• Healthy & Easy Way to Wash Produce

    Easy & Healthy Way to clean produceA sink full of fresh produce

    Our family eats a lot of fruits and vegetables so I love it when I find a great deal on produce.  We have one large drawer full of vegetables, another one full of fruit, and we have a fresh fruit basket on the counter.  One problem I had with produce in the past was it spoiling too fast.  Also, the produce needs to be washed to remove any germs, sprays, mold, or other spores that that tend to spoil or contaminate the produce  more quickly.

    I have found the best way to rinse and clean the produce is to put everything in a clean sink, fill the sink with cold water, add approximately a half of cup of white vinegar, and let the produce soak for about 10 to 20 minutes.  After the produce has soaked drain the water and rinse thoroughly before putting it away.  You will be amazed at how much stuff comes off the produce (the sink is usually covered with a film, dirt, and little particles after I drain the water).    Some of the items in the sink for this rinse – pineapple, mango, strawberries, kiwi, red delicious apples, granny smith apples, golden delicious apples, grapefruit, blackberries, oranges, clementines, cucumbers, tomatoes,  celery, and a few other items.

    One other way we have found that prolongs the life of our fruits and vegetables is the BluApple.  The BluApple absorbs the ethylene gas is given off naturally by fruits and vegetables as a signaling mechanism in order to coordinate uniform ripening.   We stick one BluApple in the vegetable drawer and another in the fruit drawer to prevent the produce from ripening as quickly.  Between rinsing the produce with vinegar water and using the BluApples the life of the produce is extended 2 to 7 times the normal shelf life (at least for our family).  A container of strawberries will last 2 to 4 weeks (if they last that long and are not eaten before that time) in our fridge.  We have been doing this way for over a year now and it has worked very well for our family, hope these tips are a huge blessing to you too!

    Easy & Healthy Way to Clean Produce

    The clean sink starting to fill up with water (and three tomatoes).

    P1090905c

    Draining the dirty water

    P1090902c

    Up close picture of all the “stuff” floating in the water after washing the produce!  Yikes!

    P1090914c

    After draining the water there is always a film around the sink with bits and pieces of produce, dirt, and other particles stuck to it.  If you look closely you can even see the water line.

  • Love It – BluApple

    I am very excited to share with you a little item that has saved me a lot of time, energy, and money over the past year while helping our family eat healthier! I have been asked many times how I can purchase marked down fresh vegetables and fruits without them going bad within a day or two…..well, I am going to share my little “secret” with all of you.  If you love to eat fresh fruit and vegetables, but wish they would stay fresh longer I have stumbled upon something that will really brighten your day! 🙂

    When I got the BluApples I was a little skeptical, to say the least.  How can these little blue apples really help extend the life of my fresh fruits and vegetables?!  Do they really work?  Is it worth the cost?  And many more similar questions.

    I waited for a few weeks and found an amazing deal on these little BluApples.  I was able to get these free (only had to pay $3 shipping).  Unfortunately, I haven’t seen that deal again otherwise I would stock up on some for my family and friends.  Either way these little apples have more than paid for themselves MANY TIMES OVER!

    Our family loves to garden, buy fresh fruits and vegetables, however, when our fridge is full of produce sometimes fruits and vegetables would go bad before we had a chance to eat everything.  The BluApples extend the life of our fruits and vegetables (even ones that I buy which are already on the “edge”) for weeks!  These BluApples really do preserve the produce and help the items last much longer!

    I used to clean out my fruit and vegetable drawers out about once a week.  Now I do it once a month and sometimes longer because the items in the drawer are staying fresh. Enough of my raving, here are some more facts about this neat apple:

    • 2 Bluapples – Last for 3 Months Each – Additional Absorber Refills Available Separately (Our BluApples lasted longer than 3 months, typically lasted 5 to 7 months)
    • Prolongs freshness and storage life of fruits & vegetables
    • Made In USA
    • Put in refrigerator crisper drawers
    • Place in the fruit bowl on the counter or anywhere you keep fruit
    • Pays for itself dozens of times over in the the first year alone
    • Extend storage life of your produce (up to 3 times longer)
    • Average household can save up to $600 per year

    How Do The BluApples Work?

    • Ethylene gas is given off naturally by fruits and vegetables as a signaling mechanism in order to coordinate uniform ripening. However, once concentrated in your refrigerator or other storage areas, the presence of ethylene gas continues to speed up ripening and hasten spoilage.
    • The BluApple is designed to provide effective ethylene gas absorption for three months in a typical home refrigerator produce bin or storage container.
    • The active ingredient does not “wear out”, but continues to absorb ethylene until it has reached its capacity.

    This would be a wonderful gift for any cook in your family.  It really does WORK (and BluApple is not paying me to say it either).  Your Mom, wife, sister, friend will probably come back to you in a couple months thanking you again for this gift.  Hey, they even make you a special meal out of some the fresh produce just to say thanks!

    You can pick up the BluApple Ethlylene Gas Absorbers – Starter Pack of 2 – Refrigerator Fruit & Vegetable Preserver on Amazon for around $9.95 with two packs of or many major retailers. If you have a Swagbuck Amazon Gift Cards you can even get this it for free!  You’ll love it!

    “Love It” is a series of posts on items that I use regularly in my household that I love!  There are some items in our daily lives that make life more enjoyable, efficient, or just plain fun.  I will be sharing with you some of the products that have been given to us (or to me) that have made it to the top of my list.  It’s my way of giving a huge thumbs up!