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I can tell you one thing that annoys me about my hubby...he gets mad at me if I leave some sort of food or condiment out on the counter while we eat. As if in the 20 minutes it takes to eat it will somehow go RANCID!

Also, I like to sort my utensils in the dishwasher...a habit I got from my mom and when I lived with her I thought was dumb...until I had to empty my own dishwasher and found it to be easier to put things away. Husband won't do that either.

Another bad habit of my hubby is he will put a dirty dish in the sink and either not bother to rinse it and put it in the dishwasher OR he will just leave it there overnight to get all gross and hard to clean the next day.

Notice a pattern here? I'm not the one with the bad habits in MY kitchen. LOL

My old roommate would run the dishwasher when it wasnt totally full. Also, she would rinse dishes and leave them in the sink instead of taking 2 extra seconds to put it in the empty dishwasher.
My bad habits- leaving the grounds in my french press for days, wiping my hands on my pants, letting crud sit in the cast iron, eating things beyond expiration... the list goes on

I save plastic containers (like for sour cream or cottage cheese) until I am forced to toss them because they tumble out of the cabinets on the heads of the unsuspecting. I also wipe my hands on my pants. I have a pot rack and it drives me insane when hubby puts a pan back on the wrong hook.

I cook too much. Sometimes it's the quantity that gets away from me, and sometimes it's the number of dishes. I'll be having so much fun in the kitchen, particularly after a day at weird markets or a bountiful day at the farmer's market, and I won't realize what I've done until I start putting dishes on the table. Oops. I'm trying hard to have one protein, one starch and one vegetable dish (or maybe two separate veggies, max.) Along with salad. And there's always some sort of fresh bread on hand. And sometimes I do an appetizer or cheese plate...and there's always some sort of baked good or ice cream or fruit for dessert.

I'm trying to control myself, but it still gets away from me. It's not so bad when it's just a few extra steamed veggies, but sometimes it's a mad clash of ethnic delights that don't exist in nature.

I am messy.
I seem to use every darn dish in the kitchen when I cook, then am mad at myself because I have a big mess to clean up every time. I am neat and tidy at work, but at home I am just impossible.

Leaving cat food bowls in the sink and not rinsing them right away thinking I will do it "in a sec" and then they either smell or get really dry and yucky and have to be soaked.

I hate putting away clean dishes, mostly the ones that go in high cabinets (I am quite short) so I will often just leave them stacked on the hutch and use them from there rather than getting a stool every few days for the up and down. Lazy, but few people see my tiny kitchen, so I stopped worrying about it. :)

@buffy- my BF does the same thing (he's the dishwasher)!

@tapioca- I used to save plastic containers too but my BF can't stand it, so I started recycling them all... reusing is greener than recycling but he just can't tolerate the clutter.

Put me down (the husband does!) for wiping my hands on my pants, using a towel for everything (well, not the floor or dog bowls), and for brushing all crumbs, etc. right onto the floor. And I am not a good sweeper. Luckily, the husband also does laundry, floors, and dishes! Drives my Mom nuts when i visit, but what can I say: I got the habits AND the skills from years in the restaurants...you don't hear them complaining about the end results!

@stufsocker:
Don't throw your fruit and veggie trimmings away!!!!noooo!!!! save them in ziploc bags in your freezer and make stock from them 1/month or so!

kitchen confession
- I tend to re-use the same water-glass all week without washing it...eeew i know its gross but it's just my cooties!

@sadiepix - I hear you! I'm 5'2", my top "cabinets" are basically empty ahhahaha or really really unorganized and i cant see them anyway ahhaha I'm thinking of buying a stepping-stool

I forgot two! I think he's too slow/ADD to cook when we have time contraints so I get cranky. (Seriously, he made a crisp from a jar of cranberry sauce and diced apples and in the sme time I made two proteins and three side dishes.)

He thinks I'm too cavalier with my knives. But I looooove them.

@stufsocker - tops/cores of pepper can be saved, fresh herb stems/trimmings, onion peels and cores, definitely carrot peels and tops, celery ends and hearts (maybe not your tato trimmings tho!)

