A selection of three before shots of Cure-takers' kitchen cabinets from the The Kitchn Cure Flickr Page. More before photos of pantries and fridges below!
Welcome, Cure-takers and Cure-voyeurs. It has been the week of before shots, and as expected, it hasn't been pretty. Bravo! You were honest. Many of you have already done your assignments from Week One, others have just posted their before photos. Let's get some more before shots and those who already posted, show us your after shots so we know you did your homework! Make sure to label photos BEFORE and AFTER.
There are teensy weensy kitchens, and gargantuan ones (big red kitchen has a walk-in pantry, folks!). There are city and country kitchens. There are single girl and single guy kitchens, and there are family kitchens. Everyone is welcome, and it seems many are coming (at last count we had close to 300 people signed up!)
Haven't joined yet? We'll keep the sign-up open for one more day (closing tomorrow, Friday, March 28 at 9am).
Already signed up? Read on for this week's assignments.
thats swell takes granola bars out of their box and dumps them into a wire basket that fits nicely in their cabinet. I'm a big fan of using baskets and jars for loose items. We use jars for our tea bags marked with a plus and minus (caf and decaf).
Let's review. Last week you went through your refrigerator, cupboards, counter-tops and pantry and cleaned up your food clutter. You tossed or gave away anything that had expired, hadn't been used in a while, or you had too much of. In some cases, you consolidated multiple containers. Then you wiped down your containers of foods. Ahhhhh, fresh.
aubreylane has uploaded "before" and "after" photos of her kitchen. She's ready to go on to the next, deeper step.
A note on oils: last week I mentioned tossing "expired" foods, but with oils it's another story. Oils can go rancid when exposed to air, heat or light, and many people make the mistake of keeping their oils in a cabinet with a hot under counter light below, on a window sill, perched on top of the lip behind the stove, or even right on top of the stove in the space between the burners. Don't. Move your oils to a dark, cool place such as a high cabinet, or even the fridge, if there's room. In the fridge, the oil will congeal and look cloudy, but don't fear, it will return to its liquid state once warmed to room temperature. Keep the cap on tight. Oil should never be stored in plastic as it can absorb PVCs. Dark glass, porcelain, or stainless steel are the best.
The same goes for nuts and seeds (which are filled with oils). Do not be tempted by the 5lb bag of walnuts on special at Walmart, unless you have a plan to use them within a few weeks, or have room for them in your freezer. Shelled nuts should be kept airtight and in a cool, dark, dry place, preferably the freezer. Even stored in this way, they will eventually, after a few months, turn rancid. Pinenuts are the fastest to go: in the fridge they last about a month, and in the freezer, no more than six.
This Week's Assignments
I'm not naming names here, but in the flickr pool, I noticed a lot of Top Ramen, Splenda, Velveeta, Chef Boyardee and the like. I dare you to take those foods and discard them - take them to a food bank if that feels good to you, or dump out their contents and recycle the containers. If you're really committed to the Cure, it's time to take it a step further:
I dare you to toss anything artificial, processed, containing MSG, artificial flavorings or high fructose corn syrup.
If you are a regular reader of this site, you know that you cannot accuse us of being health-nut hippies in the kitchen, but you do know that our vision of health has to do with working with fresh, natural ingredients. Our only recommended diet is one that honors both your body and the earth. Getting rid of processed foods is the first step toward cleaning out the system.
This is your last chance to do a deep-clean of the kitchen before we start cooking, so the remainder of this week's assignments concern going deeper in the cleaning and organizing.
Ready? Set? Go!
• Toss anything artificial, processed, containing MSG, artificial flavorings or high fructose corn syrup in your kitchen.
• Take all of what remains and wipe it down with a warm, moist cloth. For containers of oil, for example, that may have a film, you might need to use a cleanser (something earth-friendly diluted with warm water) to cut through the grease.
• Do you have a junk-drawer? Lay down some newspaper on a table or the floor, pull out the drawer and dump it onto the papers. Go through everything and toss what you don't need. Thirty-two cent stamps from ages ago? Put them by your bills and use them. Milli Vanilli cassette? Bye-bye or eBay. Dried up pens? Toss them. Places like The Container Store have great, inexpensive solutions for junk drawers. Or for the no-buy solution, use rubber bands (pens), paper clips (take-out menus) and topless Tupperware (tape, sewing kit, etc.) to organize your junk drawer.
