Hands Free Soap Dispenser: A Great Idea For The Home!!

Lysol has recently come out with a hands free, motion sensing hand soap dispenser. I think this is great! It is priced reasonably well at about $20. This is something that I plan to put in my kitchen for sure. Often times, when preparing a meal, I end up handling raw meat or raw eggs. I am hesitant to touch the hand soap pump knowing that I am putting germs on it as I touch it but I really have no other choice. I do put the pump in the dishwasher from time to time to be sanitized. ONLY the pump can go in the dishwasher. I put the bottom part that holds the soap in the dishwasher once and it melted. That part has to be washed by hand.

If you are concerned about germs on the faucet handle, it should be sanitized at least weekly if not more often. If you have a handle that can be turned on with your arm when your hands are dirty, then do that. If you don't, then either ask someone to turn the water on for you or get a paper towel or napkin out before you get your hands dirty. Then you can use it to turn the water on and then throw it away.

My bathroom faucets can also be turned on with my wrist or arm. If you have to use your hands, you can always grab a small piece of toilet paper to turn the water on. Again, faucet handles should be sanitized often anyway.

Gardening Is Hard Work!!

When Adam partook of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, God said to him "...cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field..."  --Genesis 3:17-18
Isn't that the truth? My garden is already producing an abundance of weeds, including the nasty, prickly one in the picture. Don't get me wrong. I am thankful for the choice that Adam and Eve made. We wouldn't be here otherwise. While gardening is hard work, I find satisfaction in providing safe food for my family. Not having to worry about food recalls is worth it.

The good news is I do have some little sprouts coming up. The picture to the right is corn, I also have some squash and lettuce sprouts coming up. Last year, I didn't do a very good job of weeding. I think we had more weeds than vegetables. Part of the problem was that I wasn't sure which ones were weeds and which ones were plants. I marked the rows that I planted better this year and now I am more familiar with what the weeds look like. As I've said before, I'm learning as I go.

My Garden

I finally finished planting my garden last Monday. It has been so cold and rainy here, I haven't been able to get any seeds planted. I started last Friday since the weather had been dry for a couple days. I planted six rows of corn and some serrano peppers for my husband before it started raining again. I was in Salt Lake City all day Saturday, so I finished planting on Monday since the weather was dry again. This is only my second garden ever. I actually enjoy going outside and working in the dirt. I just make sure to wash my hands thoroughly when I am done, including under my fingernails. This year, I'm growing sweet corn, blue corn, red potatoes, carrots, spaghetti squash, zucchini, pumpkins, tomatoes, lettuce, serrano peppers and jalapeno peppers (my husband likes to torture himself with the hot stuff). I also planted strawberries in my flower bed. Last year I planted watermelon seeds but, like this year, it was cold and rainy well into June. Watermelon needs heat and sunlight (which I didn't know last year) so it didn't come up at all. I am going to try again this year, so I'm waiting for warm weather before I plant those seeds. Again, I am a total amatuer at this. I'm learning as I go. I will be happy with whatever survives and provides me with food. At least I won't have to worry about recalls due to e-coli or salmonella contamination on the food I grow.

My Eventful Saturday

My husband and I along with two of our kids spent the day in Salt Lake City on Saturday. First of all, we dropped my mom off at the airport. It was nice to have her visit. I told her to read the travel tips page of my website before getting on an airplane to come visit us. She didn't, but I told her about it while she was here. She made it home safely and, hopefully, germ free.

My dad also flew out here with my mom, but he had to leave a few days before she did for work. He had a cold during his visit and I had to tell him to stop coughing on his hand and touching everything. He has a copy of my book, so I thought he would know better. He was a good sport about it. I did take a sanitizing wipe and wipe all the light switches, doorknobs, etc.

After we left the airport, my husband wanted to test drive this car that he found online that is located in Salt Lake. Since it is an older car and was rather dirty inside, we sanitized our hands really well after the test drive. If he ends up buying this car, it will be thoroughly cleaned inside.