But yeah; it's like a weekly ritual for me and I never have to buy stock and I feel so eco-friendly! ahhaah

I wipe my wet hands on my shirt after washing dishes...always. Even when I am at other people's homes and they have towels. I hate the feeling of drying my hands on damp, who knows when they were last washed towels at someone else's house.

I wash the dishes in lukewarm to cool water, not hot water.

When it's hot out, I'll turn up the cold water after washing dishes and wash my face.

Nag my husband when he washes dishes in piping hot water and the dishes are still greasy, where mine aren't in lukewarm to cool water, that he has the dishes drying in the wrong direction. I like the dishes facing forward, toward me, with the back facing the utensils. Or when he dries it any which way sometimes, and dishes are faced both directions.

I clean as I go. He cleans later...like a few days later. His complaint is that he doesn't want the food to sit and get cold. My argument is that it takes less than 2 minutes to finish up cleaning a stray pot or pan.

He won't put groceries away. HIs excuse is that I yell at him if he alphabetizes the stuff wrong or puts it in the wrong section. Oh wait, I do yell at him.

I save sturdy disposable containers until I throw a fit at how cluttered the cabinets are and go on a mass tossing spree.

I pitch the food AND container if I don't feel up to cleaning the rotting items out.

He leaves ONE bite left in a container and leaves it in the fridge/freezer.

@tapioca - I did that forever until I just decided to stop, which I gotta tell you, just killed me. The idea of wasting a potato salad container is like a knife to my heart.

@hungrychristel - I'm worse. I'll use the same coffee cup for days (black, no sugar). It's pretty gross.

I always cook barefoot and I pretty much always wipe my hands on my pants unless it's grossness I'm wiping off.

My worst thing though is putting my knives in the drainer point up. I live alone, there are no children, but I forget sometimes when I'm cooking at other people's houses. If there are kids there, I make a point of not doing it, but when it's just adults, sometimes I forget. And that's a bad one.

Oh yeah, I use the same cup to drink water out of for months at a time. I rinse it out every day, but I don't scrub it down. My husband, on the other hand, will often have 3 cups on his desk, 2 cups in the kitchen, and 2 cups in the living room.

Oh, the other thing is when he sets dirty dishes on the counter but not placing them in the sink to soak when it's just 2 inches away.

When I wash dishes, I let all the food wash into the sink. I don't scrape food in the rubbish first, unless it's a huge plateful of food or bones.

Drinking milk out of the carton (I get my own milk if I'm living with other people for this reason). Dropping food on the floor and still eating it. Leaving a bowl and a glass in my room and using them over and over again before I wash them (the water glass thing is not nearly as bad as this...this bowl sees cereal and oatmeal). Standing in front of the fridge with the door open and eating stuff out of it. Eating stuff way past the expiration date.

My SO uses our kitchen utensils to serve the cats their food. I don't know how unsanitary this is since it's washed and cat food is obviously not toxic, but it grosses me out so much.

I lick knives, including very sharp ones.

I also lick jar overflow so it doesn't mess up the lid.

My hubby used to reload the dishwasher after I did it so that it was "right". Finally told him, no more, if he wants something in the dishwasher, he will put it there himself! Now he does the dishes (I cook) except, he never does the pots/pans. It's like he doesn't consider them dishes. I don't get it.

I hate unloading the dishwasher and sometimes end up with too many dirty dishes in the sink - which I hate in my tiny kitchen - but I hate unloading the dishwasher more.

I drink V8 straight out of the container or in a disposable plastic cup because I hate the film it leaves in a glass. (I live alone, so mostly from the container.)

To help with cleaning, I put a bit of water in my dutch oven to soak while I'm eating. Then I put it back on the stove to get it out of the way. Since it lives on top of my stove, sometimes I forget it is dirty and only find the mess later when I want to use the pot again. (I better go check it - making pot roast tomorrow...)

Sometimes I leave dishes in the sink until the next day. I don't have a dishwasher.

My wife does the washing up, I do the cooking. But she always chooses the exact moment I start cooking to do the cleaning. And it is not a large kitchen.

I too throw away whole tubs of leftovers that have gone off rather than rinse them out (sorry, Earth).

Give me an oven and I will show you a new way I can burn myself on it.

