Dirty, dirty...

Let's see if I can bump my blog traffic with that title.

Anyway, hi!  Welcome to another blog entry.  Its summer and summer is my favorite season for fruits and veggies, but mainly fruits.  The pluots, nectarines, avocados, and berries are off the chain and I love all of them. 

This post is not about the foods I love stuffing in my face (although, that list is extensive), this is about knowing stuff.

The Environmental Working Group recently released their list of the Dirty Dozen.  A list of produce found to have the highest pesticide residue as well as a list of the produce found to be the cleanest. 

A general rule of thumb: if it's not something you peel, it's a higher risk, because you're consuming something a pesticide has actually touched.  That's where buying organic becomes helpful.  I personally don't think you need to buy all organic, but in certain cases, like pesticides on your food, organic rules.

In my experience, even when buying organic or direct from a farmer's market, a good rinse and scrub is always helpful.  Better safe than sorry when it comes to health.

So go forth, do your homework, buy fruits and veggies, live long and prosper.  Also, get outside and do stuff (after reading my blog, of course).

Peace & happy summer,
Mel

I almost died....

Okay, that's dramatic.  But the reason I disappeared after this post was because I was sick...for a month...like, sleep 19 hours a day, no appetite, face & chest filled with snot and sickness, sick.  It was awful* and I could not bounce back from it.  It was gross, but now I am better, so I will get back to blog business. 

While I was busy blowing my nose over the last month, a lot happened in the world.  The zombie apocalypse is upon us.  See here and here.  My niece graduated from high school....I was very young when she was born.  My parents are coming to visit Californ I.A. in a matter of days.  Last, but not least, especially considering this is a blog about food, National Vegetarian Week occurred!  May 21st - May 27th.

I'm not a full vegetarian, but I eat a lot of vegetables and I'm a huge, huge, HUGE fan of compassionate, sustainable eating.  It's good to pay attention to what goes in your face - not only for the healthy impact on your body, but for the good it does the earth.

I frequent the Environmental Working Group website for information on food and health.  If something is going in my body, I like to know where it came from and what the potential risks are (minds out of the gutter people, my mom reads this).  Anyway, I found this article on a less meat-centric diet very informative and helpful.  Maybe you will too.

So that's it folks - all I got today is links, but they're good links.  Eat your veggies, avoid the gross head colds/flu viruses/zombie attacks going around, and have a great weekend!

*side note: while being sick was awful, my boyfriend took excellent care of me.  Frankly, it was kind of nice lying around and having a handsome man bring me soup and 7-Up.  Silver lining folks, silver lining.

Love & Veggies!
Mel