The next thing on the agenda was lunch. It was around 2:00 in the afternoon and we were hungry. We decided the best place to go was a local all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant since we were headed for the Real Salt Lake soccer game at 7:00. This normally wouldn't be my first choice but we wanted a rather large meal to tide us over until after the game. The food was okay. I was a little disappointed because they don't have any of my favorite dishes anymore. I was happy to see hand sanitizer placed around all of the serving areas.

After we pigged out on food, we hung around a mall until time to go to the game. We found our seats and I noticed a lady sitting in the next section cleaning her seat off with a wipe. I love it when I see a fellow germaphobe. It warms my heart. I must confess, I don't wipe seats unless they are really gross. Instead, I change my clothes when I get home and wash the clothes I was wearing. The game was really fun. Real Salt Lake won 4 to 1. I have a lot of fun watching sports when I'm there in person, but watching it on TV gets boring for me.

Antibacterial Soap Vs. Regular Soap

Is antibacterial soap better than regular soap? According to the FDA, it is no better. All of the antibacterial products on the market today are creating more superbugs. I have personally dealt with the superbug MRSA and it terrifies me. I mostly use regular, liquid soap. I do occasionally buy antibacterial soap because it does give me an extra sense of security but I have not had any problems using regular soap. As long as you wash your hands thoroughly for as long as it takes to sing the alphabet song in your head, you should be fine. I do not use bar soap because it can harbor bacteria, although it is better than nothing.

No self-respecting germaphobe like me goes anywhere without hand sanitizer or antibacterial hand wipes. I carry both. Hand sanitizer is good but there are some messes that just need to be wiped off. The bottom line? Be careful, stay clean and avoid touching things as much as you possibly can.

Salmonella Causes Alfalfa Sprout Recall

Salmonella found in alfalfa sprouts has sickened 23 people in 10 states. The FDA issued a recall on Friday, May 21, 2010 on raw alfalfa sprouts labeled as "Caldwell Fresh Foods alfalfa sprouts" from Maywood, California. My daughter bought some sprouts last Thursday, the day before the recall because she likes them on sandwiches. I don't care for sprouts. In my opinion, they taste like dirt (not that I eat dirt, it reminds me of the smell of dirt). We checked the label on Friday after seeing the recall in the newspaper. Fortunately, the sprouts she bought are from Utah and not part of the recall. As I have said before in previous posts, be careful and wash raw fruits and vegetables very thoroughly before eating. Also, keep an eye out for news reports about recalls. Avoid higher risk produce like prepared salads and pre-cut fruit and vegetables. It may be more work to do it yourself, but it's better than getting sick and also less expensive.

Sanitizing Your Make-up And Purse

I went to visit my friend Megan a last week and she told me she had recently heard a news report about germs found in make-up. She threw all of her old make-up away.

I have heard of eye infections from old mascara or eyeliner before, but never gave it much thought. I always handle my make-up with clean hands and I don't carry it in my purse. I decided to do a little research into this and I found a great Dr. Oz video. Here are his tips:

"Lipstick and Mascara


Take a tube of lipstick and dip it in alcohol for 15 to 30 seconds, then wipe away the top layer of the lipstick. Or leaving it overnight in the freezer will also kill bacteria and viruses.

Leave a closed tube of mascara overnight in the freezer, thereby killing the germs.
 
Foundation and Eye Pencil


If you use a powder foundation, scrape off the top layer of the powder occasionally.
If you use a liquid foundation, scoop out the top layer.
Sharpen your eye pencil to a fresh point, making sure to remove the first layer.

Oz suggests disinfecting all of your cosmetics every three weeks, including using alcohol or freezing them."

I found this very interesting and useful information. I never would have thought to freeze my make-up or put lipstick in alcohol. I've never been big on lipstick, but I love lip balm! Dr. Oz also talked about cleaning the inside of your purse weekly. I clean the outside of mine from time to time, but I rarely clean the inside.