I always get asked this during my cook-with-me vlogs: ‘how do you keep your kitchen clean while cooking?’ Keep reading for my top tips! (Warning: grab a cup of tea, it’s a lengthly one)
Without bragging (or am I 🤪) I like to consider myself a pretty clean cook. Growing up watching my mum cook (literally everyday) she would always say ‘clean as you cook’. So here are my tip tips to keep the kitchen clean while you cook.
• Don’t let the dishes pile, wash the utensils, pots & pans as you use them & instead of taking new utensils out of the drawers use the ones you just washed on the dish rack – this will limit the amount of dishes you use during meal prep.
• pack the dishes as soon as they dry before you place wet dishes over them again.
• I won’t lie though, when I’m making larger or more complicated meals the dishwasher is my best friend! I still use the same concept of doing the dishes as I go. Rinse the dishes and place them in the dishwasher right away rather than have them pile up in the sink & all the food drying up on the dish (which takes twice as long to clean).
• Another tip which I ALWAYS use is to keep a plastic bag (or bowl) for food scraps nearby as you’re cooking & another for rubbish. Once the meal prep stage is done all the food scraps go either to the rabbit or used as compost in our garden & The rubbish bag goes straight to the bin! This prevents having dirty and/or dripping hands traveling back and forth to the bin causing a mess on your kitchen floor!
• pack each ingredient as you use it eg: if you’re done with the milk put it back before moving on to the next part of your dish.
• once you’ve finished putting your dish together & it’s either simmering on the stove or baking away in the oven use that time to clear your dish rack, wipe down the countertops, sweep your floor, & give it a quick mop. Trust me this will save so much time later.
Hope you all enjoyed those few tips. Trust me, it works & cuts down your ‘standing in the kitchen’ time by HALF!
Oh, and I can’t forgot about turning on my diffuser to completely get rid of the food smell throughout the house. Unless ofcourse I’ve used some delicious herbs throughout my dish and the house smells amazing already! 🍋
Happy cooking (& cleaning) my loves. 🌿
