Cleaning Fruits and Vegetables

Cleaning fruits and veggies after shopping is easy with Lemon EO.  Here's a simple routine that impacts health and wellness, cleans fresh foods, and makes meal preps through the week easy.  Enjoy and feel GOOD.

Right After Shopping:

• Fill a large bowl with water and add 3-4 drops of Lemon Essential Oil.  For hard veggies that are particularly dirty or prone to being handled (like peppers, apples) I set up a 2nd bowl of water with a drop of organic dish soap (i.e. Ecos grapefruit hypoallergenic dish soap).
• FOR HARDER VEGGIES/FRUITS that need washing, start by washing in the soap water, then rinse and put into the Lemon EO bowl.  Many fruits/veg can sit in the Lemon EO water at a time--be sure to get to each surface if they float.  
• Let fresh veg/fruit sit in the Lemon EO water for 1 minute-ish (longer is fine, too).  Place in strainer and dry with a clean cloth or let them drip dry.  Store them as usual.
• FOR TENDER VEGGIES/FRUITS:  Kale, lettuce, chard (if very dirty, rinse them well in fresh water first to remove the dirt--no need to use soap for these veggies).  TIP:  Do the basic prep to de-stem, etc produce so it is ready to use when you need it--it makes cleaning easier as well.   Place in Lemon EO water and again sit for 1 minute.  Spin to remove extra water and put in a plastic bag.  Heavy leaf like Kale, chard can handle being stored in a plastic bag.  Tender leaf such as lettuce does best wrapped in a slightly damp cotton napkin or paper towel and then stored in plastic. You can add a little water to the napkin/paper towel if it dries out through the week--this helps wick away extra water and still retain enough moisture to preserve hydration and associated nutrition.
• FOR PARSLEY AND STURDY CILANTRO:  We've found that taking the time to take the leaves off the stems (we usually only remove the lower parts that are tough--you can remove all if you want), then soaking them in Lemon EO water (as above), spinning them to remove extra water, then wrapping them loosely in a damp cloth/paper towel, storing in a plastic bag, is a great way to have them ready for use all week--and they stay really fresh!  (If your cilantro is very tender--or for other very tender herbs such as dill:  keep them on the stems, soak, and spin well, store as other herbs.  FOR FRESH BASIL:  do not wash until you are using them--they don't like wet leaves.)  
• ENJOY THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF REMOVING GERMS, VIRUS, BACTERIA as soon as you get home and the rest of the week is EASY.