Frugal Cleanup Tips from a Kitchen Pro

Even with the best intentions, many consumers waste time and money by failing to follow directions that are packaged with cleaning products. Most of us quickly wipe down our countertops with liquids and sprays. But most cleaning and sanitizing products need time to operate. Soaking time ranges from 10 seconds to 5 minutes. Read the package for detailed instructions

That's the word from Chris Wagner, director of operations at Johnson & Wales University in Miami.

''Most food-borne illnesses actually happen in the home kitchen and not in the professional kitchen,'' Wagner said.

Wagner says you don't need to buy expensive cleaners. Many commercial kitchens rely on vinegar and salt solutions for heavy-duty cleanups. He recommends a two-step cleanup process for wooden butcher blocks or cutting boards.

At Johnson & Wales, wooden cutting boards are soaked in vinegar for five minutes before washing. After using, the students coat the cutting blocks with kosher salt to draw out moisture, which prevents mold and bacteria, Wagner said.

Lemon juice also deters the growth of bacteria and mold on wood and kitchen equipment.
A mixture of lemon juice and kosher salt is effective in cleaning copper pans and pots, Wagner said.

Improper methods for storing and preparing food contribute to illnesses.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends these safe food handling procedures:
• Wash hands with warm water and soap for 20 seconds before and after food preparation. Clean all surfaces.
• Avoid cross-contamination. Juices from raw meat, fish and poultry should be kept away from other food. Cutting boards, utensils and surfaces should be washed with hot soapy water when raw meat is prepared.
• Defrost meat in the refrigerator. Do not let defrosting meat drip on other food in the refrigerator.
A ''Safe Food Handling'' fact sheet is available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/

This is from my latest column in the home & design section of the Miami Herald.

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Digg!

The Financial Power of Clean Countertops & The Hidden Costs of Chipped Mugs

It's an annual ritual. We make promises on Jan. 1. And within a week, our resolutions look as promising as the discarded gift boxes.

But there's a secret to making your resolutions stick, according to Standolyn Robertson, president of the National Association of Professional Organizers and owner of Things in Place, an organizing consulting company in Massachusetts. Make organization your top priority, she says.
''An organized life is really connected to every goal,'' she told me during a recent telephone chat.


She suggests that we take a room-by-room tour of our home's public and personal living spaces. But the kitchen and the family room demand special attention.

The kitchen is the hub of the home, Robertson says. And she literally means business when she discusses the room's core value. She calls it the headquarters of the family business. The following steps will help you organize:

• Define your family goals. Do you want to increase the number of meals the family spends together? Are you trying to save money? Are you on a diet? Write down your goals (financial, health and entertainment).

• Brainstorm for ways the kitchen can support the family goals. If eating more meals together is on the agenda, examine your dining room table. Is the table cluttered and uninviting at mealtime? Are there enough chairs for everyone in the family to comfortably sit? Are your cabinets and refrigerator organized enough so that it's easy to take inventory and prepare healthy and/or frugal meals?

• Study your countertops. Too often kitchen prep areas are crowded with clutter. ''Don't underestimate the value of having a clear counter,'' Robertson says. ``It's your pallet for creating your meals.''

• Are your tools sharp and available? Dull knives and inaccessible pots will not encourage meal preparation. Without the right tools, the family is more likely to order take-out food, skip meals and splinter into self-involved groups.

• Toss your chipped mugs and purge your cabinets of dishes that are damaged or not used. ''Life is too short to drink out of a chipped mug,'' Robertson says.

This is from my latest column in the home & design section of the Miami Herald.
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Previous Posts
Yesterday:
Finding Hidden Profits in Mistakes: a 10-Step Program
Year in Review: My Best Posts in 2007

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Sharon Harvey Rosenberg is the author of The Frugal Duchess of South Beach:How to Live Well and Save Money... Anywhere! , which will be published in the Spring of 2008 by DPL Press.
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Expert Storage Tips for Saving Money With Your Frig

An organized refrigerator saves time and money. Smart cooking habits lengthen the life of your frig, as does proper storage. Here are a few tips from the pros.


• Use the crisper. Leaving fruits and vegetables on open shelves is a recipe for limp and spoiled produce, according to Paul Leuthe, corporate marketing manager for Sub-Zero appliances. A steady stream of cold air, great for other foods, is deadly for produce. ''Air dries things out,'' Leuthe says. In contrast, the ''crisper'' drawer helps fruits and vegetables stay crisp longer by providing higher humidity.


• Isolate and segregate. Randomly tossing fruits and veggies into the same bin can be wasteful, say the experts at Sub-Zero. Many fruits -- apples, melons, apricots, figs and bananas -- produce ethylene, a gas that hastens ripening. Ethylene makes most vegetables spoil faster, so store fruits and vegetables in separate bags or drawers. ''Wash them, put them in bags and keep them isolated,'' Leuthe says.


