Our insurance agent sends us emails that contain useful tidbits of information from time to time. The one I received this week was a bit disgusting, to be honest.

According to the Allstate Insurance "Good Hands News," most kitchens are more germ ridden than the typical bathroom! To make matters worse, the germs in your kitchen can be very dangerous, and even kill you!

Where are some of these germs located and how can you get rid of them?

* Look at your kitchen sponge. You need to disinfect your sponge, especially when you have cleaned up things like the drippings from meat. Try popping it in the microwave daily ... if not more. Two minutes should do it.

* Scrub out your sink drain and garbage disposal. You may want to put a spoonful of bleach down both the drain and the garbage disposal occasionally.

* While working on the sink, your faucet builds up bacteria. You need to use a disinfectant cleaner every evening before you go to bed!

* Wash and dry your refrigerator drawers and shelves at least once a month.

* Clean those spills off the floor and thoroughly mop the kitchen floor with a disinfecting cleaner at least once a week.

The Allstate article didn't mention wiping down the counter which, to me, is the area with the most germs. I wipe my counter off with Pine-Sol and water every evening.

I certainly do not want to have more germs in my kitchen than in my bathroom!