Buzz
Cleaning as you go is often seen as one of the best ways to reduce the mess in the kitchen. By loading dishes into the dishwasher immediately and discarding scraps as you create them, you avoid a lot of tedious work once your meal is finished. However, I have two approaches that make the process even smoother.
Keep a Moist Towel Near Your Workstation
Wiping up spills and splashes right away prevents them from drying and becoming harder to clean. While dried tomato sauce on Formica may be removable, it’s far easier to clean it up as soon as it happens.
Rather than rummaging under the sink for the all-purpose cleaner, keep a damp kitchen towel near your cutting board and wipe up spills immediately. Spraying cleaner all around while you’re still cooking is never a great idea, no matter how natural your cleaning product is.
Besides handling small messes, you can also use the towel to wipe off a sticky knife or utensil, avoiding a pile of spoons and blades to wash later. (Just be sure to fully wash anything that has touched raw meat.)
Keep a Compost Bowl Close to Your Cutting Board
I don’t know about you, but my compost bin is tucked under my sink. Constantly ducking under to toss vegetable peels is frustrating, and keeping the bin on the counter feels unsanitary (no matter how often I try to clean it, it’s always a little gross).
Rather than letting scraps pile up on your counter, place a bowl (or a paper bag) next to the cutting board and toss everything in there as you go. Once you're finished peeling, slicing, and dicing, dump the contents into the compost bin and rinse the bowl in the sink.
