Organise ‘08 - Kitchen Junk
Posted on March 26, 2008
Filed Under 2008 the year of organisation |
I know it is ‘wordless Wednesday’ but I will be wordless later ok? I actually wrote and posted this yesterday, then changed my mind when I found out about the birth stories carnival - because you know, who doesn’t love to be able to talk/post about their babies and the super human feat it was to birth them?? So I sneakily pulled this post thinking no one had seen it yet - sadly bloglines bit me in the bum and I confused the heck out of a couple of people - sorry! Here it is now though, in all it’s glory… well ok in all it’s rambley goodness! Enjoy!
Do you have a lot of ‘kitchen junk’?
You know all those utensils that you swear you will use one day, like the pasta moulds for the day you will finally get around to making ravioli? The coffee mug with the cute bunny on it you were given for Christmas fifteen years ago? Every pair of chopsticks you have ever gotten with your take away noodle dinners?
Actually I don’t have too much extra useless stuff any more, purely because I have no where to put it. Our kitchen is small and old and did I say small already? We have twelve cupboards, five small draws and two open shelves and they are all old and poorly designed. That is it as far as storage goes and it’s not enough. When we moved here I had to get rid of a fair bit of kitchen junk, but of late I have been working on reducing it even further as well as storing it better. Some days it feels like a never ending battle and I long to start our renovations and take a step towards finally having a decent kitchen, but that is still at least a year away so in the mean time I need to deal with all the ‘kitchen junk’ as best I can.
The Utensils Draw
I’ve recently tried to par down the utensils draw to the mere basic necessities, but it hasn’t been easy. When I started I found that I some how managed to acquire seven (yes seven!) wooden spoons! It was hard to part with the old spatula that we have had since we first moved in together but never used, not to mention the broken single salad sever who’s mate broke beyond repair a long time ago. Who would have thought that kitchen utensils could hold so many fond memories?
I was strong though, I de-cluttered the utensil draw like a mad woman and I just hope I won’t live to regret it. The kid’s sandpit has seen an influx of interesting cooking utensils, as has the local Op Shop (Thrift Store to those in he US) and while I still seem to have an awful lot of utensils in the draw I feel fairly confident that they are things I need and use at least every once in a while, I think.
It’s a pity that the draw they live is the only place we have to store them and despite adding in a new half size draw divider I still seem to be rummaging through to find things, there must be a better way to store this stuff? How do you store utensils? Is there some clever easy way to do it that I could put on my wish list for the new kitchen if when it happens?
The Spice Cupboard
I had to laugh when I opened the cupboard above the stove where the herbs and spices lived and ten half empty little jars fell out on my head. Marjoram? What on earth do I put that in? Turmeric? It is a pretty yellow colour but I am fairly sure I have never cooked with it. So why, in out tiny, short on storage space kitchen was I keeping herbs that the Baldy Boy obviously bought when he first moved out of home and back before I moved in when he might actually have had to cook something. In fairness he does cook every now and then, and probably those once in a blue moon times when he makes bolognaise sauce he does put in marjoram and sage and thyme all separately, it’s just the sort of thing he would do. Probably when that moon turns blue next time he will grumble and carry on when he finds that there is no longer four different packets of whole dried sage leaves, but too bad!
I did a lot of amalgamating of the herbs. Read the ingredients on the back of the ‘mixed herbs’ (which I tend to chuck into just about everything I make) and just dumped any and all of those herbs that we had as separates in the cupboard. Now we have enough ‘mixed herbs’ to last us for months! I even (shhhh don’t tell) chucked out some herbs and spices that I am sure are older than our children and that I have never used. Now I can actually see what is in the cupboard and at least for the next day or so nothing will fall on my head when I open it!
Appliances
I don’t think we have heaps of appliances, but it still feels like way too many in our little kitchen. We have a toasted-sandwich-grill-press thingo and a food processor which are used fairly regularly. We have a citrus juicer thing that the Baldy Boy uses a lot to make fresh juice when we have the fruit. We have a little microwave and a second-hand bread-maker which both see a fair bit of action and that is about it. Not drinking tea or coffee we don’t have a fancy coffee machine, heck we don’t even have a kettle! (we used to but it broke and we only ever used it for guests so never got around to replacing it). We don’t even have a toaster as our stove has a griller that we use instead.
