Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Girl's Best Friend

It's not what you're thinking.  I bet you're expecting I'll say...

...diamonds...or...

...my husband...or...

 ...my dog.

Nope.

This girl's best fried is none other than...

...a neti pot!

A what?

This little allergy sufferer and one who it seemed once-upon-a-time could get sick simply being in the same room with someone with the sniffles, is in love with her neti pot.  Weird, but true.

A neti pot is a small pot that you fill with warm water and a particular amount of non-iodized salt to flush your nasal cavities.  You tilt your head a little to the side, put the spout in one nostril and as you tilt further, the water will simply travel through the naval cavity and out the other nostril. This video demonstrates how to do it.

This practice has been followed for thousands of years, originating with ayurvedic medicine -- yoga's sister science -- and is still widely practiced in India.

Why would you do such a thing??!?

After work at the bakery inhaling flour dust, after a day out in the garden digging in the dirt, when spring is in full bloom, if I'm out and it's really dusty and windy, after I'm with the kiddos during cold and flu season -- or anyone else who's sick for that matter -- I use my neti pot.  Such a simple thing to do. And not only are my allergies next to nothing these days (along with some other natural remedies I'll tell you about some day soon), I haven't had so much as a cold in about two years...interestingly, exactly the amount of time I've been using it.

I don't do it every day...just as needed. And mostly, I let my body tell me when it needs it.

See? I listen!

These days, you can pick a neti pot up at your local drugstore for about $12. This is how I started. After about six months, the plastic one began to irritate me, so I graduated to a ceramic one that I bought at Valley Natural Foods near our house...but you could probably find ceramic ones also at Whole Foods or a health food/vitamin store.

A word to the wise...be careful of wet ceramic, as it is extremely slippery and easy to drop...and break. Which is why I have to admit I'm on my second of the nice ones. Oops!

Between the video and the instructions you'll get in your brand new neti pot (you're going to get one now, aren't you??!?), and a little bit of courage and a sense of adventure on your part, you're good to go.  The trickiest part, in my book, is getting the right amount of salt...it depends on your own pH level so it takes a little time to get the mix just right.

If you're feeling daring -- or are just plain old sick and tired of being sick and tired and sniffly -- and want to give it a try, I'd love to hear how it goes. It's worth it, I promise! And if you have any questions, I'd love to help!

Any other neti pot lovers out there?  Share your story!//

What's For Dinner Tonight?
Our impromptu Friends and Family Week continues...this time with my lazy butt next to T's lazy butt on the couch across the room from Trooper's lazy butt in her bed. Doing something exciting like watching NCIS or DVR'd episodes of Oprah's Lifeclass (OK, I'd be in bed doing that by myself...perhaps with Trooper's lazy butt in bed next to me).

So dinner is the epitome of low-key...rotisserie chicken, the sweet potatoes and baby reds I roasted on Sunday and a salad. Mellow, easy eat-on-the-couch fare. Works for me tonight.

Especially after last night's expedition to Carmelo's, which was TO DIE FOR! Everything about it was awesome. Highly recommended by this bunch!

As discussed yesterday, all is made from scratch at this humble little restaurant on Snelling and St. Clair in St. Paul.

Here are the wines we tasted last night...our friends brought the first and T brought the others. I love places that let you bring your own wine and only charge a small corkage fee!

'Ze menu...

Appetizers of calamari (awesome!)...

...and baked ravioli (awesomer!)

Salad with peppercorn ranch dressing...not sure if they make this themselves but it's really good!

 Her entree: butternut squash ravioli with prosciutto and a sage cream sauce (a.ma.zing!),

and his entree: good old spaghetti and meatballs (now that's a spicy meatball!) Fantastic!

And homemade (what else!!?) tiramisu.  Hold on to your hats for this one!

It's THAT good!

Nighty lazy night one and all!

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