I had a wonderful little, probably rather obnoxious, post planned for you about our dinner the other night. I was going to write: “It’s hard not to feel settled in a place when you can serve a dinner salad grown in one’s very own garden.”
And then that lettuce damn near tried to kill me.
I woke up at midnight two days ago feeling rather the opposite of settled and, by morning, I was a full 5 pounds and 5% of my body weight lighter, barely able to stand, and staring down the barrel of 24 hours of straight toddler tantrums.
I pride myself on a rather stubborn streak of self-reliance but yesterday I just couldn’t hack it. I pushed Will around in his stroller for awhile with my head resting on the stroller handle and my eyes closed. I tried to convince him that it would very fun to just let Mama lay on the couch while he played on the floor. Hysterics, screaming and sobbing ensued–Will’s not mine, though I couldn’t blame him. I would have been tempted to throw a fit too if I had only had the energy.
Our part-time housekeeper arrived at 10am and by 10:10, for the first time ever, I handed Will to her and collapsed into bed for a dead-to-the-world desperately needed nap. It was just barely enough to keep me going until Chris came home early so I could sleep for a few more hours. As per med unit instructions, I’m on a strict diet now of oral rehydration powder and brownies (fine, I’m self-medicating with the brownies).
So it turns out that, even when the lettuce comes from our own garden, we don’t get to skip the proper 30 minute Indian bleach bath.
Also, thank goodness for wonderful housekeepers and wonderful husbands. I don’t know how we would have made it through yesterday otherwise.
Lately I’ve been getting the 2nd baby fever (no, no, definitely not pregnant) but if yesterday convinced me of anything it might be that:
a) I’d really forgotten how absolutely miserable I felt during my first trimester with Will; and
b) we might want to wait on baby #2 until Will is old enough to understand phrases like “please don’t jump up and down on Mama’s tummy right now.” Oy.
Hot Pot 
You poor thing! Yikes. Is the 30 min. Indian bleach bath literally a bleach solution you have to use on all produce?!
yup! For things we are cooking we use a different soap-like solution but everything that will be eaten raw gets a bath in diluted clorox!
That’s sort of scary…..
I think the bleach solution sounds scary to people who have never had a parasite or E. coli. In all honesty, it’s no big deal. It’s a very mild solution and you fill a big tub or bowl full of clean water, add a cap full of the solution and let all the produce soak for 30 minutes. Then do a 30 minute clean water rinse. I personally love it because everything in the fridge can then be immediately chopped and ready to cook without having to wash first. AND best yet, we haven’t been sick in Ethiopia because we diligently clean everything, including the eggs. Also, our med unit insists that we can’t eat broccoli, cauliflower, or mushrooms raw. They must be cooked in some way on top of the bleach solution. Apparently no matter how much you bleach these things you can’t get them clean enough to eat raw.
All this is old news for you Dani! I hope you feel better soon. . Being sick with a little one is the worst. Here’s to brownie diets. I love it!
At first I was a little concerned about the bleaching but you’re right, Sara, it’s not a big deal, and much more preferable to the alternative!
Yay for homegrown vegetables!
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