My aim is to not have any of these appliances out on the bench. Well, except for the microwave because that is too big for a cupboard, oh and the bread maker too. I’ve found little hidey holes for all the rest of them and I am determined they will go back to their hidey holes after each use. I don’t have much bench space as it is so I need to preserve as much open cooking space as I can. Though I can see the fact that I have to lug the toasted sandwich maker down from the high shelf is seriously going to curb my desire to use it, not to mention the food processor.
I sometimes drool over an appliance or two if I am ever allowed into a homewares shops. I keep thinking that I’d really love a KitchenAid mixer - because, you know, if you spend $700 on a mixer surely it will magically make you in to a great cook who has the time and motivation to actually bake stuff!? And oh man, they have such nifty accessories.. I could make ice cream and pasta, ice cream flavoured pasta even! And I’d get a red one… cause red ones go faster….
Sorry got a tad carried away there looking at the KitchenAid website, but really, even if I could afford a KitchenAid mixer where on earth would I put it? It would take up my last remaining clear bit of bench and so then I’d never be able to cook anything, let alone bake. One day though, one day, when we renovate (hmmm this post seems to full of my longing to finally start renovating - must blog more on that theme one day!) I dream of having a walk in pantry with a long clear bench with lots of power points just for appliances. So they can stay out but not out, be super easy to use but not take up any space and not clutter up my nice new kitchen - one day….
Other Kitchen Junk Issues
I have a few other miscellaneous kitchen junk issues that I need to address somehow.
Bread - How and where do you store bread? Bare in mind that I don’t have much space so a giant bread bin isn’t going to work so well, but maybe some small bread box that fits just one loaf? Do they make such a thing? do they work? Does it help keep the bread fresh?
Plastic Containers and their Lids - I have a nice collection of miscellaneous containers with lids, including some very fine and lovely Tupperware. Is there some magic way to store this stuff so that it doesn’t take up heaps of space, so that it is easy to access and so that you don’t have to disappear into a cupboard up to your waist for ten minutes before you realise you have no idea where the matching lid to that container actually is?
General Kitchen Storage - share with me all your nifty tricks and tips to keep your kitchen storage under control - please!
I am sure there is more but my new dishwasher just arrived so I must go and drool over it while it is being installed and thank the Gods of Easter overtime payments and the hard working Baldy Boy for saving us all from the hand washing demons!
I must add, before I go, a big thanks to all who commented on my household folder post. So many people with good ideas and suggestions and some really great links! I never would have thought that it would be such a ‘thing’ - I have heaps of hits from people searching ‘house hold folders’ - pity for the searchers that all I posted was questions and not any answers! I am working on it though, working through all of the great websites (which is no mean feet on this slow connection) and deciding what I will include, as well as hunting down the perfect folder to put them in (read - free LOL) so I will be sure to post an update when I have some progress to show!
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11 Responses to “Organise ‘08 - Kitchen Junk”
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I know what you mean about the kitchen “junk”. My problem is, I’ve gotten rid of so much already and I still have stuff stored in my basement!
You confused me! I was sure I had seen it and then couldn’t find it again.
I am with you on getting an organised kitchen. We have an old house back in Perth which we’re going to renovate when we go home and the kitchen will be a major job. Ikea has heaps of stuff for organising drawers and cupboards - some great dividers particularly for utensil drawers.
What a good idea for a post - I must confess I spend a lot of time thinking about organising my kitchen but with small children it never gets done. In fact not long ago I managed to move en mass my kitchen junk from old house to new with no improvement. Top of my list are bulging plastics shelf and where on earth to put the bread.
- Kylie at Baysidemama
Oh golly, kitchen storage…aargggh. We have a small kitchen too…there is actually enough space for most of what we have, although my pantry is always choccas, and the plastics cupboard is my biggest issue.
I won’t buy any more appliances unless I get a bigger kitchen that’s for sure!
And our bread goes in a freezer bag and sits on the kitchen bench. The only way to ensure enough space to cook in this house is to clean clean clean. There is definitely no room for dirty dishes.
Anyway will keep an eye out for plastic storage solutions…
I will raise your 12 cupboards to my 8 any day!!! One of those currently (since about June - our one attempt at renovation) without a door.
Plastic containers - stack them with the lid on and you really don’t need that many - so sort through - those with no lids get tossed, those with no bottoms get tossed and taking your sister dog food will get rid of the rest!
Moccona Jars are my pantry organisers.
