Operation Clean-Up: The Fridge Addition

Everyday I open up the door, peek around and think, "there's nothing to eat"; when really there is a huge mountain of food ready to come tumbling down on me. The problem is: it's hard to find the really good stuff hidden amongst all the other junk stuffed inside.
That's where Operation Clean-Up comes in to play.

Let's take a look at the refrigerator in my house, shall we?

There is no rhyme or reason to how things are placed in here... everything is pretty much thrown in anywhere you can find a space for it. So.. let's try a wee bit of organization, eh?

Step 1: Take everything out of the fridge (including drawers and shelves if possible). Put it on the kitchen table, counter top, in boxes, or wherever you can find space for everything.

Ew! It was about time to clean this...

 Step 2: Clean clean clean! I just used baking soda and water since some soaps leave a fragrance that can affect the food. You may need to do a lot of scrubbing (I certainly did...). Use a rag, scrub brush, sponge, toothbrush, whatever you need to do to get the job done (I used all of the above).

wow! It's like a new fridge!

Step 3: Dry it. Take rag or paper towels and wipe everything down. You don't want to put your food back on shelves and into drawers that are dripping wet. Obviously.

Step 4: Go through your food. Decide what needs to be tossed. Try to combine things if you have multiple containers of the same thing. You may even have some things that don't need refrigerated, so take those out to free up some space (I moved some soy sauce, hot sauce, and sesame oil into the cupboard). If you have food that is still good but don't plan to use it for awhile, consider putting it in the freezer instead of back in the fridge.

Step 5: Put everything back in an organized fashion. If you are like me, you will find yourself with a lot more space than you had before.

Step 6: Admire your hard work. Here's a look at my newly clean fridge.

So there you have it! Now get cleaning. I certainly hope my refrigerator wasn't the only one looking that raunchy...