It’s no secret that a lot of tools are incredibly versatile, but you might be surprised to see that a number of very common office supplies definitely have a rightful place in the kitchen as well.
For many food bloggers and kitchen enthusiasts, preparing and cooking the food is just one thing – organizing your kitchen and working as efficient as possible is another. The next time you’re at your desk, consider taking these six common office supplies to the kitchen. Let’s find out why.
Whiteboard
How many times have you forgotten something in the store, or did you forget that you were out of a certain product? Or perhaps it’s not always easy to visualize what ingredients you need to prepare a dish?
The solution: a whiteboard. You’d think these only show up in corporate meeting rooms, but they definitely have a place in the kitchen as well. The possibilities are quite limitless: keep track of your things, use it as a grocery list or to visualize things for a recipe. Hanging a dry-erase board in the kitchen is a lifesaver.
Use scissors more often
Admittedly, this is probably the most straight-forward item in the list, but scissors are often overlooked and definitely underappreciated in the kitchen. They’re a fantastic replacement to knives if you need to cut something relatively soft (like pieces of fruit or chicken parts, for example), and they’re safer to use than sharp knives. Scissors are also easily cleaned and pretty much a must-have to get rid of packaging.
In other words, grab yourself a dedicated pair of sharp scissors made out of stainless steel – there’s no need to use knives all the time.
Binder clips
Keeping all of your snacks fresh and crispy can be a bit of task and can certainly be annoying sometimes. You could always use cheap clothespins, but those tend to break off and a single pin usually isn’t sufficient to keep your snacks fresh.
The perfect and affordable alternative? Binder clips. Instead of using these on documents and papers, try to use them as kitchen bag-clips instead. The reasons are simple: they’re wide enough to grip the seal of your snacks tightly, and they’re sturdy and more resilient than your regular kitchen clip or clothespin. You can also use these to hang packages of vegetables in the fridge.
Another tip: use binder clips to store your sponges and keep them dry.
Clear Sheet Protectors
Even if you’re the most organized person in the world, it’s a certainty that things can get messy in the kitchen. A good cook definitely has notes, recipes and other things laying around in the kitchen, but those papers can quickly find themselves covered with food stains and spills.
You could always digitize all of your notes and keep them on your computer, tablet or phone for safekeeping – but there’s just something special about holding a piece of paper or book in your hand. Invest in a large package of sheet protectors for all of your kitchen ‘documents’ and you won’t ever have to worry about food spills again.
Permanent marker
A decent fine point permanent marker (such as a Sharpie) can do wonders in the kitchen. How, you might ask? Simple: by writing stuff down.
We’ve all dealt with leftovers that have gotten stale before, or not knowing exactly when you opened a jar again. Instead of living your kitchen life in uncertainty, grab a permanent marker and write all of the dates down. It’s a very common practice in restaurants and using a pen is an effective and indispensable method to date your food, save your leftovers and save money.
Washi tape
Having a couple of rolls of masking tape or washi tape around perfectly fits together with the previous tip. In case you’ve got some re-usable Tupperware boxes around and you don’t want to use permanent ink to write on them, this colorful tape is a great alternative to label leftovers. You can apply it in seconds and it’s just as easily removed, without leaving any sort of residue. And if you want to get creative, you can even label your food with different colors of tape.
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