• Same goes for your other cabinets and drawers: revisit them all, inspect your bowls, mugs, appliances, utensils, all of it, and ask:
- Is it useful?
- Do I use it?
- Do I need it?
- Is there room for it here?
If the answer is "no" - it goes in the out box. When you're done, the out box is donated, or put to the curb for passers-by. You can do it!
• Don the rubber gloves and get some rags, a sponge, a mop, a bucket, some hot water, and an eco-friendly multi-purpose cleaner. Prepare a gallon or two of diluted cleaning solution and wipe down every surface. Yes, it means taking things out of the cabinets, the fridge, the freezer and off the counter. You're doing it anyway. It's not as hard as it sounds. Make sure to play some good groovin' music.
• Continue to check out The Kitchn Cure Flickr Page and upload your "before" and "after" photos. Open those cupboards and refrigerator doors and dare to show us the state of things. If you want to highlight your pics, put your link in with your comments. This will allow us all to talk about one and learn from one another's project. Remember to label your photos. By uploading your photos to the group pool, you are granting us permission to use them in a future post.
• If you haven't taken the Week One survey, please do. Only take this survey if you've already officially signed up for the Cure.
All The Info
• Kitchn Cure: Week One! Getting Started and De-Cluttering Your Food
• All Kitchn Spring Cure 2008 Posts
• The Kitchn Cure Flickr Page
So jealous of Actual Pantries! Oh, sigh...
view cmcinnyc's profile
Ha! that's totally one of my cabinets, and that's what I plan to tackle this weekend. Last weekend I organized most of my drawers and consolidated my two "junk" drawers into one. Now I mostly have tools, nails, measuring tape, and a few batteries. My boyfriend flipped, claiming we needed two junk drawers. I think he'll get over it, plus I made the point that it's my kitchen, because I do most of the cooking.
Is anyone else living with someone who's not that into change, and how to you deal with it?
view Christal's profile
it took me a while to figure out if any of those cupboards or refrigerators were mine! glad to see i'm not the only one with way too much stuff.
view squiggle's profile
I'm already running behind on this. Anyone else out there in the same boat? I'm still determined to continue.
view ah-ha's profile
The Cure is the most obvious in my freezer... it's seems to be the black hole in my kitchen. If I don't know what to do with it... I freeze it. Now I have lots of frozen blueberries to use... muffins I guess. The worst was throwing out coffee beans. I had forgotten them.. it killed me.
view burrda2000's profile
ah-ha I'm still behind, too.
view arstellla's profile
This is exciting! Getting processed foods out of my diet was one of my new year's resolutions. Plus it seems like they are often a waste of money since they are generally full of empty calories. My pantry may look pretty empty sometimes, but I'm one person (plus the BF most of the time), and we shop oftentimes after work for dinner that night. Or, we just MacGyver things up based on what we've got. It's amazing what creative dishes you can come up with in the face of necessity (and a growling tummy!).
Also, we've been trying to shop more at our new local harvest grocery store. It's sort of good timing for when they opened, because our main arterial highway that leads straight to whole foods is closed for the next year and half or so. Now we get to support a local business AND buy eggs that were laid two days before our purchase!
Yes, doing this can be a smidge pricier than "conventional" shopping, but it also makes you more thoughtful. BUT - produce is CHEAP. Incorporating as many fresh fruits and veggies as you can really isn't too hard but take some thought. Once you get used to it, you'll never go back :)
view STLcolleen's profile
STLcolleen, my cabinets and fridge look empty, too, 'cause it's just me. :) I aim to buy just enough to feed me every trip, but I STILL let too much go to waste...
Speaking of fresh foods, though--a friend and I just joined a CSA this week, though, and I am SO EXCITED about having local, organic, in-season produce every week.
view Carla Jean's profile
I've got to re-emphasize the warning about the oils. I made "freezer" food the other night, frozen tortellini, frozen veggies, & pesto stored in the freezer. I had the leftovers for lunch, and I am NOT feeling well tonight! I think the pesto was too far gone to sit in the frig and my lunchbag.
So throw that oil (and oil-based) stuff away if you have any doubts at all if it might be good. As soon as I feel a little better, I'm doing another purge of all the oil based sauces, and nuts. (Thanks for the reminder about the pine nuts.)
I'm also going to start marking jars when we buy them, and when we open them. I was amazed at the number of things with no sell/use/best by dates, especially condiments.
view RebeccaCT's profile
I am so behind too! And a bit embarrassed to post my "befores" I haven't been home a lot lately and my fridge and cupboards are embarrassingly empty! (and super unorganzied) oh well. I will try to post them tonight. I am looking forward to giving my kitchen a good scrubbing. I've been neglecting it lately.
