Simple Changes

Sometimes you make simple changes, and you wonder why you never thought of it until now. Sometimes, you realize that maybe you're the last person on earth to think of this, and then you feel stupid. In writing this posting, I must admit to hoping that it doesn't fall into the last category. But I thought I'd share with you a couple of super simple changes I implemented a few months ago that have been working fabulously for us. And we're all wondering why we never thought of them before.

1.) The inside of the refrigerator was reprioritized. It was not a simple cleaning out, or a reorganization, but a switching things up entirely to reflect better priorities. I wanted the most accessible food to be the healthiest for us, so that what we see first and grab for with the most ease is the food we should be eating.
I don't normally share pictures of the inside of our refrigerator, so this seems a little strange, but here goes...

How it works:

The top shelf now contains beverages: orange juice, half-and-half, heavy whipping cream, buttermilk, cider, cordials, unfinished bottles of wine, etc.

The main shelf, the second one and the most easily accessible, contains everything healthy: fruit, yogurt, natural peanut butter, homemade pickles, chopped up vegetables for eating or tossing in salads or omelettes, hummus, and more.

The third shelf contains leftovers and eggs.

And the bottom shelf contains: bottles and jarred things pushed to the back (banana peppers, hot fudge sauce, etc.) and all breads (bread, bagels, English muffins, etc.)

It's working great to have the bread the least obvious and the healthy foods right in front of our eyes.

2.) Water bottles in bulk to go. Water is my favorite beverage...hands down! LOVE it! I am rarely without a glass of water within arm's reach at home, or without a water bottle when I'm on the go. I'd like to be one of those people who has one of those lovely Swell bottles, but truth be told...to me stainless steel water bottles just have a metallic taste which turns my stomach. Since I don't like being without water, I usually just kept a case of water in my car. But I started to think of how much nicer it would be to just have a bin where you could grab one. So, I bought this meal bin at Target, and it's working out great!

 

So much easier than trying to tear the heavy plastic and stretching it until you can wrangle a water bottle out. The case comes straight out of my grocery cart, and while I'm standing in the parking lot at the grocery store, I empty the case and fill the bin. It' almost funny how frequently someone in the family says, "I love the new water bottle bin!" It's not like I invented sliced bread! ;-) Initially, we had an issue with the bin wanting to slide and tip over. But my car has these handy little rings on the side (semi-visible in this photo at the bottom right corner of the bin), and we just attached the bin to the ring with a clip, and the problem was solved. Another option would be a heavier bin, like an old, wooden crate.

If I'm not the last person on earth to think of these things, I hope you found them helpful.