Do you have a specific way you place food in your refrigerator or do you just put food wherever you can find an empty spot? If you use the latter method, you probably see more food spoilage. In fact, you may have to occasionally go hunting through the fridge to find that rotten smell we have all been familiar with.

Decluttering your refrigerator is probably one of the easiest ways to prevent food from spoiling quickly. It’s an easy process once you develop a system for it. The main goal is to keep your food easily accessible and highlight the foods that need to be eaten as soon as possible (like strawberries).

The best way to start this process is to clear out all of the expired food in your refrigerator. This includes bags of leftovers you promised yourself you were going to eat and it also includes all of those jars you’ve had on the side of your door for the past few years.

Once you have only edible food left in your refrigerator, think about how you want to use it:

Dedicate space for frequent meal preparation. If you have a certain breakfast, lunch or dinner meal prep routine, dedicate a shelf or two for just those ingredients so you can easily grab them first thing.

Showcase the foods that will spoil soon. Have foods that are likely going to expire sooner than the rest displayed front and center. This will encourage you to use them in meal preparation. Clear containers also make it easy to see what’s inside.

Control the environment. Check the temperature to make sure foods are properly stored. Putting liners in the bins also helps absorb any moisture that could make your fruits or vegetables too cold.

Develop a rotation system. When you buy new food, make sure you put it behind your older food.  This keeps your food waste low and your budget on track.

Don’t forget the freezer. If it is older than 6 months, it is probably freezer burned by now and can be tossed.  Store your foods in airtight containers or bags and label them (include the date).  No more “mystery meat” for dinner, and no more wasted food.

The freezer is often underutilized. Bread, scrambled egg mix, leftover coffee, tea, and broths can all be frozen for later use. Your homemade soup, cooked rice and other dinner entrees can also be frozen if you don’t have a chance to eat the leftovers in time.

Try using an ice cube try to store single serving pieces of purees, sauces and beverages. Freeze leftover coffee for an iced coffee drink, or a cube of frozen veggie broth to whip up some gravy later in the week. Make smoothies down the road by freezing mashed or chopped fruit. Almost anything can be frozen except for canned foods in the can (although they can usually be removed and frozen) and eggs in the shell.

To keep your refrigerator decluttered, go through it once a week to identify foods that need to be eaten soon and toss what is no longer edible. Once your refrigerator is decluttered, you’ll save money by having less food spoilage and eat better because all of your food is easy to find.

Keep Your Refrigerator Running at its Best Quality

Making sure your refrigerator is well maintained can also prolong the life of the food inside. If your refrigerator isn’t working correctly, food is more likely to spoil. Consider these tips for proper maintenance of your refrigerator:

By Clarissa Allison | October 16th, 2015

Many of us get excited to decorate for Halloween and Thanksgiving, but why should our homes miss out on the sheer delight and beauty of Fall colors for the rest of the season? If you love pumpkins, the warmth of gold and rust tones and ever-changing leaves, consider decorating with autumn-themed accessories this season. Some Halloween decor like brooms, scarecrows, and orange lights represent fall itself and can be extended beyond October decorations. If you’re looking for an understated alternative to ghostly props and frightful window clings, try dazzling your home and your guests with the following fall lighting ideas this year.

efficiently as possible. Your attic fan can be installed one of two ways, either gable mounted or roof mounted, and is controlled by an automatic thermostat that shuts it off or turns it on.

An attic fan will perform as effectively as it should in a properly sealed and insulated attic, so that no heat or moist air can sneak its way in. This helps with your HVAC efficiency, and also protects your roof and your attic’s structure.

Your attic fan serves as a way to efficiently ventilate the space, but it is so much more than that, too. As we stated above, the temperature in your attic can be far above the outdoor temperatures. This is if you do not have an attic fan installed. Regular vents do allow for some cooling, but not to an extent that you’ll notice the difference.

A properly installed and serviced attic fan can help drop your attic temperatures by as much as 50 degrees, making your entire house cooler. This means you’ll be able to turn up your air conditioner’s thermostat by as much as 10 degrees, but still remain comfortable.

In the wintertime, moisture can quickly turn to ice or frost, and as that expands in can damage your roof and the structural integrity of your attic. An attic fan, however, can fend off the moisture before it is able to damage your roof in this manner.

Ice is not the only danger that moisture brings, either. When moisture cannot be ventilated and is left to sit, mold can start growing. Unfortunately it’s very easy for moisture to reach your attic—even your showering and cooking allows this to happen. But an attic fan can resolve this problem.

Your air conditioner will not have to work so hard to do its job when it is assisted by an attic fan. Also, it’s likely to last a lot longer—given that you schedule regular maintenance—when you don’t have to run it as often. Repairs will happen from time to time, but an efficiently working AC system is a lot less likely to give you problems than one that doesn’t have the assistance of an attic fan.

If you have ever watched a home makeover show, you know the kitchen is one of the most popular areas to improve. Some of the kitchen upgrades include new cabinets, counter tops and appliances. Any one of those things can run you upwards of five thousand dollars. Big renovations like that are not always feasible for everyone. Fortunately, you can still give you kitchen a face lift, without paying a huge price. All you need to do is give an electrician in Pasadena a call. The crew at The Electric Connection can help you make your kitchen look more modern, brighter and completely different.

One of the quickest ways to change the way a room feels is by opening it up. Kitchens that have hanging lights or even track lighting may feel a little closed in, simply because the space that is eaten up by the hanging lights. It detracts from the kitchen. When you have recessed lights installed by a Pasadena electrician, you will free up that space. The recessed lights are flush with the ceiling and leave plenty of head room. When you walk into the kitchen, you see pretty counters and cabinets and not light fixtures. Your view is not impeded, which makes the room feel bigger and more airy. Removing window treatments can also help open up the room.

The lights look clean and many people appreciate the sleek look they provide. With nothing getting in the way, you can see the entire kitchen explains an electrician. Pasadena homeowners will love the fact that there are different sizes and pretty options for adding rims around the lights for a more dramatic effect. You can choose to have a couple of lights or flood the room with lots of lights. Give The Electric Connection a call today and see how you can renovate your kitchen for very little investment.