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Slimmed down kitchen faucets
Kitchen faucets have become much more sleek and compact over the years. If your kitchen is still equipped with a traditional two handled faucet and a separate sprayer attachment, you may want to make the switch to something like this Price Pfister model. The water’s temperature is regulated by a standalone arm design that isn’t very new, but the sprayer is contained in the spout for a convenient design that keeps your sink less cluttered.
If you do go with a newer and sleeker design for your sink you can install a soap dispenser, as one of our readers suggested. This will further free your sink of clutter by getting rid of those pesky soap bottles that seem to get in the way of just about everything.
Posted by Matt on Dec 24, 2007 |
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Last night I played freezer Tetris
After narrowly escaping a smashed toe by a falling item from my freezer, I decided to stack the items in our freezer a bit more compactly. Day in and day out the items in one’s freezer become rearranged by family members and they tend to take on a different shape. This leads items to being stacked on uneven surfaces and the slick frozen surfaces also tend to make them more likely to slide out and crush your toes.
In a what turned out to be less than two minutes, I rearranged my freezer’s contents into an amazingly tight and compact block. I envisioned the items as Tetris blocks and made them fit accordingly.
So, rather than slamming the freezer door shut just before that microwave meal slides out onto the floor, take the two minutes to rearrange your frozen foods. Why leave a booby trap set for the next person opening your freezer door? That next person could be you again.
FYI – Tetris also helped Homer pack his car.
Posted by Matt on Dec 17, 2007 |
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Not all small appliances are unitaskers
In a prior post, I labeled The Panini Press as a Unitasker. It did one thing: make paninis.
Today, I want to talk about small appliances that aren’t unitaskers. For example, the Cuisinart Griddler offers more options than your regular panini press. This is a mulit-functional unit that serves as contact grill, panini press, open grill, and griddle.
When and if you decide to purchase a small appliance, take a few moments to consider its functionality. Can it do more than one, specific task?
Cuisinart has a dual Blender-Food Processor that makes space-saving sense, Kitchen Aid has an Ice Cream Maker attachment for its mixers, an Egg and Toaster unit makes both eggs and toast, and the Hamilton Beach Toast Oven is a toaster and a toaster oven in one appliance. You obviously aren’t obligated to have any of these small appliances in your home, but if you want to buy one, we encourage you to consider ones that aren’t unitaskers.
Posted by Matt on Dec 13, 2007 |
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Unitasker Wednesday: Electric egg cooker
Did you ever boil some eggs in a pot and think to yourself, “There just has to be an easier way!?!” Well, the Electric Egg Cooker may not be much easier, but it sure is much more futuristic looking. The Electric Egg Cooker just may vault you into the future of egg preparation and make you the envy of all your egg-loving friends. From Williams-Sonoma:
The space-age look of this domed appliance belies its function of producing the simplest of foods perfectly—seven hard or soft-cooked eggs or four poached ones. Just place the eggs inside, add the required amount of water and set the switch. A buzzer alerts you when the eggs are done. The base is made of stainless steel.
The egg cooker measures in at 6 1/2″ x 6 1?4″ x 6 1/2″ high. In the size and scope of other Unitaskers, this thing isn’t a behemoth, but it sure isn’t small. So, if you are incapable of using a pot and boiling water on the stove top, this device that boils water on your counter could be for you!
**Unitasker Wednesday posts humorously poke fun at the single-use items that manage to find their way into our homes.
Posted by Matt on Dec 5, 2007 |
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Twenty-first century dish racks
A recent trip to my local Container Store left me impressed with recent improvements in dish racks. Impressed by dish racks? I was surprised, too.
Growing up, our kitchen housed a large, stainless steel monstrosity of a dish rack. It was always on the counter and always holding dishes. You probably had the same dish rack in your home. I don’t own a dish rack now, however, because I predominantly own only dishwasher-safe kitchen utensils, dinnerware, and cooking supplies. In the rare event that I need to wash something by hand, I just lay out a dishtowel and set items to dry on it.
