On condiments

Go get rid of some condiments.  Yes, you.  Go to your fridge and find something to toss out.  We all have that 6 month old bottle of brined capers hidden in the back of the top fridge shelf, or a container of hoisin sauce literally stuck to the condiment shelf on the fridge door.  Why does this happen, and how do we prevent it?

Well, it probably happens for a good reason.  These days, most people aren’t cooking just a single cuisine – we may dabble in Italian, Chinese, American, Indian, and a variety of other ethnic foods.  I think this is a great thing, but it's also a prime way to end up with 20 random bottles of very specialized garnish.

What to do now:

Go to your refrigerator and throw out any condiments you haven’t used in a month to two months.  Yes, some of them may still be useable, but if you haven’t used them in two months…toss.  Unless we’re talking about a white truffle, none of these items are bank-breakers.

Now, before buying another jar at your next grocery store trip, plan ahead.  Need to buy red curry for a recipe you’re just DYING to try, but it’s only going to use half a bottle?  Look up another recipe that calls for red curry and get it on your meal plan, even if you don’t plan to make it this week.  If you plan ahead to use an entire specialized product, you won’t end up with gooey, orphaned products all over your precious fridge.

Give it a try! 

A place for everything...no matter how strange

Well, we have to kick it off somewhere, right? 

I'm sure everyone's heard the adage, "A place for everything, and everything in its place," right?  I can vouch for this.  Few ideas keep life more simple than knowing where to find what you're looking for, and knowing exactly where to put something back rather than deliberate.  But what some people miss about this is that there are no rules when it comes to something having a place. Just as many of us have learned that you can have pizza for breakfast and waffles for dinner, you don't have to conform to what's "normal" when it comes to organizing your things.

So what do I mean by having no rules?  It's simple.  Open your mind when it comes to an item's "home."  If keeping your vitamins in the fridge helps you remember to take them because the first thing you do in the morning is open the fridge for coffee creamer, then keep them in the fridge!  If you always need bibs when you're downstairs at the dining room table, why keep them in a box in the baby's room upstairs?  Keep them near the table.  And if you're like me, working from home at the living room coffee table...well...there's simply nothing wrong with the breast pump having a home in a drawer in the TV stand, is there?

Okay, tidiers.  Go off and make me proud.  Find a place for something currently homeless in your life - and make it uber-logical - and report back on whether it's been helpful.