A clean kitchen: easy on the eyes, easy on the mind.
When my daughter is (finally) asleep, my night time routine for today starts with making red bean paste.
Now I that I am cooking with red bean, which I did not like at all as a child, I feel like I AM an old grown-up now haha
Throw away the red bean water that you boiled first to get rid of the bitterness and possible toxicity of saponin.
Add some salt and sugar to your liking.
Let’s start making red bean paste (no, let the soup maker cook it for me).
It is well cooked!
I blended the red bean a little bit (not too fine), and divided the portions for refrigerator and freezer storage.
Feeling so full and reassured somehow 😁
Tomorrow’s breakfast menu is easily decided.
Tomorrow’s kitchen starts now at night time.
In order to start a refreshing day tomorrow, let’s not postpone tidying up today’s kitchen.
When I come down tomorrow morning and see my sink piled up with dishes, it’s going to be a long and tiring day to start with.
It is my small habit that I clean up the wet messes with squeegee to keep my kitchen clean and tidy.
I always leave the dishwasher door open before going to bed.
I don’t usually add drying mode in my dishwasher but simply leave the door open, and the dishes will be all dry overnight.
My morning starts with opening all windows to let the fresh Fall breeze in.
Another day with a pleasant Fall sky.
Now it is the time for the plates to go back to their place.
The dishwasher needs to be emptied first.
So you have a place to quickly put dirty plates and utensils after breakfast.
Nothing in my kitchen is left unattended as if it doesn't have a place to go.
Everything has its own designated space. This is the beginning of making a tidy kitchen.
If I don’t use it everyday, I store it away. Then I try to consider the color coordination for the items on the kitchen countertop.
Wood/ Black/ White/ Stainless steel are the color scheme I chose for the items on my kitchen countertop.
The reason it looks tidy is not because there are absolutely no items out on the kitchen countertop.
I try to bring the sense of neatness that comes from the harmony. Easy on the eyes, easy on the mind!
For any kitchen item, I consider its practicality first then I decide the color that goes well with my kitchen.
The functionality of your kitchen changes depending on WHERE you store the items.
In my kitchen, flatware is stored close to my dining table. That way, it is easier for my little girl to set up the flatware 😊
With all the things back in their place, I don’t waste my time and effort searching for whatever I need whenever I need it.
Especially during busy mornings, my emptied sink is nice and "ready" before I start preparing ingredients for breakfast.
I can also clean up fast and put dirty dishes (I used for breakfast) in the emptied dishwasher right away.
Everything is placed in its designated place so I can see everything at a glance.
Easy on the eyes, easy on the mind. This is how I want my kitchen to be, and this is my own rule I try to follow.
I 've fully reset my kitchen now! It is a start of another refreshing day!
Is it just me who thinks it tastes better when you eat while cooking? lol
I put away kitchen utensils right after I am done using.
It is my small habit that I put away and clean up as much as possible during preparing/cooking.
Today’s breakfast was relatively simple, but I usually put everything (ingredients, seasonings/spice jars, etc) back after done using.
When everything is piled up on my kitchen countertop, I just cannot concentrate.
Individual tray is very handy to plate neatly, and I can bring everything all at once to my dining table.
You can fill up because you emptied it first.
Gently rinsing the plates before putting them in the dishwasher can prevent the residue from getting d in the dishwasher.
I am going to add all the plates I used for lunch and dinner, and run the dishwasher at night all at once.
When I don’t have anything to hand wash (ie. no rolling drying rack placed on my sink) like today, I do a quick scrub and clean my sink.
This is one of my small habits too.
Living with TWO people who are splashing all over all the time, I need to wipe my dining table often (I only have ONE kindergartener…. guess who the other one is?!)
Feeling exhausted after deep cleaning -> Procrastinating more till next deep cleaning -> Things are getting dirtier ->
Feeling uneasy seeing all the mess -> Pretending I don’t see it -> Even more more dirtier😱-> Giving up😰. This is an endless vicious cycle.
Every day quick cleaning is so much easier than deep cleaning! Yeah, I gotta admit that it is easier said than done.
But I am trying to keep my own little rules that I set myself within the scope I can realistically follow.
A complete reset again! With all my small habits, I can maintain and keep my kitchen clean and organized without too much effort (ie. no more deep cleaning) now.
I hope my kitchen, where I spend the longest time of the day, is a happy place for me.
I hope it is a place where I want to stay longer and feel happier to be at 😉.
When I organize my kitchen, I now have my own rules and principles.
I become meticulous when I shop for containers for food storage in the pantry or fridge.
But for items that are just meant to organize my kitchen, I now try to repurpose what I already have rather than simply buying new things.
I realized that many things I used to buy just to organize my kitchen were just another clutter I added to my kitchen.
As you’ve seen in my previous video, this soybean paste container became my compost/trash bin.
Oh boy, how many of these Pringles snack-sized containers have I collected! I brought all of them during my last moving.
They are still useful as a water bucket when my daughter is painting and as a holder for a scrubber in my kitchen too!
These recycled/repurposed cinnamon stick containers and pickle glass jar became great substitutes after I put a few label stickers.
I recycled and repurposed this cookie tin from Costco to hold dishwasher detergent.
To tell you the truth, I used to buy a lot of things without thinking too much just to organize my kitchen.
But now I try my best to find a replacement among what I already have and repurpose as much as possible when it comes to kitchen organization.
This coffee tin is too good to just throw it away after using.
It is a perfect place to hide some treats from my daughter. She can never find where her lollipops are (haha)
During my lasts moving, I also brought all of these milk carton organizers I made in my previous video.
I’ve been using them for more than 8 months now but they are still sturdy and especially handy to use in any drawer as I can adjust the length!
A food container with a broken lid became a good drawer organizer too.
These milk carton organizers are so handy when it's so difficult to find a perfect drawer organizer that fits the length of various kitchen utensils.
Since I’ve already washed and dried a small milk carton, let’s make another one.
What a joy when it actually fits perfectly!
Today I am continuing to maintain a clean and tidy kitchen with my small habits and a few practical rules.