Many homes, though, are without a dishwasher and owners have to sacrifice counter space for a dish rack the same way we did when I was a kid. A walk through the kitchen supply section at the Container Store showed me that dish racks aren’t the space eating devices they used to be. Clearly, not being a handwasher of dishes has left me clueless to innovation. I found a whole world of space-saving, uncluttered options.
My favorite rack was the Sesamo manufactured by Snips and designed by i Casalinghi (pictured at right). Unfortunately, the Sesamo is not available yet through the Container Store’s website, but it’s for sale in the brick and mortar stores.
There also was an innovative In-Sink Dish Drainer that suspends itself from the sides of the sink.
When I arrived home, I found a slew of in-sink and collapsible rack designs on the internet. I even found the sexy Dish Doctor, which is designed by Marc Newson and produced by Magis, that wouldn’t be too horrible looking to leave on your counter continuously.
I’m certain that there are other, innovative, uncluttered dish racks out there that I’m missing. Most importantly, though, I’m just glad to see that the days of oversized, cumbersome dish racks are behind us. Let us know of any uncluttered dish racks you’ve encountered in our comments’ section!
Posted by Erin on Dec 4, 2007 |
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Food donation items may be lurking in your cupboard
With the holiday season upon us, what better time to do an inventory of your cupboard or pantry?! If your cupboards are anything like mine, you likely have duplicate canned goods that you can take to a local charity in time for holiday feasts.
Over the span of a year, canned goods seem to accumulate at the back of the cupboard leaving me with multiple items of the same thing. It seems to be inevitable. So, take some time, unclutter your cupboards, and donate your extra cans to a worthy cause. (Be nice, too, and check to make sure that your cans haven’t passed their expiration dates!) On your way to the donation center, you may want to stop at the grocery store and buy some extra non-perishables for good measure.
Posted by Matt on Nov 26, 2007 |
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Unitasker Wednesday: Doughnut maker
Mmmm…Doughnuts. I confess, I love those round little treats. I mean, who doesn’t? If you don’t, well more power to you, but I would imagine most of us feed our doughnut cravings every once in a while.
Indulging in a doughnut every once in a while is advisable, but making your own mini doughnuts could turn out to be a terrible move for your waistline. If you want to undertake doughnut making, Williams-Sonoma has you covered with the Mini Doughnut Maker.
Young cooks will have fun using this clever machine to create miniature cake doughnuts ready for decorating with their favorite toppings…Making seven little doughnuts is as easy as pouring batter into the wells of the machine and closing the lid.
Yes, they are suggesting turning this thing over to your children. What a great way to introduce the kiddies to the wonderful world of doughnut making! I’m sure they’ll get their fill of this contraption in about one use, and with measurements of 8″ x 10 1?2″ x 4″ high it will fit nicely in the cupboard of forgotten appliances.
** Unitasker Wednesday posts humorously poke fun at the single-use items that seem to find their way into our homes.
Posted by Matt on Nov 14, 2007 |
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Unitasker Wednesday: The Panini Press
Panini style sandwiches are, in my opinion, very delicious. Is there a way that I could recreate the panini in the comfort of my own kitchen? The Breville Ikon Panini Press does just that, but at 15 1/2″ x 12″ x 6 1/2″ high is it worth the space that it hogs up?
If you desire a panini to the point that you can’t stand it and you don’t want to part with the $100 and the cupboard space, you can probably survive by using items that you already have in your kitchen. Here is an easy step-by-step process to make a panini without a oversized panini press.
** Unitasker Wednesday posts humorously poke fun at the single-use items that seem to find their way into our homes.
Posted by Matt on Nov 7, 2007 |
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Uncluttered doesn’t have to mean sterile
When my husband and I were registering for wedding gifts, we had an epiphany about our future: we will eventually break our dishes and glassware. We doubted that we would break each and every dish, but we knew that a few would become casualties amid our daily routine.
Acknowledging that dishes will break resulted in a few changes to our registry. First, we decided to register for plain, white dishes of which we had no emotional attachment but served high utility. We went with a pattern that had been produced by a major manufacturer for decades because we knew that it was likely to continue or at least be easily replaced off of Replacements, Ltd. Also, we went with plain white because we knew that we could dress it up or down, as well as put it in the dishwasher.
