Week 4 Project: Simplify- Fridge/Pantry

I've been participating in Simple Mom's Project:Simplify (except for last week, but I am still determined to clean the playroom) and so far it has been a great experience. I have loved having a direction and I have loved having a new organized/simplified space.  This week's project was very exciting for me, because as I have told you in the past, I am a total fridge voyeur.  So, I hope hope hope that you are going to participate, too and then post pictures on our Facebook page after you link them on Simple Mom's post.

Unfortunately for this project's needs, our refrigerator is filled and emptied on a weekly basis. So, it does not have a chance to build up many science experiments. I did wipe down all the shelves and drawers with What-EVER. This is such a great product for cleaning surfaces that come in contact with food. Why wash your produce or even buy organic and then put it into a container with toxic chemical residue?

The stainless steel front I cleaned with Einshine, and I got to tell you that these pictures do not even begin to do this product justice. Honestly. Einshine blew me away and is the product that won me over to Better Life permanently. Mr. Frowzy likes to tease me because I will pull it out when we have guests over so I can show them how amazing it is. truly.

The side had some kind of dried splatter on it that I sprayed with What-EVER and cleaned with a little scrub brush to get into the grooves of the texture. I certainly didn't actually "scrub."

The pantry on the other hand was definitely do for a make-over. We have very little cabinet space so our big pantry is a hall closet right off the kitchen. Here at the Frowzy house we refer to this as the Y2K stash. It's where I put all of our bulk food purchases when I make them. This was a good time to clean it out because it is a little on the low side.

After I removed everything I pitched a couple of opened boxes of pasta and put all the canned food except the beans (not much, but mostly canned tomatoes) into the food pantry donations. I have such mixed feelings about this. I am getting rid of the food because of the health consequences from BPA in the cans, and I'm donating them to people who are not only food insecure, but also medical care insecure. So often food pantry donations are unhealthy processed foods that exacerbate at risk people's health issues. But, I also don't want to just throw them in the trash.

I diluted some What-EVER in a bucket and wiped down the shelves and floor. While doing that I discovered two odd things.

a cache of Hershey's kisses from last Easter.

And poor little Bitty Bear who had been in Time-out for God knows how long. (This actually totally creeped me out, but then I have a fear of evil toys that come to life to seek their revenge.)

I know it doesn't look much different, but believe me it is. My biggest challenge was the 3+ cases of baby food I got a great deal on. Those new squeeze packages are nice, but the boxes take up so much room. I decided to put a selection on the door rack and put the rest on the top shelf.

My next step is to eliminate all of the plastic containers. I just haven't replaced them yet, and since my dishwasher just made a very ungraceful exit from this world (apparently just couldn't live without the stove that crapped out last month!) That investment is going to have to wait a little while.

I hope you participated in this week's project! You know I want to see the inside of your fridge and pantry! If you did, don't forget to post your pictures or blog links on Simple Mom's post and then again on our Facebook wall if you want to win a Starter Kit!