Chore List for the Kitchen

• Break up chores to keep the kitchen clean and cut down on stress. Supernova/Photodisc/Getty Images

  A clean kitchen makes it easier to find what you need and quickly prepare meals. Based on the size of your family, you may wish to do some light kitchen cleaning every day followed by a weekly scrub.

Dishes

• When you wash dishes every night, or load them in the dishwasher, your kitchen looks clean. You can even do dishes while dinner cooks in the oven. Older children can help with dishes or you can give the non-cook in the house dish duty.

Surfaces

• Keep a spray cleaner and paper towels on hand for constant surface clean-up. Every time you cook, or prepare and pack school lunches, take one minute to wipe down any surfaces you used. This includes counters, tables and the stove top. Regular wipe-downs chase away germs and keep the kitchen clean and ready for use.

Floors

• Unless you have very young children, you can clean the floors just once a week. Make sure you use the correct products for your floor. Pull out all easily movable objects, like the garbage can and chairs, before you sweep and mop.

Cooking

• Remove some of the burden of cooking by assigning certain days to different family members. You can have family members with poor culinary skills do any chopping and grating. Even children can help with some meal items, such as assembling BLT sandwiches or helping to top a homemade pizza.

Refrigerator and Garbage

• Clean out any old or expired items from the refrigerator on garbage night. Then, when you take the garbage out, any unpleasant smells go right out the door. Cleaning out your refrigerator on a regular basis will give you a better sense of what you need at the grocery store.