Tips for managing DISHES - post your ideas here

[laohaire]

I just have a few ideas, but thought it would be a good thread for others to contribute ideas too.

I'll start. Mine may be obvious, but anything will help!

1) Reduce literally the number of dishes available. Put in a special cabinet or other area extra dishes you need for special occassions - for example if you have a family of 4 (and entertain rarely) you can put the other 4 or 12 settings for your 8 or 16 place collection somewhere else so you can drag them out for Christmas or whenever you use them. Then instead of piling up tons of dishes, you run out sooner and have to wash them more often, but will save you time over the long run.

2) Rinse and reuse dishes in preparation. Unless you're cutting raw meat, you can just quickly rinse (and not really wash) the plate and knife that you used for cutting X before you move on to Y (or not even rinse).

3) If you don't wash a dish immediately, at least fill it with water so it can soak, saving time and energy later.

4) Keep up. Wash dishes as they happen, if at all possible.

Other ideas?

[granola_mom]

Something I'm trying to do more and more is simply prepare meals that use less dishes.. its been a hard one for me because I learned to cook from my mom who used a TON of dishes, and would use serving platters, etc, which resulted in even more... BUT she had a maid and a dishwasher, so...

Anyway, I was getting really stressed out until I noticed how MIL never had many dishes to do and I started wondering why. I started hanging around while she prepared meals, and most of what she cooks is just sort of "chop everything, throw it in a pan, serve what is in the pan onto plates and you're done" type of meal. I've been trying to do something similar ever since and it has reduced stress... not just from preparing the meals but actually cleaning up, too. So now I cook a lot of things like soups, stir fries, pasta, etc. and I want to get a slow cooker eventually.

[doubledutch]

unfortunately, we tend to let dishes go sometimes, and i used to really hate tackling the multiple-days-of-dishes mess. i was so overwhelmed, and the sink was so full of yucky dishes, i wouldn't know where to start.

now, when that happens (which i try to avoid in the first place, but hey, it happens!) i pull all the dishes out of the sink and into stacks. i have a stack of plates, a little army of glasses, cups & bowls, pots/pans on the oven, and all flatware, spatulas, etc in the dishpan. i clean the sink. okay! already starting to feel better! i do the flatware, dry and put away; plates, dry & put away; cups etc dry & put away. now all i have left is a few pots & pans, which i usually would then get dh to do! anyway, it just helps me break it down into chunks, and i feel like i'm accomplishing more.

i do have a hard time with dishes, with a baby who wants to be held and a toddler i can't keep out of the fridge, or the dog's dish, or whatever. he likes to help, but only for a couple minutes

[GooeyRN]

I hate dirty dishes in the sink. I wash them as I use them so there is rarely a sinkful. When I have a drink, I finish it and wash the glass. If for some reason I don't have time to wash it then, I at least fill it with water before putting it in the sink so there isn't any stain to scrub off. I do my best to do dishes while cooking to minimize the pile afterwards. When dinner is prepared, I fill everyones plate and put it on the table, and extra food is put in the fridge then, and I wash the pots/pans while dh gets drinks ready. So after dinner there should only be 3 plates, 3 forks and 3 cups to wash. Its a lot better for me to do it this way. That way I am never overwhelmed with a sink full of dirty dishes that are all crusty and nasty.

[dillonandmarasmom]

We pretty much follow what the OP does. I tend to leave dishes we use daily in the dish dryer/drainer so they are accessible to the kids. When I cook, I serve directly onto plates. We do sit at the table to eat together, but I don't worry about presenting the meal in special "from stove to bowl to table" dishes.
For washing, I soap up all the dishes and set them in the sink, grab one at a time, then rinse. Saves water.

[velochic]

For us, having a lot of dishes works well, contrary to the OP. I have 12 dinner, lunch, and breakfast (small dessert plates), bowls of various sizes all in the same pattern. I rinse and they go into the dishwasher. When the dishwasher is full, I run it. If I had fewer dishes, I'd never fill up my dishwasher. My good china stays in the china cabinet.

Never leave a pot in the sink overnight. It is less stressful for me in the mornings as I am making breakfast and sack lunches to have a clean kitchen rather than trying to clean up from the night before, too.

When chopping for food preparation, think ahead. Cut the driest veggies first and finish with meat so you don't have to wash the board in between food items.

Freecycle the odd pieces and get one matching set. Matching sets stack better.

[Rhiannon Feimorgan]

I do a baking day once a week. I make everything in the same bowl. I start with bread. I do a 3 rise recipe. The first (sponge) rising happens in the bowl after which I kneed in more flour and turn it onto a board with a cloth over it. Then I make cookies. If a little bit of bread dough gets into the cookies it's no big deal. When the cookies are in the oven, I shape the bread and put it in pans and then I make muffins, again a little bit of cookie dough isn't going to hurt the muffins. The heat of the oven from the cookies and muffins helps the bread rise faster and I put it in last. I use parchement paper and muffin cups so I don't have to wash those pans and I find I don't need to wash my well seasoned cast iron bread pans after every use either so I'm left with one dirty bowl, one dirty spatula and a few dirty mesuring cups and spoons and enough baking to last the week.

[cjanelles]

I wash big pots and pans and load the dishwasher as I go when I'm making a meal.

I also unload the dishwasher first thing every morning so that I can load as I go throughout the day whenever I use a dish.