Thank goodness for being saved from the hand-washing demons - I have dreams of that!
I have one of those swanky Tupperware bread bins, and you know what? It really doesn’t keep the bread for any longer than it did in it’s little plastic bag in the pantry! I swear by the vegie containers for the fridge, but the bread bin, I’d give it a miss!
How ironic, but margaram and tumeric are two of my favorite spices!!! LOL Turmeric for my indian recipes, and margaram with chicken and/or roasted veggies. It’s milder than oregano and slightly sweet. I love it. :-)
Also, I almsot never use my kitchenaid. It is SO not worth the money for me…but of course ymmv.
Hey, go do my homemakers meme! :-)
I also have to comment on how amusing it is that the same language, once separated from it’s mother country, can use such different words for the same thing…at first glance I thought ‘utensil draw’ was a typo…until I saw it again and realized that must be standard Aussie…yeah, we call it a drawer. LOL! And a ‘bench’ is a counter or countertop…
In my utensil drawer, I’ve got one of those plastic sectioned things to hold the actual eating utensils (spoons, forks, butter knives). Other than that, depending on drawer space/arrangement, my main goal is to separate sharp things from non-sharp things. That way I know one drawer is safe for rummaging, the other drawer I know is full of dangerous pokey things so I am careful with that one! It’s also the simplest kind of sorting I could think of… (My mom has as row of little pegs on teh wall above the stove and hangs her ladles, pancake flippers, large spoons, etc on that–they are so bulky in the drawer, and all the handles look the same, so keeping them on teh wall makes them eaier to see. I would only do that if you use them a lot though, as they’ll collect dust…
For what it’s worth, my mom had all the separate herbs, but mostly she used “magic herb mix” which was where dad took a big bottle, and poured in a little of whatever smelled good, and shook it up. There was a new batch every few months. It was always a little different, and went on/in everything.
Actually, herbs begin to lose their savor within 6-12 months I believe, so if it’s 8 years old (as some of mine are!) then you’ve got to use a lot more of it, and should seriously consider replacing the bottle.
So good for you!
Did you save the little empty bottles? Wash them out really well, and use them for glitter, colored sugar (for cookie decorating), etc. They are marvelous storage containers, and I love using them for little sprinkly things… :-) I also buy a few things in bulk (cinnamon, basil, garlic powder, cumin) so I hang on to teh smaller jars to use in the kitchen, and keep the bigger containers in the pantry.
:-)
junk is my life-kitchen or otherwise ;-)
I’ve been reading your blog for a while now, but have never left a comment until now. Just wanted to share some of the things that I do that help keep me organised in the kitchen:
Bread - This might not be the most organised thing to do, but I keep my bread on the bench so that I see it all the time and am reminded that I have to use it before it goes moldy! The other option is storing it in the freezer and only thawing out as much as you need to use. I do this mostly because we can’t eat a whole loaf of bread before it goes off (just me and hubby, no kids yet). Freezing it does tend to dry it out a little, but if you’re mostly going to use the bread for toasting etc, it doesn’t really matter.
Plastic containers - I have a large shallow plastic container that I store all my lids in. I just put the lids in a stack, then stack them on their side in the larger container, this way I have easy access to the lids I need, as I can just pull out the larger container without having to rummage through everything to try and find a lid and a container that match.
Utensil drawer - I made a utensil box for my mum back when I was in school. It’s one of those utensil storage containers that is about as long as the handles on your utensils, and sits upright on the bench. ie. handles in the container, and the ends of the utensils hanging out the top. You can see easily which utensil is which, and pick the one you need without the need for rummaging. This would probably only work if you don’t have a mountain of utensils. I don’t actually personally have one of these, but my mum uses hers and loves it. I have seen similar containers in homewares shops or even Target in the past.
That’s all I have to contribute. I’m enjoying your blog. The organising ideas, the stories about your family and your food/cooking ideas/recipes are really interesting.
I too drool over the Kitchen Aid - but just can’t imagine myself ever forking out so much cash for a kitchen appliance.
This is a very small tip, but I do love this hook, so I have to share. We use Multix Freezer bags and years ago sent in for their Free Dispenser Hook, which we then screwed into the inside of our kitchen cupboard and all the bags - small, medium and large can hang from it neatly. It completely sorted out my foil, cling wrap drawer as the bags used to float around in there.
I have to go and get rid of some of my 8 year old spices now - thanks for the inspiration.