Day 10: Refrigerator Refurbish

I am NOT showing you a "before" photo on this one....

Why? Well, I don't know anyone in his or her right mind who would actually enjoy peering into the depths of old leftovers, sticky glops and goo and spilled, caked-on foodstuffs. Those words alone are enough of a picture of what lurks... even in the ice box of an obsessive neat freak! (Again, may I remind you that I, being the neat freak, am not the only one using said refrigerator. Thus, containers of all sorts of things get spilled or shoved into odd spots, even if they're old, outdated, moldy, gooey or empty!)

To get started on my fridge refurb, I chose a day when the well-respected appliance was a bit on the empty side. This made my job of discarding "unwanteds" MUCH easier! Plus, I was able to remove the "good" items or just move them around so I could clean off the shelves and clean inside the bins and such. Mind you, I did not do a complete re-haul on the fridge. I just did a little tidying. Here's a list of the things I took care of today, in about 25 minutes!

• Checked all items and threw away anything outdated (i.e. potatoes with alien life forms growing on them; green sour cream that I am sure is not for St. Patty's Day; and dried-up, half-used ketchup packets from Chick-fil-a).
  
• Cleaned all handles, surfaces, shelves and drawers with Lysol disinfecting wipes. (I also removed the fridge pieces that came out in order to dump whatever crumbs and bits were hanging around inside, trying to start-up new societies.)
• Placed clean, folded-up paper towels inside bins and holders to help catch chunks and spills. (This will make cleaning even easier next time! Hooray!)
  
• Moved foods covered loosely with foil or with plastic wrap into lidded, air-tight containers. (Wow -- what a difference in the SMELL, not just the LOOK, of the fridge!)
• Put "like" items together. Cheeses are together. Veggies are veggin' out in their very own drawer. Condiments now live in harmony in their very own bin. Jellies are all jammin.' Leftovers have retired to their spot. And canned drinks can celebrate on their very own shelf, some even in a handy drink holder/dispenser. (No, I did not alphabetize. And, no, nothing is labeled. But it looks neat, and it makes sense!)
• And while this is not something new for me (or new for this particular clean-up), there's a plastic container on the lower right side of the fridge for meats that I plan to use for meals that are coming up. This way things can defrost without getting wetness and goop all over the fridge. (Ever have that 4 pounds of roast defrost into a bloody mess all over the shelf, and leak into the vegetable drawer? Yeah. I learned my lesson!)
  

This is something I do every now and then when I get tired of things jumping out every time I open the refrigerator door! And now that you know the routine, I will share the "after" picture.
Ta-da!



Now, THAT's neat!