My organizational systems: the kitchen

This is part one of a mini-series in which I attempt to document the physical items in my home as well as some of the systems I use to keep things organized. Over the years, I’ve tried to streamline my life in many areas so I can focus on the things that truly matter to me. I just wanna live my best life!

We will kick off this series with a big one: The Kitchen.

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What do I have in my kitchen?

Disclaimer: I’m not going to document many of the physical things that could be considered “background” items, or things that can go without saying. For example, the kitchen cabinets, the sink, and the table are things that exist in my house, but they’re not really things I need to think about, downsize, or streamline in any way. They’re just there.

Dishware and Silverware

We have one set of everyday dishes. This includes 8 of each: cereal bowl, snack bowl, small plate, large plate, soup bowls. We also have 4 small glasses, 4 tall glasses, 4 plastic cups (Jake wants these), 4 tiny juice glasses for L. I am constantly rotating out unused/underused coffee mugs, ruthlessly. For silverware, we have 8 of each: small & large spoons, small & large forks, butter knives. Lastly, we have one set of fancier Lenox dishes and a Bunnykins dish set for my daughter.

Cookware

Our cookware consists of one large pot, one medium saucepot, one stainless steel saucepan and skillet, a griddle, and two Dutch ovens (one cast iron, one enamel). We also have a colander, strainer, and grater. Bakeware includes various (3-4) baking sheets and wire cooling racks, various (4-5) loaf pans, muffin tins, and casserole dishes (one glass, one metal).

For food prep & storage, we keep glass mixing bowls, Pyrex measuring cups, and Pyrex/Mason glass containers for leftovers.

We have a “junk drawer” of smaller cooking/baking equipment and a utensil bin on the countertop.

Appliances

We surprisingly have more appliances than I thought we did! We have a Kitchen Aid mixer and a handheld electric mixer. We have a Crockpot and an Instantpot (though I’m considering selling the Instantpot because I literally only use it for French fries once every few months and they’re never even that great. But I digress.) as well as a blender, food processor, and food scale. Jake recently convinced me not to get rid of our egg steamer, because it actually does get a ridiculous amount of use for a single-use kitchen gadget in our house. Lastly, we have an electric kettle, 12-cup coffee maker, microwave, and vacuum sealer.

Countertops/Island

This is where I keep a few cookbooks, which again are ruthlessly rotated out periodically. The family organizer tablet is always out on the counter - this is where I keep recipes, shopping lists, and monthly meal plans. We also have reusable kitchen towels, dishcloths, napkins, reusable zip-seal silicone bags, and beeswax bags/wraps.

On top of the cabinets is where I keep specialty dishes (e.g., egg plates, drink canisters, serving trays). On top of the fridge are a large stockpot, various (3-4) lunchboxes and small coolers.

Last but not least, all of the food is kept in the tall pantry/cabinet. We keep a few canned/dry goods in the laundry room downstairs, and we have a second fridge in the basement that mostly houses frozen meat from Costco.

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How do I streamline it all?

On the kitchen tablet, I make shopping lists as items run out throughout the week. I pause what I’m doing and jot it down in the moment, otherwise I know I’d forget it. We also have a “future Costco run” shopping list ongoing - we go to Costco maybe every 2 months or so.

On Sunday afternoons, I meal prep. This isn’t the same as those influencer-type meal preps where you make 6 servings of the same meal and pop them into little plastic takeaway boxes. Referencing my monthly meal plan, I make a to-do list of everything I need to do in the upcoming week to actually stick to the plan. For example, if I want to make baked chicken on Wednesday, I note that I need to take the chicken out of the freezer on Tuesday. If I want to bake sourdough on Saturday, I note that I need to feed the starter on Thursday night. For me, prepping is a combination of actually making some food on Sunday afternoon but also organizing a plan for the rest of the week.

We make one main grocery trip once per week. We try as hard as possible to avoid quick runs to the store for one or two things we forgot. If we didn’t get it on our main trip, we usually just make do without it until the next week.

Meals are very simple in our house. Breakfast is basically same every day: oatmeal & yogurt. Lunch is typically sandwiches or leftovers, plus a fruit or yogurt or hummus. Dinners follow the monthly meal plan I make ahead of time on the tablet. I have to give us credit because most weeks, we actually make 6 or 7 of the dinners on the list! We rarely eat out or do takeout; when we do, it’s already been scheduled on the meal plan.

Dishes “go to bed” when we do - anything left in the sink goes in the dishwasher or gets washed before bedtime, every day. Usually one person cooks, the other does the dishes.

Reusable kitchen towels go in a basket above the microwave when dirty and get washed once per week, usually while I’m making my Sunday meal prep plan. I do all of the “sous chef” work that I can on Sunday afternoons - chop the onion, slice the cucumber, grate the cheese, top off the food canisters. This makes weeknight cooking faster and easier.

We deep clean (floors, countertops, fridge shelves, etc.) at least once a week. Otherwise, a light wiping and cleanup after meals is sufficient throughout the week.

My 4-year-old gets involved too! Her jobs include:

• Setting the table

• Unloading the dishwasher

• Folding kitchen towels

• Assisting with grocery lists

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My favorite kitchen habit: cooking a whole chicken in the crockpot at the beginning of the week. It’s an easy dinner for that first night and we have leftover chicken for several days afterwards - great for sandwiches, salads, soups, etc.!

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And that’s about it! Nothing too fancy, but it works for me. I’d say the habit with the biggest impact on my kitchen functioning is the monthly meal plan. Sitting down for 30-45 minutes once a month and plotting out the dinners we’ll eat is both a money and time saver. When we go grocery shopping, we already know what ingredients we’ll need to buy for the week. It also holds me accountable to actually eat the things I said I was going to eat - so I’m more likely to meet my health goals.

Next up in the series: The Kid (!)