Organize Your Recipes
By Jodi Granok
Recipes provide a great way to cook at home and save money. But a recipe only works if you can findit! If you are like most people I know, your recipe collection consists of:
- Cookbooks in the living room
- Bookmarked pages on the internet
- Loose cards from the grocery store
- Torn out pages from magazines
- Notes from friends
- Handwritten (and smudged) index cards in a box
Here are a few tips on how to streamline your recipe collection:
Gather and Sort - Get all of your recipes in one spot and then look through them. If you have recipes that are unreadable, unfinished, or undesirable, let them go. For duplicate recipes (do you really need 8 ways to make a pot roast?), pick your favorite version, or create a new definitive version from what you have. Sort your keepers into categories (side dishes, desserts, etc.) to make it easier to locate the card you want.
Cookbooks - Review your collection and just keep the books you are using. If you only like one recipe in the entire book, copy that page and donate the book. Store your cookbooks where they make the most sense, but try to avoid taking up valuable counter space!
Family Heirlooms - For handwritten cards that have been passed down for generations, add a layer of protection. Laminate the cards, slip them into plastic sleeves, or scan them onto your computer.
Loose recipes- Fill a three-ring binder with plastic sheet protectors (to prevent spills and stains on your recipes). Use tab dividers to create categories (salads, soups, etc.). Fill the sheet protectors with your loose recipes from cards, magazines, notes, etc.
Go Digital - Type your favorite recipes and save them in electronic folders by the category (main courses, appetizers, etc.). When family and friends ask for a recipe, e-mail it to them! Note: If you are already using the binder idea, print out a hard copy of each computerized recipe and add it to the binder. © Organizing Magic, LLC - 2010. All Rights Reserved. (return to the article archive)
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