Kitchen Challenge Vol 1: Taking Inventory and Planning Recipes

why tidying can be super emotional and there's nothing wrong with you

Hey Hey Hey,

‘Tis been a minute because I’ve been sick, but I am back with some updates on my Kitchen Challenge! I recently wrote about my proactive attempts to declutter my apartment before my much-anticipated December Move™ and despite every assumption to the contrary, it’s actually going fairly well?

I’m now going to be far too long-winded about tidying, so if that doesn’t actively titillate you, skip to the recipes at the bottom. If you get there and find yourself enraged that these are recycled recipes from previous newsletters, I invite you to aggressively press the “like” button and angrily share this post with three friends who might enjoy it. Kidding…(not really).

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In 2019, I had moved into my first solo-apartment and was preparing to (yet again) move back into a shared apartment for grad school. I was tasked with packing up a 1 bedroom apartment and somehow downsizing it to 1 room. My friend’s mother was going through rigorous training for the KonMari consultant certification program at the time (that I’m not totally convinced wasn’t a cult) and used me and my apartment as her requisite experience hours. Cult-adjacent or not, The KonMari method actually helped me tremendously.

One of the biggest lessons I learned from working with a KonMari Consultant was that in order to effectively tidy and build a routine around consistent maintenance of an organized home, you first must take everything out of the drawers, cupboards, closets etc. so that you can see and touch everything. This is not only to ascertain what “sparks joy,” but also to determine what things in your home are actually useful and needed. For example, I decided to donate my toaster because that same function can be performed by the cast-iron skillet I already own and without it, I have more counter space and measurably fewer crumbs on the floor. Literally where is my crown?

Step 1: Know How You Got Here

More than anything, this inventory step is crucial to understanding your relationship to your belongings. With everything in front of me, I could no longer avoid questions like:

• How do I feel when I look at this? What memories does it bring up?

• Why do I have so many multiples of the same thing?

• Why do I hide that keepsake in the back of the closet instead of displaying it?

• Why do I still own clothes that do not fit or do not honor the body I have now?

• Why do I hold onto things that are broken? Do I want to fix them? Is it worth the effort or can I let it go?

Honestly these metaphors write themselves...By sitting with these questions from a place of compassion instead of shame I became more aware of the choices I’ve made and the choices I still had before me when it came to curating my space. When I asked myself how I came to be surrounded by all of these things—from twenty rolls of painter’s tape to my great-grandmother’s quilt— and then paid attention to the feelings they evoked, I was able to better understand how my home contributed to how I felt about myself.

Shocker: this initial part is really hard because the answers may reveal deep insecurities or wounds from childhood. (I keep broken things because maybe if I try really hard, I can fix them!!!) They also may shed light on idiosyncrasies we hadn’t noticed in ourselves or underscore how much we have grown in our ability to experience joy and peace. By engaging with my STUFF in this way, I was able to more clearly understand what motivations guided my choices, and then I was more readily able to envision how I wanted my home to feel and how I hoped to function within it. The point of looking and touching all of your stuff (at least to me) is to connect myself to my surroundings so that I can make more informed and intentional choices in the future regarding obtaining, using, and showcasing the things that are important and/or useful to me. My home reflects who I am, so I not only want to feel safe, nourished, and joyful in it, but I also want to know how my actions have contributed to those feelings and the feelings of others.

Note: I do not do this emotional self-inquiry each time I organize!! I did it one single time and to be frank, that was enough. Every organization project since then has been more guided by “can my blender actually fit under that shelf, and will I strain my back trying to retrieve it?” and less “what actually is my purpose?”

Step 2: What’s Your Problem, Actually?

I knew I had a problem when my friend Alicia, after helping me dry my dishes (will I ever own a dishwasher?), asked me where my bowls go, and I simply wafted my hand over my head like an elderly wizard and declared “wherever you want, honestly” and wandered to the living to watch my programs. Surely you have a place for your bowls, Montana. No. In fact, I can assure you I do not. Whatever system I once had is long dead along with my will to ever re-enter my kitchen.

