How Do You Organize Your Recipes

Even if you don’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen, if you do any amount of cooking a decent way of organizing your recipes has probably crossed your mind a time or two. ?It usually happens when you are looking for a particular recipe.

A good time is at the onset of the holiday season. It is also a perfect time to collect, categorize and organize some recipes in the hopes of starting something that will stick with you.  

Here are three different recipe organizing methods. See if one strikes your fancy.

Recipe binder: Can you believe this method might be considered old fashioned now? Old fashioned but still works. It is also safe from a computer crash. This method is very quick to set up. You may even have the supplies already available in your home office. You’ll need a binder, dividers for your binder and a box of clear page protectors. Set your binder up with category dividers, Breads, Main Dishes, Dessert and so forth. When you find a recipe you need, must have, gotta get, clip it and slip it in the page protector in the category it belongs. Voila!

Recipe cards: Another old fashioned but tried and true method of keeping track of favorite recipes. If you like things in your own hand writing this is a good method. You can also have printable recipe cards so it will be very neat. This method makes you feel very nostalgic as you cook. My mother kept a notebook of recipe cards for years. It traveled with us overseas and back. It’s now somewhere deep in her storage. For the tips on setting up a recipe box from an Edwardian, and very organized, housewife visit Vintage Homemaking

Recipe Software: I use a combination of this method and a recipe binder. Benefits. Quick and easy to enter recipes from the internet and even by hand. Recipes can be in cook mode so you see them big on your screen as you cook. Easy to make weekly monthly, and special occasion menu plans. Easy to print up grocery shopping lists. Easy to send recipe to family and friends by email or print up to pass on. I recommend Shop N Cook Menu.

Whichever method you choose to organize your recipes set a day each month to update, or do a little housekeeping to your method. Your family recipes will no doubt be something to treasure so take good care. I personally know I have a lost a few to disorganization in the years past.