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I’ve been on an organizing kick lately. After overbuying groceries and pantry staples all through the winter, I realized it’s time to pare down to get ready for all the fresh foods and farmers market trips we will enjoy in the spring and summer.
So I’ve placed a moratorium on bringing new food into the house until we can get through some of this backlog of beans, canned tuna, rice, and peanut butter. Meals I put in the freezer for a rainy day, such as extra lasagna, also must get eaten before we do any new cooking.
In addition to clearing out all the pantry and freezer food we gathered in winter preparedness mode (for a big snowstorm that never came), I’ve been cleaning out the kitchen cabinets, one by one, in 15 minute blocks of time, starting with the chaos that was my Tupperware drawer (one of my two years old's favorite cabinets to “re-organize”). It feels so good to recycle a mountain of plastic storage containers and lids with no matches and pare down to just what we need.
Because the kitchen is the central gathering place in most homes, it can have so many functions in addition to food storage and preparation. With many people using their kitchen for family meals, entertainment, a home office, homework and crafting and project area, it’s no wonder it can get cluttered with all kinds of items. And people who love to cook and live to eat probably spend even more time than average in the kitchen.
So it just makes sense to keep the space as organized as possible. In my quest for greater order in the kitchen, I even checked some organizing books out of the library. Some of the tips are a little ambitious. (Who has time to keep a detailed catalog of what is in the freezer at any given point?) But many ideas that come from professional organizers can be invaluable in helping to lead to an efficient and clutter free cooking experience. Below are a few tips, from Jamie Novak’s 1000 Best Quick and Easy Organizing Secrets, that I found most helpful:
1. Think about the way you use your kitchen and organize it into zones: storage, preparation, cooking, baking, cleanup, snacks, and a beverage center. For example, if you love to bake, create a baking zone where you store bowls, baking sheets, muffin and cake pans, measuring cups, and ingredients such as flour, sugar and baking soda. That way, everything will be close at hand when you are ready to whip up some baked goods. Coffee lovers will appreciate having everything they need - mugs, sugar, spoons, coffee and coffeemaker in one place to get that morning cup as quickly as possible.
2. Keep likes with likes when storing food and equipment; all canned foods go together, vinegars and oils; drinks, condiments, and leftovers in the fridge.
3. Eliminate duplicate items and donate any small appliances you don’t know how to operate or haven’t used in a year.
4. Keeps kid friendly dishes and cups at a height where little ones can reach them and learn to do it on their own.
5. Make use of the many cabinet organizational solutions that are available, hooks, slide out shelves, wrap organizers, peg boards and lid holders, and spice racks can all free up space and make things easier to see in your cabinets.
6. Select just one way to store recipes, be it a binder, a recipe box, or a categorized accordion file. Or use your laptop or tablet device to access your recipe box right here at CDKitchen.
It really is freeing to get rid of stuff you don’t use anymore, and pass it on to someone who will. I am looking forward to a fresh start this spring with a newly organized kitchen.
With that I leave you with an easy recipe in which you can use up some extra pantry staples. Last night I decided to cook with as much as I could from the pantry and came up with an easy dinner of quesadillas, combining canned corn, garbanzo beans, jarred salsa, and canned wild salmon. If you prefer, you can substitute cooked chicken or eliminate the canned salmon. And if you have one of those quesadilla makers that were popular a couple years ago taking up space in a cabinet, you just might find out if you would use it often enough to keep it!
What are your secrets to keeping an organized kitchen?
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/1247-kitchen-organizing/
Spring Kitchen Organizing
I’ve been on an organizing kick lately. After overbuying groceries and pantry staples all through the winter, I realized it’s time to pare down to get ready for all the fresh foods and farmers market trips we will enjoy in the spring and summer.
So I’ve placed a moratorium on bringing new food into the house until we can get through some of this backlog of beans, canned tuna, rice, and peanut butter. Meals I put in the freezer for a rainy day, such as extra lasagna, also must get eaten before we do any new cooking.
In addition to clearing out all the pantry and freezer food we gathered in winter preparedness mode (for a big snowstorm that never came), I’ve been cleaning out the kitchen cabinets, one by one, in 15 minute blocks of time, starting with the chaos that was my Tupperware drawer (one of my two years old's favorite cabinets to “re-organize”). It feels so good to recycle a mountain of plastic storage containers and lids with no matches and pare down to just what we need.
