2020’s Dirty Dozen List – What to do When You Can’t Buy Organic Produce

Source: Olearys

It’s always best to go organic with your foods, especially with your fruits and vegetables. But there are times when the budget is really tight or our options are very limited. What do we do then? Do we just give up our health? Or not eat any produce at all if non organic is our only option?

The quick answer is “No”. We don’t have to give up either!

Let’s face it, most of us need MORE fruits and vegetables in our diet…not less. So nixing them is not an option. But what about the pesticides and chemicals coating the non organic produce?

That’s where the “Dirty Dozen” and the “Clean 15” lists can come to help you. Taking these with you to the grocery store can help you find the MOST and LEAST chemically laden produce when you can’t buy organic all the way.

 

2020 Dirty Dozen

  1. Strawberries
  2. Spinach
  3. Kale
  4. Nectarines
  5. Apples
  6. Grapes
  7. Peaches
  8. Cherries
  9. Pears
  10. Tomatoes
  11. Celery
  12. Potatoes

 

2020 Clean Fifteen

  1. Avocado
  2. Sweet Corn*
  3. Pineapple
  4. Onions
  5. Papaya*
  6. Frozen Sweet Peas
  7. Eggplant
  8. Asparagus
  9. Cauliflower
  10. Cantaloupe
  11. Broccoli
  12. Mushrooms
  13. Cabbage
  14. Honeydew
  15. Kiwi

* Note: Some sweet corn, papaya and summer squash sold in the United States are GMOs, so choose organic to avoid GMOs.

 

 

https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php

Shopping on a Dime!

Grocery food shopping bag - vegetables, fruits, bread and pasta

Let’s talk about finances!!!

I know, it’s everyone’s favorite subject. πŸ™‚ But I am going to talk about how you can still shop and buy all that you need for a healthy living while you are on a pretty tight budget. I know you are always looking for ways to save money… but you don’t want to go hungry, either.

So! Let’s get right down to it, shall we?!

1. Make a Meal Plan

Plan ahead. The key to staying on or under budget. When you write a meal plan for the week it helps you to make out your shopping list and plan accordingly for each meal and gives you ideas on what to look for in weekly specials and savings.

2. Don’t Shop Hungry

When you are hungry it is so much easier to let temptation get the better of you. You could end up walking out with things you don’t really need. Try going on your shopping trip after you eat… or at least have a snack. πŸ˜‰

3. Use Coupons

Checking online at your store’s website (or if you get ads mailed to your house each week) just before you go out can send you off with some good savings in your hand.

4. Stick to Your List

This is very important. Only put items on the list that you need for that week (and that are within your set spending budget) and stick to it! If you purchase items that are not on your list you will see how very quickly you can exceed your budget. Now this can be hard, and there are allowed exceptions (such as a few items that you forgot to put on the list), but for the majority of the time avoid things that are not on your shopping list. Your budget will thank you.

5. Freeze Fruits and Vegetables

Buying fresh fruits and vegetables while they are on sale and freezing them not only helps save you some money in the long run… but it also helps them last longer. Just be sure to write the name and date on the bag. πŸ™‚

*As a side note: only purchase fruits and vegetables in bulk when it is within your budget and on your list. This is where planning ahead and looking at your weekly specials comes in handy for writing out your shopping list.

6. Get Creative With Meals

Be careful about wasting food. That is where most of our food budget goes down the drain (quite literally πŸ˜€ ). Try making meals where you can reuse your leftovers to create a completely new meal for the next day. Or devote one day a week to being leftover night. You can make a little bit of food stretch out longer… without losing any of its “deliciousness”. πŸ™‚

Here are some idea recipes you could try (just to get your brain storming moving πŸ˜› )

Chicken Casserole

Vegetable Beef Soup

7. Cut Back on Other Articles

Budgeting doesn’t have to be limited to just the food side of your bill. We spend a lot more money than we realize on (and use a lot of) different cleaning supplies. You can cut a large chunk out of your spending (and toxins) by making your own…

Laundry Soap

Dish Soap and

House Cleaners

 

Happy shopping, everyone!

Are Our “Healthy” Foods Truly Healthy?

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It is essential to our body’s health that we eat good foods. This, I believe, is something on which we can all agree. But are our β€œhealthy” foods also making us sick?

It is agreed in our nation that we should be getting lots of fruits and vegetables in our diet. That’s healthy, right? But have we actually given much thought to how our fruits and vegetables are grown? And to what goes on them?

For years, the way crops in the U.S. have been grown and harvested to produce more yield and to speed the process of harvesting, has been causing more harm to our bodies than good. Produce grown on conventional farms are sprayed with pesticides and chemicals to kill bugs and make the harvesting process easier. However, those chemicals are killing more than just insects that seek to eat our produce. Those pesticides and chemicals contain the deadly active ingredient: glyphosate. Scientific studies are showing that these chemicals are not only killing the bad bacteria in the soil, but it is also toxic to the good bacteria. Healthy soil repels bugs because it grows at a frequency that bugs cannot digest. When we grow our food in healthy soil with proper PH, we shouldn’t have such a pest problem.Β And that is what we are putting into our bodies when we eat the foods that have been treated with pesticides and other chemicals.

What To Do?

So how can we avoid all of this in our food? While we may not be able to completely rid ourselves of these chemicals, here are some steps we can take to lessen our exposure to them:

1. Buy Organic When Possible

Though it is more expensive, buying foods such as wheat, berries, apples, grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach and peppers organically would be a better option.

2. Wash Fruits and Vegetables

When buying conventional fruits and vegetables, be sure and wash them under water, rubbing them with your fingers. This will help to get rid of the residue from the pesticides.

3. Grow Your Own Garden

There are many advantages to growing your own food. It can save you money, and you know where it comes from and can be in control over what is sprayed on it. Though it can be hard to keep bugs away from your garden, there are natural and harmless things you can try. Some farms use Basil oil on their plants to deter little pests.

Something else we can do is to check the sugar content of our produce to see if it is grown properly. Dr. Carey Reams reveals that food grown properly WILL NOT rot, but dehydrate.

 

 

References:

draxe.com

foodmatters.com

thehealthyhomeeconomist.com

healthytipsworld.com