Because microwaves cook food from the inside out, there’s less heat build-up to harden foods inside the oven. Take a gradual juice and water, or vinegar and water. The acid will help cut approach to microwave cleaning.
stubborn grease, and the deodorizing properties of the lemon juice or the vinegar will help take away the lingering scent of last week’s microwave popcorn.
“As in the game of life, the
▪ Heavy-duty cleaning. If there is hardened soil inside the oven which requires abrasive cleaning, use a baking soda paste best defense against stove-
( see page 108) to loosen and remove it. Take care to apply top dirt is offense. Wipe up
light pressure when wiping up the paste to avoid scratching the oven interior.
stove spills immediately.”
Sink and under-sink area
▪ Steam-clean. For light soil, boil a cup of water in a heatproof Sanitation is the name of the game when it comes to cleaning microwave container in the oven for 5 minutes. The steam will sinks and the areas beneath them. Moisture, food waste, and soften the dirt; use fresh cleaning cloths to wipe the oven dry.
the hygiene challenges of meat and poultry preparation mean
▪ Degrease and deodorize. For more cleaning power, use that the wet area of the kitchen can become a happy breeding the steam-clean method above with a 50–50 solution of lemon ground for bacteria. Under the sink, drainpipes and garbage
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111
▲ Cutting boards require special care. To remove odors, rub with
▲ Counter care. Remove spilled food from kitchen counters half a lemon; to clean and sanitize them, soak in a mild bleach using disinfectant all-purpose spray cleaners. Allow the spray to solution (1 teaspoon chlorine bleach to 1 quart/1 liter hot water).
sit for several minutes to loosen dried-on soil.
disposal units harbor germs and odors. The presence of moisture
▪ Out damned spot. Use full-strength white vinegar to combined with holes necessary for plumbing fixtures creates an tackle water spots in the sink. Spray or pour it on generously, attractive home for insects, mold, and mildew.
let stand, then rub the spots with a scrubbing pad.
▪ Spray and wipe. Use a disinfecting all-purpose cleaner in
▪ Clean and fresh. Under the sink, clean the cabinet walls, a spray bottle to clean sink surfaces, fixtures, and rim. Rout dirt doors, and the cabinet floor with a disinfecting all-purpose from the base of the faucet, or around the rim, with a cleaning cleaner. Wipe them dry with cleaning cloths, then leave the toothbrush, then wipe dry with a cleaning cloth.
cabinet doors open for at least two hours, to permit the area
▪ Get tough. If stubborn deposits or stains require an abrasive to dry completely.
cleaner, use powdered cleanser on ceramic sinks—but only
inside the sink. It’s too hard to rinse powdered cleanser from Food preparation surfaces
sink rims or countertops.
Public health officials recommend sanitizing food preparation
▪ Keep the shine. For stainless steel sinks, use a paste of surfaces by washing with hot, soapy water. Rinse with clear baking soda and water applied with a cotton cleaning cloth, water, then sanitize the cleaned surfaces with a solution of or use a commercial product specially formulated for cleaning 1 tablespoon of chlorine bleach to 1 quart (1 liter) of water.
these sinks. Avoid powdered cleanser—its abrasive qualities Use this method on counters, in sinks, and for cutting boards can scratch the surface of the steel.
—wherever food may be placed during preparation.
112
CYCLES OF AN ORGANIZED HOME
Decluttering
the
refrigerator
He’s big, he’s stainless steel, and he spouts water and icebergs: Moby Dick, the Great White Refrigerator. Staring into his chock-full innards, you know what you must do. Plastic food storage containers pile in unsteady ziggurats in every corner. Leftovers huddle in back corners. Shriveled fruit and wilted lettuce snuggle into the vegetable crisper. Time to declutter the refrigerator!
