Helping your family stay healthy is a serious and fulltime job. At every step it requires practice of good hygiene Right from buying your grocery, dairy products, veggies, and fruits to serving them on table the family has to take many precautions. Lapse at one step and the entire effort goes for a toss. Buy fresh things, store them well, use before they are soiled, cook in the most hygienic way possible keeping their nutrition intact and finally serve in clean plates and hand wash before & after meals. Last but not the least clean your mouth before going to bed!
We’ll discuss a few primary topics in this post where washing is of importance.
Wash Hands: First and foremost wash your hands, often, over and again. Enough has already been written about how important washing your hands is before you start cooking, in between and also when you finish cooking. Stick to it always. Washing your hands saves your family from many illnesses. Teach your children to wash their hands often. After they are back from school, play, class, before and after eating, snacking etc. If they don’t all your effort of cooking healthy contamination free meals goes for a toss. Start teaching them all kinds of hygiene from early childhood by demonstrating it in your own behaviour. Remember the best learning happens on the job!
Wash Cutting Boards, Knives, Counter: Thoroughly wash kitchen counters and cutting boards. Wash cutting boards with warm water, and soaps made for countertops. Also make sure that you wash sponges used for washing counters and appliances as they are known to carry germs and bacteria. Before using these wash them thoroughly under running water.
If you can maintain more than one cutting board, may be in different colours for different kinds of foods; veg, non-veg, dairy products, fruits etc it will be great. This way you can reduce risk of contamination. And it’s not too difficult to clean them anyway. Just wash them under running water after reach use and at the end of cooking for the day wash them with soap, wipe them dry with tissue or clean towel.
Storage Containers & Other Appliances: Also buy some good quality of plastic and glass storage containers to store your leftovers in refrigerator. Always warm your food in glass containers. Avoid as far as you can even the best of plastic from going into the microwave; needless to mention wash and wipe them dry and clean before next use.
Wash Veggies & Fruits: Coming to the most debated and interesting part; that of washing fruits & veggies. There are so many tips and suggestions from pre-soaking your fruits and vegetables, washing under tap water and brushing them thoroughly a few times, wiping them with help of paper towels, to vinegar and lemon mix. Just scrubbing them well while running them under tap water seems like the most practical and effective way to get rid of germs and bacteria.
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