Monday, February 2, 2009

Seeing as I'm not a fan of Salmonella...

I couldn’t think of a better reason to clean out the fridge.

I’m about to admit to all of blog land that I do not clean out my fridge regularly. Sure, I do the occasional wipe down when it is empty enough for it to be convenient, like right before going to the store, but a full on tear it apart and throw its components in the sink for a good soap and water washing...not nearly enough I’m sure.

However, seeing that I am not a fan of food poisoning or salmonella bacteria in general, I just gave my fridge the best washin’ it has ever seen.

I usually thaw my chicken in the fridge...less chance of growing bacteria that way. I haven’t ever had an issue with throwing a few breasts on a plate and letting it thaw overnight. So I’m not sure if I just chose too shallow of a plate or if the new brand of frozen chicken breasts I bought are just super pumped full of “extra juices”, but I opened the door to a fun surprise.

Pink slimy chicken juice all over the place. It had even seeped into my produce drawers and dripped all over my fresh, and unbagged might I add, fruits and veggies.

Disgusting.

I don’t tolerate the pink juice well during normal cooking, so seeing it contaminate everything in my fridge sent me on a quick cleaning kick...empty fridge or not.

I didn’t snap a before picture. The one I have in my mind will suit me fine for quite a long time I’m sure.

A ton of hot water, soap and a bottle of antibacterial spray later...the three drawers and two glass shelves were clean and ready to be reassembled.



Of course as I’m sitting here typing this post and looking at these pictures, I’m realizing I totally forgot about the door shelves. I must have been in a bit of a pink juice panic.

Oh well, I’ll tackle that the next time disaster strikes my fridge.

Want to see what other bloggers are tackling this week? Head over to 5 Minutes for Mom.

29 comments:

Laura said...

Are you kidding me? It was just a few years ago that I even started TOUCHING a chicken breast!! Skinless and boneless only in this house!

•´.¸¸.•¨¯`♥.Erin.♥´¯¨•.¸¸.´• said...

Blech blech blech. The possibilities with raw meat freak me out. After working in a restaurant for so many years, it's been drilled into my head. I always have my raw meats on the lowest level of my fridge with a cookie sheet underneath, just in case something leaks. Looks like you did a nice scrub down!!

Anonymous said...

I won't dare take a picture of my fridge. My husband leave things in there upside down so they end up dumped all down the bottom.. and then it's harder than heck to clean up! We're kinda slobs when it comes to the fridge. Maybe I should do something about that.. it's getting pretty nasty.

(Actually I may tackle that tomorrow and take pictures.. so maybe I won't let it happen again! ;) Thanks for the motivation :) )

L2L said...

awesome job, i too had to clean my bottom shelf due to some ground beef, yuck!!!!

Melonie said...

UGGGGGGGGGGGGH I hate when that happens. Gross! :-( I'm a bottom shelf person too - had it happen years ago and blech.

I'm sorry that happened to you - I think they do pump the meat full of extra juicy juices these days. Or at least the turkeys. Ewwwww.....what a messy job. But you sure did great!

WillowLakeScents said...

I was laughing as I read this post since I just had the same thing happen to me on Sunday ! I filled an entire garbage bag with things from the fridge that needed to GO !Maybe I should have taken a picture for motivation to clean it more often !

Susie said...

Great tackle! Sometimes it takes an accident like this for us to do a complete tear down.

Anonymous said...

Oh my, chicken skeeves me out too. If I opened my fridge and saw what you did, that would have sent me RIGHT over the edge! Looks good now though!

Anonymous said...

Way to go! Thats an awesome thing to do...and its looks SO purty!!

Many blessings-
Amanda

Unknown said...

Me too, don't clean mine enough. What a good feeling to have it totally spotless (and chicken juice free) right?

I can't handle chicken juice either and I thaw mine the same way. I'll have to watch out...

Thanks for the comment about handsome Jon. Lady killer, I know...

Unknown said...

Just had another thought, I used to clean mine a lot more often...hmmm....either the volume of children around here or the blogging taking over my time :)

The Raggedy Girl said...

It feels so good when the fridge is all shining clean like yours is. I would love to have one of those glass door models where you would be forced to keep it perfect all the time.
Roberta Anne

Rachelle said...

Mine could use a good washin'. Do you make house calls?

Anonymous said...

Great tackle. I don't clean out my fridge as often as I should either :) Have a great week.

Upstatemamma said...

I don't clean my fridge regularly either. Cleaning my fridge is a HUGE project. Great tackle!

Eli's Lids said...

I dropped an egg in my fridge which spurred me on to clean it out... it was gross. We are moving so I'm going to use that as an excuse to do it again... but I'm not looking forward to it. It takes forever and no one can even tell!! You go girl!!

Eli's Lids said...

I dropped an egg in my fridge which spurred me on to clean it out... it was gross. We are moving so I'm going to use that as an excuse to do it again... but I'm not looking forward to it. It takes forever and no one can even tell!! You go girl!!

Kari @ A Giveaway Addicted Mommy said...

I don't think "normal" people clean their fridges until something like what happened to you happens. Mine was funky smell... still never figured out which of the yuckiness I cleaned up was the offender. Maybe it was a mixture of smells!
Yours looked awfully better than mine did when I was finished - Great Job!

Mrs. Frogster said...

yuck - hate cleaning out the fridge! That's my man's job for sure!

Jena Webber said...

I love your writing style. A few years ago I realized that you can place the frozen chicken in a pan, add a little water and seal the lid. It thaws really quickly, and it's good too! I also do it on the grill that way.

Carolina Mama said...

Oh dear, what a project. I just want to say Bless your heart.

Jackie said...

I HATE cleaning mh fridge. I won't even tell you how long it's been for me.

I read this post the day you put it up, but I didn't get a chance to comment. Then just after that I went to get something out of the bottom drawer of my fridge and noticed some nasty goop - ok, so it wasn't pink chicken juice, but still gross...it was moldy celery juice. So I was forced to clean it...but not the whole thing. Oh, no...just that one drawer. :)

mj said...

Ok this is just the kick in the pants that I need.....I'm now motivated to cleaning out the fridge...Thanks!

jennifer said...

ewwww..

at least the fridge is clean now. it's so nice to have a nice, clean fridge.

mine is clean at least 2 times a year. that's it.

Michelle said...

Good for you! There's nothing like a cleaned out refrigerator, right? Oh, and have you thrown out your peanut butter products since the salmonella scare?

heidi @ ggip said...

A clean fridge is a wonderful thing. Too bad they don't last! Great job!

Mrs.Naz@BecomingMe said...

Good job. Fridges can get sooo disgusting

phillips phamily said...

Did you see the latest Jon and Kate plus 8? She did the same thing to her fridge in her new house.

I only clean out like that when there has been a catastrophic event such as raw meat leaking, juice spilling, etc. Or if we are about to move!

I love that feeling though, when you get done!

Melissa :) said...

And this is why I thaw my chicken on the counter the morning of the evening I cook it. Did that make sense? LOL

I feel your pain - eeeewwwwwww.

Oh, I leave my chicken in the package while it's thawing. You must separate yours I'm assuming...

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