Favorite kitchen organization tips

Parent Cafe
1

<p>What kitchen organization tips make your life easier?</p>

2

<p>I’ll go first. When we first moved into our house, I made sure all of our glassware and dishes were stored in upper cabinets within an arm’s reach of the dishwasher. The silverware is in a nearby drawer.</p>

3

<p>Purchasing the “tupperware” like containers that have hinged lids that do not come all the way off.</p>

4

<p>Writing the opening date on each spice jar so you can toss when too old</p>

5

<p>Have a lot of cabinets.</p>

6

<p>The most important routine I have for organizing has to do with the groceries that I bring into the house. I buy a lot of fresh produce- several kinds of greens, and vegetables and fruits. When I get home, I wash and spin the romaine, kale, parsley, arugula, etc., and put it in separate containers in the fridge. I do the same with the veggies and fruits, so that when I am preparing a meal, I don’t have to stop and wash something, or dig around in the bins to find what I need. The food seems to stay fresher that way, too.</p>

<p>The one thing I wish I had, that I don’t is a large pull-out drawer for pots and pans. (Had one in our previous house.) That would really make my life easier, but I’m waiting until we do our kitchen remodel to make that change.</p>

7

<p>I’ve got the drawers. Would love to replace them with a pot rack. (Have the pot rack, just no place to hang it.)</p>

8

<p>Store a dozen or so trash can liners in the bottom of kitchen trash can. So when a bag is full there is replacement right there.</p>

9

<p>I am very challenged in the kitchen. I do not enjoy cooking and when I do cook, I am not very efficient. I do make an effort though because, sadly for me, my family does not like to eat out.</p>

<p>Some things I do to make my life easier:

  • I get the tub of garlic from Costco and grind it in a mixer. I put it all in a large ziploc bag and flatten it out and place it in the freezer. After a couple hours, I take out the frozen chunk and cut it into tiny squares. I return the squares to the ziploc and put it in the freezer for future use. I also wash and cut up scallions and put them in the freezer. Prepping these things ahead of time makes cooking so much easier, especially since I use so much garlic in my cooking. </p>

<ul>
<li><p>I buy a couple of the rotisserie chickens from Costco. I vacuum seal the breast meat and the dark meat for future use in pot pies, soups and stir fries. I could buy fresh chicken but I have yet to cook breast meat that is as tender and tasty as the rotisserie chicken. The remainder of the chicken I put in a pressure cooker where I add onions, celery and carrots and make chicken stock. I store the stock in ziploc bags in the freezer for whenever a recipe calls for it. </p></li>
<li><p>I put all the dry ingredients for pancakes in a ziploc bag and just add the wet ingredients when kids ask for pancakes. I usually make a batch of 6 at a time and keep it in the pantry.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Some handy gadgets:

10

<p>i have a pullout garbage can in the cabinets on both sides of the kitchen, this way you are never far from one. I have the dishwasher on the opposite side of the kitchen than the dishes and cups shelf- when the dishes are clean the dishwasher acts as a cupboard. I LOVE my hot water spout for hot chocolate or for pots to start cooking.</p>

11

<p>Hire my youngest. She is an organizing machine. When home for a few weeks, she decided to go through all the kitchen drawers and pull out all the cruft, all the gadgets and stuff that had accumulated through the years. Because it’s her, her mom is fine with it. That would not be true if it were me doing it. The drawers are now much emptier and easier to use!</p>

<p>To put this to use: get rid of stuff you don’t/may never use.</p>

12

<p>Store things together you use together. I have my Asian shelf which has seaweed and dried mushrooms and sesame oil etc. Another one that is has all the Indian spice mixtures. Another cupboard has all the cake baking things. I love drawers, when I finally remodel all the lower shelving is going to be replaced with drawers. I also like having big biersteins holding wooden spoons, metal things, spatulas and rubber scrapers. All out where I can see them. Measuring spoons are in a smaller cup on the window sill - lots in every size. My old kitchen had a peg board just like Julia Child’s I’ll have one again if I remodel, or a pot rack, or both. <a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2013/02/01/LocalLiving/Images/AP7808210145.jpg[/url]”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2013/02/01/LocalLiving/Images/AP7808210145.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

13

<p>Great ideas! I do like having a pantry and lots of cabinets too. It would be nice to have more drawers in place of the cabinets, but remodel is a long way down the road. </p>

<p>SPICES - I keep my spices in plastic tote buckets, one for baking spices and another for cooking spices. I label the top of the bottles where possible. </p>

