I like paper copies....and have recipes all over the place...in the drawers, behind the coffee maker...tucked here and there...oh geeze, they are everywhere, and of course never where I can find them. But I have to have paper...I just do.
So what are my options here? 3 ring binder maybe? Any other good ideas that might expand on that or be better? Its all I got..LOL..
I put them in clear plastic, 3-hole sleeves in a 3 ring binder. Then I use the store bought dividers to keep them sorted by category, just like my store bought 3 ring binder cook books.
I got a photo album and I group them together. That way they are protected and I can add pages are move them easily.
Um....am I the only O. that just looks them up every time? lol
Create a WORD document, NAME it (Favorite Recipes) or what YOU like it called. When you find something you like.....copy and paste it to your WORD DOCUMENT. When you want a HARD copy, simply print it out. If you get it messy...not a problem, next time print it again.
However, it you have a screen in your kitchen, just keep the recipe up while your cooking! BE GREEN
Blessings....
I use a three ring binder. I use the sheet protector pages because then I can put the recipes in back to back and also when I want to make the recipe I just take it out of the binder and it is still protected from food spills in the plastic page. I also bought tabbed pages to organize the binder so I can find a certain type of recipe easier (main dish, side/ veggie, appit., desserts).
I have a store bought journal, and I hand write all my recipes in there.
I've had it since HS. (I'm 35 now) I've made a table of contents and everything.
I've written down recipes I got from TV, my Mom, Grandma and magazines. Even some other cook books.
You can tell which ones are my favorites, because the pages are all stained with spices :D
Plus-then it's totally YOURS. It's pretty neat.
Good luck!
I use a 3 ring binder also... only I find most recipes I dont use so I need to clear it out. Most of the online ones, I just save in a document and run back and forth to the computer when I'm cooking!
But my friend has this little fridge pocket that holds little tabs of recipes for easy meal planning, I am planning on getting one, you can find it here:
I have a second-hand copy of the Moosewood cookbook that's so worn it's now in 2 pieces. I put all my printouts in there, between those two chunks' o book, organized with the most frequently used ones in front. It's primitive, but I know where they are!
haaa I have the same problem! I look forward to seeing your responses! So far I have a notebook of all plain white paper and I have them glued in there. Ideally, if I had time, I would like to copy them all down on recipe cards and have them in a box organized. No time and too many for that but it may work for you. Before my notebook I had an accordian file and had them filed in there loose but in categories. Good luck! Very frustrating!
Organize!?? I enjoy mixing it up and trying lots of variations of a recipe. Which is why I don't try to save them - just look it up each time.
I used to use a 3ring binder....but gave up after I realized that I never, ever tried many of those recipes I thought I had to save! It was such a waste of ink/paper.
So here's my new method: I think long & hard about whether or not the recipe is unique & different - - or whether it's even worth saving. Then I post the recipe on my board on the basement door. I give it one month & if I don't try the recipe, it goes in the trash can! If it's a seasonal/holiday recipe, then I will hold onto it a little longer. Once the recipe is tried & liked, then it's added to my Recipe Box.
After years of collecting recipes/cookbooks, I finally gave up! I was so tired of shuffling all of the paper debris & have found that this new method really helps me. Over the winter, I actually went thru all of my cookbooks & eliminated >50% of them! My niece is in her 1st apartment & she welcomed my hand-me-downs.
But, I truly believe it's just easier to "search" each time I want to try something new!
I went through a long time trying to figure that out too. I finally decided to go "old school" with it and got a nice recipe box and I am hand writing all the recipies onto recipe cards. I am finding it is nice so I can write in all my "changes" to the recipes. I also write on the top if it is a crock pot recipe so I can easily find them and my kids have food allergies, so I write at the top if it is egg-free or dairy-free. I love my recipe box! It is pretty on my counter and it even holds the recipe up for me to read while I cook...before I was always losing the recipe while I cooked. I can organize the tabs however I want. I have the categorized into Beef, chicken, pork, pasta, side dishes etc... It seems like a lot of work writing them out, but I have also found I have been able to weed out recipes I never use and have found some that I now use that were just sitting in the pile before.
I hit ''copy'' to save the recipe and then I open a word document and ''paste'' the recipe on there and hit ''save''! I have all my recipes stored on my laptop:)
I have a binder with sheet protectors in it that I just slip the print outs in
That is what I did. I used a 3 ring binder, got the dividers and made sections like, chicken, beef,etc. I put them all in the binder. I also used the little circles to protect the holes so they don't rip. Turned out pretty decent. I also got the kind of binder that has the plastic cover and I made a nice cover for it. I think that is the best way to go to save all these recipes. Have fun with it!
There's an app for that....lol
I like to print them and put them in a binder
I used to have recipes all over the place too. When I finally organized them I tried the 3-ring binder method, but it didn't work for me. The binder is too big to keep out when I'm cooking, and it's a hassle to take out just the page I want because it rarely got put back. I ended up with a binder full of loose pages, lost recipes, and another unorganized mess.
I bought a package of large index cards and an index card box. I bought tabs and labeled sections according to how I want (beef, chicken, cookies, sides, pasta and sauces, etc.). I write the recipe out on an index card and then file it. It's so much easier to find the recipe I want, take it out, and to put it back when I'm done. The index card box also takes up less space in my small kitchen than the 3-ring binder did.
To keep the recipe card clean when I'm cooking I have a plastic page protector. Just slide the index card inside it, and I hang it on a hook in the kitchen so it's easy to read when I'm cooking, is out of the way, and doesn't get dirty.
For new recipes I find online I usually print the recipe and try it within a week. If we like it, I write the recipe out on an index card, or print it out onto the index card. I copy/paste the recipe into a document program, resize to fit an index card, print, and file.
This has worked for me for a while now, and much better than the 3-ring binder. Also, the index card box I have holds thousands of index cards. A binder with that many recipes would be very large, or I'd have to have several binders. I don't have room in my small kitchen for all of that, but one index card box fits in nicely.
3 ring binder, with tabs. Cheap and effective
