It’s a new week of organizing and decluttering our homes! This week will be spent in the kitchen! That’s right, a whole week in one room! I have found that organizing and decluttering the kitchen can be really overwhelming. In order to help make it less stressful I’m dividing up the tasks!
Every Monday at my house is Meal Plan Monday and I wanted to do an organizing and decluttering project relating to meal planning. Therefore, our challenge today is cleaning, organizing and decluttering the refrigerator!
Before I begin, I’m going to unload the dishwasher and fill the sink with hot, soapy water. Next I’ll grab the trash can and my cleaning supplies. Finally I set the timer for 30 minutes and get to work!
As you clean your refrigerator, is there anything in there that needs used up? (Fresh produce, milk or leftovers from a few days ago?) Add it to your menu plan. Do you need to add butter, milk, or eggs to your grocery list? Do it now!
Here are a few organizing tips for your refrigerator:
- In my house, many times milk will be placed on the top shelf to keep it out of little hands who tend to spill it. However, milk should be kept on the bottom shelf where it is the coldest. Other dairy products like cottage cheese and yogurt should also be kept in that area.
- Meat that’s not cooked should also be kept at the bottom of your refrigerator where the temperature is coldest. Another advantage of keeping it there is that if it leaks, the clean up is easier and won’t contaminate other food. (Deli meat can be kept in the small meat drawer.)
- Eggs should be kept in the middle of our refrigerator. This is because that temperature is the most consistent
- Fruits belong in the crisper drawer and Veggies belong in the drawer with the highest humidity.
- Condiments belong on the door.
- Salads can be stored in canning jars (such as Mason or Ball) to keep fresh longer.
- If you use containers like Lock & Lock you can label the contents with Washi Tape
(I love this stuff) or your label maker to keep your fridge neat and organized! By storing leftovers in clear containers like the Lock & Lock’s you can see what’s inside and not forget about what is inside the container.
Bins and baskets help keep like items together.
I’ve never tried these fridge liners, but I’m dreaming of them now! Are these not awesome? There are different designs and colors and after reading some of the reviews people have used them to line their dressers, etc. Hmm…maybe this will be included in part of a challenge later in this series!
I’m hoping that this task not only blesses you with a clean refrigerator but also blesses you with a partial meal plan and grocery list for this week. Doing this every week on Monday would be a great habit to help you not waste as much food, but also helps with your grocery planning!
Have you ever cleaned and organized your refrigerator and then made your meal plan? I’m sure some of you have but if you haven’t, this is a great way to cut down on the waste which can save you money! And I have to ask, have any of you used these shelf liners?
In case you have missed any days in this series, here they are! (Don’t worry you can jump in right where we are in the series and go back later if you want to catch up or just finish out what we’re working on with us! I’m so happy that you are joining us in organizing and decluttering your home!)
Day 9 Update: Day 9: Day 8 Update: Day 8: Day 7 Update: Day 7: Day 6 Update: Day 6: Day 5 Update: Day 5: Day 4 Update: Day 4: Day 3 Update: Day 3: Day 2 Update: Day 2: Day 1 Update: Day 1:
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