Washing fruits and vegetables

There really is no right or wrong way to wash your fruits and vegetables.

It is actually only something I recently started doing on a regular basis.

Ideally, you want to buy organic whenever possible. At least the fruits and vegetables that are on the Dirty Dozen list. The Dirty Dozen list are the top 12 fruits and vegetables with the most pesticides and herbicides sprayed on them, and it is updated each year. There are also certain vegetables that I absolutely avoid, like peppers from Mexico because they are laden with pesticides.

Each year you will want to check the dirty dozen list, as it does change. Here is the link to the latest information about the Dirty Dozen.

https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty-dozen.php

Europe has banned the use of so many carcinogenic pesticides and herbicides that are still allowed in the United States. This is highly problematic and they are known to cause many health issues.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/united-states-pesticides-banned-other-countries

If you want a lot more information on this topic, I highly recommend Dr. Mark Hyman's book, Food Fix: How to Save Our Health, Our Economy, Our Communities, and Our Planet- One Bite at a Time.

So, how do I clean my veggies?

First I start with a clean sink.

Next, I fill my sink with cold water and I add vinegar. I have used both white vinegar and apple cider vinegar. I add about 1/2 cup of vinegar to the water. I also add about 2 tablespoons of salt. I just use conventional salt here because I am not ingesting it. I read the ingredients of some of the fruit and veggie washes and they were all mostly vinegar which is what led me to how I wash mine.

Then, I add the fruits and veggies. I keep the blueberries and raspberries in the containers so they don't float everywhere. I let it all soak for 15-20 minutes.

Next, I rinse it all really well to make sure the vinegar is off the produce. I leave it all on the counter on a clean kitchen rag to dry for about an hour.

Lastly, I place them all in glass jars in the fridge. I typically repurpose glass jars from tomato sauce, kalamata olives, etc to use for produce storage. I take the grapes off the stems, too.

Then we enjoy our washed, fresh, clean produce! Taking the extra few minutes after shopping to prepare it all, saves time during the week or when everyone wants a quick snack during our homeschool mornings.

Many blessings!

Xoxo, Erica