I never really know exactly what we have in the cupboards, so end up buying the same thing over and over. No one needs as much self-raising flour as we have.

My bad habit is using the garbage disposal. No matter what I toss into it - no matter how soft, the #&@^@ thing gets jammed. I'm talking carrot peelings, you name it. I just don't use it anymore.

Possibly a quirk, but I won't put cooking knives (chef's, santoku, etc.) in the dishwasher. I like to wash them by hand. Been flamed for this so I'm ready with my asbestos suit!

BF's bad habit is his profuse use of paper towels. He won't use a dishcloth for love nor money.

Guilty of the coffee/water glass reuse business. Seems a waste to only use them once when, like somebody else said, it's only my cooties I'm dealing with!!

Definitely lick knives after using them to spread any and everything.

Sometimes I'll use the "But it's organic!!" excuse to nto take utmost care in cleaning produce. That, and the excuse that whatever dirt I might incidentally ingest will just bolster my immune system.

Eating in front of the TV. Such a bad habit, and I tried to break us of it once. We are just such TV lovers that it felt forced and awkward. Maybe when kids are around we will break ourselves of this act of horribleness.

I use way too many paper towels. I need to cut that shizz out. I just can't reconcile which is worse - my overuse of paper towels or constantly washing cloth towels???

Hub uses a sponge to clean dishes. I retch behind him the whole time.

When my husband cooks, I have a habit of standing there picking/wiping up all the bits of sauce and parsley that fall to the floor. If I don't, he steps on it and tracks it all over the house!!! I just might find some old bit of oily sun-dried tomato lodged in the fibers of our carpet. It drives him MAD and admittedly...it is very annoying. What can I say? I don't want to be able to survive a natural disaster by sucking on my carpets for sustenance. But for the sake of my marriage...I stay away from the kitchen while he's cooking.

My bad habit(s) 1. When cooking a big dinner party it seems the logical thing to clean as you go right? That's how it begins, I am being soooo good and sticking to this logic, but by the end, nope, not going to happen. Every single time this happens, then dinner starts and there is all those dishes to wash as well but I am not going to wash them because I want to relax and be with the guests. Then when the guests leave I am tired and want to go to bed. The next morning I am hungover and go into the kitchen and see the mess....I turn around and go back to bed. It is a vicious cycle of mine.
2. I have a very disorganized kitchen. I promise myself to organize it but always something comes up, yeah right!!
3. My cupboards are over stuffed with things and I will not use them. I buy more and more, it's crazy,
My BF's bad habits is he leaves drinking glasses all over the house. He has something to drink he forgets where he puts the glass and uses another one. Glasses all over the place like we had a party and it's just him. Another bad habit he has, well it starts out good, he offers to do the dishes and all is great till I see the outcome. I have to redo them because there little specks of food still on them plus he will not wash the counters, so basically I just say thanks but I will do it. lol

cooking barefoot - guilty
leaving dishes to dry in the rack - guilty
not sweeping after every time I cook - guilty
sometimes I just rinse a glass I only had water in - guilty
saving plastic containers and glass jars for later re-use - guilty
the need to wash the dishes as I cook - guilty

Other things I am also guilty of:
- even though I have a wastebasket inside the cabinet, I much prefer to hang a plastic grocery bag from the counter to have easy access when throwing things away
- get annoyed when things are not returned to their proper place after washing
- sometimes I forget to wipe clean my George Foreman grill after I use it
- I can't separate the components of my blender cup to wash them separately, so I just wash it all together... if someone wants to help me twist them apart, you're completely welcome to come over and help me...

@OneWomanKitchen--I too am a paper towel addict. I love them, and admit I don't 'want to quit.'

Mine: cooking barefoot, not loading the dish washer "right" using 1,700 dishes to make one meal, licking knives, and not really cleaning as I go. My mother cleans EVERYTHING as she goes! I don't see the point in cleaning the counters 3+ times in one meal prep. I guess I also put the knives in the strainer point up....

