Clean that produce! More than a quick rinse.

Mr. T enjoying just-cleaned grapes.

Several years ago when I was pregnant with Miss M, I was sitting on the couch after work watching Oprah. A lovely woman, Sophie Uliano, was on the show talking about her book Gorgeously Green. I was intrigued to hear her talk about so many tips and tricks for healthier, greener living. At the time, green living and organic food wasn't as widespread as it is now.

Sophie Uliano mentioned that she cleaned her produce by spraying a solution on it and then rinsing it off. She shared the recipe, and I decided to give it a try. I now keep it under my sink and use it to clean pesticides and bacteria from my produce. Plain water just doesn't clean as thoroughly. Although, it is better than nothing.

The veggie cleaner spray is a simple recipe using water, vinegar, baking soda, and grapefruit seed extract. Chances are good you have 3 0f the 4 ingredients on hand. Mix them together, spray your produce, wait 5-10 minutes and rinse. So simple! The recipe can be found here.

If you don't have grapefruit seed extract, and are not interested in purchasing it, you can substitute the juice of half a lemon according to Dr. Oz. You can also use an even simpler solution of one part vinegar to three parts water. I just like the addition of baking soda and grapefruit seed extract.

Do you clean your produce? Do you use a cleaning solution or simply water?
Do you think it matters?

It at least makes me feel better because who knows how many dirty hands touch that food before I buy it. Blech. Like Miss M who took a bite out of a bunch of broccoli yesterday at the store. Oy.