At first I was like, OK, no prob! Then, I opened it up and started snapping some pics and was like... hmmm... I may be judged for all of the food choices we make.... so I am begging, no judging allowed and the fridge is yours for the viewing! And I know you love me, so when you see that we have two tubs of delightful, yet oh so sinful cream cheese, you will just look the other way, wink wink!
It's kinda funny because after the first time I opened the fridge for quick water bottle pic, I realized that I could be doing a better job in the fridge department.
So, I did what any organized obsessed gal would do. I drew a diagram of how I wanted the inside of our fridge to function! And then I decided to make it pretty by giving you a diagram I whipped up on the computer....
Yep, I really did that. I however, have a brain that doesn't stop and a gazillion bazillion ideas flowing by the second, so in the moment, I grab paper and let it flow.
Putting my ideas on paper was much easier for me to categorize all the types of foods we stash in our fridge. And that way I didn't have to wrap myself in blankets while I stand in awe in front of our open fridge....
Then, I just moved some things around, made sure nothing was expired, and called it a day in about 5 minutes. And here is what our fridge looks like.... {I know, this is some pretty exciting stuff!}
Let's start with the door. I made sure I utilized the space provided by all the bins, and tried to group like items accordingly.
All of our dressings, spreads, dips and condiments get stashed in the top two bins...
And dairy products went in the other bins....
I tried to stick with the keeping like items with like items theme throughout the fridge, just like I would in just about any organizational project I tackle. I like to keep it simple for the fam to know where to look, and by keeping the fridge in categories, it's easy for them to open the door and quick grab what they need!
The bottom shelf is perfect for all of our taller bottles... so that's exactly what is there!
So now let's play the, "One of these things is not like the other" game... Anyone notice a little something that seems out of place?
Yep, this cleaning crazed mom keeps home made cleaner, right in the fridge door. Here's why. I have three little kiddos. They literally climb into the fridge with their bare summer kissed feet and leave lovely mud marks inside while trying to snag some water from the filtered spout. Plus, things leak, or drip or leave marks on the glass.... so having cleaner right in arms reach is my magical secret for keeping our old fridge looking like new! {Looking for the home made recipe? I shared it here}.
And that's the fridge door! So now I will move along to the hub of the fridge. The guts.
We can move top to bottom.... The top shelf is used to hold oodles of fresh fruit. I recently read an article on MSN.com that has since changed my life in the kitchen. It was about the recent hoopla on BPA, and I have since changed a lot of how I grocery shop and store my foods. First, we not only save a ton of cash, but we have moved towards eliminating buying canned foods and drinks. This means more fresh produce and only glass bottled beverages. However, bottled beverages come at a pretty price, so we typically opt for the make it yourself options, which not only saves money, but also saves waste and our health. Win, win, win!
So, when it comes to fruit, which we adore as a family, I just take a couple of extra minutes each week to give it a quick wash, cut and pluck, and place into some glass storage containers.
This itty bitty time investment ends up being a huge time saver throughout the week. It allows me to quickly grab fruit for cereal in the morning, and for the kids to have a healthy go to snack place in the afternoon.
The right side of the top shelf is for sammy {a.k.a. sandwich} making!
I just snagged an empty bin and tossed all of our cheese slices and deli meats inside, to make for a quick grab and take to the counter option!
And if we decide to opt out of a sammy for lunch, we could always grab some leftovers, which live right below.
We keep some Post-it Labels
and a Sharpie pen right next to the fridge in our memo station, to make it easy to pop a quick label on the leftovers, so we know when we placed it into the fridge.
Next comes cups and eggs.
Typically for the kiddo's lunches, we end up with cups of yogurt, pudding and applesauce.... so I just line them up and keep 'em together. Eggs fit perfectly next to them!
Right below is a drawer which I love to use for all those Pillsbury containers and bagels!
Keeping them in a drawer keeps them from rolling out of the fridge each time the door opens. Drawer + Rolling Objects = Love!
I already gushed all about our water bottles here.... and those make it yourself juices are now stored right by their side.
I really adore these glass juice containers
, which are perfect for mixing and shaking! {I actually found mine awhile back at Walmart or Target for fairly cheap}
The other part of the bottom shelf really feels kinda like that hodge podge table at a wedding. No one really has anything to do with one another, but you had no where else to put them. These are mostly just our food in tubs or jars, sides and toppings.
And the bottom drawers are filled with fresh produce on one side, and meats and cheeses on the other!
And that's a wrap!
All this fridge talk is making me chilly, time for some coffee talk instead....
I would love to hear from you guys, what your tips and tricks are for keeping your fridges organized. Anything you are doing to make for a stress-less week? What's your favorite fridge accessory or storage item? Any money saving or green tips when it comes to food? Anyone else drawing organizing diagrams?
P.S. Looking for ideas for your freezer? Check out this post here!
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