tip of the day: line the fridge

Hey, quick tip here.  (BTW, my “quick tips” are sooo much longer than Don’s quick tips…) 

It’s about to be Easter.  You’re either going to a swanky brunch out, going to someone elses house, or hosting the whole darn day, food included.  No matter what, now is the time to impose some major Spring cleaning on your fridge.  Yeah, I’m talking about that opened jar of jam from two Christmas' ago, that you can’t even remember who you got it from, much less the contents.  And truly, some things do last in the fridge for what seems like years, but so much just simply does not.

So it’s Easter, (or Christmas, or Thanksgiving, or some event you need lots of room in the fridge for…) so take stock and then purge.  Purge real good.

I did this recently, and so glad I did.  On Pinterest (yeah, Pinterest-what of it!), I saw a great idea whereby you line the shelves of the fridge with somewhat cheap plastic placemats.  It makes for easy cleanup if you have any spills, and it looks kinda awesome.  So I went for the way-cheap.  Dollar store placemats.  As it turns out, they had a lot to choose from, and I even found some with olives on them that mirror my somewhat Mediterranean kitchen décor.

So get some mild cleaner, and wipe down the shelves, racks, bins and walls.  Take all of the items out as you go, and really look at them.  Decide whether it’s really something you want to put back in.  Once the shelves are washed, place the placemats on the shelves (cut to size, if needed) and then return your items.  (If you have removable shelves and/or bins-remove them completely and wash in a sink of warm water and mild detergent—they need it!) 

Then maybe do a little organizing/categorizing with the returnable items along the way.  For instance, I’m trying to keep dairy on one shelf, proteins on another, condiments on another, etc.  It makes life so much easier.

Here are some pics of my fridge with liners installed.  I even lined the crisper drawers.  Just do it!

~alice