Tidying the Tupperware
I am super pumped about getting my kitchen downsized and organized, because here's my vulnerable moment of the day: I haven't felt like it's been my kitchen since we've moved in almost a year and a half ago. You know the feeling of knowing where everything is, and being able to find stuff quickly and easily? Up until now I haven't really cared about where all my pots and pans were because I wasn't invested fully in giving my family the best of the best when it came to meals. Besides, who feels motivated to cook dinner when the pantry is just kinda thrown together with no rhyme or rhythm and your pots don't match and are never put back in the same place twice???
But hey, this is the year of me getting in my kitchen and challenging myself to really try cooking and baking for the first time in my life. Armed with Gordon Ramsey's cookbooks as well as 100 Days of Real Food I am diving headfirst into some culinary adventures {and more than a few mishaps!} which of course I will share with you guys here!
My mother-in-law joked over the holidays about how this is the time of year that she sends home all the leftovers and then has to go out and buy new Tupperware. I went home and took stock of all the tupperware that I have been kinda hoarding. And this is what I found:
Much to my shock and dismay I realized that there is no such thing as a cute "before picture". No lighting, filter, or even carefully arranged potted plant was going to distract from the fact that I could fill an ENTIRE laundry basket with the plastic tupperware that came off the top shelf of my pantry. Ugh.
Correction: it's not just filled, it's overflowing.
I kinda wanted to vomit.
While our ongoing cleaning of the back bedroom has been underway we have found a lot of wedding presents, among them a nice set of glassware containers and mixing bowls. In the back of my mind I have always known that plastic isn't the best for you, nor is it exactly amazing for our environment...but I have also allowed myself to buy into the lie that quick and easy is the best way to live. {Something else I have been learning as well through minimalism: what you give your time to is what you value the most. Sure I want to give most of my time and money to my family but at the risk of storing their food into plastic that can harm our food and take literal years to disintegrate? No thanks, that's not the legacy I'm interested in leaving behind. Besides: glassware isn't that much more expensive and it looks so much nicer when stored away.} This discovery of our new glassware, plus the whole minimalism journey collided perfectly!
So I ran everything through a quick wash cycle in the dishwasher - bundled up the sets and texted my mother in law: "Found your missing tupperware! Don't go shopping just yet!" and promptly returned it all to her, leaving me with access to the top shelf in my pantry for the first time since we moved in.
The shaker cups Husband has been collecting since he was sixteen years old? Yeah I couldn't find a great way to reuse those, so they ended up going to the recycling center along with everything else we didn't need.
Here's another thing: when you've made the decision to get rid of something, do it as soon as possible. Because let's be real this nasty pile of Tupperware:
It looks nice when I organize it...
And that's where the danger of telling myself that "I don't have nearly as much plastic storage containers as some people and even if I don't use it, it's nice to have"
But our family has changed our thinking habits and we don't want stuff we won't use. I want to get rid of it entirely, not just organize it and store it somewhere a little more convenient. So today I challenge you to go through your Tupperware drawer {or shelf!} and make a list of all those things that you don't really need and then start taking steps to rehome it all!
But hey, this is the year of me getting in my kitchen and challenging myself to really try cooking and baking for the first time in my life. Armed with Gordon Ramsey's cookbooks as well as 100 Days of Real Food I am diving headfirst into some culinary adventures {and more than a few mishaps!} which of course I will share with you guys here!
My mother-in-law joked over the holidays about how this is the time of year that she sends home all the leftovers and then has to go out and buy new Tupperware. I went home and took stock of all the tupperware that I have been kinda hoarding. And this is what I found:
Much to my shock and dismay I realized that there is no such thing as a cute "before picture". No lighting, filter, or even carefully arranged potted plant was going to distract from the fact that I could fill an ENTIRE laundry basket with the plastic tupperware that came off the top shelf of my pantry. Ugh.
Correction: it's not just filled, it's overflowing.
I kinda wanted to vomit.
While our ongoing cleaning of the back bedroom has been underway we have found a lot of wedding presents, among them a nice set of glassware containers and mixing bowls. In the back of my mind I have always known that plastic isn't the best for you, nor is it exactly amazing for our environment...but I have also allowed myself to buy into the lie that quick and easy is the best way to live. {Something else I have been learning as well through minimalism: what you give your time to is what you value the most. Sure I want to give most of my time and money to my family but at the risk of storing their food into plastic that can harm our food and take literal years to disintegrate? No thanks, that's not the legacy I'm interested in leaving behind. Besides: glassware isn't that much more expensive and it looks so much nicer when stored away.} This discovery of our new glassware, plus the whole minimalism journey collided perfectly!
So I ran everything through a quick wash cycle in the dishwasher - bundled up the sets and texted my mother in law: "Found your missing tupperware! Don't go shopping just yet!" and promptly returned it all to her, leaving me with access to the top shelf in my pantry for the first time since we moved in.
The shaker cups Husband has been collecting since he was sixteen years old? Yeah I couldn't find a great way to reuse those, so they ended up going to the recycling center along with everything else we didn't need.
Here's another thing: when you've made the decision to get rid of something, do it as soon as possible. Because let's be real this nasty pile of Tupperware:
It looks nice when I organize it...
And that's where the danger of telling myself that "I don't have nearly as much plastic storage containers as some people and even if I don't use it, it's nice to have"
But our family has changed our thinking habits and we don't want stuff we won't use. I want to get rid of it entirely, not just organize it and store it somewhere a little more convenient. So today I challenge you to go through your Tupperware drawer {or shelf!} and make a list of all those things that you don't really need and then start taking steps to rehome it all!
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