Battle Fridge: How to Stay on your Roommate's Good Side

Let's be honest, people. Fridges are the most frustrating part of a kitchen, especially if you have a room mate, or maybe five. Maybe you like to cook some steaks during the summer and your room mate is a vegan. Or maybe you have a bottle of hot sauce that is mysteriously getting lower by the day. Or just maybe, you just moved in with your significant other and realize that one of you likes white bread and the other whole grain. Oy, the disasters a fridge can cause to your relationships and to your budget. A disorganized fridge is like snipping a hole at the bottom of your pocket and letting your money pour out.

The official definition of refrigerator is an appliance or compartment that is artificially kept cool and used to store food and drink. But what the definition does NOT include is that this compartment that looks rather large, bulky and (if you are a renter) ugly on the outside, is actually quite small and very rarely customizable on the inside.

If you have a fridge that doesn't fit that particularly large bottle of wine vertically in any section of your fridge, can I get an AMEN! Or how about those of you who have a lot of perishables that won't quite fit in your crisper, can I get a HELL YEAH! Well renters, unfortunate fridge owners, those of you with too many room mates just to make the rent, I have for you some ways to keep the peace in your apartment, house, or home.

The best way to save space and money while grocery shopping is to create a joint grocery shopping list for perishables and share-ables. These items could be fruits, vegetables, salad dressing, milk, and OJ or any other sort of item that people in your household share. For example, Melissa and I share eggs, TJ Orange Peach Mango juice, tofu, vegetables, fruit, and condiments. We do NOT share bread, milk and cereal. Imagine if we bought double of those items? This is what happens when you have multiple room mates. You could have 3 egg crates and then half of the eggs go bad by the expiration date. Another big one is ketchup or mustard. Right now, I live with Melissa and another friend, but we probably have 4 bottles of mustard in our fridge. How silly. Why would I need 4 bottles of mustard? And then I'll probably complain about not having space for Woodchuck tonight in the fridge.

Another excellent point on sharing is creating family dinner nights for you and yours. You could make it pot luck, or you could even make it a night to just clear out all of your left overs or soon-to-be-expired foods.

For those of you with many room mates, this will probably be hard to instill at first, but will work wonders. Clear bins. Assign each room mate to a bin, and label the front with the room mate's name. Each room mate keeps their individual items in the bins, and every room mate knows who bought the food. So if you want to borrow something, you know who to ask. There can be a community shelf on the top or the bottom of the fridge for bread, eggs, etc. It's important to have clear bins so that way you know what is in each container and there are no funky smells or mystery meats later in the week. For bin suggestions, I would suggest Mainstays containers at Walmart. They're really cheap, come in different sizes and are made for your fridge. If you are not near a Walmart, Container Stores or Bed Bath and Beyonds have similar solutions.

Foods that are not in clear bins or for some reason do not fit in clear bins should have your initials or color coded dots. You can find colored dots at any dollar store, Walmart, Target, or any office supplies store. Assign each room mate with a color and then label accordingly. I would strongly suggest having a notecard with the colors and names on the outside of the fridge so that there is no confusion, or no "I thought that was my color" bull crap when you realize someone ate your cookies.

All condiments should be placed on the door of the fridge, unless you want to keep it in your bin. Trust me, this saves space. And if you haven't done so already, adjust the height of each shelf to fit all of your items. If you think something doesn't fit, you can make it fit.

Once a week, check foods that have expired. Expired foods are probably what take up the most clutter in someone's fridge. If you have had ketchup or any condiment in your fridge for over a year, it's probably bad--don't use it and throw it out. Reward yourself with a new bottle of ketchup. It'll probably taste better and look better. Make sure every room mate does this with their individual eats, and if you see something that's expired that belongs to them, don't just throw it out. Let them know nicely or write them a note on a white board on your fridge.

So I hate to say it, but a lot of the items that you store in the fridge really belong elsewhere. Here's a little taste of what doesn't need refrigeration. And who knows? Maybe this will make a lot more room in your fridge. Of course, you CAN refrigerate these things if you want, and if it's more practical for your kitchen space, but that's all up to you. It's not necessary.

Potatoes, honey, onions, tomatoes, peanutbutter, bread (up to you), bananas, baked goods, oils, apples, basil, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, ginger, grapefruit, jicama, lemons, limes, mangoes, oranges, papayas, peppers, pineapple, pomegranates, watermelon, squash, sweet potatoes, unopened canned goods, hot sauce, jellies and jams, soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, mustard.



Hope this helps!! Send pictures of your refrigerator's before and after! As for me, I'll probably do this to my fridge too.

Kitchen Pantry

 

Of all the things that I have done in my life, I regret one thing: not taking a before picture of this pantry. If you would have seen the before, only then would you know the extreme impact of decluttering and organizing this pantry. The picture above is pristine, I know, but it does not show how many things were stored in here. For example, there were 5 cans and bottles of gravy. You think that's funny? Look at your pantry and tell me you don't have cranberry sauce from last Thanksgiving. There was also a large basket on the floor that housed a lot of Nutrisystem, but we ended up throwing that away along with the 8 other trash bags of expired food and one box of donated canned goods. 

Since these shelves are pretty deep, the main problem with functionality in this closet was the visibility of all the food items. I suggested that we use Lazy Susans from Bed Bath and Beyond for canned goods and bottles. This way, Cindy and Greg would easily find items and save money by not buying doubles of something. Something as simple as Lazy Susans created a more functional pantry. There was no need for labeled containers, or fancy shelving, which is what I feel like people tend to resort to in times of pantry disorganization. The more simple a solution is, the better!

