Feeling Fruity? Cleaning your fruits and veggies.

We try to eat healthy here. We shop at the farmer's market constantly and we always keep our fruit basket full of fresh fruits and our crisper full of veggies. I haven't converted over to organic only but if I could afford the crazy expensive prices of organic food I would definitely buy only organic.

My boys LOVE love LOVE fruit! I have to hide cartons of berries behind the milk in the fridge so little sticky hands don't find them. They also love bananas, oranges, mangoes, pineapples, melons. . . basically every type of fruit they have tried.  And I also crave fruit constantly when I'm pregnant.

But, I'm a mom, and I worry. I know that if I don't buy organic fruits and veggies I am exposing my family to ugly things like pesticides. ahhh!
 How can we eat healthy, fresh foods without worrying so much about the stuff that is on our food?


 Wash it!

I often catch my 2 year old sneaking grapes or strawberries from the fridge when he thinks I'm not looking. (Sorry son, I've got eyes in the back of my head, remember?)
I cringe when I think about what icky pesticides, waxes, chemicals, bacteria,  (not to mention other peoples' fingerprints) that reside on the skin of my freshly purchased produce.

eeeww!

How to wash off the "icky stuff": 
Mamma always said to wash before you eat. She was right!
There are produce cleaners out there, such as Fit, that can help clean off some of the "stuff", but even better than that is something that everyone has in their kitchen: Vinegar!
It's cheap and convenient and works the better than anything else I have found.

You should always wash your fruits and veggies, whether you will be eating the skin or cutting through it, to prevent contamination.   Here's a quick and easy recipe for the perfect fruit and veggie cleaner:

Fruit and Veggie Wash:
3 Cups Water
1 Cup Vinegar

Pour into a spray bottle and spray your fruits and veggies. Let sit for a few minutes and rinse well. The acid in the vinegar is very effective at killing bacteria, removing pesticides, and removing food grade waxes and oils.  Bye Bye fingerprints!

You can also pour the mixture into a bowl and soak your fruits and veggies.  I recommend this for berries, especially strawberries, which contain high amounts of pesticides. This is also great for broccoli.

Apples also contain very high amounts of pesticides, so if you will be eating the skins, wash wash wash!