Spring Cleaning

After a long, cold winter, spring has finally sprung (or at least here in Northern California).  The days are getting longer, the daffodils are in bloom and the pressure to spring clean is weighing on you.  The time to come has come to organize that closet that has become a giant knick-knack drawer, recycle the magazines that have been piling up in your office and finally take a trip to Goodwill to donate that “donation pile” at the bottom of your closet. But like most people, you probably aren't planning on cleaning the most important room in the house.  That room is…the kitchen, namely the cupboards, pantry and the refrigerator.

Not only is this a chance to organize and wipe away all of the dust that has accumulated over the past 12 months…it’s your chance to give yourself a Kitchen makeover.   We’ve laid out a 5-step plan that will leave you with an organized, clean, accessible and nutrient packed kitchen in a matter of hours.

1) Make a mess.  We’re big believers that it’s important to make a bigger mess before everything actually gets clean.  Make sure you have LOTS of free table and counter space and COMPLTELEY empty your refrigerator, pantry and cupboard.  Divide everything into four categories:

                1. The expiration date has passed and it's time to compost it.

2. Too many ingredients you can’t pronounce and not something you feel good about eating.

3.  Even though it’s open, it hasn’t expired and still looks good.

4. Yummy, I’d eat this tonight!

2) Compost, recycle and throw away everything from category one and two.  Wipe off, organize and repackage everything from category three and four. (Here at Peas of Mind we love storing our grains, beans and baked goods in mason jars…it looks so cute and makes the ingredients last longer). 

3) This is where the spring “cleaning” really comes into play.  Now that everything is empty, wipe off every surface, wash each vegetable drawer and really get into all the nooks and crannies of every corner, crevice and crack.  If your freezer is like ours and it needs a good spring clean, a quick way to defrost and wipe everything down without unplugging the whole fridge is to place a pot of boiling water in the freezer and let sit for 20 minutes.  After this time, you should be able to chip away the ice and wipe your freezer until it sparkles. 

4) Put everything from categories three and four into the appropriate storage space, admiring your new adorable jars, dust-free surfaces and all the free shelf space.

5) Fill the free space with items from our Pantry Staples that will give you Peas of Mind blog post. Also stock your squeaky clean vegetable drawers with spring produce like, Asparagus, Beets, Kale and of course, Peas.  Put out a fruit bowl that is easily accessible to everyone full of grapefruits, kiwis, oranges and strawberries so that your whole family can easily enjoy nature’s springtime treats!