I’m still working on a project list for the summer, but I don’t need a list to know I won’t go far without an organized refrigerator/freezer and pantry, much to my complete and utter dismay. Cleaning out those areas is one of those annoying, foundational chores upon which the rest of my projects rest. The truth sucks.
I could have the sparest, cleanest, most organized house on the planet, but if we only eat junk outside the home, it’s all for naught. I don’t need to do the math to know we waste more on eating out than we do on knickknacks from Target. The WMP is a project of less: less stuff, less waste, and ultimately less stress. Most of my stress centers around food (for a lot of reasons).
I easily get wrapped up in projects and work; I always have, and I likely always will. I’m trying to do better in that regard, but until I figure out how to balance work/life for longer than a month, I need a plan in place for those days when I pull myself away from the project of the day, shocked to discover it’s 5:30 and I skipped lunch.
I can’t create a plan if I don’t know what’s in my kitchen, and I won’t know what’s in my kitchen if I’m shoving aside leftovers and expired bottles of condiments.
So many, many condiments.
I cleaned out the fridge differently this time around, and this new way is the way I will do it from now on because it produced a faster sense of accomplishment. Before, I would attack the fridge as a whole and pull out anything expired or spoiled. Next, I would discard leftovers and items I didn’t like or want. I finished by putting the “keep pile” on the counter and deep cleaning the fridge. I didn’t get a sense of achievement until I finished the job.
This time around, I worked in sections. I pulled out all the condiments, as seen above in all their excessive glory, and purged the pile. Then, I deep cleaned the condiment section of the fridge, and returned to the fridge all the condiments that made the cut. I did the same with the center of the fridge, the vegetable and fruit drawers, and the meat and dairy drawers. I washed all the doors, drawers, and shelves.
I didn’t as much food to keep as I expected. Before I started cleaning out the fridge, I asked my procrastination monkey to google phrases like, “recipes with orange juice and heavy cream” and “how to use up balsamic vinegar.” Monkey was sad to hear I wouldn’t need the special pinterest board he created for food about to spoil. He put a lot of work into it! That’s okay! I’m going to have him make a pinterest board devoted to condiments, because apparently that is the only thing I buy.
How embarrassing. A house full of condiments and no real food.
Yesterday, I cleaned out my fridge exactly the same way! I have to admit though, that my fridge was a little more sparse to begin with. We have an ancient refrigerator( it predates this century by a couple of months ). And, it has a flaw – ice builds up around the fan, forcing us to defrost it monthly. Actually, it used to be less than monthly, so it would take us by surprise and we would end up having to throw a bunch of food away. Now we schedule when we will deforst it and buy groceries accordingly. And, I kind of like it! I am more careful with what I buy and I have started meal planning. I know we will need a new fridge soon-ish, but I love my old fridge.
I’m so glad to see you blogging again! Your WMP have stuck with me through the years and changed the way I “keep house”.
A lot of what I learned while doing the WMP years ago has stuck with me. I find that I am like a toddler and do best with routine and structure (hahaha). I’m hoping that setting up a schedule or routine will help me in this area of my life the same way thinking about whether is something useful/beautiful helped me before.
Getting dinner on the table everyday is a struggle. My best weeks, I menu plan with the calendar in mind and shop accordingly. What is the killer for me right now is that my kids have to leave for work or practice at 5:15, so I need to have dinner done by 4:30ish to give them enough time to eat. I work from home, so that means stopping work at 3:30 or so to get dinner on the table. I am often tied up and can’t make it happen. The Sunday meal prep mentioned in one of your links would benefit me greatly, but I can’t seem to muster up any enthusiasm for diving in.
Our schedules sound similar with the evening practices. The easiest time in my life (meal wise) was when I did that 30 “eat at home” challenge. I really relied heavily on my friend Jessica’s book (Not Your Mother’s Freezer Cookbook). I’ll never forget being surprised one day when it was dinner time and telling my husband to grab the bags of burritos I had made and put in the freezer. At the time I was making those 12 burritos, I was hating life. I wasn’t when I pulled them out a couple of weeks later at 6:00!
I have not sat down and made a master project list for the summer, either. We are kinda flying by the seat of our pants here. But I did manage to do three small things that were bothering me and they took less than an hour! I rearranged and swept our back porch, put together the fire-pit that had been sitting in it’s box on the porch, and put the pink plastic flamingos back on their legs. No pictures to link, but a first step is better than nothing. I love the idea that meals and meal prep are the backbone of your day. So next week I will be purging my fridge and pantry and starting the month of July with a meal plan! Thank you for the encouragement.
“Put the pink plastic flamingos back on their legs” made my heart explode from happiness. The adorableness of this image in my head is too much!
I’m now working on my freezers and pantry. My goal is to have everything done by Friday with a meal plan for the week by Saturday. I did make both lunch AND dinner from scraps I found in the fridge and freezer yesterday, so that was a bonus.
Ah, yes — because the door filled with condiments *paves the way* to dinner success. “I’ll be able to whip up any number of magical meals with the right sauce!” At least I’m pretty sure this was my theory as I filled said door with so many, many bottles.
We’ve had Vacation Bible School this week, and I can’t manage to ever do anything else during VBS week, but BEFORE THAT? I started with the freezer. I am a big fan of freezer meals (and need to add that to my Master List…when I write my Master List), but it turns out I am not very good at using freezer leftovers. I think I’m ready to finally swear that off for good; that bin is basically an icy garbage can.
Hahaha. I think I have the same philosophy regarding condiments. I also share your freezer woes. Freezer meals, I love. Freezer leftovers I have never, ever been able make work.
That TED Talk is great. Thank you so much for sharing. The fridge isn’t a huge issue for us (mostly thanks to my husband,) but the paper writing graph is exactly my schedule for every time I am having company.
My friend–a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE procrastinator–shared it with me. I thought it was great, too.
I’m in love with your refrigerator! I’m not even sure I could fill it up, though, since there’s just the two of us anymore.
Sure you could! This refrigerator is a counter depth fridge and, therefore, can only hold 3 carrots and a carton of milk. (I hate this fridge.)
You KonMari-ed your fridge! You went by category. :)
You’re right!! I didn’t even realize that!