1. Avoiding science experiments in the back of your refrigerator:
Have you ever noticed that leftovers and open containers of sour cream and other foods tend to get lost in the back of your refrigerator and then they turn into alien forms that are disgusting to clean out? So you avoid it as much as possible which only makes things worse. Here is a simple fix that helps me. Rather than chucking food willy-nilly into your fridge, make a shelf designated for certain foods. I have beverages and bottles of things like catsup, spaghetti sauce and salsa shelf. Then there is a leftover shelf where ALL leftovers go. Of course, there is a drawer for fruit another for fresh veggies and one for cheese and sandwich meat. You get the idea. Now there are three rules to follow and you’ll never have to clean out a disgusting fridge again.
Rule #1: ALWAYS put things on their proper shelf. Remember parent that Big Baby inside.
Rule #2: Pick one day a week to recycle your leftovers (I’ll explain how later)
Rule #3: Whenever you see a space on a shelf grab a spray cleaner and paper towel and give that space a wipe.
Over time those spaces will rotate and your fridge will stay clean. Just remember that the walls get messy too so when the space on the shelf is clean use the wet paper towel to wipe the walls of just that shelf as well. This is usually a three minute job in total and anyone can spare three minutes. I mean really do you WANT to spend a couple of hours LATER cleaning out alien forms and scraping hardened gunk off your whole fridge? See, three minutes is not so bad after all.
2. Recycling leftovers so you actually want to eat them again:
OK, let’s say you have a couple of pieces of fried chicken, two slices of ham and one hamburger, plus a little corn, a little peas , and a little green beans, left in the fridge. You can make a super casserole that even company will enjoy. You’ll need a can of cream of chicken soup, frozen hash browns, a bag of shredded cheddar cheese and a small can of chicken breast. Always keep cans of chicken on hand they help to fill out lots of different meals.
Now spray with oil a 9x9 or a 9x13 baking pan (depending on the amount of food) on the sides and bottom. Sprinkle the hash browns in there up to an inch thick and salt lightly with seasoning salt. Take the chicken meat off the bones and then throw away the skin and bones. Chop all three kinds of meat into ½ inch pieces, mix them together with leftover veggies and layer them over the hash browns. If it doesn’t look like enough meats then open and drain the canned chicken and add it to the rest.
Next mix the can of chicken soup with a ½ can of water until smooth and spread over the meat and veggies. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or a microwave for 15 minutes. Pull out and top generously with cheddar cheese. Put this back in the oven until the cheese is melted (approximately 10 minutes in the oven or 2 ½ - 4 minutes in the microwave).
You can cut this into generous sized servings. Add some freshly baked Pillsbury Grands biscuits with butter honey and jelly and you have a company ready meal for any friends who drop over. They will be impressed. Just don’t tell them it’s leftovers.
Pat yourself on the back and smile proudly. Your fridge is empty of leftovers, you’ve impressed your friends and that shelf and walls of your fridge is wiped sparkling clean. Whoo Hoo!