Tips for Cleaning Fruits and Vegetables
As spring sets in we enjoy more sunny days and warmer weather. Gardens and farms across the country begin to send their produce out and it will soon appear at the local farmers markets and produce sections of grocery stores. Their colorful displays call to me, begging me to take them home. I feel it’s important that we get our daily dose of fresh fruits and veggies. I enjoy purchasing fresh looking produce and I love it even more if it’s from a local farm.
Bringing home this colorful array of nature’s goodness always brings questions from my kiddos. “Can I eat that?” or “I’m hungry.” are just a few of the first things I hear as I try to put away the groceries. Sometimes I even find an open contain of strawberries or bags of grapes with about half missing before I can even get them into the fridge. I guess this is just to be expected living in a house with 4 growing boys.
I have to admit this makes my stomach turn a little when I see the fruits and veggies missing. I always think who touched that or what pesticides were on that? Maybe I’m a little OCD when it comes to cleaning my fruits and veggies but I really feel like it’s important.
It is estimated by federal health officials that nearly 48 million people get sick by contaminated food each year. This is often caused by produce that has been contaminated. There are many ways produce can become contaminated. It can happen during the growing season, by animals, by harmful substances in the soil and water, and by the many people that handle the produce as it is processed from one place to another. We can even contaminate produce after we purchase it by the way it is handled and prepared. All of this heightens my OCD about cleaning fruits and vegetables before they are eaten.
So here are a few tips I’ve picked up for and thought I would pass along.
1. Always wash your hands for about 20 second with warm soapy water before and after preparing produce.
2. Cut away any damage or bruised areas of the produce before preparing.
3. Always wash produce before you peel it. This prevents dirt or bacteria from being transferred from the outside of the fruits or vegetables to the inside.
4. Use a clean vegetable brush to scrub firm produce like melons.
5. Throw away the outer leaves of lettuce and cabbage.
6. Dry fruits and vegetables with a clean cloth or paper towel.
Follow these tips to enjoy healthy and cleaner produce.
A Clean Lint Filter Saves $$
Laundry is always on my mind. It’s always there, even the days when I think I’m caught up the “laundry makers” leave presents for me and I find I have more laundry that night. It’s the never ending job and if your in charge of the laundry at your house I’m sure you feel my pain.
My dryer is older and is on it’s way out. I’m just waiting for it to die off so I have an excuse to buy a new set of front loaders. But until then I’m trying to make the most of the ones I’ve got. We’ve taken it apart several times in the last year trying to extend the life of it and lucky for us it is hanging in there.
Every dryer has a lint filter. This is the metal mesh like net that catches all the lint and fluff that comes out of your clothing when it is in the dryer. With each load of laundry the filter collects lint and fluff. I change the filter every time I do a load of laundry. As lint builds up in the filter it prevents the air from circulating out of the dryer.
As the filter builds up with lint the dryer has to work harder to dry the clothes. This can result in turning the dryer on multiple times to dry a load of laundry and will cause the dryer to use more electricity and work less efficiently. Each time that happens its costing you more money. So in order to save some money make sure to clean the lint filter each time you change a load of laundry. I’m sure many of you do this but did you know in order to help extend the life of your dryer you can scrub your lint filter? To help make sure your filter is clean take the time to scrub it with hot soapy water occasionally. This will help to remove residue left from fabric dryer sheets and help it work even more efficiently. Who knew a little elbow grease and hot soapy water could be a money saver?