So by the time spring cleaning comes around, you realize that over the year you accumulated so much junk. And as you clean out that closet, you think to yourself "I could have had all this extra space without this crap". Or at least that's what I do.
My spring cleaning came early this year when the kids got croup. I needed to disinfect the house and I got a little carried away.
Realizing that this needs to be done more than once a year, I have decided to tackle one small area a week. Area's that are often forgotten about.
So now I'm asking you to join me once a week. Because if I go to your house and see that it hasn't been done, I will disown you. Not really, but this will honostly only take about 30 min-1hr, a WEEK, not a day. Heck, you could do this during commercials of American Idol, because Lord knows they have more commercials than the actual show.
This week we are going to attack the kitchen drawers. (No pictures with this post because I'm hoping your mom taught you how to clean. If you need pictures feel free to email me. I will not email pictures, instead I will share it with my friends and we will all have a good laugh).
1) Starting with one drawer at a time, take EVERYTHING out. Even the utensil divider.
2) Spray in disinfectant spray that is okay to use on your drawer (whether wooden or plastic) and wipe clean. I even took the drawer out and cleaned the track, the sides and the handle.
3) Now only replace the items that you use EVERYDAY.
4) Throw out the junk and stuff you just want to donate or get rid of. Throw out the double of an item.
5) You should now still have a pile of stuff that you want to keep, but don't use everyday. Replace the items that you have used in the last six months.
6) Ready for this? Throw out or donate the rest. "But Jess, I NEED my flask funnel!" No, my friend, you don't. Use a kitchen funnel to get that whiskey in your flask. Or those mini tongs- if you host parties often then go ahead and keep them. If you bought them years ago, used them once and forgot about them- then I'm sure you could make due with forks to serve up appetizers at your next party.
Now for the rules of numbers.
Do you have three serving sets? Now really, how many extra large forks do you need? A serving set usually has the large fork (meat), a large spoon with holes (veggies) and a large spoon without holes (carbs). Get rid of the rest!
How many steak knives do you have? Our rule is that we have one for every seat at our table, so we have four. We also only have six nice knives. One is a knife set consisting of four knives of different sizes. We use this for cutting meat, fruit and vegetables. We have one bread knife and one large heavy duty knife for potatoes, onions, etc. You don't need any more than that. Get in the habit of washing your knives right after you use them so one that meets your need is always available.
You don't need six whisks people. I'm a baker and I don't even have six whisks. I have a small one for eggs and a larger one for everything else. Once again, get into the habit of washing them right after you use them so there is always one available.
Three spatulas should be more than enough.
One soup ladle, one gravy spoon, one spaghetti server. Because lets be real, do you really have more than one of these served at one time?
One ice cream scoup, one pizza cutter, one can opener, one vegetable slicer. If you refuse to get rid of the doubles of these then you are just out right a hoarder.
One cake and pie slicer/server, one punch ladle (or if you want to get extra points, just use your soup ladle), one meat thermometer and I'll throw you a bone here: TWO basting brushes because they can be difficult to clean.
Finally- dish towels. If you do laundry once a week, then seven dish towels should be plenty. Ten if you really want. As for hand towels in your kitchen, don't exceed five. I'm not going to believe your lie that you don't reuse your hand towel a few days until it's ready for the wash.
You will not be without if you follow these rules. You will learn to make due with what you have and you will have a much more organized kitchen.
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