You Can’t Organize Your Way Out of a Spending Problem

I told myself I’d organize my bowls…eventually. And of course every time I needed to eat oatmeal (which is quite regularly, it turns out), I would spend the first few minutes trying to find the appropriate bowl. Another thing I learned from Marie Kondo is that often times we think that we have an organizing problem when in actuality, we have surplus problem. Reader, I had too many bowls.

Now, I’m not telling you to donate everything except a spork and shallow bowl, but chances are that the reason your kitchen isn’t tidy is because you have too many things you do not use regularly enough to keep. With too many things, sensible storage and organizational systems are really hard to sustain. (Montana, recycle the empty jar of Rao’s Arrabbiata Sauce! You do not pickle frequently enough for this stockpile of glass vessels!!)

Step 3: Take Inventory: What To Toss, Donate, or Keep

I used to think that I would someday find the perfect and permanent place for everything and thereby, obviously, reach nirvana. However, I am a mover and a shaker, and I love to rearrange my living space whenever it suits my fancy. I do not have a container for my hair ties, but I do know that one fell behind my desk on Tuesday, so I know exactly where to retrieve one if needed.

Call it a creative practice, call it hyperactivity, but my interminable quest for novelty in my old apartment means that having a Place For Things is trickier to sustain than a house that remains the same (but not impossible!) I recently rearranged how I display nearly all of my dishware, how I hide almost all of my unsightly Tupperware and appliances, and how I store my food. In the process, I finally sorted through what needed to be donated, thrown away, or kept. Here was my very scientific process:

The Inventory Process (Appliances + Dishware)

1. Make sure you have a cleared surface, like a kitchen table/ island etc.

2. Get a big plastic bin (Do not buy this! If you don’t have one, look for one on the street, borrow from a friend, ask a teacher you know who probably has a few in their classroom)

   1. ***If you are in the UK, please note a bin is not the garbage it is simply a big tub

3. Start with one shelf at a time and remove all its contents onto the cleared surface (if you have a shelf with all your plates bowls etc., put them all on the table).

4. CLEAN the shelf with surface cleaner (use whatever cleaner the surface requires — my favorite ‘clean’ scent is Mrs. Meyer’s Lavender; I wish to be buried with it).

5. Go through all your dishes and assess:

   1. are any broken irreparably? —> BIN!

   2. are any freakishly seasonal? (FALALALALA! Or NOEL, NOEL!) —> BIN!

   3. were any purchased by your ex and now whenever you look at them you want to throw up, so you actually haven’t eaten any food off of it in years? —> BIN!

   4. do you have enough dishware for entertaining twelve people at a time but you only have two friends? —> BIN!

   5. replace all dishes back onto your gorgeously clean shelf (or leave on the table if you are wanting to relocate them)

   6. repeat this process shelf by shelf with all cups, silverware, Tupperware, and cooking gadgets etc.

      1. Do you need a microplane AND a garlic mincer AND a cheese grater? no…these all do the same thing —> BIN!

      2. Do you need Tupperware that is missing a matching lid? No. —> BIN!

      3. Do you need coffee mugs from jobs you quit because you hated the workplace culture? No. —> BIN!

   7. do you have enough totes for a small village to fashion themselves canvas uniforms? keep 4 and the rest…BIN!

   8. put the bin on the street with a free label or in your car to deal with… later. These things rattle so loudly that you’ll drive them to Goodwill in no time just to stop the raucous clatters.

   9. Boom. A clean, less cluttered kitchen.

If you’re anything like me, at the end of this process you still have a sink full of dirty dishes, which was the one task you said you’d do this morning. And now it’s 4 pm. And it’s time for a nap.

The Inventory Process (Food)

Repeat exactly the same process for food, but the bin is actually garbage can this time. Brits, nothing changes for you. The bin’s the bin.

