5 Tips for Deep Cleaning & Organizing Your Kitchen For Spring

Every Spring, I like to give my kitchen a good deep cleaning. It's the most used room in our home...with meals and snacks being created multiple times per day...along with the baking and canning projects I like to do over the Fall & Winter. So come Spring...it is definitely time for a thorough, top to bottom cleaning & organizing. You may remember that I have chatted on this blog before about organizing a kitchen into zones and organizing a fridge for healthy, fast food at home, but I don't think I have ever shared how I go about doing a deep clean. 

Here are a few tips that will help make the job go easier!

5 Tips For Deep Cleaning The Kitchen

1. Gather Up Supplies.

Gather up the cleaning supplies needed including: a bucket, a good de-greasing spray,all-purpose cleaner, a sponge, a a few cleaning cloths, a ladder and a mop. Also gather a few empty cardboard boxes for items that you have decided to let go and donate.

2. Block The Time

Block the time into your calendar so it is a scheduled cleaning job. Make a plan for the kids to be busy or visiting if it makes the job easier for you. Book a few times as opposed to 1 day if 1 day is not enough time. Plan to a slow cooker meal so that you won't have to worry about dinner at the end of the day when you are tired.

3. Work Top to Bottom

Start from the top and work to the bottom. This means starting at the ceiling and working to the floor. This order makes sense because as you clean, dust and dirt will float down and land on the floor, which will be the last thing to be cleaned. Also, after the 'top' jobs are done, then the ladder can be put away.

4. Purge & Organize

Now is a great time to purge and remove all the things that not being used. Place them in cardboard boxes to go to charity. Organized the remaining items into work zones so that they make sense.

5. Clean All Surfaces

Remove fridge & stove and clean the floor underneath. Wipe all cupboards doors and appliances. Lastly, wipe down baseboards and mop floors.

I always start with a good cleaning of the area on top of the cupboards. I take everything down, give the cupboards a good spray with a de-greaser and wipe with clean cloths. I wash all of the dishes, and I also purge things that I want to get rid of. I also like to re-decorate this space and make things fresh again. This year, I decorated with a fresh colour scheme of wood textures, white dishes, baskets and touches of indigo blue.

Then I go through each cupboard, removing everything and wiping down the inside.

Anything that is not being used is placed in the box to donate.

Then I put everything back in an organized way so that things make sense and is easy to access.

I clean all surfaces and wipe down small appliances thoroughly.

Next, we move the stove and fridge to clean the floors underneath, which becomes a catch-all area for crumbs and dried, sticky spills.

One thing that makes my kitchen so much easier to clean & maintain are my Frigidaire Smudge-Proof ™Technology Fridge & Stove. {This technology is available on all Frigidaire Gallery and Frigidaire Professional® products and works like a charm in making kitchen clean-ups super fast by resisting dirty fingerprints. This technology is so much easier to clean than traditional stainless steel surfaces because Frigidaire uses high grade stainless steel that is coated with layers of polymers, resulting in a sleek, beautiful stainless steel finish that is both durable and resistant to fingerprints. 

My fridge and stove clean beautifully with just water and I love that!

And lastly, I clean the other areas in my kitchen, like the beverage center and pantry.

There is nothing I like more in my home than a clean, organized & sparkling kitchen. Although the other rooms in my home might be a disaster at times, I don't mind as long as the kitchen is clean. I love having a beautiful & clean kitchen greet me in the morning. A good deep cleaning once or twice a year gives me the extra piece of mind that the areas that aren't seen on a daily basis are clean as well. And a wonderfully clean kitchen is the best beginning for creating tasty meals and delicious treats for my family.

Disclosure: I am part of the Frigidaire Canada Ambassador program with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on the blog are my own.

This post is linked to:
Tutorial & Tips Link Party, Monday Funday, The Creative Collection,  Our Sunday Best Showcase,  The Scoop, Tatertots & Jello, Link Party Palooza,

Create An Outdoor Camping Kitchen

Hello there! I am so thrilled to join together with a group of bloggers to bring you collection of fantastic tips, ideas and recipes for Camping Season 2014! Camping each summer is a right of passage for my family. It can't be summer unless we have a few weekends of camping...that is just the rule 'round here! I am so excited to share how we create and organize an outdoor camping kitchen or  our 'glamping' kitchen...which is a super cool name that makes a rustic experience sound all the more fun! I love cooking and preparing meals outside when the weather is warm and sunny!

