With spring having sprung (and the words of Marie Kondo echoing in my head all these years later), I've been doing my best to kick-start kitchen spring cleaning before summer arrives. But one thing I've learned after all these years is i…
Springtime means spring cleaning in my house and that means cleaning with salt. Yes, really. While there are some great natural cleaning products out there that are worth every dime (we love Better Life around here, and even housecleanin…
I've been looking for ways to store knives safely in my kitchen that will replace my knife block, ever since I've read all the reports about knife blocks requiring about once-a-month cleaning to keep nasty bacteria from growing in those …
I casually strolled into my kids' playroom and immediately spotted -- amid the Peppa Pig figurines, LEGO bricks, and 87 board books littering the floor -- a big wad of gum smushed into my brand new rug. That pretty much sums up life with…
Most good cooks weren't born with smart kitchen habits. Getting comfortable in the kitchen takes time. Here are 7 smart kitchen habits that made us better cooks. If you're looking to up your kitchen game, we bet these can help. 1. Meal p…
When January 2nd rolls around, my kitchen is a mess. The fridge is stuffed full of random leftovers, and the pantry is overflowing with half-full boxes of crackers, cereal and snacks left behind from having all of the kids home 24/7 for …
If you're anything like me, you buy a big box of baking soda when it's on sale and end up having lots leftover after it has expired. But even though it may not be fresh enough to bake with anymore, your money isn't all wasted. I found 11…
A few years ago, I read Marie Kondo's book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing and could not wait to apply it to my house. Using her mantra of only keeping things that "bring me joy," I …
In the past, we've written about how to clean our kids lunch boxes safely , say if a banana gets left in there over the weekend or a container of spaghetti somehow gets tossed back in without a lid. But this year, we may be pulling out a…
If there's one thing we all agree on, it's that now that most of us are eating three meals a day at home with our entire families (when we're not indulging on takeout to support our local restaurants ), we are in our kitchens a whole lot…
My cutting boards are in constant use so of course I'm obsessed with finding the best ways to disinfect said cutting boards. Whether it’s prepping chicken or chopping fresh produce, I know there are plenty of germs (hello, E. coli!) lurk…
We always try to keep you up to date with issues like food safety and major recalls , and right now, there are some issues with the FDA's lack of funding due to the government shutdown that might impact what you choose to eat and what yo…
If you have a deep and abiding love for your wooden cutting boards like I do, or just want them to last a little longer, I've got three couldn't-be-easier tips to help you treat those wooden cutting boards right. In return, know that you…
Cleaning the grill isn't a fun task. Prepping a grill can help keep it clean, and my husband apparently knows his stuff. He figured out this hack on his own, but he won't take credit. All he needs is half a lemon and a little olive oil. …
Earth Day is a great time to assess our eco-friendly habits, especially in the kitchen where there are so many opportunities to make a positive impact. But I get it: I'm lazy, and changing habits is hard. Sadly, when it comes to the envi…
Now that I'm officially freaked out about the germs on my dish sponge , I've started thinking about the cleanliness of my other kitchen items. And it isn't great. A 2013 study found that things like blenders, sinks, and countertops are h…
About a year ago, my mother-in-law spilled a bottle of vegetable oil. Using a handful of kitchen towels, I jumped in to help mop it up -- which just made a bigger mess. Then, after hours of cleanup, I tossed the towels into the washing m…
I'm the first to admit: I'm a bit lazy in the kitchen...after I cook, that is. I tend to toss everything into the dishwasher without checking for "dishwasher safe" labels. It's a bad habit that has now ruined my son's favorite water bott…
I'm a hawk when it comes to dirty, smelly kitchen sponges. The instant they start to stink, I do what I thought I was supposed to do and pop them into the microwave for a minute to kill the bacteria. Well, it turns out, cleaning sponges …
When our editor, Stacie, asked me to look into how to clean burnt cookie sheets, I wondered if my husband had called her to stage an intervention. I use and abuse my cookie sheets, also known as rimmed baking sheets, and as a result, the…
Hands down, the reason restaurant food is better than home cooking is that chefs know how to properly use salt. It is the essential ingredient in every meal–in every bite, really–that knocks your socks off. Chefs aren’t afraid to let it …
No matter what I've read or been told, there is a part of me that wonders, “Do I really have to wash a few lettuce leaves for my sandwich?” or “Can my kids actually get sick if I give them that non-organic lettuce straight from the packa…
My kids' lunch boxes come home from school looking pretty nasty some days -- like when the peanut butter seems to have exploded inside, or when we open it on Monday morning to find a banana was left inside over the weekend. Gross. So we'…
This summer I've made more than one of the mouthwatering Meyer Lemon Ice Box Cakes that I found at She Wears Many Hats, plus my kids have been selling lemonade like crazy. So you can imagine that I've been stocking up on lemons. With so …