Kitchen Makeover: Stage Two

The Fridge!!

My sink is under control!  I have cleaned my sink each night before bed – too easy!  The follow-on effects are great as well.  The area where I make my breakfast (and the kids lunches) is clean each morning so my day is starting off on the right foot and I am in a good mood!  that makes me much more inclined to eat a healthy breakfast!  So it is time to move onto the next mission!  The fridge!
The fridge is where all our fresh food is kept – how can we be healthy if our fridge is not healthy?  Not only can an unhealthy fridge be a breeding ground for germs that cause upset tummies, it can also mean we are wasting foods and, of course, we are less likely to eat our healthy fresh produce if it is going icky in the fridge after 24hrs!
So today I have a mission:

Clean the fridge!

• take everything out and toss anything out of date or obviously unhealthy!
• take out the shelving and drawers and wash them, let them dry while wiping out the inside of the fridge (a bit of lemon juice in the water is great for killing germs and getting rid of smells!).
• Put it all back, wiping the bottom of jars, but lets try some organisation. 

Organisation: The things you want to eat more of need to easily accessible and visible!  You can buy fridge organisers which are great for holding sauce bottles and spreads to keep them together.  And lastly, look at how you are storing your fruits and vegetables in the fridge.  I am trying out some vege bags to see if they help keep things fresh, but I am more inclined to try and make sure I eat it all so I don’t need it to last as long!  And don’t forget to do your research… look up how to to best store your favourite fruits and vegetables, and invest in some containers to keep your leftovers in!
At the moment I am struggling with a fridge that is way too small for my family, it is really only big enough for a family of two, not five!  So my goal is to get a new fridge in the New year – not an easy task given the Christmas spending period is upon us, we need to pay for some repairs at our rental house, and the costs of heading back to school as well!  So this week I am going research fridges and work out which price bracket I need to be in to get what I want!

My new habit for this week:

A “What’s in the fridge” board!

a.k.a. Family meal planning on the fly!
The idea is to grab a white board marker and, provided you have a nice white fridge, you are free to write all over it.  You can write what is for dinner, what leftover’s need to be used, what fresh fruit and vegetables you can eat or have planned!  Each night, after I have cleaned the sink, I can go through what we have and work out what to do for breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner.  I can get out what needs to be defrosted and put it in the back fridge so it can defrost slowly (and without risking food poisoning!).  My leftovers can get used, and the boys and hubby will know what to grab from the fridge without opening it twenty times before deciding there is nothing to eat!
So my tasks are complete and I have added a picture of my '”What’s in the fridge” board!  I will update with how it goes at the end of next week!

Jeni