You could say that we were 'movin' on up' {cue George Jefferson signing here} from camping to 'glamping' when we purchased an inexpensive 'camp kitchen'.  I know that many of you seasoned campers could probably show me a thing or two,  but I just wanted to share with you some tips on how I organize a camping kitchen for our family in hopes of making things as easy as possible for us while we are out in the wilderness.

 We are campers who settle into a campsite with a tent, sleeping bags, coolers and good food. For many years, I organized our 'camp kitchen' around a picnic table...which honestly works just as well as anything. However, 3 years ago we took the plunge and invested in this little camp kitchen and we love it for many reasons. It is also important to note that we live in an area where campsites are in real danger of being visited by bears, so ALL food must be kept in a vehicle or camper at night and when not at the campsite. Leaving food out in the open for storage is not an option. {In fact, on our last camping trip just a few weeks ago, a bear was shot on our campsite while we were away. He had been roaming the campground for days and the park rangers had decided that this bear had turned into a real danger to campers.}

One of the reasons that I love this camping kitchen is that it comes with some really awesome, usable space that allows the picnic table to be used for other things...like, say, some crazy pre-dinner games of Crazy 8s.  The middle of the camp kitchen are 2 sinks that can be connected to a water bag for water that will pump up to the sink! For a lot of camping seasons, we used a simple dish pan filled with water for washing dishes, so this is a step up for us!  The design for the sinks is genius,  because when not in use, they are covered with cutting boards and provides a generous space for food prep.

And when the sinks are needed, the cutting boards can easily be removed for dish-washing duties.

And here are how some other things are organized above the sink, which makes for a simple and functional kitchen.

We have the hand soap, dish soap and hand sanitizer ready for washing up all the dirties when needed. A few other camping items are hung here including a small portable radio for listening to tunes while cooking, easy-to-find scissors, and a solar light that charges during the day and gives a soft glow at night.

Here is a little food prep area, along with a container organized with cooking accouterments.

Pictured here are a number of the handy tools that I use to keep us organized.
Let me tell you how everything works together.

On the left side of the kitchen is a gas burner which is great for making tea in the morning, or cooking bacon and eggs in a cast iron frying pan. And the shelf under the burner provides perfect storage for the cast iron cooking pans, and other pots.{I usually leave the pots and pans turned upside down so they don't get tree bits or dirt in them.}

On the far right of the camp kitchen is a zippered storage compartment where lots of other non-food camping equipment is stored. {Before we had a camp kitchen, I stored all of these things in a rubber tote.} In here you will find:

• plastic bowls, plates and cups
• dish cloths and dish towels
• saran wrap, aluminum foil, plastic bags, garbage bags
• a box of baking soda in case of a grease fire
• kitchen utensils, hamburger press and a grill basket
• stainless steel travel cups
• stainless steel bowl for salads, etc.
• toaster for campfire, grill or gas burner
• paper towel, extra napkins, matches, BBQ lighter.

As mentioned, I used to pack everything into large rubber totes, but I found them to be so cumbersome to get in and out of the car, so I organized everything into smaller boxes, totes and bags....so much easier!
For instance, this little plastic box nicely holds cooking oil and spices.

I am also smitten with this cute dish & cultery caddy which is easy to carry to the picnic table at mealtime and easy to put back into a vehicle.

And this condiment carousel is also a nifty thing to have. At mealtime, we just gather the condiments out of the cooler and place them in here for easy access by everyone.

And here is an organizing system that I love! Previously, I packed all of our food into big totes and we would get the totes out and search around for things.

The totes usually turned into a mess of squashed bread and other things, and after the first day it was frustrating. And also no one wants to make toast out of bread that is mushed like a dogs breakfast t to begin with.

Now I use a system where I pack things into small re-usable bags organized by meals or snacks.

And these bags are also easier to pack into the vehicle too because they fit into small spaces easily.

And the bags work perfectly for the kids to find things too....they love the bag system!

