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Today is the first day that our Spring Cleaning frenzy begins! Step by step this month we will clean ourselves through the kitchen for a brighter, cleaner, more organized kitchen. This in turn will make our job cooking nourishing foods more fun and easier too.
And today it starts with the refrigerators and freezers.
There are few things as unpleasant as cleaning out the refrigerator when it hasn’t been for a while. There can be some unpleasant surprises lurking in the back quarters. However, there is also something so nice about having it clean. You can find what you want when you need it, it smells better, and you have room for your groceries. Well worth the effort.
I have been trying to clean out my refrigerator once a week before shopping day. This week, I went shopping a day early, and so had not cleaned out my refrigerator yet. So it got pretty full.
This is what it looked like. I had missed a few weeks in cleaning it out, so it had gotten pretty dirty too.
I took everything out one shelf at a time, wiped the inside out, threw away the bad food, and reorganized the remaining items as I put them back in the refrigerator. In the end, I had a still pretty full refrigerator (as remember I had just done my week shopping), but so much more organized and cleaner.
Much improved!
I still need to tackle the freezer and will post that later this week.
Meanwhile, it’s your turn!
Anytime this week, if you are a blogger, post about your results on your own blog and then use the Mr. Linky to link to your post. Don’t forget to link to this post!
If you aren’t a blogger, post about your results in the comment section of this post. Both of these (linking in the Mr. Linky and leaving a comment sharing that you finished the assignment and how it went for you) will enter you into the fabulous 6 giveaways!
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I started with my freezer…. it has been, um, a while. I realized I really need to get better with my labeling. I have much more room:) More room for bones to make stock…. excellent! Next up, the fridge. Lucky for me I’ll get it before my weekly shopping, whew.
Well, my refrigerator isn’t that bad right now, although the shelves could use a swipe. But the freezer! I really need to get over the idea that things put in the freezer will last a lifetime, lol. I was frantically looking for something this weekend and unearthed a plastic bag of butternut squash dated sometime in 2008! I’m sure there’s more old stuff I can get rid of. Then if I rearrange things I might not be in danger of having a chicken fall on my head when I open the door. 🙂
Nice job on your fridge, Kimi.
done!
because we have such a small space (and an even smaller fridge and freezer), we almost never have to clean them out: we buy each week what we will eat that week, and nothing goes bad… or at least not usually. the freezer is a little bit less pristine – i finally threw away the bag of frozen summer squash that has been freezer-burning away at the very back!
I’m getting ready to move so I will be transferring food this week to a clean refrigerator! Now the freezer is a different story. I’m not even sure how to tackle that. A few months ago someone forgot to close the freezer and the bagged frozen mango and frozen cranberries dripped all inside of it and then re-froze when the freezer was shut! Any ideas? I’m not sure whether to do this here before the move or after the move…. It is nice to start with a clean slate, though. I hope I can keep things clean and neat.
Hey,
I just cleaned my freezer today and was able to get stuff out that was stuck using a very simple technique..I couldn’t believe it! Basically take everything out of the freezer of course and boil up some water. Then poor the hot water over the “mess.” It will wipe right off! Also make sure to put a towel underneath cause some water might down.
My fridge is so small that I have to do this every week to make sure all my groceries fit:) We have a European fridge that is big for them, and I’m just glad I can fit it all in! Though, I’m not looking forward to the freezer… There is more ice in the top shelf then food!
My husband did our fridge clean out this week…it looks amazing!
I love cleaning the fridge. I try to do it often so I don’t waste food. Here’s a post that has photos of the inside of my fridge:
http://chiotsrun.com/2009/12/11/quote-of-the-day-robert-kourick/
What I really need to do is move the stove and clean out behind it! I’m doing spring cleaning this time of year: http://chiotsrun.com/2010/02/19/spring-cleaning/
i’ve been trying to clean out the fridge/freezer without wasting a ton of food, by eating what up what we already have–and then my dad brought home a ton of junk from Costco and we’re back to square one.
My daughter helped me clean out my refrigerator. Everything looks so nice and organized. I know what I have now and no spoiling food lurking in the back of the refrigerator.
