{ORGANIZING} your fridge

An organized kitchen is a happy kitchen.  I know, that sounds really cheesy, but I really think it’s true.  When you have an organized kitchen, it makes cooking faster and easier because you don’t have to search to find what you need, you can simply go to it and grab it.  If you’re looking for ways to better organize your cabinets and refrigerator, then read on.

Today I am going to share with you how I organize my refrigerator.  Even if you don’t do it exactly like me, I hope that this will get your mind going on how to better organize your kitchen.  Monday, we’ll explore the cabinets. 

A few of the ‘basic rules’ to organizing I follow:

1. Group like things together
2. Group things together that are used for a certain purpose
3. Corral smaller items in baskets or bins
4. Nest smaller bowls, etc inside larger ones to maximize space

So, what my fridge looks like today.  It is a little bit bare b/c it’s about time for a trip to the grocery store, but oh well.

Now, let’s break that down a bit.  In the door we have the following:

In the top little cubby thing, I keep medicines that need to be kept refrigerated.

The next shelf down hold the milk and koolaid jug.

The next one down is empty cuz the little hook thing broke on one side.  😦

And then we have a shelf for canned goods – cranberry sauce and mixed fruit (we always keep a couple cans of these  in the fridge so they’re always ready).  I also keep the apple butter and yeast for breadmaking here.

The bottom shelf has a bag of bagels and a bottle of antacid (it just doesn’t seem to ‘fit’ anywhere else!)

Let’s dig a little deeper into the fridge, shall we?  The top shelf.  Remember rule #3 – here’s a great example:

I keep pretty much all the things I use for cooking in one basket, so I can just pull it out and grab what I need.  It holds stuff like chicken broth, lemon and lime juice, roasted red peppers, etc.  On the shelf beside that, velveeta-style cheese, butter, and heavy cream.  I also keep cream cheese here…when I’m not out. 

Going south…

Again, I use a basket to contain more bottles.  This one holds all the condiments – ketchup, mustard, salad dressings, chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, taco sauce, soy sauce, etc.  And to the right of that are things in tubs – sour cream, mascarpone cheese, spreadable cream cheese.  A big jar of mayo (that won’t fit in the basket) is hiding behind the tubs.

And moving on down the line…

Although it’s pretty sparse right now, this shelf is typically filled up with diet sodas. 

Going down…

The bottom shelf houses the eggs – you should always keep eggs on the bottom shelf, for safety reasons: if one should break and ooze out, it won’t drip down and contaminate other foods beneath.  I also keep a bowl of fruit here for easy grabbing.  When we have leftovers, they go on this shelf too for quick access.

Now, let’s take a look in my drawers.  Wait!  No!  That’s not what I meant!  I meant…oh…just forget it.

Tortillas and fresh veggies live in the top drawer, as you can see.

The bottom drawer holds meats and cheeses.  The green container normally is filled with cheese sticks for the kidlets…when we’re not out of them. 

So, that’s my fridge.  Let’s bundle up and move over to the freezer section. It’s somewhat sparse because we keep the bulk of our frozen food in a deep freezer in the garage.  Here’s what I keep in the freezer inside:

I’m gonna breeze through the freezer because, well…it’s lunchtime and the kids are bugging me to fix them something to eat.  Geez…

In the door of the freezer, from top to bottom:

-juice concentrate (limeade for my margaritas!) & ice packs for school lunches and boo-boos.

Next shelf is a box of communion bread (we used to do communion with a Bible Study group we were in and we were the ‘keepers of the bread’)

Next down is a tub of cool whip.

Then, the next two hold bags of frozen berries and bananas (to make banana bread with at some point).

The shelves hold:

TOP: Desserts – ice cream mainly, and there’s a roll of cookie dough as well.

MIDDLE:  Meats – Chicken tenders, pork chops, fish fillets

BOTTOM:  A basket of all those partially used bags of frozen veggies, and a bag of frozen roll dough.

BOTTOM DRAWER:  More frozen fruit and berries.

So, that’s my fridge and freezer.  I hope it inspired you to clean out and organize your’s as well…you’ll be a happier cook if you do, I promise.

**Do you have kitchen organization questions?  Leave a comment here and next Friday I’ll be answering YOUR QUESTIONS on organizing!!**