Spring Cleaning - Week #2

It's week two and time for another Spring cleaning item.  Now this item will go hand-in-hand with the post I did about the importance of doing an inventory.  Remember, we are still working in the kithchen.  This week we are cleaning out and organizing the kitchen cabinets.....grab a Phillips screwdriver.  Yes I have a reason for this.

Last week we did the kitchen drawers and now we are working on the cabinets.  Pull everything out of your kitchen cabinets and look through it.  Do you have a dish or two that is cracked that you have been meaning to get rid of?  Now's your chance.  Dishes, food products, appliances, etc.  Go through every cabinet and take everything out and then put it back organized.  You'll be surprised at what you find hiding in there.

Check all food products to make certain you don't have anything that is expired.  Also, when you are going through your food products, if there is anything in there that you have that you decide you won't use but is still good, donate donate donate.  Give it to someone in need or to a homeless shelter or a food bank, etc.

Go through your pots and pans too!  This is where the screw driver comes into play.  All of those pots and pans you have.....check them for loose handles.  If it's loose, tighten it up (don't forget to put the screw driver back where it goes when you are done and not in the junk drawer (you shouldn't have one of those after we cleaned out the drawers last week.)

Did someone give you a brand new pots/pans set for the holidays?  Great and congrats....now what are you going to do with the other one?  Donate donate donate!  Find somewhere to take it before even thinking about putting it in the trash.  Now as luck would have it, my food processor had a plastic part break a couple of weeks ago and my wonderful brother-in-law and sister-in-law gave me a brand new one for Christmas.  Now since mine had a part that broke (it still works perfectly), I won't donate it to anyone as I don't know what would happen if that part breaks further.  And you know by now that I'm not going to pitch it into the trash.

What I will do is check at Earth911.com.  If you have something you want to try to recycle but you aren't sure where to take it, I would suggest going there.  You type in the product you are trying to recycle and your zip code and it will give you any recycling centers in your area that recycles that particular item.  If it comes up with no recycling center, it gives you the option of contacting your state's Department of Environmental Quality/Department of Environmental Protection.  Every state has one and they should be able to help you. 

It's a good idea when you are cleaning out your cabinets to have a laundry basket or box or something handy to put the items in that you no longer want.  I always take everything out of one cabinet at a time.  Put it all on the kitchen counter, go through it and decide if there is anything I can get rid of (translation = donate), wipe down the shelf with a warm wash rag and then put it back organized.  Anything that can be donated goes into the basket and the next weekend will get donated wherever I am going to do so.

When you are doing this, be realistic and honest.  Do you have cute little Christmas soup bowls in the cabinet that you have never used?  Get rid of them.  How about those spices?  Do you have some that are older than dirt?  Get rid of them.  Note here:  When I find spices that are outdated or have had them much longer than their shelf life could possibly be, I consider what kind of spice it is and that is how I decide to get rid of them.  For example, have some Dillweed that you used once for a recipe 1.5 years ago and haven't used since?  Take the bottle outside and dump the contents along the back of your yard at the fence line, or in a back corner or something.  Don't worry.....you won't get a bunch of Dillweed growing next year, but you will be doing a little bit of composting which is always a good thing.  Don't forget to pitchen the spice container in the recycling bin.  You get the picture.

So this week, you technically have two projects:  1)  Cleaning out your kitchen cabinets and 2) Doing inventory.  Since a lot of you have the day off tomorrow, here's something you can do on that day!  And you thought you were going to get to be lazy tomorrow.....hehehehehe

Smooches to all and Happy New Year!