Dirty No More
Just once, just ONCE, I'd love to make a meal for my family without completely destroying my kitchen. Every surface is splattered with something, every dish and fork and spoon and knife and appliance is dirty, dirty, dirty. Okay, perhaps, I'm exaggerating. But, seriously, not by much. I've watched those cooking shows, where the chefs are judged by the tidiness of their station. Uh, hullo, I couldn't win those points if my life depended on it. Its sad really. Is it really possible to cook from scratch and not make a mess? How does one clean as one goes anyway? Dontcha just have to re-clean again once the dish is complete? And again, after the folks finish eating? Good grief, how is anyone supposed to step foot outside of the kitchen? huh? huh? huh?
This frustration with myself lead to my favorite new kitchen tip; hide the dishes. Nope, I don't mean, hide the dirty dishes, I mean, hide the CLEAN ones. Lemme explain. For years, I thought having a surplus of plates and bowls and glasses at my fingertips, made prep time, cleaning time and storing time easier. Its difficult to unlearn a habit, but after close inspection and testing a theory, I've discovered having the minimal amount of dish ware readily available, is the far better option.
I moved extra dishes into another rarely used cabinet. This way, if we have company, I have easy access to the supplies needed. (Or, I break, yet ANOTHER glass!) I left a meal and half worth's of plates and bowls in the main go-to cabinet. Before I used the dishwasher twice (sometimes three times) a day, and I do now, too. The primary difference is, the dishes aren't as crowded, leaving more room for the detergent and water to due its duty! Also, I don't have as many dishes waiting to be clean, so visually its more appealing, and thankfully, storing takes half the time!
Perhaps, I will never master the clean-cook, but at least I have a 'hold' of the dishes now!
Swing by http://www.tammysrecipes.com/node/3751
to enjoy more kitchen tips!
I'm hoping to make cinnamon rolls today. My kitchen may never recover! Wish me luck!
Melinda
This is one of many reasons I wish we were in walking distance, so I could snag a roll of the cinnamon variety! Cluttered kitchen or no!
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gosh, Jean, that would be so cool! desserts are always so much better shared!
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Lol. I hear what your saying. I can mess my whole kitchen up just warming up leftovers and using paper plates!!
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lol, Tammi..glad to know, i'm not the only one! lol
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Every time I do a cooking project with the kids, I'm reminded why I hate doing cooking projects with the kids. It usually takes a whole day to clean up what took one hour to mess up. And we do a load of dishes everyday too, sometimes 2.
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hahaha! how true!
but, can you believe it, we actually DIFFER! i don't mind the kid's mess when they help--i feel far less guilty/pressured/let down, when i have more hands to "blame" it on! lol
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