Women at work and their tips, challenges, advice, complaints, and experiences

So, did you get your kitchen all cleaned and decluttered?  Great! 

Now it's time to start a maintenance routine that will keep things clean throughout the week, allowing you to focus more on life and simply schedule the occasional deep cleaning as needed.  (Only you know how often you need to mop, run the oven cleaner, etc. so I'll let you decide on those guidelines!)

Here are five easy ways to keep on top of things now that you're ready to rumble:

1. Make use of workstations and work triangles.  We have our toaster and coffeemaker on a portion of the counter right next to the sink (easy to fill the coffemaker as needed) with the breakfast items and lunch supplies in the cupboard above.  This makes mornings fast and efficient as my husband is able to brew his coffee, make his sandwiches for lunch, and toast waffles all at the same time.  I'm able to mix up a Carnation Instant Breakfast while my daughter's toast is browning up without walking all over the room.  Easy peasy!
2. Cook larger portions of family favorites and immediately store leftovers for later.  For our small family, a tray of lasagna turns into dinner and several lunches; as I'm dishing up dinner, I'm also putting portions into serving-size containers to leave in the fridge for my husband's lunches.  If you have a larger family, take the time to make two casserole dishes worth.  Serve one tonight and freeze the other for a fast dinner another night.  You'll have less cleanup by cooking in bulk because you're using the same pots and pans, and you'll use less energy to heat that stove or oven too.  All in all, a more efficient use of your time.
3. Try to use as few bowls and pots as possible while preparing meals.  Need to defrost and brown ground beef?  Do it in one bowl in the microwave.  (My microwave offers a host of preset options for defrosting and browning/cooking food like ground meat and such; if you're replacing an appliance, look for functions like this to make life easier.)  Draining and rinsing multiple types of beans for Three-Bean Turkey Chili?  Use one strainer and pour each can of beans right into the CrockPot after rinsing.  No reason to pull out a bowl!  I don't mix anything in a bowl that can be mixed in the measuring cup (I have a huge one that I use for making brownies and other goodies; put in liquids first then just mix in the mix and pour!) or in the cooking container.  Watch me make a CrockPot meal and you'll see a lot of items that don't need to be rinsed going from can to slow cooker.  Then all I need is a big spoon!
4. Rinse utensils, prep bowls, and other dishes immediately and pop them in the dishwasher.  Something need to soak while you follow further steps?  Get it in the sink right away.  Save yourself the time of scrubbing it all later, when dinner's done and you just want to start the dishwasher and walk away!  It'll keep your sink clean and empty too, which is always a good feeling.
5. Just get home from grocery shopping?  Some folks will toss things into the fridge or freezer right away, haphazardly, and leave the dry goods out on the counter "for later".  Stay away from this trap; later rarely comes!  Instead, separate any bulk frozen foods into the portions you'll use (for instance, throw those 5 pounds of hamburger patties into smaller freezer bags right now!) and store them properly.  Know you'll be serving some of the chicken breasts tomorrow and saving the rest?  Put the portion you need into the fridge in a leak-free container and freeze what you don't need.  Now you don't have to break it open and defrost a portion tomorrow.  Did you buy big bags of snack foods like dried fruit, crackers, or the like with the intentions of making your own 100-calorie snack bags?  Do it now!  Grab a box of sandwich bags, measure out the portions, and get that big bag off the counter.  Pop your snacky things into a drawer or cupboard, wipe off the countertop and be free to relax (and have some crackers).

Just for kicks, here's the one tip you'll see just about every time you read about keeping the kitchen clean: wipe up spills immediately.  Keep a kitchen towel or tub of antiseptic wipes handy to wipe the range clean of that splattered spaghetti sauce, and it won't have time to get nasty - nor will you wake up to it tomorrow!  (Can you tell what I wiped down last night after dinner?)

(Image used by permission with thanks to Designed to a T.)