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Today we’re digging into one of the most important tips about meal prepping! This is something that I teach all of the clients that come to my meal prepping workshops or my seminars, and it is going to set you up for success to actually use the produce you buy to meal prep.

The most important meal prepping tip is… to wash your produce first thing when you get home from the store!

Today I’m going to show you how I wash my produce and I’m going to give you a few extra tips on how to make it easy.

Right before you head out the door to go grocery shopping, I want you to get a veggie bath ready. All you need is a big bowl and some white vinegar. I also like to use a little salad spinner in mine as it helps strain the veggies, but any big bowl is fine. Fill it with water and a quarter of a cup of white vinegar.

The reason we fill up the bath before we head to the store is so that it’s the first thing we do when we come home. We’ll have the bath ready and waiting for our fruits and veggies. We don’t want to throw it down the drain and waste the water and money! So when you get home, immediately take out your produce, dip it into the bath for about a minute, take it out, let it dry a bit (wipe it off, or if they are greens, lay them out) and then chop them up however you’re going to use them so that they’re ready to prep or eat!

Occasionally people ask me if it’s really important to wash your fruits and veggies.

If you’re getting your fruits and veggies from the grocery store, absolutely, it’s imperative. You don’t know how many hands have touched that piece of fruit. It might have been traveling from Mexico or across the world and in the process a lot of people touch it. So yes, it’s important to wash it for that reason.

Also, if you are buying anything that’s not organic it has a layer of pesticides on the top of the fruit or veggie. You really want to wash that off. I choose to do this vinegar bath because it’s really good at killing the germs without leaving a vinegar taste.

So, this is a quick way for your fruits and veggies to be washed well, get those pesticides off, to get those germs off, and it set you up for success with actually using the fruits and veggies you buy.

If your produce is already washed and cut up, the likelihood of you actually using it throughout the week is higher. I don’t know if any of you have ever come home after a long day of work and you had this plan for dinner, but nothing is washed or chopped and just the thought of getting out that bag of produce sounds awful. Well, having your produce washed immediately takes out one component of that meal you want to cook, setting yourself up for success.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this quick tutorial on washing your fruits and veggies when you get home and my most helpful meal prepping tip that I teach my clients at my workshops!