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MarilynW
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| Posted: Oct 14 2014 at 6:00pm | IP Logged
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I would love to hear your tips for organizing your refrigerator. I am FINALLY getting a new fridge delivered tomorrow - ours is 13 year old and has been dying for the last couple.
I am all motivated to try and keep it organized and neat. Right now my fridge routine is to give it a clean out and tidy each week before I grocery shop, with a deep clean every couple of months.
I would especially like to hear of any tips for storage etc. eg I use white bins for jars and sauces. I am trying to figure out a way to remember all the opened packages of frozen veggies etc. (I use ziplocs to store opened packages). I always defrost meat in a tray to avoid spills.
Thanks for any ideas.
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Marilyn
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organiclilac
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| Posted: Oct 14 2014 at 7:10pm | IP Logged
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I just added a small dry erase board on the front where I list leftovers and other things that need to be finished. Too early to tell if it will work long-term. I hope it will, we are always forgetting things like that, which get pushed to the back and discovered weeks later. I guess I should clean out my fridge more often, and not just when I notice there aren't any Pyrex containers left.
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mom2mpr
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| Posted: Oct 14 2014 at 9:20pm | IP Logged
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Waiting here with open ears for hints....we got a freezer on the bottom fridge with 2 doors on the top and I thought I would like it. But I don't. I like the idea of white bins to store all those little bottles of ingredients. I had them in door sections in my old fridge but those are limited in this one. I'll be keeping my eyes on this one...... 
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Oct 14 2014 at 11:25pm | IP Logged
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Well I have 2 fridges and a stand alone freezer.. the stand alone freezer isn't big and it's an upright.. but..
Inside the house, side by side fridge/freezer.. is where I keep all the frozen veggies and leftovers.. so other than maybe icecream.. there's not other thing being shoved in on top of them.
The stand alone freezer gets all the meats.
In the garage the smaller fridge with a top freezer gets things like baggies of pumpkin puree or shredded zucchini and bags of cheese and hmmm oh and the polish sausage got put in there too.
So each has a sorta category.
Extras go in the garage fridge.. like the extra boxes of eggs or butter or milk or cheese or tortillas.. and special beverages like beer or soda.
The inside fridge has a box on the top shelf for eggs (I can store 4 doz. eggs in that box.. it's actually an old egg drawer from a fridge before eggs went out of fashion. I love that thing.. when you need a couple dozen per meal, the constant juggling of egg boxes is a pain. This way I can just reach in and grab eggs when I need them of if I'm using a lot I can set the whole drawer out on the counter.
Then I have longer term items on the top shelf.. things like large container of soy sauce, chocolate syrup, relishes and jellies and jams. Next shelf is the main shelf and has the milk and coffee creamer and bigger items.. then there's the deli drawer that has lunch meats or leftover meats and cheeses and tortillas. Then the shelf the back part has the whole nuts that are used for special treats.. they store better cold and this keeps stuff from getting shoved too far back.. the front half of the shelf is the main leftovers.. then the veggies drawer and the fruit drawer. Condiments go in the door.
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: Oct 15 2014 at 5:47am | IP Logged
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I wish I had the money and space for a fridge that wasn't deep at all, but wide. I'm thinking that when I open it the inside would be more bookshelf style so there is less room to put anything behind anything else, therefore eliminating the leftovers that get lost in the back.
My other struggle with keeping the fridge organized is the fact that no matter how I organize it, I have several people that use it on a regular basis and nobody puts things back where they belong! I guess I could make labels for everything, but I'm not sure even that would work.
One more rant and then I'm done!  Even though I like my fridge (Kenmore. Freezer on the bottom and French doors on top) many of the plastic bins are breaking. I no longer even have the deli drawer in there. It cracked very early and I didn't replace it. Now, for our deli items I have one of those plastic shoeboxes. It works fine, it just gets moved around a lot. Currently, the plastic frame on the bottom shelf that sits above the produce bins is breaking. It's still functional but the crack in the front keeps the drawer from going in all the way. Then there is the freezer. Again, the plastic on the sides of the top pull out drawer is breaking so if you pull the drawer out very far at all it falls! I thought I was getting a pretty decent fridge when we got it, but now I'm not so sure!
But, in answer to your actual question Marilyn,  one of the positive things that has helped keep things organized was switching to using glass containers like pyrex for my leftovers. I believe it has really reduced the amount of food that was wasted. I think it is because the contents are clearly visible, and since I don't have as many glass containers as I had plastic at one time, I'm more careful with them.
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MaryM
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| Posted: Oct 16 2014 at 12:19pm | IP Logged
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Becky Parker wrote:
| I'm thinking that when I open it the inside would be more bookshelf style so there is less room to put anything behind anything else, therefore eliminating the leftovers that get lost in the back. |
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I've been eyeing this Fridge Butler ('lazy susan") as I think it would be really helpful for that purpose - keeping things from being stuck in back - easier access. My only hesitation is could then cram as much on that shelf... .
Becky Parker wrote:
| But, in answer to your actual question Marilyn, one of the positive things that has helped keep things organized was switching to using glass containers like pyrex for my leftovers. I believe it has really reduced the amount of food that was wasted. I think it is because the contents are clearly visible |
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Yes, that makes sense. The having things that can't be seen it an issue.
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SallyT
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| Posted: Oct 16 2014 at 1:57pm | IP Logged
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Becky, your rant about organization is the rant I would make about my entire kitchen!
And I too prefer glass containers -- I use Mason jars a lot -- for visibility. My pet peeve, and the thing I try to avoid: serving dishes with leftovers in them, just covered with foil and stuck in the fridge! Messy, and too often they just sit there.
I love that dry-erase board idea! I need to work harder on reminding myself what leftovers are there, and what needs to be used up first. Sometimes I'm on top of things like that . . . and sometimes I'm not.
Otherwise, just following this with interest. I've never had a new fridge, or one that I chose, and I honestly don't know what kind I would choose if I had the opportunity! My current fridge is a who-knows-how-old smallish Whirlpool with freezer on top . . . I don't really want it to die, but am curious to know what other people have, and like and don't like about what they have, in preparation for that dread day when it does die!
Sally
eta: but I don't want to hijack this thread for that purpose! I'm just interested in what people say about their fridges, in the course of sharing how they organize them.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Oct 16 2014 at 2:05pm | IP Logged
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Dry Erase.. check your fridge.. I can write directly on the fridge with dry erase.. it takes some scrubbing to get it to go completely away.. but it works.
I have a frigidaire side by side.. largest possible.. the smaller fridge in the garage is the one that was with the house.. and we were given the small freezer years ago and it was old then but it keeps chugging along.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Refrigerator Organization?