Also all this processed food cleaning will be good for when my CSA veggies start coming soon. I'll have no excuse not to use them!
view mango's profile
I'm behind, too. I've been working a week and a half straight, but I'm hoping to catch up this weekend.
view cleverpseudonym's profile
Talk about being held accountable, my pantry is right there for all to see! The Big Red Kitchen is a Big Red Mess right now as everything is pulled out and ready to find a new home. I got waylaid by a huge syrup spill in the pantry but I am back on track. I love looking at everyones pictures and getting some fresh and creative organization ideas. Good idea about the processed food purge. Hope to post some after pics soon.
view Robin Sue's profile
I just joined and am pretty excited. My kitchen is actually in pretty good shape from just the last 3 regular cures, but I can always do more! My kitchen is very small but I have a walk in pantry that is just unworkable about 90% of the time- so that's going to be a big focus.
I have a question though- I am trying to help my parents out- my Dad just had a heart surgery and is on a very low sodium, low fat diet and it's driving my Mom crazy! Processed foods have to much sodium and she never was a very good cook (sorry, Mom) does anyone have any good websites or names of cookbooks so that I can help out? I am more than happy to be her test kitchen. Thanks
view lorijo's profile
What's your definition of "processed"? Flour is processed. Mustard is processed. Going further, you will pry my breakfast cereal from my cold, dead hands!
The fish sticks are already gone and I'm throwing out the stupid grape jelly that we haven't touched for a year, though.
view mandarinmarie's profile
ah-ha, I'm way behind too. I've done two cabinets so far and two shelves in my pantry and that's it. And for further yikes, my pantry is the first one on the left in the collage above, lol. If anyone should be working overtime on their kitchen, it should be me.
I'm having issues throwing food out. I have so much! Locally it's very difficult to give food to food pantries. They either want cash or fresh fruit. It's discouraging. I'm actually considering baking a couple of cakes or treats a week just to avoid throwing out all those mixes I've bought on sale. Hard to resist cake mixes when they go on sale for 99 cents a box.
view rose's profile
PS, I don't know where produce is cheap. Around here, fresh vegetables and fresh fruits cost more than many cuts of beef or chicken.
view rose's profile
Rose - I guess I really mean in-season produce, and often at places other than (but not always) the grocery store. Like at farmer's markets, etc. I mean, right now apples are absurdly expensive (over $2/lb) but they aren't in season. Citrus (not just your average navel) is a good deal now. Asparagus is coming in and it's often on sale. Greens of all kinds are really cheap. I sometimes shop for interesting inexpensive produce at the ethnic grocery store. Baby bok choy in a package that could serve 8 people (or two people four times) is only two or three dollars. Onions, garlic, shallots, potatoes (different types at different seasons) are always affordable, and are the basis to many meals. The "spring mix" that is bulk and self-serve at the grocery store is cheaper by the ounce than the pre-packaged stuff, and you can buy just what you need so the rest doesn't spoil (and don't get stuck with the wilty stuff that hides in those boxes and bags).
Choosing a few fresh veggies to fill out a meal, rather than relying on a can or package of processed "sides" is healthful and helps you get creative. And they always go perfectly well with even the most inexpensive cuts of beef or chicken, too :)
view STLcolleen's profile
There are some things I won't throw out. We don't buy a whole lot of processed foods, but what we do have was pretty carefully chosen :-)
I am blogging about this here: http://classiccookery.blogspot.com/
view classiccook's profile
rose said -
"Locally it's very difficult to give food to food pantries."
I'm in the same situation. I have a bag of canned food sitting in my outbox. I plan to make a conscious effort to use some of those items when I plan meals this week. I think tonight I'll have come canned corn. Does anyone have recipe ideas that use canned corn?
I also had a plethora of kitty treats when I cleaned my pantry. It only took me about three minutes to find a place locally to donate those. (I kept some, but my kitters are on a weight loss plan, so out with the excess...)
view bunny's profile
Bunny,
For your canned corn, and most other veggies looking for a home, there is always vegetable soup. My current favorite is this one: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Gypsy-Soup/Detail.aspx
I found it when looking for something to use up CSA veggies this past fall. We make it every week or so. It's good with whatever veggies you have on hand. I regularly add carrots, and often replace the garbanzo beans with pasta, barley, or another bean. Chopped greens are good, too.
