Continuing my dare to do some spring cleaning (yes, long after summer began), I'm offering a belated response to a reader question:
"organizing a fridge! i still am not sure i understand the usage for those drawers and where to put things"
Anyone who has had the unfortunate circumstance in which they had to remove all the foods from their refrigerator (say, due to long-term power outages) can attest to the refreshing feeling that comes with having a clean, freshly stocked fridge, in which every item is visible and organized in its place. But where should everything go when you put it back in? Does it matter onto which shelf or into which drawer the vegetables, fruits, or yogurts go? Read more to find out.
Step one: SPRING CLEAN! Really clean out the pantry, the fridge, the drawers. Take an inventory of your kitchen. What do you have? What do you have five of? What do you need? Really dig deep and evaluate every item. Toss anything that is old or questionable. Take note of things that are nearing their fated 'date' and plan to use them.
How should we store produce?
According to Vegetarian Times, Americans end up throwing away a quarter of all the produce they buy, most often because it's gone bad. What a shame! Better to store our food properly, and in view, so that it stays fresh as possible until we use it.
Did you know that some fruits and vegetables are incompatible together? One might cause the other next to it to go bad more quickly. Not good! So keep gas-releasing fruits away from others, so that the odorless, colorless gas won't speed the ripening and prematurely decay sensitive vegetables.
So what goes where? Help With Cooking provides some helpful guidelines for safely organizing food in your refrigerator.
If you want to organize your kitchen for successful healthy eating, check out recommendations by Huffington Post and FitSugar.
Don't forget to check out the Still Tasty website to check how long different foods stay fresh in the fridge or pantry.
How do you organize your fridge? Pantry? Have any stay-fresh tricks for us?
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"organizing a fridge! i still am not sure i understand the usage for those drawers and where to put things"
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| not my fridge |
Anyone who has had the unfortunate circumstance in which they had to remove all the foods from their refrigerator (say, due to long-term power outages) can attest to the refreshing feeling that comes with having a clean, freshly stocked fridge, in which every item is visible and organized in its place. But where should everything go when you put it back in? Does it matter onto which shelf or into which drawer the vegetables, fruits, or yogurts go? Read more to find out.
Step one: SPRING CLEAN! Really clean out the pantry, the fridge, the drawers. Take an inventory of your kitchen. What do you have? What do you have five of? What do you need? Really dig deep and evaluate every item. Toss anything that is old or questionable. Take note of things that are nearing their fated 'date' and plan to use them.
I like try to go by this saying I heard a while back:
Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. This could apply to your kitchen, your clothes, your garage, your purse. Don't be afraid to use things, to use things in unique ways, or to toss or donate things you simply do not need and will not use.
Once you've started with a fresh slate and know what you have, then go food shopping. And once you've got food, what to do with it?
How should we store produce?
According to Vegetarian Times, Americans end up throwing away a quarter of all the produce they buy, most often because it's gone bad. What a shame! Better to store our food properly, and in view, so that it stays fresh as possible until we use it.
Did you know that some fruits and vegetables are incompatible together? One might cause the other next to it to go bad more quickly. Not good! So keep gas-releasing fruits away from others, so that the odorless, colorless gas won't speed the ripening and prematurely decay sensitive vegetables.
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| Source: Vegetarian Times |
So what goes where? Help With Cooking provides some helpful guidelines for safely organizing food in your refrigerator.
- As explained above, fruits and vegetables should be stored separately, to prevent gas-releasing fruit from hastening the ripening of vegetables. Vegetables should be stored in the bottom drawers, where there's a warmer temperature.
- Store raw meat, poultry, fish, and seafood on the bottom shelf, each in a plastic bag to prevent dripping or leaking juice. Any cooked items should be stored above these raw items.
- Store eggs near the top of the fridge, where the temperature is cold and will not fluctuate too often with the opening of the door.
- Store drinks, sauces, condiments, and other jar products or others with similarly long shelf life on the door compartments, because they'll fare better in the warm air every time the refrigerator door is opened.
If you want to organize your kitchen for successful healthy eating, check out recommendations by Huffington Post and FitSugar.
Don't forget to check out the Still Tasty website to check how long different foods stay fresh in the fridge or pantry.
How do you organize your fridge? Pantry? Have any stay-fresh tricks for us?
--- Like what you see here? Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook! ---
I reorganized my fridge a couple of months ago! It felt so good to see things in order again! My fridge pretty well looks like the guidelines you provided! PHEW! ;)
ReplyDeleteNice! You're a step ahead :) keep up the good work
Deletevery helpful post! our bottom drawer has deli meats and cheeses in it, and the next drawer up has all the veggies. we put condiments, the milk jug, wine (hehe), and jars of pickles/banana peppers/olives in the shelves in the door of the fridge. on the top shelf of the door we have dairy stuff like butter, cream chz, and laughing cow! the bottom shelf has a jug of apple juice that my brother drinks and also fruit. then the shelves above that are just filled with random things like yogurt and leftovers! top shelf has cold drinks. wow, that sounds confusing haha
ReplyDeleteHaha nope, that makes a lot of sense. Sounds pretty organized! Thanks for sharing
DeleteLove it!
ReplyDeleteI just cleaned my fridge out and restocked with $400 worth of groceries (damn, good food is expensive).
Thanks for showing me where to put everything (almost all of it fit in!)
I must admit, this is something I regularly need to do. Gah, I can only imagine all the good food hidden in the wrong areas that I keep forgetting about!
ReplyDeleteI definitely just printed this ) Thanks!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure! Hope you find it useful
Deleteoh I'm so guilty of a disaster zone of a fridge. in fact... it needs to be cleaned out like WOAH
ReplyDeleteYou're not alone. It's easy to let things get chaotic, but it feels SO much better when everything's got a place. We just have to keep that in mind as we fill our fridge!
DeleteWhen I read this I got straight up and reorganized. Wasn't too much languishing but the condiments in the door were a but neglected and many found the bin. Thanks for the inspiration. Dare DONE
ReplyDeleteGREAT!! Way to waste no time at all.
DeleteAnyone know where cheese/butter should go? I keep mine in the compartment on the top of the door but is that too warm a spot?
ReplyDeleteGreat post - I HAVE To keep my fridge clean or it bugs me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Meredith! Another thing we should remember is to defrost the freezer periodically. This will also help in prolonging the life of the fridge, and air out the nasty smell that has accumulated inside.
ReplyDeleteLashon Cheatham @ All About Air
Good point! Very important -- something I totally don't do often enough. Thanks!
DeleteI like this post.really it is very useful to keep fridge neat and clean.i ready you full post carefully and i fell it is very informative blog to share.it is very useful for me when i will clean my fridge.thanks you so much to share it.
ReplyDeleteI want to put my products in different storage bins and I'll use your ideas for organize them. That would make getting the items from the back of the fridge so much easier to get to!
ReplyDeleteBest regards! Silver Town Carpet Cleaners Ltd.
Different storage bins--this would make my life way easier! I should add that, too :) Thanks!
Delete