For example, here is the BREAKFAST BAG with cold cereal, hot cereal, bread, English muffins and peanut butter....everything required for breakfast...with the exception of the things stored in the cooler like eggs, bacon, butter, juice and milk.

Here is another bag we call the `CAMPFIRE SNACK BAG` where we store snacks and munchies for night time campfires....along with everything needed to make s`mores! This system works for us brilliantly! If you would like to learn more about how we organize food & snacks in our cooler, please read the post HERE.

When mealtime arrives, we pull out the dish & cutlery caddy and the condiment carousel and the table is set! Love that!

I love having small bags, boxes and simple caddies to help keep us organized! It also makes clean up fast too!

And in addition to our camp kitchen, we also do cooking on a grill-covered campfire, or a small gas BBQ that we always bring with us too!

And everything works together wonderfully for our own little `glamping kitchen`.

How about you?

Do you have any camping kitchen organizing ideas that you would like to share?

I would love for you to share them in the comments so we can all be super organized!

If you are looking for camping recipe ideas, please visit these meal ideas and more:

11 Best Camping Tips & Recipes

 Easy Camping Lumberjack Breakfast

Easy Campfire Mexican Dip

And here is a collection of ideas, tips and tricks from an amazing groups of bloggers.

Please visit  these fabulous bloggers for ideas to make your camping trips all the more awesome!

Campfire Spinach Dip from Twin Dragon Fly Designs

Printable Camping Checklist from 733 Blog

 What To Pack For  A Camping Trip from Nest of Posies

Camping Activity Bags from Creative Capital B

Homemade Fire Starters from Dukes and Duchesses Blog

Camping Survival Kit from The Benson Street

Camping Charades from The Joys of Boys

Beaded Mason Jar Lantern from One Artsy Mama

Blackberry Cobbler from Gingersnap Crafts

Tin Foil Packet Recipes from Growing Up Gabel

Best Pie Iron Recipes from Naptime Creations

Camping With Kids from The Joi Project

This post is linked up with:
Tatertots and Jello, Link Party Palooza, Inspire Me Please, Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons, I'm Lovin' It, Inspiration Gallery, The Party Bunch, Weekend Re-Treat Link Party, The Scoop, Tutorial & Tips Link Party, Monday Funday, The Creative Collection,  Our Sunday Best Showcase,  The Scoop, The Party Bunch, 

How I Clean Less with My Smudge-Proof Kitchen

Some of you may remember that last year I had the amazing opportunity to work with Frigidaire Canada and test drive a brand new Frigidaire Gallery Fridge & Stove. As a busy mom in the kitchen, I cannot tell you how excited I was to be able to have these new appliances in helping me stay organized in the kitchen and in getting meals on the table in record time! But now I want to share with you another awesome benefit to having these appliances in my kitchen....I clean less! Yes! I said LESS.

 The reason that I clean less?  The Frigidaire Smudge-Proof ™Technology. It works like a charm in making kitchen clean-ups super fast and easy by using a new anti-smudge technology that resists fingerprints and is easier to clean than traditional stainless steel surfaces. Frigidaire uses high grade stainless steel that is coated with layers of polymers, resulting in a sleek, beautiful stainless steel finish that is both durable and resistant to fingerprints. And now that I have older teenagers in the house, kitchen appliances that resist fingerprints are more important that ever. You see...when your kids get older, the fingerprints don't disappear...they just move higher! And older kids don't need permission to cook or bake things....they just go ahead and do it! And it happens at all hours of the night and day...cookies made at 9 pm. Pizza baked at 11 am. The kitchen never closes! Often, when I enter the kitchen in the morning, I can guess what snacks were made the night before by the colour of the fingerprints left on the fridge or stove.

Frigidaire recently asked me to share the Living Proof of  Smudge-Proof™ Challenge with you by doing the Mustard Test! And trust me, this is not a stretch for me because you might remember that my family loves mustard so much that we even have a full fridge bin dedicated to our mustard collection. And mustard is probably the number one fingerprint I find most often in my kitchen.

So as part of the Mustard Test, I am going to show you just how easy it is to clean mustard from these appliances.

I had my teenage son smear mustard on the fridge door. {He's had lots of practice from making his own sandwiches...trust me!}

Then I got out the paper towels to clean while he took pictures. I simply used paper towels moistened with water to remove the mustard.

