Grateful: Day 17: 5k Monday group

One of my favorite things living here is the friendships I have made.

 

Every Monday, a group of ladies make a round trip walk to Starbucks and the vegetable market together. This is Sal's and my Monday activity, as we leave around 9:30a and return around 11:45a..just in time for lunch and a nap ( if he doesn't fall asleep in his stroller on the way home first).

 

Instead of calling it what it is--a walk to Starbucks so some of my friends can feed their fix so that we can enjoy a nice warm beverage with friends--it's been dubbed "5k Monday" because that is roughly the round trip distance from our complex to Starbucks and back.

 

We get a lot of walking in around these parts.

 

A lot.

 

Like, every day.

 

 

Walking home from the vegetable markt on a sunny morning

I can't think of a better way to spend our Monday mornings..Exercise, Starbucks and getting vegetables and fruit for the week with friends. 5k Monday ladies, I am so thankful for you all!

Baby Pancakes

With six chompers and one more currently working it's way in, Sal was cleared to start transitioning from purees to soft cooked foods after our most recent pediatrician appointment. And call me crazy, but I got excited about all the things I could start giving him. Visions of soft cooked carrot cubes & green bean pieces, peas, sweet potato & apple chews, shredded chicken and beef danced in my head.

His favorite meal thus far, aside from carrot zucchini oatmeal--he loves oatmeal like his mama-- are the baby pancakes I have been making. I call them baby pancakes, but they could also be considered vegan, I think. I'm no vegan expert, but I think that the absence of any animal products make these vegan. Maybe I should call them vegan baby pancakes--or not.

There's this whole list of foods that most pediatricians will advise parents to steer clear of for the first year, for reasons ranging from allergies to digestion issues to choking hazards. I'm doing my best to abide by the advice of my pediatrician, and keep Sal's diet milk and egg free til he hits that magical one year mark. Apparently egg yolks are okay--but we still haven't tried those. Living half way across the earth from the only health care I really trust is a pretty good deterrent for jumping the gun. Emergency services here are not as--how shall I say???--dependable or efficient. I'm sure that sooner or later we'll have a split chin that's gushing blood on our hands, and we will be forced to experience the local hospital emergency services, but for now, I 'm perfectly happy being cautious.

Anyhow, I've devised a couple of pancake recipes free of EGG and MILK...and bonus--they sneak in vegetables and fruit.

Boo-to the-yeah.

Thought I'd share em.

These are super simple to make and store well in a refrigerated airtight container for breakfasts, etc.  I take one out in the morning, tear it into bite size pieces, and watch Sal devour it.

 

CARROT OATCAKES

1/4 c. pureed carrots
1/4 c. pureed zucchini
1/4 c. Applesauce
1 mashed banana
1/2- 3/4 cup oats
1 tsp Cinnamon ( we love cinnamon!)

Mix together in a bowl. Let sit in the fridge once mixed, for two hours so that the oats soak up the water from the purees. The "batter" will be quite thick.

Spray pan with olive oil.

Heat pan over medium heat.

Spoon in pancake batter to make silver dollar size cakes.

Cook 1-2 minutes per side, or until browned.



PURPLE POTATO PANCAKES

1 cup mashed purple potatoes
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup flour
1 mashed banana
cinamon to taste
optional: chopped blueberries

Mix together in bowl.

Spray pan with olive oil or butter.

Spoon "batter" into silver dollar size cakes ( I had to use the back of a spatula to spread the batter out a bit)

Cook 1-2 minutes per side, or until browned.

Vegetable Market

This morning, Sal and I were itching to get out of the house and get some exercise. Just as I was about to load him up in the baby bjorn and hit the greenbelt for a little sweatfest, I got a text from Donna inviting us to walk with her to the vegetable market.

So, we switched gears, grabbed my wallet and passport and took the stroller instead.

We met up with Donna and walked the few block distance from our gate to the market. We can actually see the market from our balcony, I suppose that would make a good "from the 25th floor" post.

Anyways, after turning off the street, we walked through an inconspicuous dirt parking lot thingy and over the canal and into a  paved area which turned out to be "THE" veggie market. There are no signs for these things in China. No flashy billboards ( which is surprising because the Chinese LOVE their neon lights & bling) or anything. It was seriously an opening through a cement wall, which lead through a dirt lot and into a market area. I never would have known this awesomeness existed just minutes from my home, had she not shown me.

