The fridge of doom

[Dilbertian]

Most kitchens have a Drawer of Doom. This is my fridge of doom. It’s generally full of jars and fresh food, often leftovers, too. The out-of-shot top shelf in the door holds hard-boiled eggs. The bottom drawer can’t hold veg as it keeps freezing at the bottom, so I keep fresh meat in it. We generally overflow the upper drawer and the bottom shelf with veg. The topmost drawer holds cheese and cold meat.

So stuff gets lost at the back of the fridge. We’re forever opening another jar of pesto or pot of yogurt, and then finding a manky one at the back a few weeks later. Or dc reach in and try to remove something over the things in front - with predictable consequences. (OK, I admit it’s not just the dc!)

What can I do to improve the way I use the fridge? The shelves are moveable, including the one with the cheese drawer.

Meal plan and buy less stuff?

Yes meal plan. And I also have a shelf in my fridge with a label stuck to it that says “EAT THIS FIRST!!!!!!” which has all the opened food/ leftovers/ things that go out of date first. I also have date labels that show what day a good goes out of date so easier to chuck stuff. But the first thing is not buying so much, and meal planning def helps so much with over buying and waste :)

Buy some clear fridge drawers!! They have massively improved our fridge organisation as everyone knows where tings are and can easily pull out a drawer to see what is there rather than having things mouldering away at the back.

Ours were from tk maxx but similar from Lakeland etc.

Meal planning will help massively.

In my house, things like pesto don't even go in the fridge until the current open jar is used up.

You can also try plastic storage boxes, wilko do clear ones especially designed for the fridge.

All those jars are open! And they're all different.

All leftovers are date-labeled.

While I'm useless at meal-planning, by the end of the week the bottom two drawers will be empty, and the two big shelves will be almost empty. The cheese drawer will only have long-lasting things like Parmesan in it.

When I go shopping again, pretty much the only stuff left in the fridge will be the jars.

It's all those jars that are the problem, I think. And the fact that we seem to eat at least twice as much veg as the fridge designers think we do.

Do you have to keep your veg in the fridge? Ours goes on a veg rack. Veg isn't refrigerated in the supermarket. What's in all of the hard and bottles? Can you call some? We have some jars & bottles.....jam/chutney/ mayo/ketchup/salad dressing but you seem to have loads. 😮

Cull some......not call some 😂

Not all fruit& vegetables need to be kept in the fridge especially if you eat them up quickly.
You could also move your top shelf maybe, as there is a lot of room at the top.
Before you go shopping is the time for a clear out and to check what you don't need to buy!
You could freeze the pesto in little portions- in an ice cube tray and then transfer to a tupperware type box.

Before putting shopping away you need to get out everything that's going manky or needs using first. 1. Prep or cook with what you can (on a Sunday before shopping comes I prep veg, make mash, cook a dinner for monday) 2. Be ruthless and throw stuff that's not going to get used 3. Wipe down shelves 4. Put your shopping in and then put the stuff that needs using up at the front. My fridge is doom like but better since I started this.