What do you get when you have five people who share a tiny kitchen, one of whom is an avid grocery shopper and keeps way too much food on my hand?
Answer one- my family.
Answer two- no space.
At the best of times, our kitchen is cramped. It’s not that it’s a small space, it’s just that someone (me!) buys food. A lot of it. And it’s taking up way too much space!
Part of the problem is that I buy in bulk. I try to avoid going to Costco too often because of the crowds, so when I do go, I find it necessary to buy pounds of bananas at a time.
Or huge bags of spinach.
Or 24 apples.
Yeah… I might as well admit that I’ve kind of taken over the kitchen, and I don’t think my family is very happy every time they open the fridge and there’s no place to put anything because my 4 pound container of strawberries takes up an entire shelf.
There’s also the matter of the family eating my food. Don’t get me wrong- I don’t mind sharing my food with my family. But when I buy something specifically for a recipe and I come home and it’s gone? Not amused!
I grabbed a container that we already had in one of the cupboards and put as much of ‘my food’ as I could into it.
(I got into the habit of writing my name on my food when my brother’s ex-girlfriend devoured everything I bought- ugh, don’t even get me started on that situation)
All of the food that no one else in the family eats- my peanut butter, oat bran, protein powders, and other ‘weird food’ that freaks my family out went into the container. I even labeled it. Naturally, I had to decorate it.
It’s meant to be a joke… but also to avoid situations where I spend 15 minutes looking for rolled oats to make granola and find out that they’re gone 
I also tried to organize the ‘other people eat this food, but let’s be honest, it’s mostly me’ stuff in a shelf in another cupboard. Grains, almonds, dates, tahini are all kept here for now.
Slowly but surely I’m working on organizing my stuff and giving my parents back some of their kitchen
Do you share a kitchen? How do you keep it organized?
Haha, I feel your pain! I lived in a sorority house with 60+ women for years and when you are trying to live a healthy lifestyle you get so protective about your compass (i.e. quality food) to the healthy life.
I have to hide things or remind paul over and over that he may not eat blah blah and blah. he still eats all the chocolate chips and you will never see them in a recipe b/c every time i want to make something with them, he eats them =)
leftovers are a battle too. I have to tell him “eat it!” or “if you touch that i may kill you!”
oh sharing! bahaha! you’d think with siblings we would be pros? but as foodies we’re protective!
I am sharing a kitchen now with 2 roommates. We share the basics (fruit, veggies, bread, milk, eggs, etc…) but we’ll go out and buy what we like too. And we always ask someone before we just dive in, if the food isn’t ours.
I have my own now but it was a bit difficult with a roommate. She was kind of messy too which totally freaked out my type A personality so I was constantly rearranging stuff in the fridge and pantry!
YES! i always buyt TOO much.. and in bulk too … eventually my parent sjust gave in and gave me the whole fridge- (we have two) but i have a whole one to myself!! and certain cupboards.. heh!
I always buy things for myself, my husband and my son. Our favorites so to speak but it seems like everytime I get a new treat for me both of my guys decide its their new treat> Now is that fair? I think not! So then I have to go back to the store just to pick me up some because they ate all of mine! Ughh! Love this post!
This was a big problem for me when I was younger and lived with roommates. Living with my family, it wasn’t a problem, because I never cooked.
And now living with my own family, I do all the cooking. I don’t think my husband has ever eaten my Chobani or spinach. If he did, he’d learn not to do it again (muahahah).
Hahahaha I love your sign!!! I will be making myself one of those for sure when I live my parents in May
Oh my goodness. Reminds me of college–half of the food marked with “R.” Now that it is just me and my hubby, he knows to ask if he can eat something
Works for me!
Oh man, that must be so tough. I shared a kitchen my senior year of college when I lived with 3 other girls, but I was the only one who cooked so they never needed much space. Now we have a friend who lives with us, but he keeps any of “his” food in his room (mostly junk food) so he doesn’t crowd the kitchen.
I usually don’t have to share my kitchen (I live alone), but I have the squeezing experience everytime I visit my parents. My mom and I get along pretty well, but with my dad there’s also logistical chaos because he likes to occupy the sink and stand in the way.
In German, there’s a proverb saying, “Zuviele Köche verderben den Brei.” It means something like, “Too many cooks spoil the porridge.”
Yep, I share a kitchen with a food-phobic mother and hardcore carnivore father, so as you can imagine most of my ‘weird’ food is relegated to an organised box system in the garage. At least it stays cool in there!
xxx
Haha! Love that sign! I share a kitchen with my family too, and it can be tricky. I do my best to stay out of my mom’ way!
I actually have a pet peeve about sharing food and a kitchen with someone else. Thank God I live alone!
It can be really tricky to share food with other people, even if it’s your family! Totally know what you mean about just wanting to expect something to be there and when it’s not, that’s frustrating. I’m the same way – if I really want oatmeal for breakfast but someone had finished off my oats, I would not be too pleased! I think open communication is always key – like saying “I eat a banana everyday, so I need 7 for the week, how many do you need?” so then the person KNOWS not to eat more than will be enough for you for that week. Obviously it can get tough to calculate everything, but I also think your ideas of having your own part of the shelf or section of the fridge is a great idea.
My housemate and I share the smallest kitchen in the world and we’re both foodies. It works out quite well though and never have problems with piching each other’s food.
My boyfriend shares a house and writes his name on everything. I think that’s just so they know who to blame when something is going off in the fridge (boys!!)
