GAK!! How do you deal with the cooking aftermath?

[urmaniac13]

We all agree that cooking is a great fun, but we also agree that with it comes along this inevitable pain-in-the-u-know-what, dirty pots, pans, utensils and what not piling up in the sink and on top of the counter waiting for someone to put them away. How do you deal with them regularly? Anyone has any clever tip to ease up the pesky chore?

For me washing as I go is the best thing I can do, but still there are always too many things left after dinner, sometimes it seems to me those dirty stuff just multiply inside the sink all by themselves!!... and that is from just the two of us so I can't imagine how bad the situation could be if you had a larger family!!

If I were to become rich, what I dream of is NOT hiring a cook for us but to hire a sidekick who will do all the dirty work for me when I cook!!

 

[GB]

It all depends on what I am cooking and how tired I am after I am done. For something like stir fry, there is not enough time to cook as you go. When I make something that is on the stove for hours then the cutting board and prep tools and such will be cleaned while the food is on the stove. Usually though for dinner, I will cook, then we will eat, then I will clean up the mess. Sometimes DW is feeling generous and will clean some things.

We originally had the deal that I would cook and she would clean, but she does much more of the household chores around the house so there is no way I can in good conscious ask her to clean the dishes as well.

 

[AllenOK]

Professonally, I operate under the clean-as-you-go option. However, at home, I rarely have time for that, with 5 hungry kids and three adults all sounding off rumbling bellies. So, I voted for the "don't worry about it until the belly is full" option.

I agree with GB, though. If I have time, I will clean the prep dishes and utensils. Usually, though, my cooking is pretty much do one thing, move to another, then a third, etc., as I'm used to cooking more that two things at once. There have been times when I'll have all four burners going, something in the oven, and something in the microwave.

 

[PA Baker]

I do the best I can to clean as I go, in part because the work space in my kitchen isn't very big and because I just function better when things are clean. Lately DH has been an even bigger help than normal in cleaning up after dinner.

 

[texasgirl]

I try to wash as I cook, but, if I'm tired or just not in the mood to deal with it. I rinse it off until after we eat and then put it in the dishwasher.

 

[pdswife]

" just leave them... I did the cooking so someone else can do the washing up"

LOL.. you are funny
if I waited for someone else to do
them they'd never get done.

I clean up as I go along.
If Paul decides to cook... I clean up
as he goes along.

 

[Dina]

Dishwasher works for me! Hubby usually washes but I hate to see clutter. My dishwasher hides everything!

 

[kadesma]

I usually try to clean up as I go, but, when Cade is here he loves putting things in the dishwasher so he helps me. Dh on the other hand washes everything by hand, then I have to wait til he goes nite nite and put them into the dishwasher..His heart is in the right place, but, his eyesight is for the birds


kadesma

 

[Andy M.]

While I'm prepping and cooking, stuff gets put into the dishwasher when there's a break in the action. Once the cooking is done, I stop to eat then stuff goes into the DW after dinner. Hand wash stuff waits until tomorrow or later.

 

[Sandyj]

Whenever I watch Rachel Ray doing those thirty minute meals, I chuckle to myself, thinking of the amount of time it takes to clean up.

I try to clean up as I go along, but if I'm doing a big meal, then right at the end when everything is getting done - I've got the gravy going, the vegetables that need to be cooked very quickly and the meat needing to be carved, I kind of lose it, and the kitchen gets really messy really fast. I never seem to be able to get through the last 1/2 hour gracefully!

 

[corazon]

I try to clean as I go but only if the cooking allows. I like recipes that cook in the oven so I can clean while it cooks but that isn't always the case. Dh and I used to have a deal where I'd cook and he'd clean but it's turned out to be, except on a rare occasion, that I cook and I clean. I do try to clean as fast as I can after eating since Aidan's bedroom is right next to the kitchen.

 

[licia]

I made fried shrimp for dinner tonight - and it makes a bit of a mess - reminded me why I don't like to have it at home. It will be quite a while before I do it again.

 

[luvs]

depends which house i'm at. at the one, i do my dishes as i go and leave the kitchen neat as a pin. at the other, um....

 

[middie]

i think i'll be resorting to paper products from now on lol

 

[Maidrite]

Licia I never Knew you liked Klingon Food ? I have been Known To Drink a Little Andorian Ale with my Gak ........... ! This is for you !

 

[marmalady]

Cleaning up is what DH's are for!

 

[Andy M.]

Cleaning up is what DH's are for!

...even if the DH is the cook?

 

[CrémeBrulée]

If I'm cooking for myself alone, I clean up as I go

If I have my brother over for Sunday dinner, he cleans up

If I'm cooking for company, I can depend on at least one, usually more, people insisting on helping me

 

[urmaniac13]

I usually try to clean up as I go, but, when Cade is here he loves putting things in the dishwasher so he helps me. Dh on the other hand washes everything by hand, then I have to wait til he goes nite nite and put them into the dishwasher..His heart is in the right place, but, his eyesight is for the birds


kadesma

When/If we move to a new home with a bigger kitchen, installing a dishwasher will be an option. However I never had a very positive experience with domestic dishwashers, I found it just as much of a hassle rinsing everything and scraping off the stubborn bits that wouldn't surely come off in the dishwasher so I opted for just hand washing everything. But that was until several years ago. Have they seen any improvements in recent years, and are there domestic machines that work like an industrial ones?

 

[Claire]

Oh, dear! Only two of us? It was in our marriage vows. He who cooks gets to sit and rest afterwards. If it is a big dinner with company, then I do my best to clean as I go along, and hubby stays in the kitchen and cleans as I go along, and we share the clean up. However, day to day dinners find me at the stove. I always thought "clean as you go along" and having to wash dishes yourself after everyone's filled their tummy and is watching TV says this, "You are willing to feed us ALL THE TIME, so we'll punish you by making you clean up as well." No wonder so many of my friends hate to cook.

I will say one exception. When it is freezing cold out, and the heating system isn't keeping up at the back of the house, hot water on cold hands feels so good!

I think my attitude comes from my family. Mom believed in it (she cooked, we washed up. I'm the only of her 4 daughters who loved cooking, and when I cook, sisters and/or mom clean up). Grandma didn't like to cook and LOVED to do dishes. If your kids are young, start a new family tradition soon (can't retrain husband or kids once they hit a certain age). Don't get so resentful about being stuck with the mess that you learn to dislike cooking!