A disorganized fridge can very quickly become a big problem. A messy fridge can, in actual fact, threaten your health and budget, from forgotten leftovers to missing ingredients. The joyful news is that you can, with no trouble, avoid these risks by using selected and proven simple organizational strategies. Keeping your fridge organized makes the most of your available space and keeps everything fresh and ready to eat.
Clean and Sort
The first step to organizing a fridge is cleaning and sorting all your items. Carefully get everything out of the refrigerator, watching for expiration dates, mold, or other signs of spoiled food as you go. Discard anything that is past the expiration date or looks undesirable. For leftovers or food in plastic storage containers, if you’re not absolutely sure how long it has been in there, just throw it out. Related to your food, it’s most advantageous to err on the side of caution.
With everything out of the fridge, take the time to clean its interiors carefully. Wash and dry all surfaces, including inside drawers and bins, applying hot, soapy water or a mild bleach solution. Like so, you will embark on a clean fridge for your new organization system.
Label Everything
The next step to an organized fridge is to keep an inventory of how long your food has been there. Though conceding almost all pre-packaged foods will come with an expiration or sell-by date on them, for fruits and veggies or food that you bring home or that is leftover from meals, you want to have a system to keep track of when it was added to the fridge and when it will need to be thrown out.
One applicable and simple tip is to use a dry-erase marker to write the dates of meals and takeout on the container. You could actualize the same thing for other perishables inside of your fridge. By meticulously noting both when you brought them home and when they need to be used, you can be sure that you are using up the groceries you buy before they spoil and avoid eating leftovers that can make you sick.
Use Containers
Keeping loose items tidy in a fridge, namely fruits, vegetables, and even small condiment jars, can be wearisome. Carefully consider using clear storage bins to group loose items together to prevent clutter and make certain you have everything you need. At the same time, you can get quality reusable food storage containers with tight-fitting lids. This can help you store food safely and reduce waste by reusing your containers over and over.
You can likewise use a dry-erase marker on the bins and storage containers to keep track of the date things were purchased. Using bins and storage containers in your fridge will free up space for more oversized items elsewhere and make tracking the expiration dates of perishable items not difficult at all.
Develop a System
As you start to replace items, it’s significant to develop a system for storing everything. This has two benefits: first, you will, everytime, know where things are, and second, it can make your food last longer and be safer. As a sample, take note that particular items should be kept in certain places.
Meat should, all the time, be kept on the lowest shelf to avoid dripping and contaminating other food. Similarly, never store milk in the fridge door – it can spoil right away when exposed to warm air too often. You can, at the same time, separate your fruits and vegetables and use trays for all the rest of the messy items to prevent spills.
Plan Ahead
When, finally, your fridge is clean and organized, the most important thing you can complete is to plan to keep it that way. Even the most organized fridge will need to be cleaned up, and old items thrown out every now and then. Consider creating a cleaning schedule to consistently ensure that your fridge stays organized. To cite an instance, you could decide on a day of the week or month to go through everything, rotating and updating your fresh produce and wiping down fridge surfaces. By observing this routine consistently, you can avoid the dreaded deep-clean and purge of your fridge (and freezer), a job very few find pleasure in.
By executing these easy tips, you can keep your fridge clean and organized week after week with less effort and struggle than you thought more likely!
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