I cleaned both my freezer and fridge yesterday. I had so many bags of produce shoved in my fridge from my weekend shopping that I wondered how everything was going to fit. However, once I rearranged everything nicely our fridge looks practically empty with all the produce arranged nicely in a drawer! The freezer is another story–its very full but I feel so much better now that I have my meats/frozen veggies/etc. arranged by shelf!
I had a bit of a head start with cleaning my fridge – I did it last week. There is nothing like your in-laws coming to town to motivate you to do a task like that! I am happy that it is done.
I definitely need to tackle the freezer today! I have a 1/4 of a grassfed cow coming Thursday, and I have to find room to put it. Thanks for the motivation!
I think I may have linked to the wrong post in Mr Linky……… will try again, can you delete the first one? 🙂
Here’s the link to my cleaning!
http://aheavenlyperspective.blogspot.com/2010/03/spring-cleaning-refrigerator-and.html
well, I don’t know why but the link it to the correct post above in Linky, but the title is wrong……. it’s not the Salmon Salad Sandwiches 🙂
Yes, but those sure sound great!
I cleaned out our refrigerator this morning. It’s so nice being able to see what we have and know where to find things. The freezer is another story. We actually have 3 freezers, and they’ve been needing organized for quite a while now. I’m definitely not looking forward to it!
I started by doing a left overs dinner which cleaned out a lot. That made the job easier.
I’m a blogger, but I just did this very thing (cleaned out my fridge and freezer) about two weeks ago so I have no fun step by step pics to share on my blog – so I’ll just go with a comment ;).
Nice job on your refrigerator!!
April
I love this idea! I’ll definitely stay tuned for the following posts because I could really use some tips on organizing my pantry.
I just cleaned out my freezer(s) about a month ago, and have tried to remain on top of the organizing ever since. One chest (5 cu ft) is devoted strictly to produce, frozen sauces, jams, and dairy products. The other (7.5 cu ft) is reserved for meats (my husband got 2 deer + we buy poultry in bulk from a local farming community).
I’m curious however, we participate in a bison share every year and I just uncovered some soup bones that I’d forgotten about–any idea how long they are good for? I can always turn them into dog food, but there’s a substantial amount of meat and marrow in these and I’d hate to lose them to my eager puppies. Thanks for the cleaning encouragement, looking forward to the rest of this carnival!
Well, as it turns out, I cleaned my deep freezer out this last week to get ready for my beef order to arrive. It’s a small deep freeze, so that was a blessing, but it was still mighty unpleasant. I had to thaw & drain it & then go to it with the cleaner and rags . . . much improved!
I’ve cleaned out my fridge and now it’s time to organize/clean my freezer. I think I might need another freezer to keeps things really organized.:) You’re fridge looks great!
I will get right on cleaning out the fridge! Thanks for the inspiration. I have a huge amount of produce coming tomorrow from our local co-op. Yeah! 🙂 This is great timing.
Oh my! I know that cleaning out the fridge is something that I should do weekly (or my goodness, even monthly) but it just gets away from me. In response to this post I cleaned out the fridge today FOR REAL. Instead of just moving things around and wiping down the exposed plastic I actually took the food out, used soapy water and a wash cloth and washed down the drawers and shelves. It feels like such a great accomplishment and I am really proud. And inspired to continue this on a weekly (or at least bi-weekly) basis. Love your blog!!
If I don’t know what it is, and my husband doesn’t know what it is, and neither one of us has any idea how long it’s been in there… yeah, time to toss it, even if it isn’t moldy.
Fridge–DONE!!!!
Freezer–A Whole other story 🙂
tiff877@yahoo.com
Ok, i will try to do some cleanup in the freezer tonight, but i will have to tackle the fridge tomorrow as its food pick up day. IM SCARED! lol
My mom is a wonderful example to me of her industriousness in keeping the refrigerator organized and cleaned out. We’ve been working on cleaning our freezers this past week, too. I’m so grateful for all of you homemakers who are working to do your job well and encouraging the next generation of “homemakers-to-be” to do the same! May God bless your endeavors!
