Getting Organized in the Kitchen

There was nothing more frustrating for me than wanting to find a family approved, tried-and-true recipe and not being able to locate it. Was it in a cookbook, a magazine, or on an index card? And those were just the recipes I had remembered making. Often times while on the search for a specific recipe, I’d locate others that I had forgotten about, but knew my family had once enjoyed. Or I would make a mental note to try some recipes out, only to quickly forget about it- indefintely. Certainly, this was no way to live. So what's a girl to do? Get organized!

In my first attempt to get organized, I purchased two recipe binders, similar to a photo album, that had clear sleeves to fit my recipe cards. Since I transferred a lot of recipes onto index cards, in theory,it worked well. I was able to fit newpaper or magazine recipes in the sleeves, too. But, it had its drawbacks. Namely, if the recipe was exceptionally long, or if it was in a cookbook or magazine, I had to photocopy the recipe to keep add it to the binder. My two binders filled up quickly, and it got increasingly difficult to find the exact recipe I was on the hunt for. While this system was better than none, I knew there had to be a better way.

Being an organized, linear thinker, it occured to me that the concept of my binder was on the right track. That is when I decided I should type up all my recipes and put it into a Word document.

Initially, I typed up all my notecard recipes, and all the ones that I had cut out. Then I took the time to go through my cookbooks and magazines and typed those up, as well (I always included who sent me the original recipe so if I had questions or compliments, I knew who to credit). My typed pages are in protective sleeves and in a 3-ring binder.

My recipes fall into thirteen categories, which I separate by page breaks. They include, in alphabetic order: Beef, Beverages, Breads (muffins, breads, bagels, and pastries), Crock pot, Desserts, Pastas, Pork, Poultry, Salads (lettuce, gelatin and fruit), Seafood, Soups, Vegetables (side dishes and appetizers). Each section has a page divder that includes a pocket built in. I love, love, love the pockets, which holds any clipped out recipes I want to try in the future.

Now when I plan my meals every week, I can flip through my 3-ring binder and find the recipe easily. The added bonus is that my recipes don’t get wet, smudged, torn, or lost. No more dreading copying down a recipe for a friend or relative. Simply pull it up on your computer and print (or copy and paste into your e-mail).

The downside is that it took a lot of time. A lot. I am not going to downplay this negative aspect. It probably took me about six months to transfer all my recipes. Some days I would spend only 15 or 30 minutes, and other times I would have a few hours to work on it. But it was worth it. On average, using a two-column format, four recipes fit per page. With 92 pages of recipes, you can imagine how much more organized I am now that it is in one neat little binder.

Am I extreme? A perfectionist? Crazy? Yes, yes, and yes. But the bottom line is that it works for me and it might be the solution to your own organization dilemma.