I went out to hear some music a couple of nights ago. I’d share where I go, but it’s already pretty crowded there.
Sort of feeling like the t-shirt:
I mean seriously. I could tell you where I go, but then I’d have to kill ya! Just kidding!
Anyway, my girlfriend Linda said she noticed bugs in her quinoa and wanted me to do a little investigating. So here’s my blog: Bugs in your dried goods? I really haven’t thought about this.
But thinking about it now, I do remember years ago, living in Beverly Hills and seeing these little bugs in my food closet, in my grains.
She says she thinks they are eggs that come in on quinoa and hatch over time. And there you have it! Bugs!
Here’s another comment I found on the web today: I found bugs in my brown rice a few weeks ago and I freaked out and dumped the whole container down the garbage disposal. $100+ dollar plumber bill. ::)
So I guess there must be eggs that harvest in our pantries and closets, no?
Even though it wasn’t a tweet, I am treating it like that. Here’s another comment:
Regarding the pests . . . every now and then depending on the time of year, you may find little bugs in your grains. It may be because it’s not in an airtight container and thus your coop might not be the problem. When I moved into my new house, there must have been a few pests int he cupboards because I had some in my rice, my pasta and my barley. I had to get rid of all of it and when I bought airtight containers they went away. I also washed my cupboards on the inside with a cloth soaked in warm water and a drop or two of all natural javex alternative. They never came back.
If you are putting your grains in long-term storage (like plastic pails with those hard to open lids, for example) I highly recommend purchasing a block of dry ice and chipping off some squares to put in each pail, at the bottom of the pail before putting on your lid. This will not only keep the grains fresh over a long period of time, but it will remove most if not all of the oxygen so pests would not be able to live among your food 🙂 This works well with anything except flours. Bugs usually avoid flours anyway, so don’t worry too much about that.
Here’s a last comment which I agree with: For airtight containers – glass jars with sufficient threads around the lid work fine – like mason jars, peanut butter jars, or mayo jars. Large glass pickle jars also work great.
I guess we are battling both ants and bugs. And I think if we store things in airtight jars, we can avoid it all. Some people recommend bay leaves in the jars…. and here’s the very last comment: I often find weevils in my rice even though I store it in an airtight container, you can’t do much about it if they’re already in the bag. I just sift through my rice before I use it to pull out the bugs. An easy way is to add water to the grain and scoop the bugs off the top (they tend to float), and then I rinse my rice before I use it (even though it’s not really necessary healthwise).
So, it’s not your imagination. It’s real. There are bugs in rice and quinoa. It’s nature. Just like sometimes you will buy an organic romaine and find bugs and dirt. You’ve just got to wash it. Then you’re good.
One more thing, since I did mention ants: did you know they hate liquid soap mixed with a little water? I usually find the hole they are coming out of, and draw a line around it. They come out, but never cross that line. Eventually, they give up.
Happy Eating,