<p>DECLUTTER - It is hard to give stuff away, thinking it might be used someday. Once I used a trick of stashing a bunch of less used knives, gadgets, etc into a large shoe box. I temporarily stashed the basket in the basement (just to be sure) and then eventually gave it away. </p>

<p>COLANDER - I now have one that collapses flat to fit easily in the cupboard AND the dishwasher. Love it! I gave the old one (and other stuff too) to my daughter for her first apartment.</p>

14

<p>Keeping things near point of use. </p>

<p>Old house had glasses near dishwasher, but here near refrigerator and island since no nearby cupboard. </p>

<p>Coffee and tea stuff- cups, makers, ingredients all in the cupboard next to the stove (or next to stove if use everyday, for H it is the teapot left out), on the side closet to the sink. </p>

<p>All spices in cupboard on the other side of the stove- on turntables, most used on lowest shelf. Measuring cups, spoons et al near stove as well.</p>

<p>Pots and pans next to stove (put in drawers instead of undercounter cabinets with recent new to us house renovation- wonderful). Cooking tools in drawers next to stove- separated by type (flat turners, spoons, knife and other sharps in one drawer). Silverware in drawer nearest to dinette (we remove the silverware holder from the dishwasher and put it on the counter to empty it). One drawer for foil, wraps, plastic food bags.</p>

<p>Pantry is roll out shelves- put all snacks on one shelf, mixes, soups, breakfast goods… keep like items together. One roll out shelf for all sorts of containers for leftovers. </p>

<p>Label item and date on frozen foods in containers and bags (H says the container is see through but I know stuff can look alike weeks later and you forget how long ago you had it)- masking tape and a Sharpie works.</p>

<p>Mail and other papers get put on a corner of one counter until opened and taken care of- then filed away. Time limited pending items stay where they will be noticed, not taken to a desk elsewhere.</p>

<p>Put dirty dishes in the dishwasher or wash them right away- do not leave them in the sink. Clear clutter and clean counters each evening- someone always leaves something or misses something in cleanup. Clean spills as soon as practical- much easier before they dry (I know son paid a lot more attention to this when he had his own apartment and mom wasn’t there to clean up each evening).</p>

<p>I put cookie sheets and other flat items stacked on pull out shelves instead of vertically with this kitchen renovation (kept layout, revised cupboards)- doing the vertical unit would have wasted a lot of space. Had top drawers full width of cupboard/drawers beneath them and use plastic (old and new) organizers. Each drawer loses several inches of interior space on either side (6 inches altogether?) and you have to remember which of the drawers you put what in.</p>

<p>I couldn’t believe it several years ago when I had offered to help an Indian friend cook a dish- she had ginger in three different places, as well as her spices in so many different places in her large kitchen. Putting like things together would have made it so easy to know she already had ginger without buying more.</p>

15

<p>My spices are all on shallow shelves on one wall in alphabetical order except my Indian spice mixes and a few bottles that are too big to fit there.</p>

16

<p>Excellent tips, wis75. I use some of them myself. But this all gets me thinking about whether my kids were paying attention. We’ll have lunch with DD, who moved into her first real apartment this summer and will ask about it. </p>

<p>My MIL had her spices on turntables. It worked well for them, but I personally prefer baskets/ I did steal the splitting idea (baking spices vs cooking spices) from her. It’s true that sometimes there is “crossover”, like cinnamon in a dinner recipe. Still I like the splitting method. Now if all my spice containers were more uniform I’d probably use a more organized method like mathmom.</p>

17

<p>This one is a time management kitchen tip. When I do a big shop, I put all the refrigerator and freezer items on the cashier’s ramp first, to be bagged together. I mention it to the check-out person. Upon arrival home, I deal with those bags immediately. Sometimes I wait a half-day or after the next cooked meal before I try to unload all the pantry staple items.</p>

18

<p>i have a tiny tiny kitchen and not much storage space. My biggest organization tip is that not all “kitchen” things actually need to be stored in the kitchen. My most-used pots, pans and appliances are in the kitchen. My occasional-use items are stored in a closet in another room.</p>

19

<p>Agreed. We do NOT keep big things in our kitchen at all…turkey roaster, bread machine, large oven pans, large serving trays, large tupperware containers (cake and pie holders, etc) etc. We have a shelf in our basement utility room where these infrequently used items are kept.</p>

20

<p>I have a set of trivets and potholders by my cooktop, and another set by my oven. They’re far enough apart that this is a big convenience. </p>

<p>I also put a roll of aluminum foil near the sink so leftovers can be wrapped up, and another roll near the oven so I can protect my broiler pan.</p>

<p>bogibogi, for someone who doesn’t like to cook, those are very good suggestions!</p>