Dirty Dozen vs. Clean Fifteen

So it has come to my attention that I am very poor with time management. Well.. I am in reference to school work that is. I always seem to find a way to waste away my morning & afternoon, then have to do homework all night. This often leaves me with zero time to blog.. I'm working on reprioritizing though. ;)

However, on a very positive note..
Only FIVE WEEKS LEFT until finals!
Hallelujah! Praise Jesus. ;)

Then it's summer time, working for my daddy, & then off to Minnesota for Chiropractic school..
Wow. This (school) year has flown by.
Crazy how that always happens, isn't it?

This week has been madness. Two big exams today and numerous homework assignements earlier this week has left me with no real time to blog/cook.
Sad day..

Don't worry though. This girl has got a plethura of good info to keep you entertained until I introduce you to some new & exciting recipes in the (hopefully) not too far off future.

^ Let's discuss these guys ^

Shall we?

Let's face it.. I'm sure we all wish that we could afford to buy the best quality ingredients, all of the time. But, as unfortunate as it is.. Healthy (organic) food is not always the cheapest..

I'm a college student. I understand what it is like trying to buy the healthiest foods you can on a budget. I do buy non-GMO foods always & mostly all organic, with just a few exceptions.

Organic foods have countless benefits. They're is grown free of toxic pesticides & chemical fertilizers. Not only is this good for you to not be consuming them, but think about the people growing the food. They too don't have to be exposed to the nasty chemicals & the soil that the plants are grown in remains plush & fruitful for years to come! Eating organic means you are better sustaining the Earth & it's abilities to provide for us, as well as doing your part to more healthfully treat yourself. It also doesn't hurt that organic fruits & veggies contain more nutriets than their toxic relatives do, so if possible you should always go for organic. 

But.. Did you know that there are certain fruits & veggies that you don't necessarily need to buy organic?  It gets costly, I know. So below is a list of the fruit & veg items that you should always, always buy in the organic section & a list of the items that you don't necessarily need to always buy organic. (I do want to note that all of the non-organic items should be washed super-duper well to ensure all of the chemicals/pesticides have been washed off!)

The Dirty Dozen

1. Apples
2. Celery
3. Strawberries
4. Peaches
5. Spinach
6. Nectarines
7. Grapes
8. Sweet Bell Peppers
9. Potatoes
10. Lettuce/Kale/Collard Greens
11. Cherries
12. Pears

Clean 15

1. Asparagus
2. Avocado
3. Banana
4. Onion
5. Pineapple
6. Mango
7. Broccoli
8. Cabbage
9. Kiwi
10. Sweet Corn
11. Sweet Peas
12. Mushrooms
13. Watermelon
14. Tomatoes
15. Sweet potatoes

A good tip to remember when shopping, the most highly contaminated fruits and veggies are typically tree fruits, berries and leafy greens. As you can see though, celery doesn't fall into any of those three categories yet it still lands on the dirty dozen list. So you can't only assume these types of fruits/veggies are the only highly contaminated ones. Again I will say, if possible, always buy organic. Not only for the reasons I listed previously, but buying organic means you can be sure you are not eating GMO (genetically modified) foods. I could go on about GMO foods for days, but we shall save that for a later post.