• Reconsider the door. It's tempting to store milk, eggs and other high-use items in the door. Think twice about putting highly perishable products there because the door has the greatest temperature fluctuation and agitation. Both shorten a food's shelf life.


• Maximize multilevel storage. Hot air rises. Foods needing cooler temperatures should be on the lower shelves. Use the upper ones for items less prone to spoil.


• Don't crowd. An over-packed refrigerator reduces the flow of air. With reduced circulation, the unit becomes less energy-efficient and more prone to frost and freezer burn.


• Reduce humidity. Your refrigerator will work more efficiently if you keep a lid on moisture in the kitchen.


This is from my latest column in the home & design section of the Miami Herald.
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Knobs, Handles & Frugal Kitchen Accessories.

Kitchen remodeling projects have hidden costs, including the perhaps unexpected expense of replacing knobs and handles for cabinets and drawers. Even in my small kitchen, I have about three dozen door handles and drawer knobs, with potential replacement costs of several hundred dollars. Fortunately, a friend has found a shortcut that saved her time, money and gasoline.

• Shop on-line: On the Internet, my friend found D. Lawless Hardware (www.dlawlesshardware.com), an Illinois-based company with great deals. ''I was amazed at the incredible selection. Even better, the prices ran the gamut,'' she said. For $1.79 each, she purchased cobalt blue glass knobs, with matching pulls for $3.79 each. The company will match prices if you find better deals elsewhere and my friend received free shipping because her order was over $50.

• Clearance section: Either online or in standard stores, clearance sections often have great prices. D. Lawless Hardware has a ''dollar and under'' section. Likewise, at Anthropologie, a fashion, accessory and home chain store, I recently found attractive knobs and pulls in the mark-down section. My finds included knobs reduced to $2 from $8 and a snail-shaped door pull marked down to $7.95 from $20. At Target.com, I found a set of four plastic knobs for $2.71, or about 70 cents each, and brass knobs for 75 cents a piece.

• Second-hand and cast-off furniture: My husband has purchased unique and attractive knobs and handles at thrift stores. Discarded furniture may have attractive handles, pulls and knobs.

• Internet flea markets: On eBay, I found: basic plastic knobs (38 cents), a collection of six floral ceramic pulls (69 cents for the set), a four-pack of Winnie the Pooh character drawer pulls for 82 cents, and sleek pewter handles (70 cents each), excluding shipping costs. On Amazon.com, the selection included decorative handles, pulls and knobs priced between 90 cents to $5.

• Be creative: Purchase plain wooden knobs and paint them, suggests Cheryl Wright of the Dollar Stretcher (www.stretcher.com). Consider using fewer drawer pulls, which are pricier than knobs. My friend saved a bundle by using more knobs, which were about 50 percent cheaper than the drawer pulls and handles.

This is from my latest column in the home & design section of the Miami Herald.
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Vinegar & Dishwashers: Tips From MomAdvice in Miami Herald Column

Who doesn't want to save time and effort in the kitchen? Amy Allen Clark, founder of MomAdvice.com and representative for a national cleaning products company, has developed of number of money-saving cleaning tips.

Here are the tips she shared with me:

• Use vinegar as a rinse. There's no need to buy fancy products for the rinse cycle of your dishwasher, because vinegar works just as well, Clark says. For newer models, pour a quarter cup of vinegar into the rinse dispenser. For models without a rinse dispenser, add a quarter cup of vinegar to the door dispenser during the first rinse cycle, which should be indicated by a dial or panel on the outside of your machine. For really old dishwashers, listen for the sound changes. During the rinse cycle, the vinegar will circulate and remove residue. ''Vinegar is great for removing spots on dishes,'' Clark says.

• Vinegar can clean your dishwasher. Place a bowl with two cups of vinegar upright on the lower rack. Then run the empty dishwasher without detergent to thoroughly clean the interior.

• Step-savers during cooking. ''Make sure your dishwasher is empty when you prepare a meal,'' Clark says. An empty dishwasher encourages a clean-as-you-go mentality, saving time in the long run. As you cook, lightly rinse off utensils before loading them. You'll have less to clean after dinner and less heavy-duty scrubbing.

• Soak dishes during meals. Fill a sink or plastic tub with cold water and dishwashing detergent. During cooking and dining, soak sticky or especially dirty pans or dishes. This process reduces cleanup.

• Use cooking sprays. A spritz of nonstick cooking spray in pans before cooking makes dishwashing easier. Cooking sprays also help prevent food stains in plastic containers.

This is from my latest Frugal Duchess column in the Miami Herald.
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The Frugal Duchess Booktique
The Frugal Duchess of Beauty Store

Book Shop of Fear
The Poetry & Drama Queen
Frugal Jazz & Blues
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