My refrigerator looked about like yours did but with a pot of leftover soup totally in an inconvenient place. I had to move it every time I needed to get something. My husband took our daughter to our neighbors with him, they must have only been gone five minutes , and I cleared out the old jars of condiments we don’t use anymore since we have changed our eating lifestyle, threw the deer a couple of pieces of soft fruit and organized the side door and the drawers and put dairy on one shelf and things my daughter likes on the bottom shelf (raw yogurt and home made apple sauce) and put the soup pot in a place all to itself. Now I know whats going on in there! Thank you for the inspiration! I feel so much better now. Will update you on next weeks task as well.
Melody
Oh ya Freezer not so much!
I cleaned out the kitchen fridge yesterday. Found a few items in there that I had forgotten about, but it wasn’t too bad. But we have two fridges! So I have to start on the downstairs one tomorrow!
Chrystal
LOVE a clean fridge! I don’t wipe it out often enough, but I’m always reorganizing to fit stuff better. With all the milk jars and veggies and big pots of soup and bone broth its like a part time job getting everthing to fit! I recentely made the greatest purchase for organizing the fridge, quare glass containers with lids! I threw out all round containers because they are stupid:) nobody has a round fridge or cuboards for that matter! Anyway, they are quare so they fit anywhere, on top of eachother and they are glass so I don’t have to worry about my beautiful food sitting in yukky plastic and you can see through them so you can see at at glance what you’ve got in there. I get my produce and meat chopped up and cooked up and put in my awsome containers and stack them in the fridge and viola! It makes me happy every time I open the door:)
We’re fairly new to eating real food, so when I went out of town for a week my husband bought some frozen dinners to eat while I was gone. When he tried them he said they were too disgusting to eat… I guess eating actual food for the last few months has ‘ruined’ his taste buds! When I cleaned my freezer I had to throw some processed food out. More room for my frozen stock and leftovers now!
How nice to see someone’s fridge that looks like my own! Mason jars full of all sorts of things, lots of cultured dairy products, plenty of fruits & veggies, and I think I saw some Kerrygold butter in there! So many people I know have Go-gurts, Lunchables, etc. Thanks for making me feel normal and for the fun peek inside your fridge!
Now off to clean my own…..
Thanks for this motivating event!
The fridge looks so much cleaner after throwing out expired sauces and other things that have gone bad. The worst part is feeling guilty over wasting so much food 🙁
Definitely need to do better meal planning…
Still need to work on the freezer!
I have a large deep freeze that tends to get jumbled as I’m in a hurry to find something. Last week I re-organized and took stock of how many bags of produce/jars of jam from last summer need to be used up. Did a thorough cleaning/defrosting of the freezer last summer and probably will wait to do it again til it’s at it’s emptiest (just before it’s time to start filling it up with this summer’s produce).
Thank you for this Carnival. What a great idea to encourage all of us to keep up on our cleaning and organizing. My fridge was not bad, as I clean it out every week before shopping, but I did throw away some old sauces and condiments, and take everything out, and wipe it down, and put in a fresh baking soda box. In the freezer, threw away some frozen bananas hiding in the back, and some other old frozen veggies that should have been thrown away a while ago. Put a fresh baking soda box in there as well. Looks good. Thanks again for this idea, and I really love your website.
Fridge cleaning begins two days before trash day, includes tackling leftovers for most meals leaving a more vacant fridge for when it gets refilled on shopping day which for us is trash day.
My best tip I love to share is the use of a cookie sheets. I often missed items in the back of the fridge and it was a hassle to remove the items in the front to see what was behind. This often lead to wasting too. So I invested in several cookie sheets and now its as if I have pull out shelves in the fridge. I can easily get to items in the back areas especially in those narrow spaces such as the top shelves and below the meat/cheese drawer. Also, the cookie sheets acts as spill containment; if a mess develops I only have to clear off that sheet rather than an entire shelf. I’ve found this saves me time, food, and frustration.
As I clean fridges regularly and for a living, I have a few stories…:)
some reason this brought to mind one of our ex clients’ tenants who was street hot dog vendor. Let me tell you I will never eat street food again. The fridge itself was bad enough but we found a flattened rat under it and rotting buns laying in the back yard. Flies everywhere.
Seriously though, if you are vigilant in keeping your fridge clean there is no need to do these large spring cleans. If you are two minded about keeping something, throw it in the trash.
