Hello everybody and welcome back to my
channel Wife New Life
My name is Idania and today I want to
share the mixture that I use to remove
pesticides and bacteria from my
vegetables and fruits.
It always seemed to me that washing them
with water alone
was not enough. Especially since I always
heard that washing our hands with water
it wasn't enough to remove all the
viruses,
bacterias and microbes that can make us
sick.
Also because I know that all vegetables
and fruits,
including organic ones, contain
pesticides.
And after doing some research I
discovered that this mixture
could help remove pesticide residues.
So, the first step is cleaning my
sink carefully with detergent and warm
water
to remove any oil or food residue.
We want to remove any dirt from the
sink's surface so we don't contaminate our food
when we are washing it. I clean and rinse
well to remove any traces of detergent
because we don't want to get some
detergent on our food
neither. Then I fill my sink
with enough water to put in all my
vegetables and fruits.
Some of them after cleaning and drying
very well,
I cut them into pieces so they are ready
to eat.
This little meal prep saves me a lot of
time during the week
and helps me plan my meals easily.
I don't know about you but I buy a lot
of vegetables and I like to wash them
before putting them
in the fridge. I also buy some vegetables
already washed and
ready to eat, mostly the green leafy ones.
When the sink has enough water to
submerge
all the vegetables and fruits, I add 2
cups of white vinegar
and 1/3 cup of aluminum-free baking
soda.
Some scientific studies show that baking
soda can be very efficient at removing
pesticide residues from our veggies and
fruits,
and the vinegar has antibacterial and
antimicrobial properties.
This will help us remove any dirt or
even bugs
if our vegetables contain some. I don't
like
mixing organic vegetables with non-organic ones. The reason is that organic
vegetables also have pesticides
but they are made from natural
ingredients, while non-organic pesticides
are more synthetic. We don't want to
contaminate
our organic food with non-organic
pesticides.
So that's why I don't mix them when
washing them.
There are some fruits and vegetables
that I especially buy
organic because they are included in the
Dirty Dozen.
If you don't know what the Dirty Dozen
is, it is a list
of the 12 foods that contain the most
pesticides
included strawberries, spinach,
kale, nectarines, apples, grapes, peaches,
cherries, pears, tomatoes, celery
and potatoes. Anyway there are others
like
lemons and limes which I like to put in
my
green juice with peel and everything, and
that's why I
also, buy them organic.
Then I let them soak for 20 to 30 minutes.
After that time I rinse them with plenty
of water
to remove the remains of the soak and
any remaining dirt.
Then I put them on a clean towel. This
step
helps to dry and remove as much humidity
as possible before storage.
And with another clean cloth
I wipe all the vegetables and fruits
that have skin
such as apples, kiwis, lemons, and peppers
It is also the time when I remove any
labels or stickers they might have
I also separate fruits and vegetables
that are damaged.
Sometimes without realizing it we end up
with
some spoiled fruits in our shopping bag
but it is better not to store them with
the rest of the fruits
since this promotes the growth of
bacteria and fungi
and makes them rot more quickly.
Just put them aside and use them
as fast as possible if they can still be eaten.
After removing all organic vegetables
you can use the same soak to wash the
non-organic ones.
After that, I immediately take care of
the vegetables that get moldy more easily.
That especially happened to me with broccoli.
And before using this method sometimes,
I had to throw it all away.
What I do is I steam part of the
broccoli.
When it cools I keep it in an airtight
glass container.
I store the other part in a ziplock bag,
and freeze in the fridge that way they
last longer.
 I also save the stems because I
like to use them in green juices.
I dry the rest of the vegetables very
well, cut them,
and keep them in airtight glass containers
in the refrigerator.
That way my vegetables last longer in
better condition
and are ready to eat at any time.
This process might seem a bit long and
tiring but this saves me a lot of time
during the week
and saves me from throwing food away and wasting it.
 
