Cleaning Produce, Effectively and on the Cheap

I hear it all the time, "organic is too expensive" and people often use it as an excuse to avoid eating tons of fruits and veggies. Eating everything all organic all the time is expensive. I don't always do it. I prioritize the things we eat most often, things that are non negotiable a for my family, and the rest I do the best I can. 

I always tell my clients and friends you have to do the best you can with the resources you have available. There aren't a ton of local organic farmers markets in Janurary here in Western PA. Soon I will be joining a CSA, but when there is a shortage I have to hit the grocery store and buy regular produce like the rest of the world. I'm here to tell you that it's okay if that's all you ever do. It's okay to feed your family non organic produce vs. Processed foods. It's just better to eat real food than the stuff in the prepackaged aisles. 

But I know, we all hear it, the pesticides in the ground and soil, sprayed on crops. It's scary. And a little rinse in water isn't going to get that residue off. There are brands out there that market cleaning solution for your produce, but it's expensive! 

A few years ago, I was doing some research and discovered you can use vinegar, water, and baking soda to clean just about anything. I read on a blog, that you can use it to clean produce. So I tried it, and it worked! 

I clean even my organic produce this way as well, because I found that the solution kills mold spores and actually helps the produce last longer. I have no scientific evidence to support this claim, merely an observation from washing vs non washing my fruits and vegg in the solution. 

Here is the simple 5 step process:

1) in a large bowl combine 2TBS baking soda, 1/2 C vinegar to every 1/2 gallon of clean cold water. 

2)Add produce to solution, it will start to bubble and fizz, I like to give it a gentle mix with my hands to make sure everything gets in the water.

3) Allow it to soak for 20-30mins. I can usually do this in the am while I cook breakfast.

4) Transfer to a strainer and put in another large bowl of clean cold water. This is your rinsing bowl. Let it sit for 5-10mins. 

5) towel dry or air dry your produce. I like to use those drying mats for dishes. They're washable, absorb the water, and super easy.

This is my delicious, clean, ready to eat fruit. Nom nom!

Now I separate it in containers, and it's ready to go. The family can grab it as a snack, throw it in a lunch box, and it's already clean. The one thing I can not stress enough is that when food is all ready to eat and they can see it, they and you are more likely to dig into that than something unhealthy for a snack. We call it sports candy in my house (thanks Sprout)! 

I also recommend doing a search of the clean 15 and the dirty dozen if you're really curious about what fruits and veggies are safest in non organic consumption.

So try out this cheap soak to clean your fruits and vegg.  You will be amazed at how much better, and fresher your produce tastes. 

Easy for Anyone Prep

Grilling season was launched today. It's still a little cool, but it makes meal prepping so fast and easy; plus food on the grill just tastes so much better.

I take my favorite proteins 4 steaks, 4 chicken breasts, 2 pieces of Cod,  4 pork loin, and one rotisserie chicken. Everything but the rotisserie went on the grill. 

I also put two delicious but simple veggie mixes in the oven to cook; kale and sweet potatoes, and fajita vegg. I like to also separate cut veggies and bag omlet fillings. I always have pre-portioned salads, and a container of boiled eggs.  I keep everything in snapware (or Mason jars) so I can write what's in it, when I made it, and when to toss it, right on the lid. 

I also keep a small dry erase board on the fridge and write what I have prepped and then cross it off when it's been used up. We've all had a fridge full of produce with good intentions that never came to fruition. This makes sure you don't have forgotten food and saves you money on spoilage. 

When I put it in my fridge I keep everything prepared from snack bags of veggies, to containers with protein on the shelves. I use the produce drawers for backstock.  Protein and meals on the bottom, snack bags of veggies, and pre-portioned produce on the middle shelf. This also helps prevent spoilage because the stuff I made is right in front of me for a quick grab and go meal or snack. 

You will see very quickly that a good portion of your food savings from meal planning and prepping will be on all the food you're not throwing away anymore. 

In my pantry things can get a bit chaotic. My favorite and easiest snack is fruit and nut mix or just nuts. I write on a snack size ziplock bag what's going to be in it, and then I go to town. This week it was 

Costco's organic dried tropical fruit blend. They recently took out all the added sugar and it's delicious. I add raw walnuts, salt roasted unshelled pistachios, and raw almonds. The second snack bags were an all nut mix. I'll have the fruit and nut one with a protein shake when I'm on the go. It fits easily in my purse and if I forget about it for a while it won't spoil.  

I used to have little ziplock bags of snacksall over my pantry. Then I got smarter and grabbed a solution from the dollar store. Now they're out in front in my pantry on the snack shelf. Grab and go! 

You can use these little containers to store things for your kids. Make little baskets of pre-approved snacks and have them labeled to choose 1 from each and they can pack their own lunch! I'm not there yet, but that's my next big food prepping job I'll tackle when my son starts Kindergarten in the fall *sniff sniff.*

These are just a couple of easy for anyone, very inexpensive meal planning and prepping things I always do. Play around with it and find out what works best for your busy family. 

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