Friday, 7 December 2012

Christmas Preparations - The Fridge

Preparing for the Christmas period may have you head spinning will all the things that need to be organised, but a bit of preparation before the mayhem begins can make the difference between a hectic or a relaxing Boxing Day! We’re here to help with advice to get your kitchen clean and organised all throughout December, so stay tuned for top tips and festive ideas from us (you can subscribe to our posts by entering your email to the left of the blog page!). Today we’re tackling the fridge!


Have a party!

You’re going to need a lot of spare room for all those extra treats, festive leftovers and tipples this Christmas, so start to either eat up or throw out anything you’re not going to eat over the holiday period. If you've still got lots of ‘bits’ why not make a night of it and invite a few friends or family over for a pre-Christmas get together and make some nibbles out of the surplus? Don’t forget to compost any old leftover fruit and vegetables.

Clean and deodorise

Once the fridge is empty, switch off the power, take out the removable shelves and draws and wipe them down with a 50/50 solution of deodorising White Vinegar and water, then do the same to the inside of the fridge. Some parts can be very fiddly to wipe, so use an old toothbrush to reach the hard to clean areas. For any stubborn marks, spray with a regular Soda Crystals solution, leave for a few minutes and then wipe clean. 

Nasty niffs

By placing a small dish of Bicarbonate of Soda on a shelf to absorb odours, you can make sure your fridge continues to smell clean and fresh throughout the holidays.

Plan ahead

Once you've cleaned an organised the fridge, planning meal times and being efficient with leftovers will keep it that way, as well as helping you save you money. Stock up on storage containers that you can write the date on to keep leftovers safely, and don’t forget the golden rules about storing food like raw meat – always keep raw meats in the bottom of the fridge to avoid any drips contaminating food below and whereas ‘best before’ dates can be exceeded, make sure ‘use by’ dates are followed to avoid bad tummies.

FREEZE!

Inevitably everyone splashes out and buys too much food over Christmas, but overfilling you fridge uses up a lot of electricity to keep it cool, whereas freezers are actually more efficient when they are full!

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