I need to write about the food that we've been eating. One of my biggest concerns is what to make for dinner and how will I cook it. I need to do what Tracey Adams does and plan a menu and buy food for it and then decide each night what we're going to have. We don't get home until 5:45 and then it's almost dark.
We do have a small refrigerator with a small freezer, a rice cooker (with no instructions) , a new toaster oven with nothing to bake with (no pans yet) and a two burner stove that has to be lit before each use and only cooks on high.
We also have the ever-ready wok and some stainless steel pans that are not very thick. Our water is in 5 gallon bottles on a stand like we have in the states. We buy tickets to pay for the water and pay a deposit on the bottles.
The water that comes out of the tap we were told not to drink. We rinse all of our clean dishes in Clorox water and all of our fruits and vegetables also.
Our electricity is "pay forward". You have a card that you have to take somewhere and pay to put time on it. We haven't had to do that yet. You can tell by the meter outside when you're getting low.
The gas man came to our house the first Sunday night we were here and wanted payment for the 2 months that no one lived here. We made a phone call and were told to pay him a few yuan. What if he comes and we don't have enough money to pay him?
We buy our food locally at an open air bazaar place. There are lots of booths that sell everything you need from food to household goods to clothes. Each vendor has their own stall. We don't bargin with them.Yesterday I bought a nightlight. I was so excited! It cost 5 yuan or about $.80.
We haven't tried the food that's sold on the street. It might be OK if they fry it or boil it,but I'm out of Imodean AD so I'll be very careful. There's one vendor that pops and sells sugared popcorn. Yesterday a man was selling whole walnuts.
There's also a small market about 3 blocks away that we go to. You always have to take your own bags so you can't buy more than you can carry! No one speaks English at this market but you can sort'a figure out what's in the packages by their labels. They have a bakery too with the most wonderful looking cakes, but I don't know how long they've been there. Their bread looks good too but it might have bean curd inside. Yuck!
We do buy meat around the corner. There is a place with a freezer that seems to be safe. Dad's new favorite food is fried chicken wings. We have that at least once a week. There are lots of fresh fruits and melons. Watermelon! Dad bought one for $.16. For many of the items we don't have a clue what they are. I thought I was buying squash and it was a cucumber. Dragon fruit is a beautiful pink and green fruit on the outside and the inside is white with little black seeds - like a kiwi.
Our milk comes in little packages that are sold off the shelf. They don't need refrigeration until you open them. They're probably heated so high in processing that there's no nutrition in them. We only use them on our cereal. I don't drink milk anymore, but lots of water.
That's one of my greatest worries. Are we getting enough nutrition? I try to keep our diet varied and always have fruits and vegetables available. As I said - cooking is my biggest trial. Love you . Mom XXOO
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