Second, we decided to register for glassware that we knew was being discontinued. This kept the cost low, and paved the way for our real hope with our glassware. The idea was that as each piece broke, we would replace it with something completely different from our original set. If any of our friends broke a glass and offered to replace it, we’d just tell them to buy an inexpensive glass of their choosing. Variations in glassware look creative and inspiring against our plain white plates when we set the table.
It may sound cluttered to have non-matching glassware in the kitchen, but it’s not. We don’t have more glasses than we need, all of our glasses are functional, and they are stored appropriately. Being uncluttered doesn’t mean looking exactly the same, it means using and honoring what you have and being organized with its storage system.
The idea of mismatched glassware against a plain background can be instituted in many areas of your home. Think about having every chair around your dining table being different pieces from the same period or knobs on your kitchen cupboards being the same style but in different colors. Remember that good design and an uncluttered life can be full of variety and creativity in unconventional ways. You don’t have to live in an uncomfortable, soul-less museum to be clutter free.
Posted by Erin on Oct 26, 2007 |
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Assembling meals outside your kitchen
Making a mess in the kitchen is a fact of life if you eat at home. If cooking isn’t your favorite thing to do, then cleaning up afterward may serve as an even bigger punishment. Kitchen counters cluttered with pots and pans can create stress and make fast food tempting.
I’ve noticed a number of stores popping up in the strip malls in my area that hope to make eating at home easier and faster. These stores have all of the ingredients for a variety of dinners and customers make meals to take home and freeze. Their assembly line concept keeps your kitchen mess free and may save you time.
Dream Dinners is one of these types of stores where you prepare 12 meals in two hours. Let’s Dish is like Dream Dinners but it has an option where you can pay extra for the store to make your dinners and you just pick them up and take them home. Many of these meal assembly stores are locally owned, so check your regional retail listings to learn about them in your area.
While researching the assembly line stores, I also learned about services that will mail you dinners frozen in dry ice. Dine Wise is a meal delivery service that offers weight loss, diabetic, low carb, low sodium, and gluten free mailed meals. And, Chefs Diet is one that promises its clients that they will lose weight eating their food. A Google search for “prepared meals by mail” will yield pages of results of companies offering home delivery.
All of these options require thawing and heating your dinner in the microwave, but this can be done on serving plates. Fewer dishes and less stress about what’s for dinner can make cleaning up afterward a more enjoyable experience. And, if you clean up the kitchen, it’s likely to be uncluttered. I like to cook and don’t mind cleaning up afterward, so these types of dinners aren’t for me. However, I can see how they would be very tempting for a busy family and for people who don’t like to cook.
Posted by Erin on Oct 24, 2007 |
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Microwave Drawer frees countertops of clutter
Our appreciation goes out to Apartment Therapy for directing us to this item:
Sharp has introduced a new Microwave Drawer, which sits below the countertop instead of above or on it.
The angled touch controls are convenient and easy to use. In addition, there is no need to remove the dish from the oven to check, stir, or turn the food. For even greater convenience, a gentle pull on the handle opens the Microwave Drawer Oven automatically. Just push it gently and it closes automatically, too.
It is 24″ wide and has space to hold a 9″ x 13″ dish. This below counter microwave would be perfect for installation in a bar or kitchen island. Apartment Therapy reports that units sell for around $800. The drawer concept is certain to be a new trend, especially in homes where keeping countertops clear is a priority.
Posted by Erin on Oct 17, 2007 |
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Simple solution for small packets in your kitchen pantry
Here’s a simple solution for packets of dry goods in your pantry: Store them together in an index card file.
I store packets of yeast in a 3×5 card file and larger packets of taco and stew seasonings in a 4×6 card file. These card files keep small packets from getting lost behind boxes of pasta and cereal and they make inventory simple when creating grocery lists.
An index card file is just a simple, inexpensive way to keep clutter at bay in your pantry!
Posted by Erin on Oct 16, 2007 |
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