Author: Caroline

So, accountability and all that. February was a bit of a right off :/ I did bits here and there but didn’t follow along daily. On a positive note, the kitchen is now pretty much decluttered so yay. I’m still struggling to keep the benches clean but it’s better than it was.

Finishing off January – the pantry is still a shambles but the is no out of date food stuff or food we don’t eat, our fridge is clean and more organised and the freezer is better organised (& I chucked a fair bit of unidentifiables). Everything is labelled and dated now so hopefully no more freezer waste. We also have a freezer and pantry inventory set up so we know what we have (& don’t buy what we don’t need = saved $$)

February started off with recipes. I hoard them. I have a huge pile of recipe books and the majority have 1 or 2 recipes that we like/cook frequently. I’ve scanned & printed all the recipes we cook frequently and added them to a Family Favourites binder. I’ve scanned & Evernoted any recipes we want to try – if we like them they’ll go in the binder. Recipe books are in a pile ready to be donated. The ones I use lots (& a couple of sentimental ones like the WW Birthday Cookbook) will be housed somewhere in the kitchen, just not sure where yet.

We’ve set up a better recycling & trash system – much easier when under the sink is clean. Chook bucket and compost bucket live under the sink and are emptied into the appropriate places every second day. We have a bag for recycles in the laundry that gets emptied into our large bin once a week.
As for bins, we have a large one in the kitchen plus small ones in the bedrooms, bathroom and toilet. These get emptied as needed.

Next step is to declutter all our excess plates, mugs and dishes. Challenge 7 was coupons, not something we do here so I may have skipped those days. The rest of the month is looking at menu planning, which we have done for some time but looking forward to picking up some extra tips.

Looking back at all that I’ve actually done ok. Bring on March.

One of the things on my list of 100 things to do this year was to complete the Declutter 365 challenge. The first month is all about the kitchen and, I’ll be honest, is one of the areas I really struggle with. I love to cook but I HATE cleaning. So I’m undertaking this and am blogging as I go, accountability and all that.

To start I found a largish box that was still in good condition after Christmas and have designated that as our donation box. Something we don’t want/need but it’s still in good condition – into the donation box it goes. I’ve put it on the shelving in our hallway so it’s out of the way but still easily accessible.

I’ve also created a household notebook to house (haha) all our important stuff. I may create a separate post about this.

Onto the kitchen *sigh* Here’s some before pictures. Seriously it’s shocking. Christmas and all that, hot weather and honestly it’s the last thing I want to do of a night time. I hate it. I really want to have a clean kitchen. I need less ‘stuff’ in here and honestly just keep what I use frequently. No point asking anyone else in the household because I do the majority of the cooking. Anyhoo…

Seriously feral *sigh* these were taken in early January. I’ve managed to do counters, drawers, utensils, some of the kitchen cabinets, plastics and made a start on the pantry, fridge and freezer. I’m still working on some of the January bits and pieces even though we are now well into February.

Photos will be coming when I finish the January tasks.

Now just to get hubby & Miss K on board with keeping it clean haha