Kitchen Tips: Keeping it Clean

I’ll be the first one to admit I may enjoy cleaning a bit more than others (ok, probably a lot).  But all that aside, do you really feel like cooking if there’s a huge stack of dishes sitting in the sink? No. Takeout sounds a lot better. I’m not here to tell you to scrub your pots and pans more. Instead, I wanted to share a few easy things I do around my kitchen to keep it tidy without too much effort.  But more importantly, I want to hear what you guys do!  I love walking into someone else’s kitchen and discovering a little thing they do to make managing their cooking space a million times easier- so please, do share!

A Little Each Day Each night when we’re tidying up after dinner, I make a point to clean something that isn’t just the dishes.  It’s nothing major, it could be something as simple as wiping down the stove, gathering the crumbs that collect on the floor around my cutting board (does that happen to anyone else??), or spraying the sink with a little clorox. I find that by doing this, I don’t have to do that “big clean” as often, and when I do- it’s not so daunting.

Keep a Clear Fridge One time a friend that was over was grabbing something from my fridge and exclaimed, “What?! There’s not that much in here! You cook all the time, this thing should be packed!” I actually hate a super full fridge. To me it’s like a closet, I can never find anything! At the end of each week, when I’m getting groceries, I’ll first go to my fridge and clear out what’s old or not good anymore, and then use what remains to guide what meals we make that upcoming week. This process really keeps me from wasting food.

Cleaning Sponges I’d probably use a new sponge everyday if I didn’t care somewhat about the environment! I hate when they get dirty. Instead of ripping open a new every morning, each day or two, I’ll throw the sponge in when I’m running the dishwasher.  It comes out squeaky clean and feels absolutely brand new.

Line Line Line This one is a little specific, but as someone who bakes a lot (or roasts meat), I find this one really saves me a lot of scrubbing time. If I’m roasting something, I’ll always line the pan with tin foil.  That way when I go to clean up, I can just pull the tinfoil off and it’s (mostly) clean underneath.  Same for baking- I always line my pans with parchment paper. This really helps eliminate any baked on cookie remnants.

That’s all from me! What goes down in your kitchen?

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