Here’s the thing, you’ve got to have a sense of humor here or this experience can get very dark very quickly. Without the ability to laugh at yourself, the fact that you still have a can of condensed milk that expired four relationships ago may send you into a shame spiral about your executive function, global famine, and the climate crisis. I recommend having a friend or trusted-other around either physically or virtually to lighten the mood and keep it truckin’. (Or just pretend it’s 2002 and listen to this playlist). We’ve all got skeletons in our closets, okay? Mine just happen perishable canned goods from the aughts.

Note: This process is not about storage and organization (that comes later!), but I would kick myself if I didn’t say now: you do NOT need expensive, fancy, matching, aesthetically-pleasing, organizational bins!

Step 4: Organizing Your Inventory

The good news is you are probably not as far gone as me, which is great. But you may struggle to keep all your things together in a place that you can readily access and that a guest can easily intuit. The organizational systems that work for me may not work for you since I try to design my home to accommodate my ADHD, but two things I live by are:

• Like goes with like (thanks Marie!)

• Make sure you can see what you have

This doesn’t mean I have all my food out in the open, but it does mean that when I open my cabinet where I store all my dry goods, I take proper advantage of risers, hanging shelves, and transparent bins so that I can see things even in the way back without having to move things around so much (RIP condensed milk circa 2018).

If you feel like you need storage solutions, please just trust me and make sure you do the inventory first. Then you organize.

The Organization Process

1. Group like foods with like foods. (Grains go together. Cans go to together. Baking ingredients go together. Snacks go together etc.)

2. Put these foods in the (freshly cleaned!) places you plan on storing them. This feels optional, but I like to see how much space each group will take up so I know what kinds of storage solutions I need.

   1. Think about how frequently you access each group and allow that, their size, and the proximity to the appliance they use to determine where the locations will be. Bigger, less frequently used items can go in the back, up high or down low. Other commonly used items should be eye-level. (Or else you’ll eventually get lazy and put them at eye level wherever you can squeeze them anyway. Cut out the middle-man.)

3. When your foods are grouped, measure your shelves / pantry doors / drawers to determine what kind / how many storage bins, hanging shelves etc. you will need.

4. Draw some pictures with dimensions (you do not have to be an artist, but this step is helpful when you are online / at the store so you can envision what the storage will look like in 3D.)

5. Then (and only then!) look at your local No-Buy Facebook Groups, Facebook Marketplace, the alleyway behind your house, Goodwill, charity shops, and if all else fails discount shops like Marshalls, TJMaxx etc to buy your materials.

6. Now the fun part! Put all the things into the storage containers and Tetris them until you get a sweet hit of dopamine. Ohhhh yeah. That’s the good stuff.

using can / spice drawer and cabinet organizers like these have been super helpful (I get mine at goodwill mostly — don’t pay full price for these!)

Step 5: Using Your Food Inventory For Meal Prepping

After taking everything out of my pantry and discarding everything that was past its best by date, I began a log of everything I have that can be fashioned into fiber-forward (IBS girlies get it) meals that I can eat between now and December. Not only does this save me money (I swear I enter a fugue state and buy more quinoa every time I go grocery shopping despite never cooking with the South American grain), but it also allows me to eat healthy meals I plan out ahead of time and to move in December with markedly fewer things.

I have modified a Kitchen Inventory that was focused on budgeting to help me create recipes specifically targeted to use what food I already have. I adapted it from a this reddit thread, which I recommend if you are focused on the financial aspect of a Kitchen Inventory. You can access a copy of my spreadsheet here if you are more curious about the tidying / organizing aspect.

The Recipes

With this spreadsheet I’ve made a few recipes this week — some tried, true and previously shared, others new and recently community-sourced. Though I have a long way to go, I am happy to announce I am now officially out of:

• dried pinto beans

• yeast

• walnuts

🧁Recipe #1: Weezie Beans (Re-vamped)

Chances are, you have dried beans you bought in an attempt to be more eco and gut-friendly, but your lazy ass still makes canned ones every time like me. Well, Rachael Ray, it’s time for Anthony Bourdain¹ to enter your kitchen.

Every woman on my mom’s side knows these beans. They are just beans, but they are also a portal to another dimension and make your house smell like 1973.