A refrigerator is not just an appliance: it’s a central artifact manufactured in the last decade, it was clear that my children of life. As you declutter it, you’ll find evidence of your values had turned a culinary corner, and the days of peanut butter and (hospitality), aspirations (weight loss), resolutions (financial jelly sandwiches were no more.
prudence), and self-indulgence (chocolate raspberry mousse You’ll wring a few unpleasant admissions from yourself, cheesecake). A session of spearing the Great White does more too. Look carefully at what foods have been wasted, especially than clear clutter: it can be a valuable peep into the state of from the vegetable crisper. Are you doing what I’ve been doing?
the house in general—and of your mind.
I’m Miss Nutritional Virtue herself at the grocery store, but the To declutter the refrigerator, follow the STOP clutter in the baby carrots and heart-healthy spreads languish uneaten in fridge steps outlined on page 113. Before you begin, turn your Moby’s dark corners.
refrigerator off—and unplug it, too, for good measure. The only shocks you want to receive are those from the expired use-by dates of some of the discarded food.
The moment of truth
You are standing in your kitchen, face-to-face with a clean and empty refrigerator, a garbage can brimming with discarded food, a dishwasher full of plastic food containers, and the few hardy survivors of your harpooning session. What can we learn from all this?
Lean back against the kitchen counter and take a hard look at what the Whale has been hiding in its dark little innards.
The implications will hit you in the face. Has your family changed—but your shopping habits haven’t? The day I tossed out four jars of dried-out jelly and a jar of peanut butter
▶ Chill out with a well-organized refrigerator. Spare and spacious, a clutter-free refrigerator helps speed food preparation, while free air circulation helps save on energy costs.
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113
Use pen and notepad to jot down your discoveries and track your new resolves. Is healthy eating on your wish list? Toss the sugary condiments and high-calorie dressings for STOP clutter in the fridge
natural alternatives.
Do you want to tighten the budget? Focus on the waste Gather your tools: a lined garbage can, a sink-full
you’ve discovered. Do you buy grapefruit only to toss the of hot, soapy water, degreaser and window sprays,
shriveled husks, months later? Are you overbuying milk, or and cleaning cloths. Clear the kitchen counters so
you can spread out, and empty the dishwasher.
“A well-organized refrigerator
helps speed food preparation,
while free air circulation saves
1Sort and toss
Start at the top. Remove everything from the
top shelf. Set aside what still has some life
in it, but send all leftovers to the garbage. Working your way to the bottom, you’ll build up enough steam on energy costs.”
to tackle the vegetable crisper. Amazing, isn’t it, how innocent little tomatoes and shy stalks of celery
cheese, or meat? If you’ve tossed it out today, make a note undergo such a malign transformation in that place?
to yourself to buy less—if any—on your next shopping trip.
Unless you bought the vegetable desperado in
Have family members come to expect weekly cases of soda question within the last week, throw it out. Then
as a staple, not a treat? Cut back, and substitute fruit juices turn to the door shelves.
and iced tea for those high-priced soft drinks. (I will maintain a respectful silence on the subject of chocolate raspberry mousse cheesecake. A rich life must have some indulgences.) Staying organized
2Clean
Rinse emptied plastic food containers and
>
consign them to the dishwasher. Shelves go
directly to the sink’s soapy water. While it soaks
Now that you’ve sorted, tossed, cleaned, and replaced, you’ll off the grime, use degreaser spray to clean the
want your fridge to stay organized. These tips will help: refrigerator’s ceiling, walls, and door. Rinse, dry, and replace the shelves. Use spray window cleaner
▪ Create meal centers. Make it easy to build a sandwich by to remove greasy fingerprints from chrome and
tucking mayonnaise, mustard, cheese slices, and cold cuts into see-through plastic. Wipe down the door gasket
a flat-bottomed plastic basket and storing them together. Ditto and front, then clean the top of the Whale.
a “morning toast” grouping of butter, jelly, and honey; pull it out to top your toast.
