Tuesday, August 23, 2011

My Recipe Binder

I have been using a recipe binder for a little over a year now (as Miss Margaret can attest to since it was in use at her visit last year). I've wanted to mention it here but I'm always hesitant to rave about something new that's working for me lest in a month or two I find it completely impractical. Well, I think a year of usage is pretty good for a test run and I can now say that it has worked beautifully and continues to do so.

Do you ever get in a rut when planning and fixing meals for your family? Do you feel like you are cooking the same things over and over? That was the sentiment that inspired this binder. It's not a catch-all binder. Oh no! This binder is strictly for tried and true family favorites that we know and love (or atleast, most of us do). There is a pocket for new recipes to try but they are held back and kept on the outside, so to speak, until they are tested and evaluated and then finally added to The Binder! 

Here is how it works. It's really quite simple as most successful things are!
I chose a colorful binder and added some pretty paper to it. It must be the kind of binder that has clear plastic cover on the outside that you can slip things inside of. Then I created a template for my recipes and started typing up the ones that we used the most, loved the best, or were the easiest to prepare. 

A package of printable dividers allowed me to sort the recipes by my favorite categories. The categories are in alphabetical order (mostly), but the recipes inside each section are not. I'll explain why below.

When I use a recipe, I pop it out of the binder and slip it into the front pocket. This acts like a page protector so that splashes and spills are easily wiped away. Then when I put it back behind it's divider, I always put it up front. What this does is create a record of those recipes I use most often at the front of the section with the ones I haven't used in a while falling to the back. This was quite a happy accident that I didn't intend, but was delighted to discover! So when I feel that rut coming on, I flip to the back of the section and remind myself about all the other meals we enjoy!

So, that's my recipe binder. It has made meal planning and preparing so much nicer. Like I said, I use the inside pocket to store recipes I might like to try, so it still allows for creativity, but those don't get typed up and added to the binder until we decide that it's something that works for a regular family meal. I love how it allows me to refresh my menu plan easily when I feel like I've become stuck and it's functional too having just the one plastic protector instead of one for each recipe.

BTW... here are updated pictures of those bookshelves I linked to above. The K.I.S.S. alphabetical shelf organization is still going strong and working well for us. There was no tidying that took place prior to taking these pictures.



20 comments:

  1. I use a similar method (and it does work!). Though yours is so much more organized than mine! :) I've also toyed around with having seasonal binders. Yes, it means duplicating some recipes that we use all year but then it's easier to find those winter (or whatever season) recipes I love. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Great inspiration Charlotte! Love it!

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  3. Nicole,
    I started out thinking about seasonal binders and just got my brain all wrapped up in figuring out how to do it to the point that I got stuck. I realized that mostly, our menu doesn't change that dramatically during the spring and the fall, winter and summer are different stories. That's were the happy accident comes in! Most of the winter recipes fall to the back of the dividers during the summer so when the weather turns cooler, I know where to find them. I really like having it all in one place instead of spread out in multiple binders.

    Thanks, Michele!

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  4. I owe you an email about freezing ahead. I apologize -- I got the email on my phone while I was out and since I couldn't deal it with it then and there I promptly forgot. (bad friend) Remind me -- do your kids eat casseroles and chili/soup?

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  5. Great point Charlotte! Does make sense. I think I should organize the binder I do have. ;)

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  6. That's funny, I just typed out my waffle mix recipe this morning because I like to clip it to the container, and I was thinking that I wish my binder was more functional. Maybe I will start working on this.

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  7. Chili and soup, they have come around to. Casseroles, not so much.

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  8. I really like your binder idea. I may have to grab a binder next time I'm at Target and give it a try. Right now I have a folder with food splattered recipes. When I don't use the paper copies I use my laptop. I've had more than a few occasions where I nearly spilled something on the keyboard.

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  9. My mom does this exact same thing and one of the things I love most about it is that when I am visiting, it is SO easy to copy her recipes. She carefully mounts old recipe cards from my grandmother/older female relatives as well, so I just run those through the copy function on the printer and have precious memories and recipes in original handwriting. I LOVE it.
    I'm not sure why I haven't done this. I keep holding out to have a nice one printed from tastebook.com, but can't quite bring myself to pay for it. hahaha

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  10. We had a binder for a long time. The problem is that both Dom and I love to cook. The binder we had was one he had started and which I inherited. It never made sense to me to start a new one but I never felt comfortable with his either. At one point, I think before Ben was born, I tried to start a new recipe binder. But I only used it for a while. Right now we've got a computer mounted in the kitchen and it has a recipe program on it that has a function which displays the recipe in a font big enough to see across the room, so most often when cooking I use that. I'm still not happy about it as a system for finding inspiration, though. Then again, at this stage of life I'm trying hard to simplify meals and to satisfy myself with cooking a few easy things over and over again. This is very hard for me because I thrive most when I can be creative in the kitchen. But with Dom working late and a nursing infant a demanding toddlers, I just can't spend as much time doing meal preparation. I think whatever I end up with when I do get back to having more freedom to cook will have to take the computer into account because I do like the convenience and because our kitchen is severely lacking in counter space where one can prop a recipe.

    Still, I like the simplicity of your idea. And it is so fun seeing what works for other people.

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  11. This is so wonderful and yet so simple! I have a binder that I use, but you have me totally rethinking it. Thanks for sharing, Charlotte!

    ...btw, I love that you used pics of Jessie Steele aprons on your recipe pages. Those aprons are just too cute.

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  12. Melanie,
    A friend on FB who has 2 little ones asked me once after I posted something "fabulous" I'd made for dinner if I cooked like that when I had lots of little ones. I told her, "Heavens no!" In fact, I couldn't tell you what I cooked back then because it's all a blur. Seriously! This is not the time for you to be spending hours in the kitchen. When I had three under three and then four under 6, my recipe organization consisted of a regular old recipe box... that rarely got used.

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  13. Kelly,
    Why just look at black words on a white piece of paper when you can prettify it? ; )

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  14. Charlotte, I remember seeing that exchange and being grateful for your honesty. I do sometimes cook "like that" even with all the little ones. Probably more often than I really should. But it's nice to have permission to serve sandwiches or eggs for dinner when I'm feeling overwhelmed. To remember that "cooking like that" is a treat and not the baseline.

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  15. And by permission, I mean a reminder to give myself permission. Not implying that I have to have a green light from you or anyone else.

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  16. We do the same thing. Mine is no where near as pretty as yours. I need to get a new one because it has been used to much it is kind of falling apart, lol. And some of the recipes need new covers!

    Ok, I have the same idea of a binder, with organization and everything, but it is a bit... well... messy, lol.

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  17. I use a binder for all my favorite recipes too, but I slip all the pages in sheet protectors to avoid food spills!

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  18. I use a binder too, for all my special recipes, but yours does look much better. I labeled one section, holidays so I can find those I use each year. Then I have another category for recipes I want to try.

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  19. This post more than does justice to that beautiful binder of yours! I very nearly "borrowed" it all the way home to MN with me.

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  20. I have the same kind of binder, only mine is not so PRETTY! I love how you have sweet pictures with the recipes. But my binder is only for recipes we have tried and loved.

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Thank you for sharing your thoughts and yourself!