Tuesday, November 6, 2012

21 Days of Unfinished Projects: Day 6- Clean out the Fridge

The fridge is one of those things in the home that I probably don't clean out as often as I should. I sometimes forget how much use it gets on a daily basis. Don't get me wrong, I throw out old food when I go to the grocery store and wipe up any spills that may happen, but as for deep cleaning... it slips my mind. Because cleaning and organizing do not come naturally to me, I hit up the Internet (pinterest mostly) for tips and tricks to help me get a system I can stick with.

I started by clearing out all old/expired food, then I took inventory of what I had left and thought about what I normally keep in my fridge. I went to Target with my list and purchased a few containers to help with organization. I had never thought of using plastic/glass bins in the fridge so I had to start fresh this time. When I got home, I pulled everything out and soaked the shelves and drawers in the bathtub while I wiped down the inside. After everything was sanitized, I started figuring out my shelf arrangement. Now there is a place for everything and everything in it's place. I just hope everyone else can keep it this way!!!

You will have to forgive me for not having before pictures, I got home from the store at 4 and had dinner date at 7... I was eager to get everything done in time and forgot.

From the top: I put the leftovers front and center so we remember they are there for lunches the next day. Also on the top shelf is my Velveeta box filled with baking chips and coconut shavings. All of our birthday candles are in a small glass vase so they don't get lost. The shelf below has bins for our lunch meats and cheeses.

We used to keep all of the lunch stuff mixed in a shallow drawer, but I keep so much of it on hand that we needed a some bigger containers. I decided to keep the drawer out all together to give more shelf space.

Just below that is another container with all of our salad dressings and a lazy susan with the condiments.

On the very bottom is where I plan on keeping my mason jar salads once they are prepped. I also read in my Internet research that the best way to store asparagus is in a cup of water, so that's what I did. Not much changed in the fruit and veggie drawers.

I picked up a few glass milk jugs to help keep them cold through all of the opening and closing of the door. I put the eggs in the top door shelf to keep them from getting squished.

The very bottom has containers with the kids snacks and my bar-b-q sauce packets (I'm kind of obsessed with Chick-Fil-A's BBQ)
 I am hoping that with everything compartmentalized it will be easier to pull everything out for a nice wipe down... And maybe, just maybe we will be able to keep it up!

4 comments:

Fonda said...

Seriously, that is all of your condiments? Whose child are you? Your dad and I have shelves FULL of condiments!!!

Anonymous said...

You're mom will laugh at me but once again you have inspired me to organize. Not that she would laugh because you have inspired me BUT that you have inspired me to tackle my frig too. You wouldn't think it would be so hard for me to keep my frig clean and clutter free since I don't cook that often (about 1x wk) but for some reason my frig is always messy. I did cook last night and am thinking about cooking the rest of the week.Well probably not tonight but starting Thursday. (Fonda you can pick yourself up off the floor now) I did rearrange my pantry the other day but I think I want to redesign it. Make it much more functional.

Thanks for the great ideas.

Rita

Fonda said...

Rita, I am laughing. Especially about that fourth sentence...you are going to cook the rest of the weekbut not tonight! LOL! Oh well, I'm not cooking tonight either!

Kelli, I am missing your post for today.

Anonymous said...

In my defense, I go to prayer group on Wednesday nite. It doesn't last long but I usually pick up Roast Beef Po-Boys at Magic Grill (the owner used to work for Ray PeGe's). The guy that owns PeGe's now is not very good. In fact, it is NEVER crowded there anymore. But I did cook last night. I didn't cook by yours or Kelli standards but I did prepare a meal. ha ha.

Love you,
Rita