10/13/2026
Good morning, Sunshines!
A weaker immune system is something a lot of people should worry about. Usually associated with older adults (yep, that's me), a weakened immune system can occur when we are sick, when we have a chronic disease, or surgery (to name a few). What happens when we have a weakened immune system? It is easier to get sick because our natural defenses are down.
What to do with this information as you prepare food for you and your family?
It is really important to follow specific practices that keep our kitchen and food safe. Look, I am the first to admit that I grew up drinking from the water hose and to eat food left out on the counter for hours. It didn't make me sick, but my immune system was solid! Imagine that I was able to drink the water out of the faucet both in Africa and Mexico without getting sick. Now, I have to be careful about where I eat, what I eat, how the food was prepared, etc.
The easiest way to remember the safety guidelines to keep your kitchen safe is to remember these words: Clean, Separate, Cook, and Chill.
Clean: wash your hands, wash your counter, bowls, cutting board, and anything else that comes in contact with food. Then, wash your hands again. By the way never wash raw meat in your sink. Whatever bacteria was in the raw meat/poultry is now all over your hands, sink, counter, faucet... yeah, gross.
Separate: keep raw foods such as meats and poultry separate and below anything else. Do not use the same cutting boards, bowls, spoons, knives, anything for raw meats and any other food. When you do so, you cross-contaminate.
Cook: I know that your mom or grandmother used to cook pork until it was so tough that you could use it as a shoe sole, but meats do not have to be overcooked to be safe to eat. You can do a simple search on any search engine to get a chart with all the safe cooking temperatures for any food. How can you tell if meat is done? Unless you are Superman or some other superhero that has X-ray vision, please, use a thermometer. The touch test is not always reliable.
Chill: I swear my mom never put leftovers in the fridge unless it was the end of the day. I have eaten eggplant parmigiana that had been on the counter for over 3 hours. Did I die? No, I am typing this, am I? 🤣🤌But, meats went into the fridge within an hour or so. Don't put big pots into your fridge while the content is still hot; instead, take it out of the pot and break it down into shallow containers, stir often to facilitate cooling, then place into the fridge.
Here is some "authoritative" source from which you can draw more information. It is good information no matter what. Better be safe! ⬇
https://www.foodsafety.gov/keep-food-safe/4-steps-to-food-safety
By the way, share in the comments if you wash your meats! This is a touchy subject in all the food safety classes I have taught!