That's the sorta cool thing about China. There are surprises, both good and bad, around every corner. It's a great place for exploring, and for those who like to check out every nook and cranny, you might just find a hidden gem like the vegetable market.

For the folks back home, the best way to describe it is that it is similar to an indoor Farmer's Market.

Only, here, you can bargain--which I did not (I still struggle with their currency and coming up with the correct amount of yuan for my purchases) but still, you CAN.

And I will. In the future.

Beautiful produce

The produce looked great. Some booths looked better than others, but in general, all of the produce looked quite edible. We even found cilantro! For the equivalent of 15 cents for a huge bunch!

Awesome.

The pterodactyl shriek returns. Sal's epic meltdown.

After a half hour or so ( okay, so maybe 15 minutes) Sal had one of his epic meltdowns where he transforms from "lovely baby" to a raging pterodactyl. The ear piercing shrieks just brought more attention to his white little self and I was just dreading waiting for the paparazzi to catch that one.

I beat them to it. Out came my camera and I took a picture of the meltdown, cause, well, I didn't know what else to do. I was hoping he could laugh with me, but he didn't...and so we left.

Our poor jaloppy got a flat today.

 On our way home, we crossed paths with my beloved jaloppy, as featured in one of my "from the 25th floor" posts. And here I thought the motor would be the cause of it's broke down status....Boy was I cynical--it was a  simple flat tire. Just goes to show you, don't judge a book by it's cover. It may look ugly, but it runs like a rusty old lawnmower charm.

Wuxi walks in Wuxi.

And before I forget, we had another cutie joining us for our trip to the market. Wuxi walked almost the entire way! Not too bad for 2 inch legs!

So, now that Sal's napping, it's time for me to get to washing produce and steaming some yams.

Fun stuff.

And great discovery today.

You never know what's just beyond your front doorstep.

Babyfood on a dime

I've been dead set on making my own baby food since before I ever got pregnant. It was homemade babyfood and cloth diapering...those were my "musts" as a mom. I realize that not everybody has the time, patience or desire to do either of the following, but if you only knew how easy it was ( and cheap!) you'd probably try it just to see if I'm lying.

Part of my baby food making is out of necessity right now, so I am super glad it was something I wanted to do long before a move to China was in our future. If baby food making isn't your thing, then I'm sorry, this post will most likely bore the life out of you.

So, first things first, we purchased a blender at Carrefour. There were not many to choose from ( nor are the directions in English) so I went with the one that looked the simplest.

Two buttons. Mince and Crush.

Nice. Easy.

 I can totally run this machine! Another feature I initially liked were the small cups that you could blend single servings into, but after my first batch, I decided that the full blender was the way to go.

Why make just one serving when you can make a zillion and freeze them?

I bought  pears, broccoli and carrots this week.

Here's where living in China makes preparing baby food even more economical. I paid 4.11 RMB (64 cents) for 4 giant carrots, 2.99 RMB (47 cents) for 3 pears and 5.44 RMB (85 cents) for a head of broccoli. I was able to get 20  one ounce servings of carrots, 7 servings of pears, and 10 servings of broccoli from this bounty. The breakdown??

3 cents per serving of carrots

7 cents per serving of pears

9 cents per serving of broccoli

Not bad, right? Compare that to at least $.99 per jar of prepared baby food, and the savings add up quickly.

I thoroughly washed both the carrots and pears, then peeled and rinsed again. I chopped the carrots and sliced the pears into chunks the same way I would if making an apple pie. I have a microwave steamer that I use to steam. I fill a bottom reservoir with water, then I spread out the fruit or vegetables on a steam tray, put on the lid, and nuke for 10 minutes. From there, I pour my steamed food  into the blender, add water and blend till smooth.

Easy as wash, peel, chop and steam.

Once blended, I pour into ice cube trays, then let them freeze and set overnight. Once frozen, I pour them into gallon size ziploc bags, labeled with the food type and date they were prepared. They will stay good for up to 2 months, but I am sure we will power through this batch in a matter of a few weeks.

I currently use two ice cubes worth of food to equal one serving, because my ice cube trays here in China are 1/2 ounce each. Apparently ice is not as loved over here, and just finding an ice cube tray was a whole day expedition. When I finally found some that were bigger than the size of a dime, I jumped on them and bought four. I'll have to stock up on American size trays next visit home. I guess ice is no exception--in America, everything truely IS bigger!

So, there you have it.

Making baby food is EASY. It's HEALTHY. And best of all, it's CHEAP!