Two New Best Friends

I have two new best friends. Really. The first is an old-school cold remedy and the second is an equally old-school cleaning aid. This cold has really had me down and out and, let's face it, you can be that way for long with a two year old.

My first new best friend is Alka-Seltzer. Not the Plus or Cold variety. I mean plain old Alka-Seltzer. Taking two of their effervescent tablets in the morning and two at night before bed has really helped a lot. It's helped relieve the sinus pressure, headaches, and body aches that usually plague me at those two times of day. A better start to my morning and easier time falling asleep? Yes please! Like with any type of medication you should read and adhere to all dosing instructions. These helpful tablets do contain aspirin so please be careful.

My second new best friend is baking soda. Once upon a time baking soda was the cure-all for cleaning as well as baking. Well just because we've discovered new cleaning products doesn't mean that this old friend no longer works. It's just the opposite. It works beautifully and is a green alternative to some of the harsher cleaning chemicals.This The New Homemaker article lists twenty seven different cleaning uses for baking soda. Between this and their article on vinegar I think you could almost replace all of the common cleaners in your home. The big breakthrough for me came when my mother showed me how she had begun to use baking soda to clean her stove top. I have a glass top stove and the bottled cleaners always smell bad and God only knows what's in them. This time I tried sprinkling a little baking soda on my stove top after it ad cooled and scrubbed it with a lightly damp sponge with an abrasive side. Sure enough all of the little stains came up without a fuss. Awesome! no more harsh stove top cleaners for me!

The cold is slow in going away but I'm hoping that by Monday it'll be all gone! Hope everyone has a good weekend!