A 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!

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

Draining the dirty water

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

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.