6 Small Kitchen Storage Ideas + get your recipe published here!

Wine bottle with a spout.  Image via Wikipedia 

I  love kitchen tools...micro planes, food processors, beautiful chopping boards, a wonderful whisk, a wooden spoon and even a great pair of orange salad servers are in my collection.  I did not break the bank collecting these.  Antique stores have some very useful kitchen tools that have survived the test of time.

Here in Arizona I have one beautiful knife I use for chopping plus a great pairing knife.  I have a very small kitchen but I have beautiful small kitchen tools. The trick is finding a place for everything.  I have a few hints for those of you that live in a small space. These can help with your kitchen storage and function...even in an apartment. 

STORAGE

1. Don't keep anything you do not use.  Box it up and store it in the garage if you must but, if after say a year, you have not used it,  give it away.  If you don't have a garage give the extra stuff away now. You never will find a use for it.
2. Use every wall you have.  If you buy beautiful kitchen tools hang them in plain site.  On Apartment Therapy you see peg boards used frequently.  In a apartment you need to keep in mind the rules about that sort of thing.   Think of the space you will free up by getting big items out of drawers and how handy everything will be.  
3. Find a place for a pot rack...a very simple pot rack...and hang your pots up in plain site.  You can free up so much space by doing this.  My husband put a 1/2 inch copper pipe hung between the two cabinets over my kitchen sink. You will need to make a visit to the hardware store to find hooks.  We found black rubber tie downs with hooks on the ends and removed the hooks.  The hook could be twisted so they faced in the right direction.  It is beautiful.  I love to show off my cookware. 
4. Think outside the (kitchen) box.  This old cliche should become second nature when you live in a small space.  For example, you can also use a tension curtain rod for hanging small kitchen tools. You could spay paint it to fit your kitchen decor.  This could be put up inside the cook hood or between upper cabinets.  If you have beautiful olive oil bottles or even empty wine bottles buy a spout and store these on the counter top back in an unused corner.
5. Store a party under the bed...drink glasses, wine glasses, etc.  I have a set of glass ware, lots of beautiful paper napkins/plates (Tuesday Morning)  and candles (Trader Joe's dripless candles) for entertaining.  I store these in a box under the bed.  Living small does not mean you cannot entertain big!  I love a party.
6. Buy small counter top kitchen appliances.  They are less expensive yet serve the same function.  For example, I have a very small Cuisinart food processor, colored lime green, that does everything I want.  I can make a batch of hummus in this with no problem. Recipe:

• whole can of chickpeas 
• 1/4 cup tahini, 
• 1/4 cup oil, 
• 1 tsp salt, 
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• garlic cloves (you decide how many)
• The seasoning of your choice.  I have added olive topenade, sun dried tomatoes, Italian seasoning and curry powder.

COOK SMALL:
I love crackers and snacks.  They just taste good to me.  The trick is finding things that are not fried or loaded with salt and sugar and still have lots of flavor.  AND they must be easy to cook in a very small kitchen.  I live in a doll house.  Recently I came on a recipe from a website from Beekman 1802 for crackers.  I have been trying various recipes for a while now but could not come up with anything that was not soft and tasteless.  Then I found this idea for crackers made using semolina flour,  flour and what ever you have around.  They are very good.  The basic ingredients are:

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups semolina flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I add quinoa, flax seeds, sesame seeds...crunchy/healthy is my goal.)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup warm water
1/3 cup olive oil

1 healthy dose of your imagination. 

Mix the ingredients with a mixer or by hand in a large bowl.  It should be easy to work with...if it won't hold together, add a little more water. Rolls out and cut with a cookie cutter or bake in a sheet and break up after cooking.  Place the crackers on a bake sheet that has been sprinkled with corn meal and poke crackers with a fork.  Bake in a 450 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.  I found the large sheet needs some cooking time adjustment.  I will leave that up to you.


ADAPTING THE RECIPE TO A SMALL KITCHEN
When I am at home in my doll house, I roll the dough into small balls.  The size of the ball depends on the size of the cracker.  I pressed the ball into Parmesan cheese when I made them yesterday.  Roll the crackers out with the rolling pin on a small chopping block.  I don't even put flour on the surface.   The balls need to be small enough that the dough can be rolled out without wrapping totally around the pin.  I like mine very thin.  They are crispy but can still be topped.   I have been making these for a couple of month now and each batch is totally unique. You can even bake a few of these in your toaster over and store the uncooked dough balls in a plastic bag in the fridge for a couple of day!!!

YOU HAVE THE SPACE SO HAVE A PARTY
Have a party and make crackers AND hummus...your guests will be so impressed!!!  I would love to have you send more ideas for meals that be cooked in a small space.  I will publish your ideas and choose the best!

Stay well.

b

Related articles

• Downsized Kitchen: Living Well with an Itty Bitty Cooking Space (blogher.com)
• imabonehead: how to make hummus & falafels like a pro [5 ingredients] (thestonesoup.com)