The Kitchen: We Have A Fridge!

I love my routines.  It is nice to go to the store, buy some food and refrigerate it.  The strange thing is, I do not need as much fridge space right after a trip to the store, I need it once I have cooked a bunch of food.  Leftovers were the main problem.  I could freeze the food, but most of our leftovers I like to defrost in the fridge or just eat the next day without freezing them.

Our food budget has gone up just a bit as there are days I would just serve leftovers for dinner instead of cooking a new meal every night.  It is strange to think about how it costs less to just make more of one thing than to make a whole new meal.  (Maybe not always the case of course)  Yesterday I was tired after a long day of cleaning the fridge from head to toe on top of my usual tasks.  I just wanted a break, so instead of preparing a bunch of foods I made a salad and bought some ready made pasta salad, kale salad, roast beef, and some bread (made locally.)  It was kind of like a mini picnic in our house.

Things that I wished I had done before our fridge quit might help others out in the future.  I have not cleaned every shelf and all the old veggie leaves out of the fridge since before Bria's birth (almost 5 months ago).  Even though I consider our fridge to be tidy, it was not spotless.  This would have worked out better if I had kept on top of wiping each shelf ever few weeks and making sure all the drawers were free of carrot leaves and really old ginger root.  Most of the time I take care of leftovers that have not been eaten on trash day, but there was some really old stuff I had forgotten about.

Even after a nice wash with white vinegar, tea tree oil, and water, my fridge smells terrible!  I want to puke just thinking about the smell.  We tend to stay away from bleach unless we have to use it.  Baking soda gets rid of smells, but not this one.  I think all the mess is well cleaned up, but we might need to spray it down again.  The actual appearance of the fridge is much better.

Now the wonderful news is our fridge was repairable.  After talking to three different repair people, only one person had a positive perspective and he was the person we hired.  After less than an hour we had a fixed fridge.  The other people were preparing me for the worst.  I am glad I stuck with the person who seemed to be honest and knowledgeable. 

I have missed baking cookies and cooking double portions of stews.  Fresh salad greens will be served again at our house!