However, today, with my counts at an "almost" normal level, I immediately took off to the market. I haven't made a salad in quite some time and I was determined to do so today. I had a major craving!
Spinach leaves, celery, cucumbers, white radishes, red cherry tomatoes, yellow cherry tomatoes, red pepper, green onions all made for an amazing salad! As I prepped it, I remembered why I don't do so more often . . . it took me an hour-and-a-half to get it ready and it didn't even fill the entire bowl.
One cannot drink the water in China. It just isn't safe to do so. We drink bottled water (delivered in 20-liter bottles) and we boil water quite frequently. When it comes to washing vegetables, we use tap water if the veggies are going to be cooked and bottled water if they are going to be eaten raw.
For the salad, I washed everything but the spinach leaves in bottled water. For the spinach, I used tap water because I needed to get all the dirt off, but then I dried EVERY SINGLE LEAF by hand! I then tore the leaves (wasn't baby spinach) and sliced all the other vegetables. I made my own Italian dressing (3/4 oil, 1/4 cup vinegar, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 3/4 teaspoon sugar, dash of pepper, dash of dry mustard if desired) and voila! Salad was done.
I made spaghetti to go with this "All American meal." Art and the kids had sauce on their noodles (made from lamb meat and homemade sauce), but intense tomato flavored items now give me heartburn. I ate plain noodles with Parmesan cheese on it. I was too lazy to grate the mozzarella cheese for protein.
The kids ate with gusto, with Michael giving the title of today's post: "Mommy, I sure do like it when you are feeling better! I miss your cooking!" Art had no idea I had planned such a meal so when he came home to find it waiting for him, he gave a heartfelt sigh of contentment. "That really hit the spot."
We ate sliced apples for dessert. Life is very, very good! Simple pleasures warm our hearts. When I was able to join the family for lunch out today, Michael also said, "We have a good family life."
Yes, we do.