Just decide if your added veggies are longer cooking, like carrots, or shorter cooking, like zucchini, so that you know when to add them. I'd add corn later, with the green peppers and tomato.
view RebeccaCT's profile
You can't go wrong by making potato soup and adding a can of corn to it. It gives you a bit of crunch to contrast with the potato.
view Aldyth's profile
I too am pretty far behind....but I'm catching up!
I started working on putting stuff into my "out box" today. I was amazed that I had like 13 items in the first minute. Even just those few things ecked out more space in my cupboard!
I too am going to have to majorly overhaul my freezer. There is stuff in there that is WAY old. I think I also (as one other post put it) put stuff in there if I don't know what to do with it.
Even though I'm pretty far behind...it's still feeling really good.
view bohemianbeauty7's profile
I've done some fridge purging and here are the results. This weekend I'm dedicated to catching up on the cure... I'm starting by 7:30am trip tomorrow to the market... (scoring herbs to pot!) :)
view aub's profile
I'm catching up. I really didn't have a lot of food to purge, but the spices...old. Old like archival old. Goodbye. It's hard to chuck nearly full spice containers! Even if they have come with me through, oh, four or five moves. Maybe BECAUSE they've come with me through four or five moves! But seriously, ciao.
view cmcinnyc's profile
I went through the week 1 steps two days ago. Haven't been able to upload by photos yet because they are on my cameraphone and I don't know how to use it (sad. sadder: my regular digital camera is broken).
But I feel sooo much better with all the mixed bags from my bulk aisle shopping now put into labelled containers. I know what I have now, and what I have is a lot of rice and a lot of legumes.
The freezer still looks really messy, but it's much more organized now and I also know what I have (lots of chicken legs). The fridge has been triaged, as well, and I'm at work cooking it up. Some nearly-forgotten asparagus and pine nuts are now pureed pesto-style for pasta tomorrow. Some of my ridiculous stash of prunes and the last bits of green olives went into chicken marbella today (wasn't that impressed after all the hype).
Like classiccook, it's really hard to think of getting rid of the few processed foods I still buy. I've been weeding them out of my shopping over the past year, and become much more serious about it over the past month or so, but I can't imagine any good reason to give up the minimally processed stuff (canned tomatoes, coconut milk), and there are a few items that are just not eligible for elimination at this point (Kewpie mayo, sweetener). MSG is not problematic for me (hence Kewpie), and the main corn syrup source in my house is, shockingly, corn syrup. I use it about 3 times a year for baked goods/sweets. I also don't feel guilt over the tablespoon of Salad Spritzer I use over a bowl of lettuce.
The equipment, though, is another story. There is very little that's unused, but I know there's an inevitable garage sale (or a serious Craigslist commitment) coming up since we'll be moving overseas. What I can't bear to think about is the genuine infeasibility of taking all my favorites with me (I already mourn the mixer, and am using it as much as possible). Plus, we desperately need to accumulate every dollar possible, since our dollars are worth so much less now.
view renata's profile
i have a 12 pack of splenda-based diet soda that someone brought to a party a long time ago, and i think it's well past the point of drinkability, so i don't think i should donate it or try to give it away, but i'm not sure what the best way would be to toss it - should i just toss the whole thing, or dump out the contents of the cans (thus dumping a large quantity of sticky carbonated liquid down the drain) and recycle them? and of course i know better now not to let this happen again, but any ideas on what to do now would be appreciated. i faced the same issue with much of what i threw away in the first assignment, but i just handled it case-by-case - recycled the easy-to-empty/clean containers, and tossed the others.
view bokeh's profile
I've finally caught up! (well I still need to post my pictures from last week, but they are at work :P) I spent today scrubbing my kitchen and trying to organize a little. I still have a ways to go (like go buy a labeler and finally label all my spices!) but I'm happy with my progress so far. Clean kitchens are so much nicer to cook in.
I posted a few pictures here
view mango's profile
I cleaned out my fridge yesterday and I feel great! My bf pitched in too, and we took every shelf out & cleaned it, emptied every bin and washed it, and purged some more things at his suggestion. We re-organized the shelves and now it's configured better. I am so pleased. I sometimes walk by the fridge and open it, just to see how clean & nice it looks.
