Natural Produce Wash
This is nice to have on hand to help remove pesticides, herbicides,
bacteria, wax, etc., from your produce. Even "organic" produce can have E coli and other
bacteria on them. Instead of buying a produce wash, just mix up what you
probably already have in your pantry. Even Dr. Oz uses this first recipe (with 1/2 a squeezed lemon). Some call for 3/4 cup
vinegar, so just use the amount you like best. It doesn't have to be refrigerated. I
bought a couple of extra spray bottles in the travel/trial size aisle at the
store.
1 cup water
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. baking soda
If you don't have vinegar you can use this:
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. baking soda
Just spray the produce, let it sit for a few minutes, and then rinse.
It's said you shouldn't use it on mushrooms as they absorb too much water.
If you want to soak produce that is very dirty or that may have bugs:
1/4 cup vinegar
2 Tbsp. salt
Soak for about 30 minutes and then rinse.
Tidbit - I read a tip somewhere that, to make berries last longer, you can spray
them with one part vinegar and 10 parts water as the vinegar will kill mold and
bacteria that make them go bad quickly.
Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion below. :)
don't the vinegar and baking soda foam up?
ReplyDeleteThey do a little and then go down. You can add the water slow if there isn't much room in the bottle. :)
ReplyDeleteCan the lemon juice in the recipe go bad?
ReplyDeleteAccording to what I read, lemon juice that you buy bottled can last for about 6 months in the refrigerator after it is opened. (I know I've kept lemon juice for a long time without it going bad.) Fresh lemon juice supposedly only lasts about a week to 1-1/2 weeks in the fridge. I'd refrigerate it to be safe. You could make smaller batches to use as you need it :)
ReplyDelete