31 Days to a Minimalist Lifestyle Day 16

I am writing every day in October--taking on the challenge set forth by The Nester for bloggers to write a "31 Days to..." blog series. I'm tackling Minimalist Living and you can click here to read Day 15's post.

We're going to duck back into the kitchen today, looking at minimizing our various baking pans, casserole dishes, large serving pieces, etc. It's amazing how these items seem so necessary but we hardly use them or don't realize that some pieces could serve double duty, allowing you to get rid of something else.

I was watching the DIY channel and they had an interesting fact: Less than 20% of Americans cook meals at home 5 days per week or more.
Count me in that 20% and I cook 7 days per week.

Translation: I USE my cookware!!


Here's a shot of my bank of cupboards that holds all my baking dishes, 9x13 pans, cake pans, my stand mixer, etc. It's 3 cabinets all told, plus I have a narrow cupboard that holds my baking sheets and cutting boards. We'll deal with those another day.

I pulled everything out and wiped down the cabinet. I found coffee grounds in there which is strange because I make coffee on the other side of the kitchen. No idea how it got into this cabinet! Must be the dirty house gnomes or something.

I sorted everything into categories and realized I have 3 pans that are 9x13. Who needs 3 of those? I also had a very heavy casserole dish that I hate using because it's so heavy. Why am I keeping it? It's still going to be heavy the next time I reach for it!!!
And then removed the things I never use:

a pfaltzgraff casserole, a 9x13 pan, a 7x11 pan, an oval glass dish, two glass bowls whose lids were lost long ago. All will be donated.

And finally, put everything back in:

I kept on the top shelf:

2 9" cake pans
1 9" square pan
1 8" square pan
2 mini-muffin tins
2 regular muffin pans
1 bundt cake form
1 springform pan
1 angelfood cake pan


On the bottom:
Stand mixer
2 9x13 pans
1 qt round casserole
2 qt oval casserole
3 glass bowls with lids
5 pyrex nesting bowls (some belonged to my Gramma)
and the space behind the mixer is EMPTY!

Not shown in the photo are my kids' lunch boxes. I plan on hanging each of them on a command hook on the back of each door.

It's not too dramatic as I've been working on thinning things out over the past year. But I feel like the items that are left are things I do use regularly enough to keep. Notice that what I own is clear glass or white, with the exception of my nesting Pyrex bowls. That is intentional as glass or white always looks nice on a table!  Those Pyrex bowls get major use during canning season and when I bake =)

Take a peek in your cupboards and figure out what you just never use. Then get rid of it!!!

Day 1 email

Day 2 magazines

Day 3 kitchen tools 

Day 4 junk drawer

Day 5 bathroom counter

Day 6 first aid & medicines

Day 7 kitchen sink

Day 8 plastic containers

Day 10 spices

Day 11 mail

Day 12 linen closet part 1

Day 13 linen closet part 2

Day 14 donate!!!

Day 15 outdoor spaces