Spring Clean Your Kitchen

Click here to watch my segment with NBC-10's Emily Volz.

1-2-3: Now's the time to air out your kitchen and do a deep cleaning! You can either do this all at once in a one-day marathon cleaning session, or do it in pieces: fridge, freezer, pantry, and a few cabinets or drawers at a time.

1. Kitchen Cabinets and Drawers

• Use a microfiber cloth with a mix of water and white vinegar to clean surfaces. Vinegar helps cut grease, which can build up on kitchen surfaces.
• Wipe down the outside of the cabinets and don't forget the handles.
• Take everything out of your cabinets and drawers and sort into categories: frequently used, sometimes used, rarely used, donate/discard.
• While the cabinets are empty, give them a good cleaning with the microfiber cloth.
• While the drawers are empty, use a hand vacuum to get out the crumbs and dust, then wipe them with the microfiber cloth.

2. Refrigerator and Freezer

• Go through your refrigerator, checking foods (especially condiments) for expiration dates. Toss anything that is expired!
• Check the freezer for foods that have expired or look like they have freezer burn. It's generally safe to eat foods with freezer burn, but they taste awful.
• Wash refrigerator and freezer shelves and bins, either by hand or by running them through the dishwasher if they are removable.
• Grab an empty plastic water bottle and use it as a "sentinel" to tell you that the food in your freezer is still safe to eat: Fill the water bottle half-way and set it on its side in the freezer until it freezes solid. Once frozen, set the bottle upright in the freezer. Check the bottle periodically to ensure that the water is still frozen vertically. If the water is down at the bottom of the bottle, you'll know that your freezer lost power and the water melted and refroze. If that's the case, then your frozen food did the same and is no longer safe to eat. This is great if you're in an area that loses power and you go on vacation and want to know if your freezer stayed frozen.

3. Pantry

• Check the expiration dates on the foods in your pantry and toss anything that has expired.* Dry goods can become stale and oils can go rancid - yuck.
• For foods that are close to their expiration date, place them near the edge of the shelf so you remember to eat those soon.
• Vacuum and wipe pantry shelves just as you did the cabinets and drawers.
• If you are at a loss for what to do with some of your pantry items, check recipe sites that let you search by ingredient to find ways to use up odd items.
• If you find foods in your pantry that you're really never going to use, donate them to a local food pantry.* For me, it's usually fava beans. Every few years, I trick myself into thinking that I like fava beans so I buy them but I never seem to want to eat them!

Now enjoy cooking in your nice clean kitchen!

*Please do not attempt to donate expired food to your local shelter or food pantry as they cannot accept foods that are past the expiration date.