5 kitchen items you can really throw away now
Be honest: how often do you use mace in the kitchen? You know, that spice you bought eight years ago because you needed a pinch of it for a recipe—and oh look, there’s also the packet from six years ago, when you forgot at the store that you’d already bought a packet two years earlier… Get rid of it! Just like these other things…
Because if you too (just like me), when someone demanded the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth from you, would have to admit that you have a very slight tendency to hoard/collect things, then it’s probably time to give your kitchen cupboards a good clear-out too.
Those herbs and spices
Seriously, herbs and spices lose their aroma and flavor over time. You may not see dried bay leaves going moldy anytime soon, but take it from us: after two years, they don’t taste of anything anymore. All those jars and packets older than a year: just throw them away. And of course, you’re perfectly allowed to buy new ones to replace them! Just use them a lot more often, and buy small packages.
A cutting board that makes you sick
We’ve written about it before: you really should replace a cutting board once it’s covered in grooves and cuts: bacteria collect in them, and they can make you seriously ill. The more damaged it is, the harder it is to clean a cutting board thoroughly. Until then: this is how you maintain a wooden cutting board.
Eat more jam
If you’ve made jam yourself (good for you!), the amount of sugar that went into it may make it seem as though it will keep forever. But you should still eat homemade jam (which you should always put into properly sterilized jars) within a year. And if you can’t manage that, there are bound to be other people who would be very happy to receive it!
Kitchen gadgets
I totally understand if, while in a half-baked mood, you saw an ad and decided that you couldn’t go on living without a bullet-shaped blender. Or a forty-piece set of molds for pressing squares out of potatoes and apples. But have you used that thing even once in the past two years? No? Then you know what you need to do. A one-way trip to the thrift store for that 2-in-1 rotating pan…
Freshly home-baked
Even if you manage to keep flour bug-free, that doesn’t mean you can store it forever. Pay close attention to the expiration date: after that, the quality really deteriorates, and anything you use it for may start to taste stale and old. Use it up in time—and it’s hardly a punishment to make (and eat) your own pink cakes, is it?
Read also:
- Don’t throw it away! You can use that garlic net for something else
- 7 great tips to make you even more handy in the kitchen
- Stop it! Salad doesn’t belong in a jar
