Good afternoon, we got some much needed rain last night, chilly today but the boats are getting on the lake now (around 12:30 pm) A bit windy too with no sunshine. Lots of rain still forecast for tomorrow and Monday.
Our two workers came and got more accomplished yesterday, and I got more accomplished too in the flower garden. I have everything I need now to set up the ornamental grasses on a mound of soil near the lake front. I will work on that once the rain all clears out. That big mound is full of weeds too that need to be cleared. This was a project Larry wanted to do to hopefully bring in nesting ducks or geese.
I have been purchasing an assortment of what I thought was quality dried fruits from an online family company for years now. Larry always liked it and actually requested dried fruit probably 15 years ago or more, so I buy a big box of different dried fruits and then put a small assortment in snack bags and store in the frig. These dried fruits have gotten more expensive the last few years, The fruits have always been large and a quality product. I started eating some too for a healthy snack and helps with digestion for me as well.
I had not really looked at all the ingredients, I just assumed just dried fruit-Not. There is no added sugars but they do use sulfur and other preservatives and the bad thing for me-not packaged in an allergy friendly place-the list is long-wheat-fish -dairy and more. I am thinking they just want to cover everything. Since my digestive system is pretty touchy still-this dried fruit product is not for me-sadly. I don't know why I hadn't really looked into this before. I had always been happy with their products and supporting a family business as well.
So I looked online for organic and allergy free dried fruits. I ended up going to Amazon to see what they had. I found a company that had dates, figs, apricots, and tart cherries mostly in 2 1/2 pound bags, a couple in 2 pound bags for just about the same price that I have been spending for one pound bags. Wow it pays to shop around. I also found organic Sun maid raisins in a large bag too I need to search for a yellow raisin that doesn't have the sulfur preservatives. Maybe that is what keeps them yellow.
Here is a photo of what I found on Amazon
I have noticed that our small size Wal mart store has organics coming in more than before.
I Have 3 pieces of frozen fish from the first company I bought from-wow such a huge difference in portion size than the new company The two salmons that were left are thin and small It does pay to shop around.
Enjoy your weekend
Update: I have been searching online for golden raisins that are organic or at least with no sulfur. I did not find much at all with no sulfur. I did come across something new to me, had good reviews organic and no sulfur added Goldenberries Most seem to be grown in Peru
I do not purchase any dried fruit my husband does not care for it.
ReplyDeleteGlad you are getting some gardening work done. It is very cool here and lots and lots of rain we have had rain for the past 10 days.
Cathy
We are still cool this afternoon more boaters on the lake now, no sun we have a lot of rain coming in though--Wow 10 straight days of rain is a bit much- hoping it stops soon
DeleteYou sent me on a search to see what the packages of our dried fruit said about allergens and preservatives. Both the dates (organic, with pits) and the raisins (conventional, from Aldi) had no mention of either.
ReplyDeletethat is a good thing especially no sulfurs I really miss not have a Aldi near where we live on the lake now-at the woods house I food shopped in Lebanon and they had a really nice Aldi-I miss that I loved their ground bison meat too
DeleteHi Kathy, I don't purchase any dried fruit and I don't buy organic. When I purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, I soak them in white vinegar and water first, as this not only cleans them but the vinegar will remove any dirt and bacteria that may be present. After this, then I wash them in cold water like I normally do and use them. Nice you are getting some garden work done. It has been chilly here and rainy in Montreal, but I don't mind. My next blog post for Monday will explain all this. Thank you so much for sharing, and I wish you a great rest of the weekend!
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon, I wash all of my produce too I had read an article years ago probably 25-30 years ago and it suggested to have two spray bottles-one vinegar and one hydrogen peroxide. spray all fresh fruits and veggies-wait 5 minutes rinse well in cool water. It is suppose to get rid of what ever they put on the produce.
DeleteThanks for dropping by-enjoy your weekend
I usually eat real fruit and have never tried organic or dried fruit. Hope it helps your digestive issues. Janice
ReplyDeleteI love in season real fruit too especially berries my system always likes those
DeleteIt does pay to shop around
ReplyDeleteIt does for sure
DeleteThe sulfur is added to keep the shelf life longer because it keeps the bacteria from growing. That part doesn't bother me because you need sulfur in your body to build some proteins. Organic doesn't mean chemical free because everything is made of chemicals. I sometimes get organics, sometimes not. I try not to buy a lot of processed foods because I do think they add a lot of things like lots of salts and sugar and who knows what else. But it's hard to food shop because not everything seems to be labeled really well, especially fresh unpackaged things. Good luck with your food search Kathy, And I'm glad to read you've been busy gardening and getting outdoors. hugs-Erika
ReplyDeleteThank you Erika for the information-I will keep the dried fruit I just bought-organic and no preservatives-in the refrigerator I though the sulfur was mostl for color.
DeleteWith my crazy digestive system and Larry's different health concerns I have always made everything from scratch-when I could have a garden I put up lots of food for us-but I grew up that way too My Mom was born on a farm so we always had healthy food back then too.
Lots of rain and cooler now for a few days.
Sweets, sadly not mine. Ingo buys fresh food and I "try" to have one each day. Why can´t they be hearty? Hugs to you and the lake. I am late again. Studied the weekend :-(
ReplyDeleteFresh foods are so much better than canned or frozen for sure if you have access to them.
DeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteI rarely think about sulfur in foods even though I am allergic to it. I will be careful now. Drying fruit in season is a consideration.
May
Hi Mary Yes when we were younger and I was putting up lots of food-I dried a lot of fruits and veggies too-sooo good. We had two high quality dehydrators we ended up giving one away and kept one. Sadly I do not have access to fresh fruits in bushels any more
DeleteI buy organic. I will buy otherwise if I can't find organics though. I'm going to try those figs because I love them and can't find organic here. It's important to me to grow organically too.
ReplyDeleteI buy a lot online now adays-easier to check lots of different sites-I am looking forward to trying these. our little wal mart has more organics lately and I found organic fresh carrots at the smaller grocery store. organics are not as expensive as they used to be. I miss not being able to have a veggie garden here. I am trying a tomato plant-last time I tried the squirrels and chipmunks ate everything
DeleteIt has been raining over here too...quite chilly for May. Organic doesn't mean chemical free, so I buy them when the price right and reasonable.
ReplyDelete