Spring Clean Your Kitchen with Ease
4/5/22
It’s the perfect time to spring clean your kitchen and get ready for summer! To start, these simple tips will help you get motivated. Don’t wait, get started today and enjoy a clean and organized kitchen in no time!
Importance of Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen
The kitchen is where people cook and store their food. Because of this, dirty appliances can get splattered with bacteria, which will make you sick if not cleaned properly. By doing a deep cleaning of your kitchen, you’ll improve the quality and safety in every area, from food preparation to storage.
A clean kitchen also improves eating habits and reduces stress. A disorganized, messy pantry prevents you from seeing what is actually available and can be overwhelming.
Kitchen Cleaning Must-Haves
Before you start your spring cleaning spree, it’s important to have the right tools for the job. For example, Tasha Rosales, board certified nutritionist, and owner of WellnessHomemade prefers using natural, non-toxic brands of cleaning products for her home and suggests Branch Basics brand cleaners. Not only are they non-toxic, they are also biodegradable, plant-based, and refillable for less environmental waste.
Along with that, of course you’ll want the other basics:
- Broom and dustpan
- Trash can to throw out expired foods
- Mop
- Rubber gloves
- Sponges
- Paper towels
Have a Plan for Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen
Don’t feel obligated to clean the entire kitchen in one day. If you are doing a deep clean, it might take several days to get through it. Work your way through the room bit by bit. The biggest and most difficult areas will likely be your refrigerator and pantry. They undoubtedly have expired food or older items you’ll never eat.
Day One: The Fridge
- Take everything out.
- Throw away anything that is expired, rotten, or won’t be eaten.
- Take out drawers and shelves and place them in the sink.
- Wipe down the entire insides of the refrigerator and freezer.
- Thoroughly wash drawers and shelves with warm soapy water.
- Dry drawers and shelves and place them all back in the fridge.
- Consider adding extra organization drawers like these from The Container Store.
- Place any food you want to keep back in the fridge.
- Keep a roll of painter’s tape and permanent marker nearby to label all leftovers with expiration dates.
Day Two: The Pantry
We asked Tasha Rosales to weigh in on the pantry as she is an expert in this area!
- Take everything out and vacuum every nook and cranny.
- Throw away anything that is expired or rotten.
- Set aside any non-perishable foods that can be donated.
- Empty out and wash any containers.
- Wipe down shelves and back walls.
- Add shelf liners if you wish.
- Place chips, snacks and big bag snacks in containers.
- Portion out snacks for the week.
- Organize portioned out snacks in a small container where everything can be seen.
- Place items you want to go for first at eye level – for kids this will be lower than adults.
- Place foods you want to eat less in a higher place or a lower place tucked back.
Tasha offers a full ebook on Building a Healthier More Functional Kitchen available on her website, WellnessHomemade.org
5 Spice Bins by Cuisines
Chef/Culinary Educator, Mayumi Tavalero from Fork and Knife Creations, has a great tip for organizing the spices in her pantry. She says, “I arrange my spices in bins according to cuisine. I just pull a small bin and place it where I’m cooking.
- The Mexican bin has cumin, oregano, chili powder, cayenne pepper.
- The Mediterranean bin has thyme, rosemary, Italian seasoning, sage, basil, and bay leaf.
- The Asian bin has curry, Chinese 5 spice, star anise, coriander, ginger, and white pepper.
- The baking bin has cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, etc.
- The last bin is specialty spices like smoked paprika, saffron, and specialty salts.
When I’m spring cleaning, I put the bins in the dishwasher and toss out any spices that I haven’t used in a year in my compost pile.”
Day Three: The Cupboards
The rest of the kitchen will likely be easier. Take out plates, bowls, cookware, and silverware. Wipe down the inside of your cupboards and drawers. For the outside of the cupboards, use Castile soap, a microfiber cloth, and some muscle. If your cabinet doors are greasy, wipe them down with a solution of one-part vinegar to two parts water. This is also a good opportunity to see if any of your kitchenware is worn out and needs to be replaced. Check out this blog post for recommended items to refresh your kitchen.
Corey Walker, from The Marketing Specialist, explains that unused/lightly used kitchen appliances like KitchenAid mixers, blenders, instant pots, toaster ovens, and espresso/specialty coffee makers often get snapped up quickly on Facebook Marketplace. List them on the marketplace in your area and earn some extra cash!
Day Four: The Oven
Cleaning the oven is particularly tricky if you don’t maintain it regularly. Food gets burnt on and stuck which can cause lots of smoke the next time you bake. Since oven cleaners can release toxic vapors, Tasha Rosales recommends a simple mixture of baking soda (a natural alkali) and vinegar (a natural acid) to lift off stubborn stains and grease for easy wiping.
Day Five: A Final Deep Clean of Counters and Floors
The counters and floors should be last as you will have debris coming out of the other areas you clean first. Thoroughly wipe down all counters before sweeping the floor. Once all the crumbs are on the floor, sweep everything up. Get a good mop and the floor cleaner of your choice and scrub everywhere. If your grout is dirty, consider hiring a professional grout cleaner. It makes all the difference!
A New Way to Enjoy Your Kitchen
Once you throw away or donate a lot of the unused food that was in your fridge and pantry, you may notice how much waste you created. Instead of repeating that habit, why not try something new?
By using Foodom, you can have a local chef buy the groceries for you, only the groceries that are needed for the meals, or if you prefer to do it yourself, that works too. The chef will cook everything, and you’ll have meals for the week already done. No more asking yourself daily at 6 pm the dreaded question, “What’s for dinner?”.
You’ll free up your time in the evening to do what you care about most. Enjoy calm evenings, and deep conversations guilt-free, AND you’ll notice a lot less waste in your pantry and in the garbage bin!
Check out the wide variety of dishes available on Foodom here.
