Reading this, as an aspiring minimalist, I can't Help but think that you probably have too much kitchenware. If you can't keep on top of the dishes, even with a dishwasher, perhaps you simply have too much stuff. With less items in the kitchen, you can't end up with as much dirty dishes. You'll have no choice but to clean some stuff off immediately after meals etc. Perhaps teach your kids, depending on age, to always rinse their plates and utensils right after eating, so they can be used for the next meal, and you won't have to end up with those piles of dirty dishes?

If for example everyone only have one cup each, and they have to make sure to keep it clean, and clean it after every use so it's ready for next time, perhaps you can keep on top of it.

You are probably right about us having too many things in the kitchen. Having fewer plates and glasses is a tempting thought. However, after thinking some more about this, I guess dirty frying pans, pots, bowls, lunch boxes and cutting boards may be an even bigger problem as they take up a lot of space. They may fill one dishwasher a day, sometimes more.

Recently I have tried to minimize my kitchen with it just being my boyfriend and I. The only problem I seem to have is that I absolutely love to cook in all different styles and sometimes this requires different kind of pots and pans. I was able to downsize our serve ware successfully.

So then the question is; do you need as many pans, pots, bowls, lunch boxes and cutting boards as you currently have? Or could you downsize in those areas, using the same concept I talked about; cleaning the pot you used for the last meal rather than take out a new clean one, thus ending up with two dirty ones… I bet you have a lot more than you need, and that the reason is that it's easier to get out a new clean pot/cutting board than clean the one that's still dirty from last time. Admittedly always having to clean things right before or after meals may be annoying, but it's basically that vs. having the constant pile of dirty dishes that is the current problem.

I find washing pots on the sink straight after meals is the best way, I become lazy with the dishwasher and often not everything fits in it so I have pots on the side waiting to be wash after the first load is finished.

#4: In general I don't think that there are pots from more than one meal, but a meal can easily generate three dirty pots and pans when my wife is cooking. That might be part if the problem. I don't want to give my wife instructions on how much or little she should use when cooking. I'm just grateful that she does it. :-) #5: I am not going to do the dishing by hand for a couple of reasons. Me hating it is probably the most significant and efficiency number two. Then I'd rather do as I do. :-)

I think when you have 5 people living in the home you are likely to have a lot of pots pans and dishes used. It just goes with the territory when you have a family. I too , like to cook different ethnic dishes and can sometimes use a lot of dishes and pots. Lately, I have been making my tortillas from scratch and also my bread and crackers. So, I feel like I am constantly doing dishes! I have a large dishwasher but I never put pots or pans in it and I never put cutlery in it except for steak knives. A dishwasher can change the finish on your stainless steel pots and dulls knifes very quickly.

We run all pots and pans, except for the cast iron frying pan and the pancake pan, in the washer. Out chefs knives are carbon iron and would rust and get dull, so they are also hand washed. All others go in the dish washer.