Of course as I type this, I realize I should tackle the freezer too, but that's a toughie! : ) He buys frozen food way more than I do, and I fill the freezer with stock & cheese rinds & WE contribute fresh raviolis, meatballs, leftover chili, etc. and there's not enough room for all our food-selves!!!
view SnorkelVik's profile
bokeh--I had the same thing. My first choice was to give it away to someone who would drink it, but it is Pepsi Jazz and apparently pretty vile.
I think I'm going to dump the soda itself in the sink and recycle the cans and box. I have no supporting evidence that this is best, though.
view mandarinmarie's profile
I'm sorry, but the Oreo cookies stay.
view fastmachines's profile
I have a winner! Maybe I should be ashamed to admit this, but I found something in my pantry with an expiration date of 1999 on it.
view ah-ha's profile
I found expired cilantro (2005!)... and an unopened jar of cilantro that expires NEXT MONTH. What's even more ridiculous is that I (clearly) never use these--I buy fresh cilantro all the time, and just started growing it this weekend.
Some befores and afters:
Utensil drawer (I don't have a junk drawer, but this was getting pretty junky)
Before: http://flickr.com/photos/dixiemedley/2349457407/
After: http://flickr.com/photos/dixiemedley/2377877666/
http://flickr.com/photos/dixiemedley/2377039431/
Refrigerator
Before: http://flickr.com/photos/dixiemedley/2377038029/
And what's on its way out: http://flickr.com/photos/dixiemedley/2377877006/
view Carla Jean's profile
I've replaced the shelves-and-piles in my awkward corner by the stove with a lazy susan and a new bread basket.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68063793@N00/2379137950/
Not perfect, but getting better. I want a vertical pot lid holder and a better...something...to cover the 4 inch gap between the stove and the counter. The gap is wide enough for nearly anything to fall down, especially flatware and utensils, and deep enough to be tough getting stuff out. There are currently two cutting boards covering it, the little bamboo one in front, and a big glass one in the back.
The frig and freezer look really empty now, but I've promised to be more careful what goes in to both of them (and how long it stays there!) I will be keeping a fair amount of processed foods, but they are better quality stuff that we really enjoy. Some of the tea is getting tossed, and I'm making an effort to use some of it up.
I'm thinking of moving the microwave to the top of the frig. It's in the dining room right now. It's a bit tall for me, but I don't use it that much anymore, thanks to our electric kettle and rice steamer. It'd be great to have the space back in the dining room.
Found some great baby bok choy at our local Asian market this weekend, while looking for some lemon grass. The farmers' markets won't start the regular season here until sometime in May, so the Asian market is the best place to get fresh produce right now. Fresher and cheaper than the supermarket. Not organic, however.
view RebeccaCT's profile
I'm a little behind because I signed up during week two, but I feel like I am making a lot of progress! I haven't dug out my digital camera to take pictures yet, so I'm giving a verbal update of my first two weeks. When I started I had a huge crate of books and a couple of bags of clothes in the corner of my kitchen. They've been there all winter. Last weekend I finally sold some of my books online to Powell's -- called another local used bookstore to see when they buy books -- and dropped the clothes off at the Brown Elephant, a local thrift store.
I chucked everything that had passed it's sell by date, including a jar of Nutella that expired in 2003. Whoops! I did the check for foods with msg or high fructose corn syrup and mostly found them in my condiments. Sorry, I'm not giving up my ketchup, but I will look for some preserves that have sugar in them the next time I'm at the store. I can't wait until the farmers market starts up again.
I'm planning an expanded kitchen garden, which I'm super excited about. Last weekend my boyfriend and I hauled 40 quarts of dirt up to my fourth floor apartment. It's currently living out on the balcony, in the plastic crate that used to hold the books that needed to be donated.
I recently bought new plates and bowls -- I have a lot of antique fiestaware and blue willow china but hadn't bought new everyday plates since my sophomore year of college (8 years ago).
I also cleaned a huge (and hugely embarassing) pile of dishes and wiped down my counters. I live in a vintage apartment without a dishwasher, so I had some catching up to do after a recent onslaught of freelance work.
Next on my to-do list: cleaning the floors, wiping down containers, recycling jars so that I can store my nuts and seeds in my fridge (I had no idea that they could go rancid). Continuing to build my kitchen garden, and going through my junk drawer. And take photos! I can't wait to show everyone my kitchen -- it's a little unusual in that most of my storage is see-through -- vintage glass built in cabinets that extend up to the ceiling, and clear sets of drawers for holding utensils and other things.
view sarahbest's profile