Oh my that is my idea of a nightmare – someone stealing my food would make me go nuts! Luckily there is just me and my husband and the kitchen is firmly my domain. I do laugh at the boxes under the counter filled with unusual grains and the shoe racks cum counter top shelving unit for my jars of beans and tea, I have way too much in my kitchen but I wouldn’t have it any other way!
I used to share a kitchen with my cousin and his girlfriend and it was INSANE! I wanted to freak out daily. NOW I have my own kitchen! No sharing at all! Well sharing with Andrew doesn’t count
I awarded you with the one lovely blog award on my last post! I hope you’ll play along because I love your blog
I have a habit of overbuying too sometimes. I think we are all guilty of it at one time or another. Ugh, it is so annoying when you live with other people who either “assume” (by that I mean they know it is not theirs, but eat it anyway and pretend they did not know it was not theirs) food is theirs or just do not care who’s food it is and eat it anyway. PET PEEVE! I feel ya – whether it be roomies or family. Anywhozzles– Since I am gluten-free I keep my stuff on a few separate shelves to try to proclaim (and help it last longer) my expensive GF food. Since he can eat anything (literally, sometimes its disgusting the type of food that boy can digest) I try to keep my stuff out of eyesite and on the bottom shelf
All of his stuff is on top shelves. But otherwise, the refrigerator and lazy suzanne are a free for all. And, of course, the oatmeal drawer belongs to mua! 
Luckily, my family doesn’t raid the kitchen. My boys are too little, but they wouldn’t be interested in Mommy’s healthy food anyways. My husband only raids the treats, so as long as I don’t need chocolate chips or oatmeal raisin cookies for my recipe, then I am usually fine. haha
Ah! I totally relate to this! When I lived at home I did the same thing and my parents were always mad. Thankfully they didn’t like my “healthy” food, so at least it was in tact. But I basically had one pantry shelf for all my dry goods, and it was never enough! Now I live with my fiance and I have permission to take over the kitchen!
I only share a kitchen with my dad currently & he says out of my stuff, though he does devour samples from Oh! Nuts in seconds flat. He’s much more of a snack food fiend, than likely to eat one of my ingredients.
I like the writing my name on it technique though, or assigning everyone shelves in the cabinets or fridge. Will be an interesting semester in Asheville..
I live in a dorm and share a mini-fridge and freezer with three other girls… It’s not pretty. I’ve resigned myself to only buying a little yogurt/arctic zero/vitatops at a time, and stocking up on granola, apples, bars, etc that can be kept in my room. I cannot wait until I have a full fridge/freezer next year, that I’ll only be sharing with one other person, and a tiny meal plan so I can buy lots of fresh fruits and veggies! That’ll be the life… ^____^
I always have fruit that is getting ripe, especially bananas. I found that if I peel them and wrap them in plastic wrap or a container and freeze them I always have bananas on hand that aren’t too ripe. Kate I found another food blog (I think I am addicted to food blogs- sigh) that posted a pumpkin pie oatmeal! Here is the link in case you are interested: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1Kdfju/www.goodlifeeats.com/2009/09/pumpkin-pie-oatmeal.html
ahhh the joys of share living!
It is just Mr BBB and I in our house- and he was even kind enough to let me use one whole pantry for all my baking stuff
Luckily we have plenty of space! This is the biggest kitchen I have ever had and i know our next place will not be as good, booo. The prob is that is so unorganized, but since I can see all the things in the pantry it makes life alot easier!
When I lived with roommates in college, I totally labeled all of my food. I don’t care if it seemed like a little too much, but there were too many times when I’d come home craving something.. and it had suddenly disappeared. Having a name/initial on something let’s people know the deal!
Now, living with my boyfriends, we share tiny kitchen. When we are doing our own thing for dinner, we take turns! Honestly.. I need my space in the kitchen and can’t stand having to worry about another person!
I share the kitchen–it doesnt bother me
I let people eat my food if they want!
With roommates, I was always pretty lucky. We all pretty much bought different stuff and respected it. Although I did have one roommate who would totally eat all my chips ahoy or doritos and then replaced them, but with the healthy gross version… ugh…
I lol’d at that sign you made! Totally me and my family. They don’t even eat my food they just like to throw things away. One time my dad threw away 1/4 loaf of bread cause “there were only 2 pieces left” two pieces my butt! And if something is starting to smell in the fridge, it’s automatically my food!
Whitney
My dad and I have two separated drawers in the pantry. One for his stuff and one for mine because I buy way too many groceries. But now that I may have bought too many pb jars I put them in his side lol
I don’t share a kitchen, but I do have a designated cabinet space for my granola/fruit leather/chocolate/LARA bars. It’s just easier to consolidate everything
My family knows not to eat things that I make unless I tell them that they can. This is because I’m either saving it for later, or it’s made with weird ingredients (to them, not me) that I know they won’t enjoy, so I’d rather it not be thrown in the trash. I also have my own cabinets for things that I don’t want other people to use!
I share a kitchen and luckily my current roommate is really respectful (I’ve had horrors in the past) but we just keep our food separate and share condiments. Works best that way!
I just share a kitchen with my hubby, but when I shared with roommates we always had to label our cabinets so our food wouldn’t get taken!
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I’ve had nightmares in the past with this kind of situation in flat shares. I think meeting it head on like you have done is actually the best way. I’m just too shy and reserved to have thought of it. But in future I think this is the tactic I’ll use!
I always buy to much too, its a problem that Im ok with.. luckily I dont really have to share my kitchen with anyone. Everything in the house is BASICALLLY MINE so I dont have to worry about m finace’ eating it because he thinks everything I eat is weird. He likes to eat out a lot but when he does he my stuff I encourage it because its a lot healthier then what he would eat otherwise!