Sunday, June 17, 2012

Cheap and Easy Fruit Wash


I love grapes.  But since grapes are on the "Dirty Dozen" list of fruits and vegetables with the most pesticide residue, I try to only buy organic grapes.  This is a struggle for me sometimes.  The frugal side of me has a really hard time paying $3 a pound at the store when I can get the conventional ones for $1-$2 a pound and my inner-hippie cringes at the thought of poisoning my family with pesticides.  This week, they were on sale for $0.85 a pound.  I just couldn't resist! 

When I go home, I remembered a pin I found on Pinterest (go figure) from A Pretty Life about using vinegar as a fruit wash.  Surely this would help me feel better about all the pesticide residue I'm sure was lurking on my innocent-looking grapes.  So I gave it a try.  The original method says to soak the fruit in your sink, but since my sink was full of dishes, I used a large bowl. 


Just look at those cute little babies taking a bath!  I like to take the grapes off the vine and store them in a bowl in the refrigerator.  I take this extra step to prevent waste.  You see, my family refuses to eat grapes off the vine.  It's really strange.  If I leave them on the vine they will rot in the fridge before anyone eats them.  But, if I take them off the vine, wash them, and put them in a bowl, they don't last more than a few days in my fridge.  So, I took them off the vine and gave them a bath in about a gallon and a half of water and just under a cup of vinegar.  They soaked for about 10 minutes.  The water got cloudy and that gave me assurance that it actually worked. 

I ate a grape straight from the water to see if it tasted like vinegar and I didn't get a vinegar taste at all.  But just to be thorough, I rinsed them again in a colander.  Overall, I'm very pleased with this method.  My frugal side is happy because I took advantage of a sale, my grape-loving side is super-excited to have grapes in the fridge, and finally, my inner-hippie is somewhat satisfied that I'm not poisoning my family with pesticide-covered grapes. 


What about you, do you struggle with balancing budget and pesticide-free produce?  If not, please let me know how you balance it!  :)


Shared At: Creative Corner, Makin' You Crave Mondays, Monday Mania, My Meatless Mondays, Learning the Frugal Life, Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Domestically Divine Tuesdays, Fat Tuesdays, Teach Me Tuesdays, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tiny Tip Tuesday, Healthy 2Day WednesdaysTip Me Tuesday, Show Me What You Got, Traditional Tuesdays, Whole Food Wednesdays, Works for Me Wednesdays, Earning My Cape, The Thrifty Home, What's Cookin' Wednesdays, Beyond the Peel, Real Food Wednesdays, Raising Homemakers, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, Thriving on Thursdays, Tastetastic Thursdays, Frugal Food Thursdays, DIY Thursdays, It's a Keeper Thursdays, Simple Lives Thursdays

23 comments:

  1. I use vinegar for so many things around the house. This is a great reminder that I can use it on our produce as well! I'm with you on the grapes. It's hard to resist the awesome sale prices and buy the organic ones, ESPECIALLY when the organic ones tend to look horrible by comparison. I very rarely purchase organic grapes or berries.

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  2. I just posted about washing my berries with vinegar and water on my blog! I took pics, too!

    This works wonderful! But I never imagined using if for grapes! Thank you for the suggestion!

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    1. I'd imagine it works on all kinds of fruits and veggies. :) I couldn't seem to find your post though, do you have the link? :)

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  3. I will definitely be trying this. I just paid $8 for a couple pounds of organic grapes. They tasted amazing, but I was cringing at the checkout counter. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. With all the sales on fruits lately, my frugal side has been winning more battles than my inner-hippie! I think this fruit was is a good compromise. :)

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  4. I've often used vinegar for washing produce. Sometimes I've used a mix of hydrogen peroxide and vinegar. This is exactly what some store bought veggie washes are! Even with the green products (and I sell Norwex) it's much cheaper and just as effective to use just plain vinegar. So why not?

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    1. Isn't it great knowing that you don't have to spend your hard-earned cash on something this simple to make at home!?

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  5. Hee hee... your inner-hippie! :-)
    Thanks for linking with my Super Link Party! :-)

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  6. The same vinegar and water solution prevents mold on strawberries. What a money saver vinegar is!!!

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    1. WOW! I had no idea! I'm going to have to try that. Your timing is perfect, I've got tons of strawberries right now. Thanks for sharing!! :)

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  7. Vinegar is a wonder product, isn't it? I use it for everything, including washing produce :) I have a different method for washing grapes that helps remove that gunky white film off of them, but now I think I'll also give them a little vinegar bath beforehand and try it out that way. Thanks for linking up at Tiny Tip Tuesday!

    Here's my grape washing post, in case you're interested ;)
    http://naturesnurtureblog.com/2012/04/09/how-to-wash-grapes-the-right-way/

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    1. I checked out your post, thanks for sharing! I would have never thought of using salt and baking soda, what a great idea! :)

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  8. This is great b/c I can't afford to buy all organic produce. Thanks for linking up at Healthy 2Day Wednesday and come back tomorrow to see if you were featured!

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  9. What kind of vinegar do you recommend using? The apple kind or white or...?

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    1. White, just because it's cheapest. Apple could work in a pinch too, it's just more expensive. :)

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  10. Thanks for the tip. I couldn't decide if I should go acid or base, so I soaked mine in a baking soda solution and the a vinegar one... perhaps I have more pesticide paranoia than your average bear. :)

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    1. I never would have thought of that, sounds cool and thourough :)

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  11. White vinegar! Apple doesn't have the bacteria killing elements. A white vinegar was as described above not only removes pesticides, but kills up to 98% of bacteria. Delicate berries you can dry immediay by lining a salad spinner with paper towels and spinning them. They may not dry all the way though, so to prevent mold line the storage container with paper towels to absorb anymore moisture

    Great article!

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