How To Clean Your (real food) Kitchen In 8 Simple Steps

 The kitchen is the heart of the home.  A lot of time is spent in the kitchen especially if you cook from scratch.  I think the ONLY drawback to eating real food and making most things from scratch is the mess it creates in your kitchen. It takes time and effort to eat real!

At the end of a long day a messy kitchen is the LAST thing I want to tackle.  However, I know that waking up to a messy kitchen makes me feel like I’m starting my day off 3 steps behind.

Once I got a system in place to clean my kitchen it has been much easier to get the job done.  I have direction and  I stay on task. I used to aimlessly put 1 thing away from the table then move to the stove and then to the counter, then back to the table and to the sink. I didn’t see much progress.  Now that I have a system in place I clean my kitchen much faster, I can RELAX in the evening and wake up to a clean kitchen which is so helpful in keeping up on the housework for the rest of the day.

I like to think of it like I’m working from the outside areas of the kitchen, in towards my sink.  This way I can see the progress. At first the table is all cleared and wiped down, then you begin from the outside counters the farthest from the sink. Clear the dishes and place them into the sink, put ingredients away and wipe counters down as you move your way in towards the sink. Again, this is great because you SEE the progress. Your sink may be full of dishes but your table and counter tops are clean! Once all the counter tops are cleaned then you rinse and put dishes in the dishwasher or hand wash them, then finish with sweeping the floor and taking out the trash.

I also have to mention that any cleaning you can do as you’re cooking can save time in the end. Try to get sticky utensils and dishes soaking right away and get them right to the dishwasher.  Wipe up spills before they dry.  What’s that saying?  “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?”

I like to set my microwave timer for 15 minutes and try to get it all done in that time.  Most of the time I can! You move a lot faster when you set a timer, I love it.  Here’s to a clean kitchen and a relaxing evening, let me know how it goes in the comments below.