How Do You Organize Your Recipes?

[luv2mickey]

I'm trying to stay home and tackle projects instead of shopping, I've had a pile of recipes growing taller for years and I've been meaning to get them organized but I stop because i get stuck on how to do it, any suggestions?
Thanks

 

[Marionnette]

I'm trying to stay home and tackle projects instead of shopping, I've had a pile of recipes growing taller for years and I've been meaning to get them organized but I stop because i get stuck on how to do it, any suggestions?
Thanks

3-Ring binders with plastic page protectors. The plastic keeps the paper clean and I can wipe spills off. I can remove pages and bring them with me when we vaction at the shore so that I have favorites with me.

I have one each for breads, for soups, for appetizers, desserts, cookies, beef, pork, poultry, pasta, potatoes and veggies.

I would keep them all on my laptop but Im afraid that I would spill something on it while cooking and short out the keyboard or something.

 

[ntink]

I use 2 - 3 ring binders and bought plastic sleeves inserts - you can put 2 recipes (81/2x11) in each - 1 on each side. 1 binder is appetizers, side dishes and main dishes and the other binder is breakfast foods, desserts & a section for whole meals (Thanksgiving, cooking classes). This system has been great for me - I had the pile thing going on for years

 

[bella77]

Another vote for 3 ring binders. That's where I keep my recipes that I print from the Internet or that I cut out of magazines and newspapers. I also like that I can categorize them the way I want to.

 

[alexedan]

I use expandable file folders (12 sections) and have appetizers/party foods, salads, breads and muffins, soups, breakfast dishes, chicken and poultry, pork, beef, seafood and pasta, vegetables and sides, desserts, extras like sauces and slow cooker stuff. I actually have 2-one for favorite tried and true recipes, the other for recipes I'd like to try. If it works well I move it to the other folder. This has been good for me and easy to find what I need whether it's a well used recipe or a new one if I am feeling adventurous. (Have a xerox so just copy when I go on vacation.)

 

[amykay9377]

Another Binder Babe here! I find that if I get a recipe from the internet or a magazine or whatever, I try it. If the family likes it, I type it up on in Word and save it. If I make it and we like it again, I take a photo of it and add to the typed recipe and it goes into the Rotation. I try to do menu planning for about 8 weeks at a time (I can't do the "plan around sales" thing, drives me insane!), and I pull all the recipes out of the binder, put them in order (according to the menu plan) and clip them together with a binder clip, then hang them on a hook in my kitchen where I prep all the meals (I have a TINY 9x9 kitchen, so I can't have a recipe binder on the counter taking up precious space!). If we DON'T like the recipe, we chuck it immediately. I don't want to waste time with "well, we might like it if we tinker with it..." because most of the time, we don't tinker, or we tinker and still don't like it!

 

[prncess674]

My system is to scan them to pdf then file electronically on my computer. It is so much easier than trying to keep them all in hard copy! When I am feeling like cooking a certain recipe I just print it out and don't care if it gets spills on it since I throw it out after cooking.

The other great things about having them all electronically is it makes is super easy to send a friend a recipe if they say the liked it and also I love that I never have to worry about losing my library of recipes. Many of my recipes come from newspapers and magazines so I can also blow up the print on the computer if the print is small. One Christmas while home visiting the parents I scanned many many family recipes so now sister and I both have access to all of Mom's recipes without having to print them onto cards. It also makes me happy that I have copies of her recipes written in her hand without having to take the originals. Even Mom uses the print and throw away versions because she can make the print bigger which makes it easier on older eyes.

 

[dumbocutie]

I keep mine in a pretty photo box. Use dividers drinks, appetizers, chicken, beef, pork, fish, side dishes, breakfast and desserts.

Lazy I know but it works well enough for me.

 

[figment3258]

Right now I have a recipe box and it's organized but truth be told it sits in a cupboard and I don't really use it unless I have a planned meal and I am not sure how to cook it. I am thinking about using a binder that way while I plan grocery shopping I can look at my recipes.

 

[kellia]

I just got all of mine in order a couple of weeks ago, instead of having them jammed in a folder. I put them in a 3 ring binder with tabbed sections and some plastic pockets for recipes that are smaller, like magazine pages, and don't fit. I've been trying them out and tossing if I don't like. I love using Allrecipes.com and usually use recipes out of my "recipe box" there.

 

[rumrunnergirl]

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