Essential Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Fridge

We recently moved into our lovely but small barn which at the moment only has a not so lovely and rather small fridge and I have to be pretty clever getting everything to fit in.  

I used to work in a restaurant with a similar problem and in this case there was literally only one way to get it all to fit so we called it Rubik's Fridge.

Here are some good ideas if you are in a similar situation.

How to Organise your Fridge

In no particular order ...

~   Cover everything.  Not only is this good practice to stop cross-pongination it also means you can put something else on top; stacking, as it's known in the trade.

~   Don't use round containers - they are not ergonomical!

~   They do say, and I believe them, that a packed fridge is more economical as it takes less energy than cooling a lot of air.  Having said that ...

~   ... make sure there is enough room for some air circulation!

~   Decant everything possible into smaller containers.  I use sandwich bags for most things as the air and be squashed out and they squish into convenient shapes as needed. 
~   Never store anything in an open can as this is very naughty.

~   Don't bother storing bread in the fridge, it takes up loads of room and is pointless, it will stale much quicker than out of the fridge.

~   Don't keep tomatoes, bananas or avocados in the fridge either, or potatoes or onions although you probably know that.

~   Gather like foods together, for instance I always keep a cheese box in the fridge for my collection.

~   Operate a first in first out policy by putting newer stuff at the back.

~   To save space do not keep your cat in the fridge unless he wants you to.  This is a picture of my friend Anouk's cat Oster.  They live in the Caribbean and after long walk the cat meows to be let into the fridge to cool off.

Another "useful" fridge tip I have read about is ...

"To avoid buying things you already have, take a photo of your fridge before
you go grocery shopping."

Ha ha! When I was young we used to write a shopping list but "tell that to the kids today ..."!

In other news ~ Jamie Oliver was right!

I am not alone in having remarked on Jamie Oliver's inclusion of a side of salmon in his "Save with Jamie" book.  Many people including me had suggested that this was not particularly frugal.  Well I kind of take it back.  A few days ago we bought an enormous whole salmon, 3.5 kg, for £16.  A large initial outlay I know but whilst not actually frugal it turned out to be quite a bargain so - sorry Jamie!

I had to cut the head off to get it all on the chopping board but don't worry I used it!  After removing the two sides of fish from the bones I put the skeleton and head in a large pot with a little water and treated exactly the same as I did a chicken carcass in the last post. I got 12 x 6 oz (175g - ish) portions from the sides and estimate 5 meals from the leftovers.  There are lots of ideas for leftover salmon throughout this blog so just search "salmon" in the search box. (I expect you knew that!) 

Speaking of Jamie Oliver ...

I'd just like to show off a bit with this lovely review of my book, Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers.

Great preview here!

Jamie Oliver & Me!

Today I saw, for the first time, Jamie Oliver's new much discussed book "Save with Jamie". 

I can't afford to buy it but I did browse for a long while. The first recipe that caught my eye, and which seems to have attracted the attention of lots of other people, included in its ingredient list a side of salmon. (More about this in the future here!) 

On closer inspection, many of the recipes (which all look fine to me, by the way, and I have always thought Jamie's food appealing) include ingredients I would not expect people on a tight budget would have much truck with: fennel, lamb (so expensive these days) and prawns, for instance.

Having said that, and seeing that there has been such an outcry among foodies and bloggers as to how unrealistic this book is for "genuinely poor people", I would just like to say that, whilst I can see their points, I don't suppose the book's target market is people actually below the poverty line, (which officially I believe we are), but rather at middling sort of chaps (I wrote that on purpose to sound middle class!) who are now feeling the pinch but can still afford a book to pick up some new ideas.

Jack Monroe says people are constrained by lack of knowledge and I very much agree with her.  It has been said that my generation (fairly old!) were the last to "learn at their mother's knees "and I don't think cooking education at schools is of much use. Wasn't it Jamie Oliver, however, who started the Ministry of Food in Rotherham together with the Pass It on Campaign whereby a few people were taught some basic recipes with the hope that they would teach more people, they would pass on the info and so on.  

This was a good idea I think but if you don't know Jamie Oliver or anyone else who can teach you to cook there are lots of books available to read for free in pubic libraries, lots of stuff on the telly ("massive fucking" big or otherwise) and learning the basics is so very, very worthwhile.  Just imagine being able to make yourself something quick, easy, cheap, healthy and utterly, utterly yummy.

At the end of April Global Poverty Project challenged us to eat for under £1 a days but I didn't join in because as I really do know how to cook and how to use every scrap I often do this anyway by accident!  

I am sure Jamie Oliver knows his stuff but so do I!

My Credentials ...

~   I have been a professional chef for over 30 years not only in the UK but also in several other places where I have learned a lot more than if I had stayed at home. 

~   I have lived in a small, crappy caravan (not on holiday - lived in) with a broken oven and the only working space was if I put a chopping board over the sink.

~   I have also lived on various boats at sea, moored up, on the hard, passage making and for a couple of years stuck in the mud!  None of them were well equipped to say the least. 

~   For many years I cooked professionally on a Caribbean island where supplies were very erratic so I had to be not only very inventive but in an way that would impress rich people on holiday!  In short I know how to cook even in limited circumstances. 

The only sort of cooking I haven't done is on the telly! 

Now In my own humble way I have been trying to spread the word on how to cook and how to make the most of your food. 

I have been writing a series of books on very useful, flexible recipes which can be learnt by heart then tweaked and adapted to make your own wonderful creations.  This seems far more useful than just publishing separate recipes. See here for all my books.

I have also written a real, grown up properly published book which can be of real help in making the most of all your food. If you want a book that helps you prepare delicious nutritious meals using even the smallest amount of leftover food and a few things you could already have in your kitchen cupboard may I recommend (and not only because I wrote it!) ...  

Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers: An Inspiring A – Z of Ingredients and Delicious Ideas 

Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers has probably five times as many recipes ideas and suggestions as Jamie's book does and is just over a third of the price, although admittedly it is not a lovely brightly illustrated hardback.  It is, however, a useful pocket bible which will certainly help save money and avoid food waste.

Considering the subject of the above blog post I think it only fair that I should show you this Amazon review of Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers.

Read more here.