Although my mom and I have very different parenting styles, a lot of what I do as a mother is heavily influenced by her and by how I grew up. There are things that I do to this very day because that is how my mother did them.

Unfortunately, some of those things are now frowned upon by experts. And that’s not unusual, since experts are always coming out with some type of study to tell you that what you are doing is not the right way to do it. Some of it keeps us safe..and some if it just drives me crazy.

One such thing is washing your raw meats before you cook them. My mama washed her meat…so guess what..I do too. But last year some time I discovered that the The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommended that we do not wash our meats before cooking them. Why? Because washing your meat could cause cross contamination in your kitchen. And, because the bacteria from the meat could spread around the kitchen, utensils, counter tops…everywhere.

Yuck – could I be purposely spreading, Spillmanella, around my kitchen. Spillmanella is a term I got from the Clorox Ick-tionary, www.icktionary.com. It’s raw chicken juice that you accidentally spill on the floor.

Seriously, I could not wrap my mind around this concept of not cleaning your meat before you eat it. So now, I am caught at the crossroads, because I still think it is gross to not clean your meats and now I also think it’s gross to clean the meats! Geez…what’s a mom to do??

So, what I have done is to try to be more careful when cleaning my meats. It’s like a surgical procedure, where I am carefully opening the package, placing it in the middle of the sink, turning the water stream on low, so as not to splash, and carefully rinsing and placing it in a bowl. The second thing I did was to stock up on my cleaning products such as Clorox Clean-up Cleaner with Bleach and Clorox Disinfecting wipes. Finally, I do a major sink and counter top cleanup.

So, now you know what I do….please tell me what you do? Do you still clean your meats before you cook them?

Tell me about one of your life’s icky moments for a chance to win $250 to treat the mouth wiping, floor sweeping, counter cleaning mom in your life! Visit  www.icktionary.com to learn the new language for ick and how Clorox® cleaning and laundry products can help you tackle the next icky situation in your home, play games and win coupons while supplies last!

This post is brought to you by The Clorox Company.  I have partnered with them to spread the word about Clorox’s Ick-tionary program. To share Ick-tionary terms and real life messes, visit [www.icktionary.com].  All opinions and stories are my own. Official Sweepstakes Rules

Check out how we’ve captured  Life’s Icky Moments on Pinterest….and join the conversation.