▪ Keep leftovers in the clear. Don’t bury leftovers in sealed containers; place them in clear food storage bags. If you can see them, they’ll remind you of their existence and be more 3Put away
Time to replace the few food items that
survived your scrutiny at the Sort and Toss
stage. Done correctly, the Spearing of the Great
likely to be eaten.
White should all but empty the refrigerator. Don’t
▪ Stay on top of the Whale. A weekly refrigerator clean-be afraid of that stark look! A fridge is most
out, done just before making menu plans, will keep Moby energy-efficient when it has adequate airflow.
under control for good. Toss expired foods, wipe up smears and spills, and rearrange fridge contents before you shop.
114
CYCLES OF AN ORGANIZED HOME
Declutter
the
freezer
The freezer is a cold and lonely place, a natural refuge for forgotten food. Bulging containers with gaping lids join icy, unlabeled parcels in the Arctic wastes of this House of Mystery Food. The goal of a freezer declutter: to cull the contents to remove unusable food, and return the survivors to an organized space that makes the most of your household’s frozen assets.
soapy water. Dry them thoroughly before returning them to Freezer: to defrost or not to defrost?
the freezer.
Most modern freezers don’t require defrosting, but what about
▪ Return to power. Close the freezer door, plug it in, and the older refrigerator that’s hanging out in many garages?
turn the power back on. Let the freezer run for at least 15
These garage or basement appliances still require defrosting. If minutes to allow it to cool before returning the frozen food your unit does not offer manual defrosting, try these do-and-stored in the ice chests.
don’t tips to defrost freezer areas safely.
Defrosting don’ts:
Defrosting do’s:
▪ Gently does it. Don’t use picks, knives, or sharp instruments
▪ Schedule the job Defrost manual defrost freezers when to remove ice from freezer walls. A slip can cause injuries, to ice build-up reaches 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 inch (5mm to 1.25cm), or you and to delicate freezer coils.
when ice builds up on compressor coils.
▪ Safety first. If using a hair dryer to melt ice, be cautious
▪ Cut the power. Before defrosting, turn off the power to about electric shock. Do not stand in puddled water or allow the freezer unit, and unplug the freezer from the wall.
watery drips to touch the hair dryer.
▪ Empty the contents. Remove all the food from the
▪ Skip the suds. Don’t wash freezer walls with soapy water.
freezer. Store it in ice chests while defrosting and cleaning Soap is difficult to rinse clean; a soapy residue can affect the the freezer.
taste of stored food.
▪ Melt the ice. Either leave the freezer door open until the ice melts naturally (be sure to cover the floor with newspaper Organizing the freezer
to guard against melt water and falling ice) or add heat to Unlike refrigerators, which need a free flow of air to stay cool, speed the process. Use pans of warm water from the sink to freezers operate most efficiently when they are full. However, melt ice, or wield a blow dryer to force warm air onto the ice a full freezer is a dangerous landscape that allows food to go ( see also Defrosting don’ts). As the ice melts, soak up drips hidden until it is no longer edible. Keep an organized freezer with a sponge, utility towels, or cleaning cloths.
with these tips:
▪ Clean up. When the freezer is ice-free, scrub out the entire interior with a light paste of baking soda and water. Wipe
▪ Label, label, label! Labeling frozen foods is key to clean and dry with a fresh cleaning cloth. The soda will absorb keeping an organized freezer. Label each package—
any lingering food odors and remove any food spills. If homemade or commercial—with the food’s name, number
necessary, wash the shelves or the freezer baskets in warm, of servings, and the date it was added to the freezer. Use
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115
STOP clutter in the freezer
Gather your tools: a double-lined trash can for rejected foods, ice chests to hold declutter survivors, a sink of hot soapy water, baking soda, and cleaning cloths.
1 Sort Turn off the freezer, and unplug it from the wall. Start at the top, and remove each parcel
of food. One by one, decide if the container stays
or goes. The freezer declutter rule is simple: if it’s sealed, labeled, and fresh, it stays. If it’s Mystery Meat of unknown age, freezer-burned, or an open
container, out it goes.
