Eight Steps to a Refrigerator Clean Out

So, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, managed to get me to clean out my fridge.  I’m hoping I can keep it in its clean state that I finished it off in, and get into the habit of doing a weekly sweep of its contents, maybe get some healthier food in it, and…I don’t know…eat some of that healthier food before it goes bad!  I’d been forgetting to do the chore of doing a refrigerator clean out, and I think I’ve been missing out on eating healthier because I couldn’t find anything in it.

Anyhow, to get back to the post title, I thought I’d share the steps that I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter supplied me with, to get my fridge in order.  I’m thinking that you can apply the steps as a basic model to cleaning and organizing other parts of your home too, but here are the “Eight Steps” to a Refrigerator Clean Out.

I’ll note that it’s pretty easy to do, but time consuming so make sure you have at least an hour or more to do it.

Here are my before pictures:

    

Step 1: Turn down the temperature a few degrees since the door will be open during the cleaning process.  This will prevent the fridge from getting too warm, ensuring that you can safely put everything back in when you’re done.

Step 2: Remove everything inside, and perform a “freshness audit,” throwing away anything that is passed its prime (make sure to check expiration dates, especially on infrequently used products.)  * I’m proud to say there was far less expired condiments in my fridge than I thought there might be Go Me! *

Step 3: Remove all of the shelves, drawers, and anything else that can be taken out.

Step 4: Using your clean sponge, wipe down the entire inside of the fridge with clean, soapy water.

Use mild dish soap for your suds as opposed to a harsh multi-purpose cleaner – if you wouldn’t clean your dishes with it, it’s probably not something you want to clean your fridge with!

Step 5: To ensure you’ve rinsed away all of the soapy water, wipe everything down with a vinegar/water solution to get your fridge smelling clean.

Step 6: Repeat steps 4&5 for any shelves, drawers, etc.

Step 7: Add a fresh box of baking soda to help collect future odors.

Step 8: Turn the temperature back to a normal cooling setting.

I don’t know why I have put this chore off for so long.  Now I can actually see the food in my fridge, it’s easily accessible to me (not just put in there willy-nilly), and it’s clean!  Look at the difference in my drawers!

   

Now I need to make sure I fill it up with fresh, healthy foods.  I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter made sure that I had plastic food containers so I can better label my food, keep tabs on its freshness and save space in my fridge.  By using Labels that can be written on, wiped off and reused, I can be certain that we’re not keeping expired food in the fridge.

You can see in my first pictures of my fridge before I cleaned it out we’re big fans of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter in our home.  We buy the BIG tubs, and use it for almost everything where we would use butter.

This is definitely a healthy, conscious choice in our fridge.  Soft spreads are generally made with vegetable oils that are low in saturated fats, contain no cholesterol and are rich in polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats.

A quick comparison – in one tablespoon, butter contains:

• 7 grams of saturated fat
• 30 mg of cholesterol

A tablespoon of soft spreads, made from a blend of oils including soybean and canola, contains:

• 2 grams or less of saturated fat per serving
• 0 mg of cholesterol
• 0 grams of trans fat per serving
• Essential fatty acids including Omega-3 ALA and Omega-6

There you have it my fresh start on a clean and healthy fridge.

For more articles, tips and ideas that can help you make better food choices visit I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter’s website.