The Environmental Working Group has released their revised lists for the Dirty Dozen (the 12 fruits and vegetables highest in pesticide residue) and the Clean 15 (the 15 fruits and vegetables with the lowest amount of pesticide residue).

The complete list isn’t available yet, but becoming familiar with, and avoiding the Dirty Dozen, will go a long way to keeping harmful toxins out of your body. For all the foods on the Dirty Dozen list, it’s a good idea to only buy certified organic. If it’s on the list, and I can’t find organic, I won’t buy it, and I won’t eat it.

Dirty Dozen

1. Celery
2. Peaches
3. Strawberries
4. Apples
5. Blueberries
6. Nectarines
7. Bell peppers
8. Spinach
9. Kale
10. Cherries
11. Potatoes
12. Grapes (imported)

Clean 15

1. Onions
2. Avocado
3. Sweet Corn
4. Pineapple
5. Mangos
6. Sweet Peas
7. Asparagus
8. Kiwi
9. Cabbage
10. Eggplant
11. Cantaloupe
12. Watermelon
13. Grapefruit
14. Sweet Potato
15. Honeydew Melon

Recently, I posted a link to a video that featured Mimi Kirk—a beautiful, vibrant, 71-year old woman who recently won a contest sponsored by PETA and was awarded the title of Sexiest Vegetarian over the age of 50. (After speaking with her, I decided she deserved a promotion, so I gave her the title of Sexiest Vegetarian on the Planet. I’m pretty sure PETA won’t mind.) During the short video clip, Mimi credited her youthful appearance and excellent health to the fact that she has been a vegetarian for the better part of 40 years. I instantly liked this woman and was intrigued. As luck would have it, a friend of mine who knows Mimi saw my post and offered to make an introduction. Woohoo. This past week, Mimi was gracious enough to spend some time with me and I am excited to share our conversation in an audio file posted below.

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I like to read before going to bed. For a while, we had a TV in the bedroom and ineveitably ended up watching whatever was on just before going to sleep. I often would dream about something I watched before going to sleep. During the last election, we started watching CNN before bed. The night I  dreamt about Sarah Palin was the last night I ever watched TV just before going to sleep.

But I digress. This post isn’t about TV or politics. This post is about the books I read. More specifically, this post is about the books that are sitting on my nightstand this very moment. It occurred to me last night that I always have an interesting collection of books on my nightstand. I’m typically not the type of reader that starts a book and reads straight through to the end. I like to peruse. I like to explore. I find that I’m interested in reading about so many things, and I’m always in the middle of two or three books.

My newest book, Savor, by Thich Nhat Hanh is wonderful. I’ve just started this book and will let you know what I think of it in a later post. In fact, I’ll make it a habit to tell you about all the books I find worthwhile, and I’d love to hear from you as well. If you’ve discovered a fantastic book and think the folks who read this blog would enjoy reading it, please let us know. I’d love to start our own virtual reading club.

What’s on your nightstand?

There aren’t any magic pills or potions that can make you healthy. Let’s face it, if you want to be healthy, it takes some effort. I’m not a big fan of any product or claim that promises rewards without effort. However, there is one thing that requires very little effort, and has tremendous rewards. And I do it daily. More »

I believe that each of us is solely responsible for who we are and the condition in which we find ourselves. No one else is responsible for any aspect of our lives— not our friends or our teachers, not our employers, not our parents, and not our spouses. I believe our current state of health is the sum total of thousands of choices we’ve made during our lives.
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This Delicious Journey: The intersection of real food, natural health and conscious living.

Welcome to a new day. Welcome to a new life. If you’re like me, you wake up every day thrilled to have another day on this wonderful journey we call life. I’m Christy Brennand, a.k.a. The Whole Chef, and I’m so excited to share my delicious journey with you, and I hope the path I’ve chosen and the future steps I take offer you inspiring insights and new ideas for making your journey more delicious too.

This blog is a ‘how-to’ manifesto for people wanting to live a more healthy life. It is forum for meaningful discussions about the foods we eat and how our eating practices affect our lives, the lives of our families and friends, and this planet we lovingly call Earth. This blog is about examining our crazy, hectic, unconscious ways of living, and redirecting our energies towards more simple, more fulfilled, and more balanced ways of living.

If you would like to come a long for the ride, and in the process be inspired to make positive changes in your life, please subscribe to this blog and become part of a community of people who will change the world through simple actions and mindful living. I cannot do this alone and hope that you will join the rest of us who truly care about our health and our world. Let’s join hands in this virtual space and support each other as we all traverse the hills and valleys of our own delicious journeys.