Ever had this experience: You reach into your refrigerator and pull out the container that you believe to be the leftover macaroni and cheese. Upon opening the container you find an unidentifiable creature, blue and green, red and white, smelly and in the process of some scary mutation.

What was this? Do you toss it out or do you quickly close the lid and return it to the ‘way back’ of the fridge where it can continue it’s gestation period in peace? Do you wait until the little bugger has a family of other similarly foul relatives, each in their own private cocoons, before finally giving in and sending them all together to their inevitable demise?

If you can relate to this, take a moment with me as I talk about three ways to avoid these smelly encounters and insure that our creative cooking juices won’t end up going so horribly went awry.

First let’s focus on the tools you are using for storage.

Whether you have purchased your storage containers or you are repurposing containers, all of the food you store in your refrigerator should be put into something that has either clear sides or a clear lid. This means that, even though margarine containers are so conveniently small and the ricotta cheese containers are so conveniently large, get rid of them! Recycle them. Start now.

Go into your plastic-ware cabinet and pull out all your opaque containers. How many do you have? Do you accumulate more and more and more? Let them go. If you feel you must keep some, choose one or two that you feel are the perfect size for something specific. For instance, a large ricotta tub may be the perfect size every time for your leftover sauce. If that is all you use it for, keep it. And only use it for that. Otherwise, stick to clear containers that allow for visible reminders.

Next, if you want to mark your containers with the contents and a date but don’t want to ruin the container, use a piece of clear scotch tape. Put the tape on the container and then write on the tape.

Finally, be creative with your recipes. Instead of choosing a recipe, start with the ingredients that you have and create a recipe around them. Last week I boiled a large amount of fresh string beans. A couple of days later I fried a couple of pieces of garlic in a little olive oil, threw in a can of diced tomatoes and then added the remainder of the cooked beans. No one seemed to be bothered that they were eating string beans again. As a matter of fact I got some rave revues from my boys! Starting with the ingredients at hand is also a great way to tackle an overstuffed cupboard.

So, challenge yourself this month to get to the bottom of the matter (a.k.a. the back of the fridge). By using up what you have you will also realize the added benefit of cutting down on your grocery bill.

• To contact Annette Reyman for organizing work or speaking engagements in the Greater Philadelphia area call (908) 361-7105 or email her at annettereyman@gmail.com. She is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers and its Philadelphia Chapter. View her Web site at www.allrightorganizing.com.