Making the most of summer produce: How to use up your CSA or farmers market haul

If you're just prone to forgetting what you have, an easy fix is to make a list of everything you bought (or got in your CSA box) on the front of the fridge. Grab a pad of 4 in x 6 in Post-it® Super Sticky Lined Notes and slap it on the fridge door. As soon as you get home, write down everything you got, and a quick count of each item, and you'll never again find a sad, brown head of lettuce abandoned in the oubliette of your crisper drawer.

It sounds silly, but it works. Label a Post-it® Super Sticky Note for each major area of your fridge – top shelf, middle shelf, bottom shelf, left drawer, right drawer – and put it them all on the fridge door. When you put the produce away, write where each thing lives on the appropriate note. Then, when you're wondering what to make for dinner – or just trying to find the radishes you were sure you bought – you'll know exactly where to look.

Don't just throw up your hands in despair at all of the celeriac you've got no idea how to use – do some internet sleuthing and see if you can find something new and exciting to make with it. Once you've made a list or map of your produce, you're well armed for a good recipe search, and planning out a menu will help you get every last milligram of vitamins out of those leafy green veggies. Keep track of your ideas on a Post-it® Super Sticky List Note (It's got lines and everything. We're just that good.) on the fridge door – if you're lucky, maybe some helpful family members will contribute a few ideas, too. (No, pizza every night does not count as being helpful.)

With a little organization, you can control your veggies – instead of your veggies controlling you.