I learned this from a friend who had a slobby girlfriend and tried to help her to change her ways, just a little bit, so that he wouldn’t have an anxiety attack.
I’m not a slob, but I like to hear about little tips and tricks to keep things clean and organized.
This is really easy (once you get used to it) It’s just called the Clean Sink Technique. I’ve stopped leaving dirty dishes, or crud in the sink. I either wash the dish immediately (and wipe the crud out of the sink) or rinse the item and put it in the dishwasher. If the dishwasher is full of clean dishes, I empty it immediately. I was amazed at how much cleaner the kitchen seemed when I started doing this. And I am now disgusted at the thought of dirty dishes (or food crud) left in the sink.
I also try to think ahead when I’m preparing a meal, as to how to lessen the mess that will need to be cleaned up after the fact. So I’ve followed Rachel Ray’s example by putting a big “dump bowl” on the counter to catch all of the scraps and crumbs and bits of packaging that accumulate while preparing food. You just throw it all in the dump bowl instead of having to continually open the garbage can (which usually results in having to re-wash my hands and dropping stuff on the floor). After all is said and done, I put the contents of the dump bowl in the trash. I also lay out a paper towel or a dish towel to work over so that I don’t get jelly and crumbs and gravy and olive oil or whatever all over the counter. And I keep a container of hand sanitizer on the counter so I can easily get butter or olive oil or other sticky stuff off my hands while I’m working.
And, if I know I will be washing some vegetables, I get out the big “dump bowl” and wash the veggies over this bowl. That way I can pour the water on the plants instead of just letting it go down the drain. You’d be surprised at how much water you use when you start working over a bowl. I also drain the water from cooking pasta into the dump bowl. After it cools, I pour it on the plants too. We have mandatory water rationing in our town, so this has turned out to be a great way to be able to continue to water the plants without wasting any extra water. I also keep a bucket in my shower to collect the water while I’m waiting for it to warm up.