Functional Fridge

So, this isn't on my list of things to do in 52 weeks, but it needed to be done and replacing our appliances was the motivation I needed. We'll see how long it looks like this. We went from a standard fridge/freezer combination to a freezer on the bottom model.

So this is what it looked like before - see my lovely FridgeSmart containers from Tupperware. Melynda suggested I buy them. They arrived just before Christmas and I've already saved over a hundred dollars because of them...and they cost me less than $100.



Notice there is no light...I didn't replace it when it died last MAY because I thought it would motivate us to go shopping for new appliances. We waited so long, that it turned out to our advantage. We were only going to replace the fridge and stove, but we managed to save enough to replace the dishwasher too. I'm so happy with our purchases! Anyway, back to the fridge.

Now it looks like this (and can I say, I'm so glad our fridge was going to the scrap yard and I didn't have to clean it before it left):


The FridgeSmart containers fit so well and I love that I don't have to kneel on the floor to get in the crisper drawers. We even have a designated lunch shelf (under the cheese/meat drawer). It doesn't happen often, but occasionally when a hungry person comes home from the night shift, lunch for the next day is mistakenly eaten. So the rule: if it's on that shelf (second from the top on the right) it's not to be touched. And if it's elsewhere, it's game unless it has a do not eat label.

Leftovers live on the top right and they are game for middle of the night eating.

This is the old fridge. The door drove me nuts. The bar for the second shelf was a bit too low and most things just fell over.


The new fridge is awesome...it even has room for the juice and milk in the door.


Our freezer drove me nuts because I felt like whenever I needed something, it was in the very back and I had to unload the fridge completely.


Stuff in the door often fell on the floor when the freezer was opened. UGH!


But the new freezer is awesome...lots of space and with two sets of drawers that pull out there's room for everything AND if it's at the back of the drawer it's still accessible.


And, as always, there was stuff to get rid of.


All of this had expired:

• Two bottles of Little Creek Dressing (different flavours), each with about 1/2 inch of dressing left
• Two bottles of Kraft dressing, one with 1/2 inch left and one full one (UGH)
• Two bottles of lime juice, each with about 1/4 cup of juice
• Slivered almonds
• Coconut
• Maraschino cherries - these have been in here for ages. Like I think maybe I moved from the Hobbit Hole with them. I moved over five years ago!
• About 1/4 cup of dried out dried cranberries. I'm not even sure why they were even in the fridge
• Thai red curry paste - it was solid. Not paste-y, solid.
• And the best thing ever...Dijon mustard that had changed colour and expired in 2004. WHAT? That's how often I eat mustard, obviously

So my goals for my new fridge are to keep the finger prints off as much as possible (but I'm only allowed to clean it once a day - max) and keep the inside organized. Which is much easier when I plan my meals.