Hubby: re-arranges everything I put in the dishwasher! But then when its his turn to clean the kitchen (once a week!) he won't wash the pots and pans. I guess he thinks if it doesn't go in the dishwasher, he doesn't need to clean it! It's supposed to be me treat that he cleans the kitchen, but not really because I have to still go do the damn pots and pans. That being said, I HATE the way he washes dishes. Its painfull, too much water running, slow choppy strokes, and no attention to detail!

LOL I didn't realize cooking or being barefoot in the house was a no-no. I've never worn shoes inside my or anyone's house since I was born.

Dirty dishes...check....my dishwasher is usually full...of clean dishes! I unload it as I need the dishes, then completely unload it when I need to do the dirty ones...bad habit I try to get out of once in awhile...just hasn't worked yet!
Dirty floor...check....I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't like to do floors...same habits from working in restaurants...we used to do our floors at night...only I didn't carry over that habit! lol
You don't want to see my fridge....fresh food in the front...not always sure whats in the back...drives my husband crazy! (That's why he has his own fridge in the garage for beer! lol) That is one habit I hope to break...I'm 45 though...don't know if that will happen!
Other than that...I am pretty particular when I'm cooking...always wiping down & sanitizing....

Leaving a dirty pan in the sink to soak is okay when it really needs it, but it seems to me, "leaving it to soak" is often an excuse for "leaving it so someone else (i.e. me!) will clean it". Makes me so cross and it always happens when I come in by myself and find it so I can't even complain!

@arm1970 I am going to run to my dishwasher as soon as I post this and group my silverware!! I love the idea and it feeds my OCD:-) You and your mom are brilliant!

totally guilty of designating a "weekly" water glass... DH finds it absolutely gross, probably bc he tends to find them all over the house. they never ever make it back into the dishwasher.
DH also hates that I never use recipes. Oh, I might have one open on the counter while cooking, esp baking, but am I following it to a T? Never. I mean, 1/2 tsp cinnamon? Get real... He is concerned that one day I will die, and he will never ever be able to taste my asian slaw, since there is no recipe whatsoever.
I always re-wash anything that DH has washed.
It makes DH crazy that I don't pre-rinse, to the point of sparkling cleanliness, anythign that goes in the dishwasher. Sorry, then what's the point...?
weird related habit: I always sort my groceries obsessively, at the checkout counter. Check-your-own lines were the greatest invention ever so that i can keep my OCD-ness to myself. All cold stuff together, all meat together, all frozen together if there's enough, veggies, etc... no idea why but the 'rents always did it. It does make it easier to put stuff away but it probably takes 10 times longer in the organizing (less time to look at tabloid mags in checkout line). drives anyone shopping with me up the wall (except mom and dad, they get it).

Oh man, I lick knoves too. I think that's part of my whole knife attitude. I've never cut myself doing it though. I DID once manage to cut my finger open on the dull side of a butter knife. That takes talent, no?

I get irritated with the boyfriend when he puts the pans with the pots and vice versa, or if veggies don't go in the crisper drawers in the fridge, or if he puts something in the wrong spot in the cupboard, or if he does the hand-wash dishes with the scrubber instead of a clean washcloth.

I'm the messiest person (while cooking) and I don't clean up afterward. There's little pieces of food in the burners on the stove, splatters and spills on the counter, more little pieces on the floor.
As much as I try, I can never bring myself to rinse and load the dishwasher as I go.
I put expired food down the garbage disposal instead of putting it in the trash.
I use WAY too many dishes when cooking
I too cook barefoot, unless it's cold then I have slippers on.
I use the same water glass all week too!
I reload the dishwasher if BF can't get everything to fit.
I hate when condiments get put on food without the food being tasted first. At least give it a chance, how do you know it needs whatever condiment?!!

My ex-husband used to say that since he was male, he had better spacial skills, so he could load the dishwasher better than me. He would lay 4 plates across the top rack (because they were too tall to stand up on top) and then 3 or 4 plastic dishes in the bottom, say he was done and leave the rest of the dirty dishes in the sink for me to wash! So much for the Y chromosome theory of dw loading.

I, however, tend to carry my coffee cup around with me, set it down and then can't find it. I am notorious for this- to the point that I have a friend who will keep track of where I am when we talk on the phone, so he can tell me to go get the cup I left on the back patio before he hangs up!