7) Organize your fridge
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Does your fridge resemble this when you open it up?
I can’t stand opening up the door and staring into a jam packed fridge. It doesn’t get much worse for me than this. I realize this is dramatic, but it’s the thoughts racing in my mind.
What’s in here? A bunch of spoiled out of date food- maybe this stems from my week long bout with food poisoning as a teenager.
Where is the salad dressing or ketchup or pickles? Hidden from sight without moving twelve things, spilling two drinks and dropping a Tupperware container of leftovers on the floor.
What do we need from the store? I have no idea. Just buy everything you think we might need and we’ll cram it in there with all the outdated, expired stuff we already have.
Here are 7 quick rules to keep your fridge tidy.
- Buy less stuff at the store. Only stockpile things that can be frozen like meats, veggies or items that get stored in a pantry. Don’t go any farther out than a month or two. Don’t buy six months worth of crackers or coffee.
- Only cook what you’ll eat, or eat the leftovers in the following day or two. After that throw them out. If this offends your stewardship then buy a dog and make the dog happy.
- Give items in your fridge a home. How about: condiments on top shelf- milk, eggs, yogurt, cheeses and butter together in drawers and on their own shelf- leftovers and ingredients for today’s meal on there own shelf, fruits in one drawer, veggies in another, meats in another- frozen stuff sorted with like items in the freezer.
- Take things out and put them back where they go. Don’t just look for the open space.
- Clean your fridge out whenever you take out your garbage. Not every time. Whenever you take it for pickup. We only have to do this weekly but usually cook what we need or eat the leftovers quickly.
- When you store things always consolidate- take a huge casserole dish with one serving left and put it into a small container. When you come home from the store- take things out of their boxes, bins, and containers to save room with storage in the fridge.
- Be honest. With all things in organization, eliminate what you do not use regularly. By the time you use the 5th different type of cream or dip, odds are it will be green with mold. Save yourself the disgust of opening it and toss it now.
