Dirty Food

The 5 dirtiest foods

This article is being featured on yahoo's homepage along with a picture of brown eggs. Is this article helping people like me spread the word about self sustained living and feeding ourselves or hurting? Will people get the same point that I did out of this article?

• by Sarah Jio, Vitamin G, Glamour Magazine, on Wed Dec 10, 2008 8:56am PST

How would you rate your food-safety IQ? I know someone who never washes their fruits and vegetables after bringing them home from the market because he believes that they're washed at the store. Um, no. Read on to learn about what some call the "5 dirtiest foods" and for a food safety wake-up call...

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The dirty food list, according to this fascinating piece I found over at AOL Health include the following:

Eggs: While most eggs aren't going to make anyone sick, experts estimate that more than 2 million germy eggs (as in Salmonella infected) get into circulation each year, sickening 660,000 people each year and killing as many as 300. Um, maybe we should think twice about eating that cookie dough (or, judging by our conversation on Vitamin G, perhaps you'd rather take your chances?). How to buy cleaner eggs? Make sure the carton says they're pasteurized and never buy a dozen that contains any obvious cracks or leaks.

Peaches: They're pretty, but that's just skin-deep. Health experts warn that peach skins are doused in pesticides before they make it to grocery store to prevent blemishes. On average, a peach can contain as many as nine different pesticides, according to the USDA. This is one fruit you might want to buy organic (which may have blemishes, but won't have pesticides).

Pre-packaged salad mixes: Surprise! "Triple washed" doesn't mean germ-free say experts. Pathogens may still be lurking so be sure to wash your greens before tossing in your salad bowl.

Melons: Get ready to be grossed out. According to the article, "when the FDA sampled domestically grown cantaloupe, it found that 3.5 percent of the melons carried Salmonella and Shigella, the latter a bacteria normally passed person-to-person. Among imported cantaloupe, 7 percent tested positive for both bugs." Ewww. Your best bet: Scrub your melons with a little mild dish soap and warm water before slicing.

Scallions: Blamed for several recent outbreaks of Hepatitis A, and other bugs like the parasite Cryptosporidium, Shigella and Salmonella, scallions present a food safety problem because of the way they grow (in the dirt) and lack of proper washing. While you can't control what happens in restaurant kitchens, you can give them a super-duper washing at home before cooking with.

Other dirty foods in the article include chicken, ground beef and turkey, raw oysters, and cold cuts. Click here to read 5 more.

The bottom line: Don't be afraid to eat these foods, just be aware of the precautions you need to take before enjoying them. Most food-borne illnesses are the result of hygiene carelessness somewhere in the food chain. Protect yourself!

feeling a bit spoiled

When speaking with others about my lifestlye, I get the "how do you do it" question all the time and the "don't you miss fast food, etc" line. Well, I'd like to share my weekend experience at the Holiday Inn Express business suites with you. Company Christmas party thing, they paid for the room. I do appreciate that too since it would have been a 75 mile drive home late at night and I wouldn't have been able to do the once a year beer consumption thing. Other than the fact that there is just no place like home, the provided breakfast opened my eyes to how spoiled I really am.

The buffet breakfast that was served at the hotel was something even my DOGS wouldn't eat. Soy sausage should be against the law! Powdered eggs are a travesty of life and fake butter with fake cream should not be allowed for human consumption! There is really something to be said about good old fashioned home cooking. Soft and crunchy crusted fresh from the oven bread with free range chicken eggs and a hunk of the hog I just butchered, fresh cream and butter made from that same cream, that's how I do it and nope, I sure don't miss that commercial pre packaged food! Suffering thru that meal made me appreciate the time I get to spend in my own kitchen and having the opportunity to grow my own foods and butcher my own meats.

Ah, I shouldn't be so hard on poor Holiday Inn Express, at least they serve Arabica coffee! They brew it way too strong but it's still good coffee.

The Christmas party was average but the beer was free. The caterer over cooked the prime rib but we lived thru it. We're good until next year ;)

It's good to be home!

Planted seed of inspiration

This post was inspired by something I read over at the Johnson Family Farm blog. Never thought about posting about soap until Johnson's made some soap using the tried and true melt and pour method. They did a good job, the pictures are great. My last melt and pour attempt didn't come out anything like that. Good job Johnsons!

I started my quest to make soap because my daughter hit puberty and was covered with acne. Store bought remedies were not working and were just plain expensive wastes of time. We tried every kind of soap made and nothing helped. It took around 3 weeks or so I guess for her skin to clear up and she's been blemish free ever since. We've never bought another commercial bar of soap again. Guess it's just one of those things we do and don't think about, like doing laundry or washing dishes.

Rainy Days

It's been raining and storming since late last night so I'm feeling a little blah today. Too much time to think about things like the economy, politics, the cost of living etc. Enough to depress the heck out of anybody! Thinking about prepping and worrying if I'm doing enough each day to ensure our safety and health- on and on and on.

While we're doing all this thinking and preparing, we have to also remember to live a little. Life is always what happens when we're making other plans. Can't get all wrapped up in a single idea that other ideas or experiences pass us by without notice.

So, here I was this morning, brooding over my cup of coffee and my smoke about what I have and what I need to have and what I need to be doing and my son says to me "Look Mom, there's flowers on your plants". A ray of sunshine in all the gloom. Instantly changed my mood! Forget about the poor economy, the useless auto industry bailout, the idiotic governor of the State of Illinois and just enjoy the small things in life for a while. After all, I woke up still alive and that's something to be happy about!

Now, if I can just figure out how to go coyote hunting instead of butchering that hog........