We recently just moved so we had to clean out our refrigerator and move our deep freezer to re-stock. Let’s just say the poor fridge was a mess! Between cooking most all of our meals from scratch and having to take items to families houses who have internet so that I could work 6 days a week there had been no time for cleaning out fridges in probably the previous 3 months. Hoping since where we are staying at now has the active wireless connection and we can spend more time at home during the week and for cooking that I can keep a better handle on the weekly kitchen assignments 🙂
Wow, the molasses spilled without my knowing! Yikes! I am glad that you encouraged me to clean out my fridge. I usually clean out leftovers and old food as I go, but the condiments I rarely get to cleaning out, and I don’t ever look at those hidden places in the fridge where the spills drip and leave yuckiness! It’s so nice to have a clean fridge!
WOW!!! I got started on the fridge when I discovered some very ugly black mold!!! Got out my Thieves Cleaner and took care of that right away. Thanks for starting this Spring Cleaning gig. Next……..the ever dreaded……freezer………ooooooh. Sounds scary!
Fridge is done. Will tackle freezer today. It’s like a black hole in there. 🙂
UGH! We have two refrigerators (one in the house and the other in the garage), plus a stand up freezer in the garage. A family of six trying to eat as much as we grow means a lot of canning and freezing! We clean the fridge in the house out every other week or so … mostly because we absolutely have to, but the freezers are a whole different story! We eat so much of what’s in there, and then just restock each year … those few items that didn’t get eaten have been lurking in the depths of the freezers for quite awhile! We also acquired a chest freezer, that we have yet to use, because it suffered through the electric getting turned off, and smells of rotten meat. (Ewwww). This is a very timely challenge for us! Thanks for the incentive! I think if I tackle one each day I’ll be done by the end of the week …. time to put on some rubber gloves and start digging!
What a mission!! Between the fridge and the freezer and the chest freezer I feel like the master of organization now! Can’t wait to tackle all the other projects.
Whew. I did it. With two little ones helping. All the ice the polar caps are missing? Was in my freezer. It looks SO much better in there! Now I just have to figure out what to do with all the goat curd someone gave me (dh won’t touch it) to make room for produce this summer. And my fridge it clean! Wonder how long that will last…
Woohoo! I’m done w/the fridge and freezer:) I’m trying to stay on top of this as I’m also doing the GNOWFGLINS e-course… Tuesdays=cleaning and cooking for me!
What a great idea!!! This is something that we all know should be done more often but we always put it off. My daughter and I tackled the refrigerator and with the two of us it was so easy. It looks so good and it is nice to be able to see everything that is in there now. While we were at it we did the freezer above the refrigerator. Tomorrow the upright freezer in the garage. Thank you and we can’t wait for the next Spring Cleaning idea.
Fridge and both freezers done! Our fridge is only a few months old, so it wasn’t really all that bad. Thanks for the inspiration. Hoping the rest of my Spring cleaning weeks go as well as this one.
This was a job in a half, but well overdue being done. I started with the fridge which was terrible. I threw out a lot of food, which upsets me. I need to get me fridge in the regular rotation of cleaning so I don’t have food going bad.
Then I tackled the freezer which mostly just needed some of the food taken out to the big freezer in the garage. I am so glad to have my fridge looking nice.
Jenni
Thanks for the inspiration Kimmy! I finally got around to making an inventory of my freezer so I know all of the meals and odds & ends I’ve tucked into it in the past months. I sorted the fridge and now need to wash it out.
Lucky for me, going out of town forced me to clean out my fridge and use up previously frozen foods! The best was all the heels of bread that I found shoved to the back of the fridge that were going to eventually be “duck food” with my son at the local park. It is now so clean and as cheery as the sunny day outside!
The freezer was another story, but at least the baby food is more organized!
I’m way ahead of you! I’m hoping to move so I’ve been cleaning something everyday. The fridge was done last week, the blinds are nasty to clean though. I’d love to take them down and hose them off, but it’s still winter here. Carpets and floors I keep up on, thank you bissell steam cleaner. Cannot live without one of those when you have carpet and critters.
Enjoy the fruits of your labors, ladies. It is a lovely feeling to live in a clean home. It is a gift that we give to our families.