Organic blueberries- a must!
When I found out I was pregnant with Chloe, eating clean became a top priority in my life. I wanted to provide her with the best nourishment I could from the start. Once she was born and started eating herself, going strictly organic was important to me. I made my own baby food for both of my children using only organic fruits and veggies. Feeding my kids is my shtick! I get pure joy out of feeding them to this day.
Now at 5 and 3, I no longer buy strictly organic. Although I still feed them as healthily as I possibly can, the cost is too high for me to be able to buy everything organic. My staples are milk and yogurt and the fruits and veggies referred to as "the dirty dozen"! You can lower your families pesticide intake substantially just by buying these fruits and veggies. Most of the foods listed below have either thin skin or no skin, which is the reason they are exposed to more pesticides that we end up eating (so scary to me). These fruits and veggies represent the USDA's list of most contaminated.
The Dirty Dozen
- Strawberries
- Apples
- Peaches
- Celery
- Sweet bell peppers
- Nectarines
- Blueberries
- Grapes
- Spinach
- Lettuce
- Cucumbers
- Potatoes
Green beans and leafy greens such as kale and collard greens were recently added to the dirty dozen because of the highly toxic insecticides they are contaminated with. The dirty fourteen doesn't sound as good as the dirty dozen! I find that Trader Joe's has decent prices on their organic fruits and veggies. If I don't buy them there, I buy at Bj's. Just be careful when buying in bulk because organic tends to go bad quickly. Freeze freezable fruits in baggies if you can't use them in due time. Frozen fruits are great for smoothies.
To keep your cost of food shopping down, here is a list of safer foods that you can buy non- organic. These are referred to as "the clean 15". Love the quirky titles!
The Clean 15
- Onions
- Pineapple
- Mangoes
- Avocado
- Watermelon
- Sweet Corn
- Cabbage
- Sweet Peas
- Asparagus (which surprise me)
- Cantaloupe
- Grapefruit
- Mushrooms (again, surprised)
- Sweet Potatoes
- Eggplant
- Kiwi
Happy & healthy eating!
Great list. I buy organic whenever I can as long as it's within reason price wise. I once went to a farmers market and they tried to charge me like 9 bucks for two heads of garlic. That's just wild!
ReplyDeleteSome stuff is just completely ridiculous- like the garlic!!! It's also important to know where to shop...some markets will bend you over & stick you right up the ass!!
DeleteTrader joes is really reasonable.
Hope your feeling great!
I never would have even thought a list like this existed. Organic's so expensive that it's good to know which things are more of a "must do" and which ones are an "eh, you can get by without it". Thank you for sharing!!
ReplyDelete