And after a few swipes, the mustard was gone! Poof! It really was that easy!

And look...our fridge is back to sparkling again...with just water and paper towel!

I love this because I am not a fan of chemical-laden cleaners in our home. I like to all natural ingredients as much as possible...like water.

I really encourage you to try the test too so you can see for yourself just how easy it is!

As a busy mom with olders kids, I am so glad that Frigidaire has made it so easy for me to clean the many fingerprints I find on my appliances everyday. Cleaning is not my thing, and the less time I spend doing it...the happier this mom is!

Disclosure: I am part of the Frigidaire Canada Ambassador program with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on the blog are my own.

Ideas For Easy Comfort Food For Cold Weather

There is nothing better than coming in from the cold  to a warm house filled with delicious smells of food wafting from the oven! We have had over 30 centimeters of snow in our city already and that means snow-shoveling on a daily basis is in full force.  In winter, my family loves nothing more than the comfort of a roast dinner complete with vegetables and gravy. It's a hearty meal which warms the belly fast and satisfies hunger like nothing else! And after a day which often includes a rushed breakfast, a brown bag lunch and snacks on the run, a hot meal is the ultimate in comfort food for our family! I love getting back to simply prepared meals that harken back to my grandparents' days!

No fancy ingredients, no obscure spices...just simple vegetables and meats roasted to perfection.

You may remember how last month I shared with you how I had the honour of being chosen as a Frigidaire Canada Ambassador through a program with Mom Central Canada, and a brand new Frigidaire Gallery  Induction Range was delivered to our home. I have to say that cooking with this range has been such a pleasure! Preparing a roast has never been easier with the help of the probe feature. The probe is designed to help cook things such as roasts, ham, poultry, meatloaf and casseroles by measuring the internal temperature of the food to ensure that it is cooked properly, safely and to the desired 'target' temperature so the food is done just the way your family likes it. It is very simple to use...just plug one end into the oven and the other end into the thickest part of the food. The probe will display the internal temperature of the food on the control panel on the oven top and will alert you with a beep when the desired 'target' is reached. This means that you can look forward to juicy poultry, tender hams and roast beef that can be done medium rare or well done. No more guessing! You can just literally walk away and leave it until the beep sounds.
Let's take a look at everything, shall we? All of these pictures are snapped with my iPhone as I was cooking in the kitchen so you are seeing everything in real time. Nothing is staged.

In winter, I often fill up the oven with enough food to provide for a few meals. I find that this works best for my busy schedule and for our busy family. And the Frigidaire Gallery Induction Range, with it's convection feature, makes it so easy to have a lot of food cooked in record time. Here, I am making roast potatoes & asparagus, stuffed salmon, plain chicken breasts and bacon-wrapped chicken breasts in barbecue sauce. I removed each thing from the oven as it finished cooking and whatever was not eaten that evening for dinner went into the fridge for the next day.
For the vegetables, I simply peel and chop them, spray with a little olive oil, sprinkle salt & pepper and place them in the oven on a cookie sheet with the meat and cook them until they are fork tender.

And here I filled up the oven with ribs, a roast chicken, potatoes, parsnips and carrots. It that will be enough to last our family for 2 dinners. And often I will add a green salad or coleslaw to these meals too!

This is such a great way for a busy family to get delicious and healthy meals on table fast and with minimal effort.

Another favourite comfort food for our family...homemade apple pie.

My 17 year old daughter recently made 2  lattice top apple pies and the crust was golden and delicious...cooked to perfection with tender, juicy apples inside!

Roasts and vegetables are our stand-by comfort meals...they are easy to prepare and everyone leaves the table satisfied after a wonderful meal. And our new Frigidaire Gallery Induction Range, with it's probe and convection features, make cooking roasts and vegetables oh-so-easy!

I absolutely love having a large, efficient range that I can fill up with our favourite comfort foods and know that within a few hours...I will have enough tasty meals to last for a few days!

Disclosure: I am part of the Frigidaire Canada Ambassador program with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Linkin up with:
Sunday Best Party, Inspiration Monday,  Monday Funday Linky Party, Craft-O-Maniac, One Project At A Time,  Tuesday Talent Show, Time To Sparkle, Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons,