Vanesa

How do you keep/store your recipies.
I have such a mess.
When first moved here I started printing the recipies in 4x6 cards. I fall behind pretty quick. SO I started to put the recipies I cut from magazines or printed online in 3 ring binders (one for sweets and one for meals). It's a mess. And I have some kind of addiction because I was filing papers today and have hundres of recipes that I probably never going to make but can not trash "just in case. "
The thing is this is not working for me. It's hard for me to find some recipies. It's messy and stress me. I have to have things neatly organized or a get stress I have problmes. SO I don't know what to do. Print?, make a online thing?. I would like to make a book but I know I don't ahve time now.
How you have your recipies? I need some advise.
TIA

KBtotheBB

I use one of those folding files (like a coupon file, only bigger). That way, I don't have to worry about punching holes in print-outs to put in a notebook. And, my file has 11 pockets, so I have my recipes separated by meat (chicken, beef, fish, pork) in addition to meal and course. That keeps the recipes pretty well organized so when I'm looking for a chicken recipe, I don't have to search through 50 beef recipes.

If you wanted to stay with the 3-ring binder idea, you could get page dividers to make different sections to separate recipes by meal, course, meat type, etc.

Buuuuuut, I don't have many recipes printed out or ripped from magazines. I might have close to 50, but definitely not 100. (I'm still working through my cookbooks.)

sarasuzy

I have a 3-ring binder with those plastic sleeves holding color-coded pages. I have a different color/section for Soup/Salad/Bread, Main Dishes, Appetizers/Sides, Deserts (separated into category), Misc. When I get a new recipe from a magazine or online, I slip it into a new plastic sleeve and put it in the right spot. If it's a small recipe card I paste them onto a piece of colored paper and put it into the sleeve.

It works pretty well for me...I like the plastic sleeves because if I splatter on it, I can wipe it off no problem. Oh, and if I make a recipe and I don't LOVE it, I toss it. No sense in keeping it around if I'll never make it again.

KBtotheBB

Excellent point. Do you have any idea how many sauce stains are on some of my recipes?!? I have been thinking about going the binder route since I am cooking so much more now. Maybe I'll start one before I start amassing too many.

Vanesa

I have them separated. I have so many that there's plenty I didn't have time to put in the binders.
I guess I need to stop printing out and cutting out.
I don't have many cook books so it's like I'm cutting or printing all teh recipies I would be interest in make on day. I have a 1 inch binder that it's full. SO now I got a bigger one but didn't started to use it.

KBtotheBB

Holy moly, Vanesa!

I would sit down one night and just organize them. If you wanted to start a color-coding system, maybe you could get G to help. The funny thing is, this is the kind of thing I loooooooooove doing. I would so organize those recipes in 5 seconds for you.

Sparqi

I do what Sara does. It took a while, but I got them all in the darn sleeves and into one GIANT binder.

I purged a lot while I sorted. All the complicated stuff that I just don't have time to make with 2 kiddos underfoot got tossed. I also code my recipes. I put a "G" next to the title if I've tried it and it's good. No marking means untried. If it was icky, it got tossed.

I need to scan my grandma's recipe cards and put them in there.

I use my computer a lot, too. I hardly ever use my cookbooks anymore. I can get it all online.

Eleni

I am ALL OVER THE PLACE! Recipes mostly in MSL and Gourmet. It is no fun watching me look for a recipe I've used in the past and liked through 7+ years of issues!!! At some point I used to write their titles, issue number and page in a notebook to save me writing time and would look for the specific magazine. I have so many times lost a loved recipe because I got it online and never bothered to file it and I cannot retrieve it to save my life. I have many printouts too, some gathered in folders (the plastic sleeve trick) but all not organized, just tossed together. At some point I thought about taking the MSL and Gourmet indexes and photocopying and then laminating them and keeping all those somewhere so I would at least have those handy...I also have a couple of cookbooks plus some dessert books and I usually remember where I get those recipes from.
I am such a looser when it comes to organizing. Which is terrible because I do a good job cooking only I waist half my time searching...by the time I find the recipe I'm halfway tired.

baseballmama

Check out my DIY Cookbook article under the Site Articles Forum. I'll try to bump it for you.

sarahxb

Mine are all over the place...one day when I get my $h!t together I am going to make a book with all my favorites. I got this website from a girl on another board and now I know what I'll be doing for gifts this year!!