In the 2 boxes of stuff I took to charity last weekend, some of it was kitchen stuff. It was surprisingly hard to part with these things. A good quality stainless steel mixing bowl set, a pan with egg coddlers (and tight-fitting lid), some genuine tupperware sippy cups. These items have lots of good life left in them, but did not get used in my day to day life (anymore). I have been lugging the mixing bowls and pan around for 20 years (that's how long I have had my own kitchen) but I always chose the OTHER mixing bowls to actually use, and the pan never seemed to be the right one for anything I make, the sippy cups are from when the kids were much younger. Letting go of all these things was strangely hard because they are so useful LOOKING.
Now that a few days have passed, it has been glorious without these things! I can't over-state how wonderful it is to open the pot-drawer to put things away and have SPACE for everything without an inpromptu game of pan-tetris. The plastics cupboard is liberated without the sippy cups -- the teetering stack of colourful plastic is off to a new family somewhere, and now my ziploc containers can be found easier. But the most dramatic difference is in the corner cupboard where the mixing bowls lived. It now has at least a full square foot of more space, tipping the scales from frustrating to functional. I still open the cupboard with a hand ready to catch what may fall out, but nothing does!
It feels like there is more air to breathe as I'm unloading the dishwasher. It feels like just that much less stress as I'm searching for something.....
and so bolstered by this success I look ahead... there are many, many more cupboards.
And since it Tis the Season to support the foodbanks, I will be tackling dry goods cupboard this week. I just heard they always need pasta and cake mixes. (Why do I need 6 flavours of cake mixes taking up space in my cupboard when my husband has high cholesterol and a temperamental gallbladder and when the kids prefer pie anyways?) I could use that space to see the healthy snack choices more clearly! I feel a little funny giving away perfectly good food, but at the same time I feel guilty that it's food from my cupboards that I'm donating (it feels "used"). As long as it's not expired I should feel fine about it though, shouldn't I?
2 comments:
My metric is whether I would eat the food or not. If I would, but for some reason I haven't, and it's still well within its best before, then I think it's OK. It's just trying to pawn off something horrible on others that isn't OK.
I went to donate a couple of cans that I found in the back of a cupboard, then realized the brand was "Western Family".... there hasn't been a Super-Valu in this town since the early '80s. Seriously, thirty years old. I can't believe they haven't exploded yet.
So they didn't go to the food bank, and they've defined my donation mantra: No one wants botulism for Christmas.
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