Organisation

I am, despite not being Swiss, disgustingly organised. Neurotically organised. My spice and herb shelf is divided with herbs on one side, and spices on the other. To the far left are the spice jars that haven't yet been opened. To the far right are the herbs that I use more often than the others. There is no section for herbs that haven't yet been opened, so it is indeed thought out.

Mess, disorder, untidyness- these are things that get on my nerves. One of the first things that Greta learned to do independently was tidy up at the end of her day, before being put to bed.

The fact that she also shouts at me if there are crumbs on the floor until I clean them up- she gets that from her father. The Swiss parent. Because I'd be quite happy to leave them where they are for a while longer, until I get round to it.

Suffice to say, I like things to be sorted, divided up, and tidily put in their allocated space.

Which is why I don't understand why I left my freezer so untidy for so long. I think it's because when we moved I was so un-used to having a freezer bigger than two pathetically small drawers and an ice-cube tray that whatever I put in there was just rattling around in an empty drawer!

Now, we have a full-length freezer. And now, eleven months after moving in, it was getting pretty near full.

I therefore tidied it. I took out the drawers, listed what was in them, organised it a bit, and then put everything away tidily.

The picture above is the white board on the kitchen wall. It usually has recipes held to it by magnets, but I took the opportunity to tidy those too. I need to get a ring binder to store my recipes-torn-from-magazines, really I do!

However, what the tidying up process showed me was that I really need to start to work my way through the contents of the freezer. Things need unfrozen, cooked, and eaten.

The two drawers of Greta-divided portions also need unfrozen, an attempt made to get her to at least taste them, and then, no doubt, thrown out.

I need to make risotto, or even soup, with my home-made chicken stock. I need to use up the "vegetable water" and make vegetable stock with it. And then use that for a risotto... or even soup.

I think that a couple of weeks with minimal food shopping, just sticking to fresh fruit and vegetables, might be a good idea. That way I could also start clearing out the food cupboards and drawers... which... come to think of it... could also do with being tidied.