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of pinto beans (you can soak them or not, my grandma did not give one single damn about soaking)

• 6 cups of water (add more if you’re cooking longer than a few hours)

• 1 ham hock (I was too lazy to add this, don’t tell my Auntie Julie!)

• 2 bay leaves

• some cumin

• some paprika

• salt/pepper

• fresh rosemary

• sage

• thyme

• an onion (?)

Directions:
This second-go-’round, I used my grandmother’s recipe and followed some tips from Serious Eats’ “How To Cook Dried Beans”

1. Rinse your beams

2. Soak your beans in salty water while you do other stuff

3. Bring 6-8 cups of water to a boil and add your beans and spices.

4. Let simmer for 3-6 hours.

5. Let the house smell like your grandma and do a crossword puzzle or embroider something.

I don’t have exact measurements because I learned how to make these by sniffing and watching. I eat them alone or with homemade bread.

**I don’t mean I eat them alone as in like…by myself. I’m not lonely, okay? I have friends. People love me. I more meant like… à la carte.

🧁Recipe #2: Banana Nut Bread (w/ Walnuts and Chocolate)

Okay this woman is so aggressive in her love of banana bread and her insistence that you make it, but don’t let her style intimidate you. Let it inspire you. The bread rocks! I added chocolate chips and walnuts to the batter because I need those textured surprises, but feel free to leave those out! ‘Tis moist.

🧁Recipe #3: Ginger Lemon Zucchini Chicken Soup

This recipe comes from Hannah Kearon on Tiktok. It’s super simple and can be made completely from Trader Joe’s ingredients for trés cheap. I make it all the time; it’s my favorite. She doesn’t have a recipe posted, so below are just my notes from her video. Def watch it to follow along!

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup soaked cashews

• nutritional yeast

• 2-4 lemons

• 1 egg yolk

• 2 chicken breasts

• carrots

• celery

• onion

• olive oil

• salt & pepper

• 2 zucchinis

• Herbs:

  • dried oregano, thyme

  • 2 bay leaves

  • a few sprigs rosemary

• Red pepper

• Turmeric

Directions

Start soaking 1/3 cup cashews in water so they get tender while you prep the soup.

1. Grab a dutch oven / soup pot and saute diced celery, onion, carrot in some olive oil w/ some salt and pepper

2. Mince some ginger (measure with your heart) and throw it in

3. Mince and add 6 cloves fresh garlic (again, use the heart)

4. Add herbs (I used dried)

   1. Oregano

   2. Thyme

   3. Rosemary

   4. 2 bay leaves

5. Add chicken / bone broth (however much soup you’re going to eat)

6. Cube add 2 large zucchinis to the pot

7. Add 2 chicken breasts to the pot

8. Cover for 20 mins

Now work on your ‘cream’…

1. Blend 1 egg yolk with 1/3 cup soaked cashews and some nutritional yeast

2. Add juice of 2-4 lemons (depends how lemony you like it)

3. After soup has been simmering for 20 mins, take chicken breasts out, shred them, and add them back in

4. Add the creamy mixture to the soup and let simmer for a while longer

5. Chop some fresh parsley (I hate parsley)

6. Add parsley, some turmeric, and some red pepper

7. Voila

Craving New Recipes? Stay Tuned!

In this week’s Wednesday Roundup I will be sharing recipes from a French-inspired Summer Dinner Party I hosted a few weeks ago replete with sides and dessert bien sûr. Keep an eye on the inbox ;)

Also, not in a needy and pathetic way, but if you enjoy my newsletters I will SWOON if you give it a like by tapping the heart, leaving a comment, or sending it to someone you love. If you hate this newsletter, I would also accept you sending it to someone you hate.

XO,
M

1. Anthony Bourdain absolutely disdained Rachael Ray’s “quick and easy” approach to cooking. Though some of it was a bit body-shamey, I do appreciate how much he cares about cooking and eating with intentionality, caring about quality, and connecting with others through food. Rest in peace, ledge.