"Greek Tea?"

Are You Curious What "Greek Tea" Has to do With Mexico?  Read on...
When I was in Oaxaca for 7 weeks, this past Spring, I was renting a room in a missionary couple’s home. I didn’t have “free roam” of the fridge & stove. So, I bought barely any fruits or veggies & only cooked twice. But, now that I have my own apartment, I’m cooking nearly every day. When I cook, my favorite flavor combination is sautéed onions, bell peppers, & mushrooms. I make so many different dishes from that base trio of veggies!

Living back in the States, I would buy produce weekly & just stick it in the fridge. Well, now that I’m living in Mexico, there is a protocol I need to follow before eating fruits or vegetables. This is because soil, microbes, & bacteria are found on the skins of fruits & vegetables. In countries where sanitary practices are not always followed, from the time produce is grown and harvested, until it is delivered to the store, there are many opportunities for contamination: unclean hands, waste water runoff, animal wastes, fertilizing with fresh manure, irrigating with unclean water… The sanitizing process really is tedious & time consuming, but is SO worth killing all those nasty, little micro-organisms! I had E-coli for about a month, when I was here last Spring, & I do NOT want any other parasites or infections from food!

Come along with me, through the process!!!!  :)
Step One = buy a large plastic container & a bottle of the cleaner (the active ingredient is ionized silver & it’s designed to kill the bacteria on the food)

Step Two = figure out the correct percentage of water to the blue bottle of cleaner & how long to leave the fruits & veggies submerged in the soak

Step Three = buy your favorite fruits & veggies from local corner store (I haven’t gotten to an actual grocery store yet to do grocery shopping, only these little ones…)

Step Four = create a bunch of the water & disinfecting solution in your new plastic bowl

Step Five = place your fruits & veggies in the bowl of solution & figure out how to keep them from floating up OUT of the solution (I’ve done this by applying heavy stuff ~ like ceramic dishes & even my oversized bottle of dishwashing liquid!)

Step Six = remember to set the timer for between 10 – 20 minutes

Step Seven = remember to pay attention, so when the timer goes off, you remember WHY you had set it in the first place! (true story!) Remove fruits & veggies from the solution & place in your dish drainer to air dry.

Step Eight = remember to go back into the kitchen later that night, to put your fruits & veggies away so they are not still there in the morning, when you stumble in for breakfast & they’re just there staring at you, saying, “Why’d you leave us here all night, Jenn? There were ants crawling on the counters!” (again, true story!) EEEWWWW!

Step Nine = put in a bowl on the counter, OR put in a clean bag in the fridge, OR peel, dice, slice, & enjoy!

So, you’re probably wondering why I titled this blog post “Greek Tea?” Well, here it is.
It was on Step Two that I got awfully confused & then had a good laugh at myself!
I was sitting with my friend in a government office, waiting for my name to be called. Random thoughts were running through my head, as I mentally made a list of all the things I needed to find out. I asked my friend, who has been living here for 10 years, “How do I know how much of the stuff in the blue bottle to use in the water to soak my fruits & veggies?” My ears heard her response, “It’s supposed to cover them & look like Greek Tea.” In just a few split seconds, my brain said, “Uh-oh. I’ve never had Greek Tea! How am I supposed to know what it looks like if I’ve never had it?” So, I hesitantly asked, “Ummm…what’s Greek Tea look like?” She said, “What? Greek Tea?” I said, “Isn’t that what you said? That the solution needs to look like Greek Tea?” We both got a good laugh as she said, “No, Jenn ~ WEAK TEA!” OOOOOHHHHHH!!!!

So, dear friends & family ~ please, pray with me, that God would spare me for any nasty sickness I could possibly get from the food here! That month of my digestive system screaming at me was NOT fun! Meanwhile, I’m trying to do my part, soaking the fruits & veggies in “Greek Tea” & dipping my washed dishes in the same solution too.