11 items in your kitchen you should probably throw away

Even if you’re a master of kitchen organisation, it’s hard to know what can stay, and what needs to go. Odds are, there are items and food you probably shouldn’t keep in your kitchen cupboards. Let’s get to tossing.

Even though there is a ban on plastic shopping bags, you still seem to accumulate plenty of bags; sometimes you forget your reusable shopping bags and end up coming home with thick plastic, paper or more reusable shopping bags. But there are also the other bags that might come in handy one day, think bread bags (which can be reused instead of buying plastic wrap). These you ultimately stuff in drawers, under the sink, and anywhere else you can squeeze them, but you never seem to be able to reuse the amount you have stored away. Clear some space in your kitchen by storing shopping bags in your car boot, shopping trolley or a cupboard just for this purpose, and bin some of the small plastic bags lurking under the kitchen cupboard so you only have an amount you can actually reuse.

Much like kitchen appliances, your chopping board has a shelf life. All that cutting of veggies and fruit has probably given your board plenty of cracks and scratches, and bacteria has likely found a home in those deep grooves. Unless you are cleaning your cutting board regularly, you may need to replace it more often.

Now, get up to speed on safe food handling processes.

Just because putting food in the freezer helps it last longer, doesn’t mean it lasts forever! While the freezer can keep your food good for a few months, if your items look like they’ve got stuck in a snowstorm, you can bet they’re not going to taste as good as they should.

Although your take-away food usually comes with a menu or two, the reality is, you end up stuffing all that wasted paper in a drawer, and before you know it, it’s hard for you to close your kitchen drawer. Plus, those menus are probably available online, so toss them!

You may be quick to throw out mouldy strawberries in the fridge, but what about the condiments taking up space on the fridge door? It’s easy to forget that things that come in a jar also have a shelf life. Spring-clean your kitchen staples by checking that bottle of sauce’s best-used-by date, and seeing if the ingredients have begun to separate or smell funny.

The point of non-stick pans is to keep those scrambled eggs and pan-seared chicken from crusting to the pan, leaving you with less to clean. But if the pan has scratches, it’s no longer non-stick, and therefore not doing its job!

Next, discover these clever cooking tips only taught in culinary schools.

If you’ve had your spices hanging around for a year, it’s time to swap them out for new ones. Spices lose their potency and flavour over time, so you don’t need to feel guilty about giving up a half-full jar, because it’s no good anyway.

What’s the difference between herbs and spices? Let us explain…

Household cleaners have a shelf life, and if you’re not using them regularly, you’re certainly wasting your money on them. Pinpoint the cleaners you know you need, and make sure they’re still good. Multi-purpose surface cleaners have a shelf life of about two years, dishwashing detergent between 12 and 18 months, and metal polish up to two years.

You have more than likely procured quite a stack of disposable cutlery and chopsticks in your drawer from take away meals, but if you’re not going to use them, why keep them around? Corn starch and bamboo cutlery can go in the compost or garden bin. Check if other disposable cutlery can be deposited in the recycling big. And next time you order in, tell the restaurant not hold the knives, forks and chopsticks.