared that I was NOT writing, because it would be BWA, and who really wants to hear about that?
Then, something magic happened.
I took a shower. Something that you really don’t need to hear about, but I was even more annoyed because the whole damn thing was a production and I had to sit down to do it.
Hang with me for a sec, and we’ll hop on the train of thought.
I’m annoyed.
I don’t want to be doing this, even though I know I have to be.
This seriously is fantastic shampoo. *SNIFF*
Still annoyed with life, shampoo or not!
Then I started thinking about a message I read on Facebook earlier in the day. I had just gotten in touch with an old friend, and we were discussing what would have happened if we had stayed in the same city instead of my family coming to Nashville. The results were “fantastic abs from giggling so much.” Somehow, my mood changed and I was smiling.
All I could think was that I wanted to share this feeling! This happiness. This bubbly-ness. This giggly-ness. Everyone should feel like this! Typically, my roommate/friend is the one who has to hear about all this, but as I’ve mentioned earlier, I’m recouping elsewhere, so I couldn’t yell down the stairs to her. Plus, I wanted to tell EVERYONE! (And what better way to reach ONES OF PEOPLE than this blog?!!??!!? But how to incorporate this into Eat Green | Life Green? I wasn’t eating, and I just happened to be alive at the time…)
I loved the fact that I was loved. It dawned on me that I make a difference to people – just like everyone else in the world. It dawned on me that I really do, in all non-cheesiness, love my life. For a lot of simple reasons. And I hope that you’ve hung in this post long enough to think about why you love your life and maybe for a second you can get that same feeling!
Since this is a food blog, I love that I cook for my family and friends and that they enjoy it.
Despite the fact that this is a food blog, I love that I have family and friends to cook for.
I love that I get to listen to really good music a lot, and I’m lucky enough to live in a city where I’m surrounded by it.
I love that every summer, once a week, I get to take a little trip down to the farm and pick up my food from the people who harvested it that day. There is always a little extra love in my veggies, and it reminds me to put a little love in my meals.
I love that I have people who will read this all the way through, despite the rambling.
And I love that someone out there is getting great abs reading this, thinking of memories from more years ago than we’d like to count!
Now, take a second and tell me what you love in the comment section. I promise that you’ll feel fantastic after thinking about it, and I guarantee that you’ll come up with more things than you ever thought!
And if you need some help thinking about it, listen one of my favorite songs while you think about it. It’s amazing.
In honor of today’s date (90210), I turned on SoapNet to watch – you guessed it – 90210.
I was instantly brought back to junior high when I would ride my bike over to Dana’s house to watch the show since my house was a 90210-free zone. I felt so sneaky watching it anyway! Not only did I feel sneaky, I felt so grown up and almost, dare I say it, high school (!) and I couldn’t wait for all the adventures that would come my way.
Try as I might, I can’t tie that story to either eating green or living green. You’d think that a show about California would automatically lend itself to both of those things. However, instead of talking about the different types of tacos pescados or a rave about avocados and this avocado pie I’m dying to make, I decided to talk about Thanksgiving.
(In my defense, the episode I’m watching is about Thanksgiving.)
One of the reasons that I love food so much is that it has a magical ability to bring people together. People who typically don’t talk to each other will comment in the break room when someone’s lunch smells particularly good. Total strangers in the grocery store will talk about what to do with an uncommon vegetable (at least in Nashville).
Thanksgiving is a perfect example of people coming together. I look forward to it all year because I love the way my family does it! Very rarely is it just family – there is always an extra plate for someone who needs a place to go. There’s no telling who will wind up at the table! The food we make tends to be very traditional – turkey, stuffing, green beans, sweet potatoes – a very soul soothing meal!
And that, is what food is about. Feeding the soul as well as the stomach.
Leave a comment and tell everyone what your Thanksgiving is like! What’s your favorite dish? And who is your favorite 90210 character?
Filed under: Uncategorized — Eat Green | Live Green @ 3:13 pm
Hey!
Well, this blogging thing is a little more difficult than I thought. I thought, “Sure! I can do this. I have a ton of things to talk about, and I’m really good at the internet, so set up will be no problem!”
I was wrong. All of a sudden I can’t think of a single thing to say, and I can’t work the program to save my life. Bear with me, and I’ll figure out how to add pictures and make this thing look the way I want it to look.
You may or may not know that right now I’m recovering from ankle surgery. I’ve spent the past week and a half laying down. This is next to impossible for me – primarily because you can’t cook lying down! I am getting lots of time to watch Food Network and read Ruth Reichl, so once I’m standing, I’ve got a TON of new recipes to try!
In addition to catching up on watching and reading about cooking, I took a trip to the grocery store this weekend! I’m used to going several times a week, so going to Publix was like visiting an old friend. Of course, not having use of an ankle meant that I had to ride the cart around the store. If you’ve never tried to pilot one of those things, I highly recommend giving it a shot next time you’re at the store! Just be sure you aren’t near any displays, because they are IMPOSSIBLE!
That's right. I drove this.
Aside from just driving around some food, last night I got to chop some food! My sister was cooking dinner, and I helped chop the vegetables. I never thought that I’d be so excited about chopping an onion. 🙂 It is just further proof that vegetables are good for the soul!
Filed under: Uncategorized — Eat Green | Live Green @ 11:19 pm
Hi, and welcome to my blog!
I suppose you’d probably like to hear a little background about me. I’m 31 and I live in the best city in the world – Nashville, TN. I’m lucky enough to have a job I love even though it is in a very male-dominated office/field. After a day with the boys, nothing makes me happier than coming home and spending some girl-time in the kitchen.
Despite being a modern, self-sufficient girl, I consider myself more of a retro cook. I adore old cookbooks, old recipes, and old styles of cooking. Some might call me a hippie. Some might call me a housewife. I just call me Jen.
Follow along, and we’ll make some food, talk about life and have some laughs!
I was instantly brought back to junior high when I would ride my bike over to Dana’s house to watch the show since my house was a 90210-free zone. I felt so sneaky watching it anyway! Not only did I feel sneaky, I felt so grown up and almost, dare I say it, high school (!) and I couldn’t wait for all the adventures that would come my way.
Eat Green | Live Green 