Organized Fridge Drawers

…in 4 Easy Steps!

Last week I did a little dance called the Fridge Drawer Shuffle! It’s a fun little two-step (what is a two-step anyway?) that motivates you to have those two drawers at the bottom of your refrigerator (not the freezer…gosh, we’ll talk about that another day!) looking sparkly and organized and PIN READY! The first phase towards an organized fridge.

So, this sweet lady on our neighborhood FB group was wanting to know about fridge sizes. I shared my info. She also wanted an inside photo. The HORRORS of that reveal shook my heart. I opted to do a quick, “Hey, I’ll PM you and we can chat about things there!” Phew, off the hook from a total public viewing, but still she would see inside. I quickly straightened the shelves, not too much awfulness there. A few small plastic containers with unidentifiable contents, but nothing that would show up in the photo. And, the frosted fronts of the drawers solved the problem of the jumbled mess inside each one. I crossed my fingers with hopes of no requests for interior photos. Dodged that bullet as well.

An Organized Fridge is a Good Thing, Right?

Reorganizing (that’s a lie, it was just organizing) had developed into a necessity, exacerbated by the photo request. I launched into ‘organize mode’, remembering those Pinterest tips on general house organization. Getting the three containers for all that food, emptying the space, and starting the cold-hearted sorting (ala The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up). However, this job required only two container categories: garbage can and some kind of in-fridge storage unit. In the recent past, I had perused the storage options on Amazon and had fallen in love with these Reusable Mesh Produce Bags for $12.97 (will get some later), but the mood was on NOW so what I had in the way of containers and Ziplocs, etc. would have to do.

Four Steps to Organized Fridge Drawers

Step #1: Take it all out.

All of it. The bags of bendy carrots. The dimply green peppers. And, how about those shrunken head rock hard limes? Out came the produce bags of still fresh fruits (hop over to this post to read more about Texas fruit!) and veggies. The counter was full of once fresh and still fresh ingredients of recipes some of which were dreams never fulfilled. This is actually another motivation for the organization. Creating a tighter link between the recipe planning, the shopping list, and the actual usage of the ingredients purchased. Feeding our garbage can isn’t part of the budget and I wanted to take advantage of the healthy ingredients I bought at my H.E.B. by creating the recipes I intended to use. Following through with my Plan to Eat app’s helpful tools could make a difference too!

Step #2: Clean the drawers and determine your plan.

Wipe them out of all the dead baby garlic heads. And, those dry onion layers that had fallen off at some point. Remove the drawer and warm sudsy water clean it if there’s anything sticky. Luckily, mine only required a wipe down. Mine was veggies on the left and fruit on the right. And, I pulled out all the usable containers I had to choose from; testing some to see if they would fit. I had a great collection.

Step #3: Let the sorting begin.

I tossed and piled. The garbage can quickly filled up and the produce bags disappeared. The pile of fruit included peaches, blueberries, strawberries, an avocado, and two types of tomatoes. The veggies pile contained a reclosable bag of baby peppers, lots of green onions, red and yellow onions, garlic, ginger, and a trimmed-down head of lettuce.

Step #4: Pick the perfect containers for the job.

Use hard-sided containers to create protective boundaries as much as possible (I put the fruits in these). I also used them for some of the things in the other drawers (the onions and garlic). I put the green onions in a smallish Ziploc; trimming them back to fit and that head of lettuce went into one of my homemade bread bags (would’ve gone into one of those Reusable Mesh thingies, if I’d had them). Everything else fit in other containers or loose in between items.

Wow! Amazing! Stand back, pat yourself on the back and/or call someone to come quick and admire your work! And, then enjoy the fruits of your labor, as I’m doing. I am now aware of what ingredients I have and I am determined to keep this system flying in the future.

Your Turn

Have you rearranged the drawers in your fridge? Did this motivate you to give it a try? We’d love to hear your take on all of this. (Maybe you love drawers full of the original bags from the store…who knows?!)

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord. Colossians 3:23 NIV

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