Spring Clean Your Kitchen

Ah, Spring has sprung! Many of us are preparing for the warmth of the summer months by cleaning up our yards and homes. But in the midst of the vacuuming, laundry, and mulching, how many of us clean out our cupboards and refrigerators?

That’s right! Take some time to clean out your cupboards!

1. Throw away ALL:

• Food past expiration date
• Bulging or dented cans
• Cracked jars
• Partially opened boxes that you haven’t used “in a while” (for example, stale cereal)
• Uncooked pasta if you have had it over a year.

2. Clean the cupboards with soap and water too.

3. Take inventory of the foods you have and foods that you will need to replace. Who knows, maybe you will find some foods still within expiration date that will give you a good idea for dinner tonight!

4. Take note of foods items that you still had a lot of when it expired. Maybe next time you shouldn’t buy so many of that item! We are guilty of this as one time we bought several cans of tomato paste and never used it. Unfortunately, before we realized that we hadn’t been using it, it went out of date.

Take time to clean out your spices

How many of us think to clean out our spice rack? Yes, even spices can go “bad” (i.e., lose flavor and freshness). According to McCormick & Company, you can keep:

• Ground spices, 2-3 years
• Whole spices and seeds, 3-4 years
• Herbs, 1-3 years
• Seasoning blends, 1-2 years
• Extracts, 4 years

That’s a relief as I thought that some of my spices might be going bad!

Take time to clean out your refrigerator:

1. Throw away any:

• Products past the expiration date
• Moldy products
• Any products that smell bad or rotten (and aren’t supposed to!)
• Cracked eggs

2. Use the following as a guide for how long food can be in your fridge:

• Fresh/uncooked poultry; ground meat; ground poultry; uncooked sausage– throw away after 2 days
• Fresh or uncooked beef, veal, pork, lamb–throw away after 3 to 5 days
• Cured ham–throw away after 5 to 7 days
• Eggs–throw away after 3 to 5 weeks

The Food Safety and Inspection Service has detailed information on how long other foods can be kept in the refrigerator. Check it out!

3. Clean the refrigerator. Wash the shelves, bins, and walls of the fridge. Also vacuum the compressor fan (usually behind and underneath the fridge)

4. If your fridge has any filters in it, replace them!

Take time to clean out your freezer:

The USDA recommends the following storage times for frozen foods for best quality:

• Meats (bacon, sausage, lunch meats, hot dogs)–1 to 2 months
• Casseroles; soups; stews; gravies; cooked meats–2 to 3 months
• Frozen dinners; uncooked ground meat; cooked poultry–3 to 4 months
• Uncooked meat (roast, whole meats)–4 to 12 months
• Uncooked whole poultry; egg whites/egg substitutes–12 months

Rotate, rotate, rotate!

Next time that you bring home groceries, make sure that the foods that were already in your cupboard are used first! For example, you buy chicken broth and you already have a can in your cupboard. Whichever can is set to expire first put at the front of the cupboard and use this one first. We call this process “first in, first out”; whichever was put in there first and expires first must be used first!.

I hope that in the process of cleaning out your cupboards, refrigerator, and freezer, you can find something delicious to make for dinner tonight. Take note of the foods that you have had to throw away and see if there is a pattern to the foods you are not using. Try to buy less of these food items next time or attempt to use them more frequently. Good luck cleaning!

_{Photo by GotPlaid?}

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