To Wash Or Not To Wash, That Is The Question

How fun to stop at a roadside produce stand and pick out fresh fruits and vegetables during the summer!  Or to load up your shopping cart at the grocery store with fresh fruits and veggies. 



It is important to properly clean what you eat. I've compiled some suggestions to follow to prepare and safely eat  those luscious summer fruits and vegetables.  I've kept track of the things I have not been doing correctly;  I hope you are doing better than me!

Some produce should be washed right away. Leafy greens like lettuce and spinach can be washed in water and dried as soon as you get them home.  Then dry and store them in the fridge between paper towels in a plastic bag.  You can wash grapes and keep them in a colander in the fridge.  If you are using citrus peelings in a recipe, give that fruit an extra scrub.

Rinse fresh fruit and veggies under cool, running water even if you do not plan to eat the skin or rind, such as cucumbers or cantaloupe.

And always, always wash your hands, knife and surface of your cutting board before and after using them when you are preparing salad, fresh fruit, or a sandwich.

Never wash berries until you are ready to eat them. They are very delicate and will spoil quickly after being washed.  You don't want to wash mushrooms, either.  However, you need to gently wipe or  brush them clean.

When washing produce warm from being outdoors, the rinse water should not be more than ten degrees colder than the produce.  Use cold water if washing produce from the refrigerator.

Bananas, onions, and garlic don't need to be washed prior to eating.

Keep fruit and veggie bins clean.

So let's see--Right now I have two ripe tomatoes in my fridge.  My fruit and veggie bins are clean now but only because I just had an out-of-town guest and cleaned them before she arrived!  I have been eating slices of cantaloupe, but I didn't wash it before cutting it because I figured I'm not eating the rind.  Oh dear.  Are you doing better than I am?

Wait Until It Turns Funny Colors and Smells Bad!

(Photo by Amaviael, Dreamstime.com)

Remember when you added too much salt to the soup?  You couldn't stand to throw it out right away; that would have been wasteful.  So you shoved it to the back of the refrigerator.  And when it turned funny colors and smelled bad--then you felt OK about throwing it out!

So you already know that when you've mistakenly added too much salt or sugar to a recipe, you  cannot undo it and take it out. 

But one way to fix your problem is to add more of the ingredients in that particular recipe without adding more of the salt or sugar.

You will, of course, end up with a lot more food. You might like that. You could have leftovers, which would mean tomorrow's lunch or dinner is already planned. Or maybe this is a recipe that can be frozen for another time.

However, you may choose to not have so much extra food. You will need tips for fixing too salty or too sugary food. 

Too Salty

    If you mistakenly added too much salt to a recipe, add a small amount of white distilled vinegar.  

    You can also try adding a teaspoon of vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar to cut the salt.

    If you are cooking a very salty ham, try adding vinegar to it to eliminate some of the salty taste.

Too Sugary

    If you have mistakenly added too much sugar to a cooked meal, add a teaspoon of apple cider OR white distilled vinegar.  It will reduce the sweetness and save the meal!