Project: Simplify - Hot Spot #4

Pantry and Refrigerator

When I saw this weeks hot spot, I thought, "I have this in.the.bag." You see, we moved just under a year ago and went through the process of clearing out kitchen clutter then and I tend not to keep much more in our fridge and pantry than staples and what we are going to use for meals for the week [I was wrong]. But, I will let the before and after photos do their talking:

For the refrigerator, I was actually a bit shocked at how much was in there and how disorganized it was. I started by taking things out one-by-one until the fridge was empty (I figured this would make me move quickly, so as to get everything back inside in a timely fashion). Frankly, I was appalled and embarrassed at just how dirty the fridge was! I just didn't notice until everything was out. If it was expired/just plain old it was tossed. Then, everything was just categorized and I *gasp* used the crisper drawers for their intended purposes.

The pantry had been organized, at one time, and after a few trips to Sam's Club and an assortment of plastic containers [I am not a clepto, nor did I purchase most of these, they just show up - if they are yours feel free to claim] things just started getting put where I could fit them. So, this is more of a rearrange. The Goldfish and oatmeal found a home in the pantry, instead of with servewear and the Fruit Crisps made their way back to the "food side" of the pantry. Snacky foods were moved to the top shelf and everything else found a more appropriate home.

We also have a lazy Susan cupboard which contains larger items (vinegar, oil, etc) and drink mixes (coffee, tea, hot cocoa). Not much to photograph, though I did come up with a handy little solution for the boxes of drink mix. I had multiple boxes taking up space that just had a packet or two each in them. I found this little stainless steel container to be used by the sink for a sponge/SOS pad, etc. I was not using it so I cleaned it up a bit and put smaller bags of tea and Crystal Light in the front and larger packets of hot cocoa in the back. Much easier to see now (the little packets of Crystal Light were actually a surprise that I found floating loose on the shelf). Little packets of Truvia in a container to the right and coffee accessories in a container to the left.

The spice rack received little to no attention (I basically just turned it all back to facing me so I could read it). I am not much for the kitchen, threw most of our spices out when we moved, and haven't accumulated much since...

I did most of the work on this while the boys napped on Monday (they have been phenomenal nappers this week). I was finishing up after Matthew woke up and I could hear him chatting away in the living room. I peeked in and I found him propped on the couch reading himself a book out loud. MeltMyHeart.

I will be linking up with Simple Mom on Friday, until then, happy reading!

(P.S. Eric, from Words of Williams, guest posted over at Sievers CPA today. Check it out!)