Because the kitchen is the central gathering place in most homes, it can have so many functions in addition to food storage and preparation. With many people using their kitchen for family meals, entertainment, a home office, homework and crafting and project area, it’s no wonder it can get cluttered with all kinds of items. And people who love to cook and live to eat probably spend even more time than average in the kitchen.
So it just makes sense to keep the space as organized as possible. In my quest for greater order in the kitchen, I even checked some organizing books out of the library. Some of the tips are a little ambitious. (Who has time to keep a detailed catalog of what is in the freezer at any given point?) But many ideas that come from professional organizers can be invaluable in helping to lead to an efficient and clutter free cooking experience. Below are a few tips, from Jamie Novak’s 1000 Best Quick and Easy Organizing Secrets, that I found most helpful:
1. Think about the way you use your kitchen and organize it into zones: storage, preparation, cooking, baking, cleanup, snacks, and a beverage center. For example, if you love to bake, create a baking zone where you store bowls, baking sheets, muffin and cake pans, measuring cups, and ingredients such as flour, sugar and baking soda. That way, everything will be close at hand when you are ready to whip up some baked goods. Coffee lovers will appreciate having everything they need - mugs, sugar, spoons, coffee and coffeemaker in one place to get that morning cup as quickly as possible.
2. Keep likes with likes when storing food and equipment; all canned foods go together, vinegars and oils; drinks, condiments, and leftovers in the fridge.
3. Eliminate duplicate items and donate any small appliances you don’t know how to operate or haven’t used in a year.
4. Keeps kid friendly dishes and cups at a height where little ones can reach them and learn to do it on their own.
5. Make use of the many cabinet organizational solutions that are available, hooks, slide out shelves, wrap organizers, peg boards and lid holders, and spice racks can all free up space and make things easier to see in your cabinets.
6. Select just one way to store recipes, be it a binder, a recipe box, or a categorized accordion file. Or use your laptop or tablet device to access your recipe box right here at CDKitchen.
It really is freeing to get rid of stuff you don’t use anymore, and pass it on to someone who will. I am looking forward to a fresh start this spring with a newly organized kitchen.
With that I leave you with an easy recipe in which you can use up some extra pantry staples. Last night I decided to cook with as much as I could from the pantry and came up with an easy dinner of quesadillas, combining canned corn, garbanzo beans, jarred salsa, and canned wild salmon. If you prefer, you can substitute cooked chicken or eliminate the canned salmon. And if you have one of those quesadilla makers that were popular a couple years ago taking up space in a cabinet, you just might find out if you would use it often enough to keep it!
What are your secrets to keeping an organized kitchen?
Salmon And Bean Quesadillas
Made with red onion, roasted red pepper, canned, boneless salmon, chili powder, garlic powder, corn, garbanzo or black beans, lime, salt and pepper, Monterey Jack cheese
Made with red onion, roasted red pepper, canned, boneless salmon, chili powder, garlic powder, corn, garbanzo or black beans, lime, salt and pepper, Monterey Jack cheese
Serves/Makes: 6
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup roasted red pepper, finely diced
- 6 ounces canned, boneless salmon, drained and flaked
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 cup corn
- 1/2 cup garbanzo or black beans
- 1/2 lime, juiced
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 4 large flour or whole wheat tortillas
- vegetable oil
***Accompaniment***
- sour cream
- salsa
- chopped jalapenos
- lime wedges
In a small saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Cook red onions and red pepper, until onions start to soften. Add flaked salmon and stir in spice, corn, garbanzo beans, and lime juice. Add salt and pepper, taste.
Preheat a nonstick skillet or cast iron pan to medium high heat. Add a little oil or nonstick spray to cover the surface of the pan. Place a tortilla in pan, top with a large handful of cheese, half of the salmon mixture, and another tortilla. Press gently to seal. Cook until lightly brown on both sides. Keep warm and repeat with remaining tortillas.
Cut into wedges and serve with sour cream, salsa, jalapenos, and lime wedges, if desired.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/1247-kitchen-organizing/