Recipe Organization

Recipe boxes, Pinterest, cookbooks, digital storage, magazine pages, printable, recipe cards...

If you're like me these are just some of the ways you've probably tried to keep track of your favorite recipes.  Can I state for all of us that keeping track of recipes can be a mess!!  The cookbooks get sticky  fingerprints, the magazine pages end up wrinkled in a pile, the tablet keeps going into sleep mode while you cook, and where is that recipe card with grannies secret family recipie??? Frustrating!!!  Am I right??

When we were married a friend of my husband's family gave me a cookbook with her favorite recipes.  She had printed them off and placed them inside plastic sleeves in a 3 ring binder.  This was the inspiration for my current recipie system.

Problem solver:  plastic sleeves keep recipie pages washable.  No worries about propping open a cookbook or activating a sleepy tablet, just pop out the page you're using and put the rest aside.  Mismatched page sizes don't matter, find a magazine...then rip it and slip it.  Recipe cards can either be photocopied or slipped into their own sleeves.  Printed recipes have found a home.  The only thing it doesn't solve for me is actual cookbooks...because I'm not going to rip them appart...or photocopy every page.  So I keep them how they are :).

You'll need:
4-5 binders
A pack of plastic page protectors (I buy mine as SAMS)
A printer or copy machine

Here's how I have mine. 

MEATS AND MAIN DISHES
Subcategories: Eggs, Beef, Meatless, Pork, Poultry, Seafood & Fish, Soups

DIPS AND SAUCES
Subcategories: Dips, Dressings, Savory Sauces, Sweet Sauces

SALADS AND SIDES
Subcetegories:  Beans, Fruits and Vegitables, Pasta Salads, Potatoes, Cold Salads, Sweet Salads

DESSERTS
Subcategories: Bars, Breads and Muffins, Cakes, Candies, Cookies, Ice Cream and Sorbet, Pies

MISC
This is where I keep home preservation and canning, freezer meals, DIY home cleaners and personal care products, etc.

Each binder is color coded and I used coordinating cardstock to divide the different sections.  I just used a sharpie to write them, but you could print something if you want to be fancy.

That's how I divide them but do it however works for you, and put the recipes where it makes sense to you.  For example, broccoli salad could go under cold salads or vegitables.  I always forget where i put it (I chose cold salads btw).

There you have it!