 

We then separated the food into sections to the left and right of the Lazy Susans.The categories that work best for this family ended up being pasta, breakfast, snacks, Nutrisystem shelf (my personal favorite, since it's now all in one place and organized by meal), plastic bags and storage, baking, party supplies, and cooking supplies. Some minor adjustments that we made were adjusting a shelf to fit cereal boxes, fixing a crooked shelf, and removing the basket on the floor! Ta-da!

Dijon Mustard Crusted Tofu with Garlic-Chive Mashed Potatoes and Spinach

This is my first recipe in my mini-series, $10 Meals for Two. I'll have my how-to along with a shopping list.

I based the recipe off of one I found on my epicurious app on my phone (which I highly recommend), "Mustard-Crusted Tofu with Kale and Sweet Potato". Instead of using kale and sweet potato, I used normal russet potatoes and spinach. I guess I wasn't in a kale sort of mood? The mashed potatoes come from another epicurious recipe, "Chive and Garlic Mashed Potatoes." There's no such thing as too much garlic! If you have your own method of making your mashed potatoes, go for it. I was a newbie when I first made this and fudged up about 3 times before I made great mashed potatoes. The spinach is just sauteed with olive oil, salt, pepper and maybe 4 cloves of garlic?

This is a great weekday date meal for you love birds. 

You should cook the three items in the following order, overlapping cooking times if you can: potatoes, tofu, spinach.

Bon apetit!

Shopping List: (the shopping list may not amount to $10, but a lot of items can be used for other recipes)

• 1 garlic head
• Butter
• Chives
• 2-4 russet or red-skinned potatoes
• 1 package of tofu
• Dijon Mustard
• 1 bunch of spinach

I am assuming that you already have olive oil, salt and pepper. If you do not, then substitute in the oil you do have and get some salt and pepper! Students or budget persons, if you do not know this already, you can probably just walk into a McDonald's or Chipotle and grab some salt and pepper packs. AND obviously if you drag your ass to Whole Foods, you're not going to end up with a $10 meal.

Chive and Garlic Mashed Potatoes Recipe: 

Ingredients: 
2-4 unpeeled russet or red-skinned potatoes, rinsed
1/2 stick to 1 stick of butter (or butter substitute)
3 garlic cloves, minced
chopped chives (amount to your liking)
Salt and pepper to taste

Tips: I used russet potatoes because I found them cheap at Trader Joe's. I used 2 and I was pretty stuffed, but you may want to cook more. Depending on the store, a bag of potatoes may be cheaper in the long run, rather than buying them individually. 

Directions: 

1.  Place potatoes in a pot of water and boil until potatoes are soft. This was about 20 minutes for me. Check on them periodically.
2. Meanwhile, mince your garlic and chives and prepare your butter. I usually cut the butter into smaller pieces so that it melts quicker. 
3. When potatoes are soft, drain the water and slice potatoes into 1-1 1/2 inch pieces. Use a fork or masher to slightly mash the potatoes.
4. Place a slice of your butter on the bottom of the pot, and heat. Cook minced garlic until golden brown. 
5. Place potatoes in pot and mix in with garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix in chives. 
6. Enjoy!

Mustard-Crusted Tofu Recipe: 

Ingredients:
1 14-ounce package of firm tofu
Olive Oil (or whatever you have available)
1/2 cup whole grain Dijon Mustard (you may need more or less.)

Tips: I use olive oil in all of my dishes unless it asks for a specific kind for flavor-purposes, such as sesame oil. As for Dijon Mustard, the better the quality, the better it is. For this dish, I just picked up the cheapest bottle from the deli.


Directions:

1. Slice tofu block into four equal parts. The proceed to cut each fourth into smaller rectangles. Pat tofu dry if necessary to remove any extra moisture.
   
2. Squirt Dijon Mustard onto a dish or in a bowl. Coat each side of the tofu slices with a generous amount of the mustard. Place aside.
3. Heat a large skillet and coat the bottom with olive oil. Do not put too much or too little, because the tofu may burn or just not cook. 
4. Place tofu on skillet. Cover and let each side cook until they look crisp. This will take about two minutes, but may take longer. Keep an eye on them. Some mustard may come off onto the pan, but don't worry--it's normal. 
5. Enjoy!

Sauteed Spinach: 

1 bunch spinach leaves, stems taken off
3 or more cloves garlic, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive Oil

Tips: I would cook this while the tofu is frying. It doesn't take that long for the spinach to cook, but it takes a while to de-stem them. 

Directions:  

1.  After spinach leaves are de-stemmed, rinse them under cold water. Make sure excess liquid is gone.
2. Heat a large skillet or pot with olive oil enough to coat the bottom. You may need to add more later on. 
3. Place in garlic slices and cook until golden. 
4. Slowly add in spinach leaves. It looks like a lot now, but it cooks down significantly. Continue to stir until the bunch shrinks. It should take about 3 minutes, give or take.
5. Add in salt and pepper to taste.
6. Bam!

Plating:
First place your potatoes on a dinner plate. A good amount, enough to fill ya. Keep in mind that tofu is really filling, as are the potatoes, so don't overload it. Gently place a generous serving of your greens on top of the potatoes. Place your tofu on top. I would start with four or five slices. 

To garnish and add a little bit of a punch, slice a lime and squeeze some juice on top of the tofu. It sounds gross, but it is delicious along with the mustard. 


Enjoy! I kind of want to make this tonight! Mmm.