▲ Zipper seal freezer bags. These are perfect because the 2 Toss Declutter all foods with torn or open
food is clearly visible. Also you can write directly on the bag using packaging, freezer-burned meat, or any chunk
a permanent marker pen, so you don’t need to worry about labels smudging or falling off.
of food you can’t identify and date. Run reusable
containers holding the rejects under a hot stream
a permanent marker pen to write directly on zipper freezer of water to loosen the food-icicle from the carton.
storage bags or freezer paper; stick a computer address Pop the food into the double-lined trash can, and
label on freezer containers. Hint for computer users: print soak the container in the sink’s sudsy water. Tuck
label sheets of commonly frozen foods (“hamburger patties,”
any keepers into the holding area of ice chests.
“spaghetti sauce,” “chicken pieces”) to make quick work of feeding the freezer.
▪ Date everything. To manage frozen foods efficiently, you 3 Clean and put away
When the freezer’s empty, wipe it out with
need to know whether they are fresh. Remember to always a paste of baking soda and water. Wipe dry
write a date on every package added to the freezer. Make with fresh cleaning cloths. If necessary, remove and sure that you rotate foodstuffs so that new foods go behind wash shelves or organizer baskets in hot soapy
older packages.
water. Rinse thoroughly and dry before returning
▪ Organize a large freezer by category. Keep all them to the freezer. Clean door storage units. Soak
casseroles in one area; frozen beef roasts and steaks in and rinse door racks, then dry before returning;
another part of the freezer. Frozen chicken and turkey should wipe door compartments with baking soda paste,
live in the bottom basket of the freezer where they are easy then dry. When the freezer is clean and dry, plug it in to grab.
and turn it on for 15 minutes before replacing food.
▪ Use freezer baskets. Flat-bottomed baskets support floppy freezer bags and organize freezer contents. Place all frozen vegetables in one basket, upended loaves of sandwich
116
CYCLES OF AN ORGANIZED HOME
&n
bsp; bread in another. Specialty freezer organizers are designed to Freezer inventory
fit together, and won’t crack in cold temperatures; they’re a When it comes to the freezer, out of sight is too frequently out good option for chest freezers.
of mind. Expensive frozen food goes to waste because no one
▪ Think square. When freezing homemade soups or stews, remembers it’s there to be eaten.
use square or rectangular plastic freezer containers to store Solution: a freezer inventory ( see form below and check them in rather than round ones. Squared-off containers fit out OrganizedHome.Com). Post the inventory on the outside together neatly and take up considerably less space than of the freezer door, and check it regularly when you make cylindrical shapes.
menu plans. Remember: the best bargain at the supermarket is
▪ Rotate for freshness. When adding new foods to the the food you’ve already bought and paid for.
freezer, store them behind existing products, and use the oldest foods first.
Selecting and buying a refrigerator/freezer
A refrigerator/freezer is more than a place to store food; it’s a major financial investment and a big consumer of energy in any household. If you’re in the market for a new refrigerator, freezer inventory
keep these pointers in mind while shopping.
Item
Capacity For the best value, match the refrigerator’s capacity to your family size. Buying too large or too small costs money, both up front and in additional energy costs. A too-large Bread dough
refrigerator wastes energy cooling empty space; an over-filled, too-small refrigerator has to work too hard to keep food cool Bread rolls
without proper air circulation.
Chicken casserole
Appliance
manufacturers
measure
refrigerator
capacity
Beef, raw ground
in cubic feet (liters). To gauge the correct capacity for your household, follow this rule of thumb: a household of two Beef, sausage
people requires 8–10 cubic feet (250–300 liters) of
refrigerator space. For each extra person, add an additional Ice cream, (chocolate)
Cut the Clutter Page 14