An Organized Kitchen = Success

An organized kitchen means success.  I haven't always been this way.  I used to be a clutter freak, a "collector", a hoarder if you will when I was younger.  Everything had a memory and I didn't want to throw anything away.  Then, my neighbor Pam (a highly organized kind of person) came in and did a bedroom take over!  She threw away things I wouldn't dare, she folded clothes to declutter my closet and made more space than I could have ever imagined.  At the end of it all I felt freed with open space and organization.  So now, I would call myself organized.

So here are some tips.  I had a New Year Kickstart where I'm organizing our house room by room. It's always a good idea to have a "Spring Cleaning" twice per year.

Here's a picture of our pantry before and after:

Pantry tips:

• Use shelving units to to help utilize space.
• Put like items together (ex: drink mixes, oils, snacks, etc.)
• Create a snack box go-to to make snacks easily accessible
• Use your top shelf for minimal use products (paper towels, emergency kit, etc)
• We have things on the walls to help with organization (example: battery organizer, grocery bag container, cooking apron, etc.)
• Use containers to a good seal for items like sugar, granola, pastas, nuts, etc.
• Put all your medicines in one plastic box.  You shouldn't need more than 1 box.  If you do then that's another conversation...
• Store all your pet food in a closed container (don't leave it in the
  
  opened bag.)
• Use an open wicker or wooden basket to put all your munchies in.
• Keep all your lunch boxes in the pantry to pack in one place (if room permits)
• Have fun with it!

Here's our fridge and tips:

• Get a plastic bin to keep your meats in.  This helps with cross
  
  contamination.
• Utilize the fresh produce bins at the bottom.   You should have more food in here than anywhere else.
• Put egg on a shelf, not the door.  (Same with milk is suggested).  With the opening and closing of the door, the temperature fluctuates the most there, and you want to keep eggs about the same.
• Use a fridge deodorized box.  There's some for less an $1 that last 3 months.  It helps with any smells.

Spices Cabinet:

• Use this space for spices, cook books and extra storage. 
  
• Use a spinning rack to help see all your items.
• Keep the pretty rack (see in picture below) out on the counter top.  It'll encourage you to use it more and it looks nice.
• Have all your cook books (and smoothie & juicing books) all one place and remember to use them often.  We try to make a new recipe at least once a week that we find in a book or on Pinterest.
• Remember, cooking can be fun (and scary at first if you're new).  Set yourself up.

I also want to take this moment to brag on my parents for a moment. They got us a nice gas grill for Christmas.  It was more time consuming than difficult to put together but we did it and here's the final project.  Our first test is in a couple weeks when we have a BBQ planned with our neighbors.  (And yes, in that picture is my gorgeous hubby.)

Lastly, I found this great image online that I had to share.  It's becoming more and more relevant in my life.  I am not perfect, nor do I eat perfect.  But I'm going to eat the best I can when I can.  And the more I think about this the more it's true.  "Eat your medicine."  It's like what Hippocrates said, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food."  Think about how much our food has been processed and changed.  Think about how chickens are being fed steroids to be grown plumper and faster to generate more revenue.  Think about how God made this earth with fruit and animals which is what we are supposed to be eating.  Just think about that...