Why on earth did I never think of this? Pop your recipe in a plastic sleeve to make it waterproof. Source: A picture online.
By Monique from Somerset, UK., Weston-super-Mare
When a community shower was being held for my niece I dressed up my book with how I came upon the recipe (many are from my mother, old family friends, and relatives) and family antidotes. I searched for appropriate pictures for the title pages of each section (I love word processing/desk top publishing and graphic arts too). Each section was separated by a clear plastic sheet with a sturdy stick on tab. I wrote a preface and then bound the whole thing with spiral binding. I'm very lucky to have the machine, but I don't think it is expensive to have done in places like Staples.
I wasn't able to make it to the shower but word was, my cookbook was a huge hit with many of the ladies present wanting to hold on to it longer before passing it along. My niece commented on how nice it was to have some of her grandmother's recipes in the book since she was too young and my mother was too ill for the two of them to get together and cook.
I have three more nieces and a nephew to do books for. One is already done and the second is almost half way finished. Yes, that is how much of a recipeholic I am.
By sooz from Toronto, ON
By vguy from Earle, AR
I bought small 3-ring binders at an office supply store along with plastic sheet protectors that accept 5.5 x 8.5 inch sheets of paper (the size is exactly half a sheet of regular 8.5x11 paper). I created categories such as appetizers, beverages, etc. and put each acid-free sheet in the protectors. I can now find my favorite recipe in seconds.
Because I enjoy trying new recipes, I now have three volumes of recipes that I have tried and pronounced favorites. I continue to add to the volumes each month. Now, no more spending precious time trying to find a favorite recipe in all those books that I have collected.
To make it easier to see the recipe I am working on, I bought a cheap metal picture stand for about $3. Now my small 3-ring binder cookbooks are propped up on the counter, which makes it easier to follow the recipe.
By onelivewire from Rocky Point, NC
I clip many recipes from magazines, newspapers, etc. The pile can get quite large, and I end up never even trying any of them. I've solved this and all it took was a clear 3 ring plastic page protector and a piece of colored paper.
I choose about a dozen recipes from my large accumulation, these would be ones where the ingredients are in season and ones that sound so good to me that I just can't wait to try them. I put these in the plastic sleeve behind the piece of colored paper. Then I pick the one recipe that I will make first, and place it on the front side of the piece of colored paper.
I check the ingredients before I go to the grocery store. Soon I can make the recipe, and it is even protected in the plastic sleeve while I am cooking. If we don't care for the finished dish, I throw away the clipping. If we love it, I place it in another permanent notebook along with my own notes.
When I need something new or special for company, I can go to my "good" notebook and choose a proven winner. A new recipe then moves to the front of my plastic sleeve, and more new clippings get added to the back side of that sleeve. I manage to try about 2 new recipes each week!
I'm getting ready to expand this idea and have several plastic sleeves full of recipes, each sleeve with a category of recipes such as meat, salads, desserts, etc.
By Ruth in OH
By Doggy from TX
Use A Mini Binder For Organizing Recipes
I attach the sticky note to a handle of a shopping cart at a grocery store. I put the recipes I am shopping for in the same binder in Ziploc sandwich bags. The recipes stay in the binder until I have time to prepare them. The protector gives some durability to the magazine clippings and also protects them from the kitchen grease when I am actually cooking (I attach the Ziploc bag with a recipe to my refrigerator with a magnet).
By Elena from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
By Barbara from Shoemakersville, PA
Take the larger post-it note paper and write cakes on the first cake page. Then take wide tape and cover these post-its with tape, making it all mess and water proof. Also you can have the recipes on front and back, saving paper and saving storage space.
Do next set of recipes for meats. You can use the pink post-it for meat, green for vegetables, yellow for fruit, blue for dairy, and orange for breads.
By cj from Minot, ND
On a recipe card, I will note what the main ingredient is, the name of the recipe, along with my own rating system or any special notes. Then I write the title of the recipe book along with the page number. I file the card in my recipe file appropriately.
This makes it so much easier for me. I don't have to rely on my memory anymore to find a particular recipe.
By mkymlp from NE PA
What's great about this is that it helps me remember great meals. PLUS, I don't have to come up with side dishes that go with it since I list the entire meal (including dessert). I also write next to each item where the recipe is found. Now when I am making up a shopping list, I pull a couple of my "winning dinners" and half the work is done!
By Carol from Landisville, PA
By Melanie
By Anne from Marengo, OH
By Pam T from Storm Lake, IA
Blessings.
By one.of.a.kind from AL
Editor's Note: You can use the bookmark feature to mark your favorite ThriftyFun recipes for easy access. Simply click bookmark on your recipe (or any other recipe you like) now then click the bookmarks link at the top of the page when you want to access previously bookmarked pages later. All your own submissions are also bookmarked.
Now as I'm standing in line at the registers, I scan through the books there. If I find a recipe, or a type of cooking that I'm interested in (i.e. crockpot cooking, or summer salads, or Italian cooking, whatever is on the shelf) I'll jot down the title or a word or two in a note pad I keep in my purse.
Then when I get home I get on the computer and look them up. If it's one I want to keep, I print it out. Otherwise I just copy it down and cook it. Or I'll copy/paste it into a recipe file I have created on my computer. I've saved hundreds of dollars over the years by doing this.
Once or twice a year I will go through the file I have on the computer and delete any that are no longer interesting to me. In this same file, I also type up any recipes that I have created myself and keep them there too.
By Cricket from NC
I start gathering all my favorite holiday recipes a month before Thanksgiving or Christmas. The recipes I plan to use are then placed into plastic page protectors, then those pages are placed into a plastic binder that can be wiped clean. This works very well to keep everything organized and protected and next year you will have a reminder of what you cooked the year before. :-)
By CDC
By Robin from Washington, IA
Editors Note: Robin is our #1 contributor of recipes for ThriftyFun. If you get our daily Recipe Newsletter, you have definitely seen some of her hundreds of recipes. Thanks, Robin!
With an advanced search, you may not even need to know "any" word in the title, because it will review all the words within the recipe and pull out all the ones that contain the word you designate, although in my case that would be too many to help if I searched for tomato. In that case, I might search for rigatoni or some other less commonly-used ingredient I knew was in my desired recipe.
Storing my recipes this way saves me hours of scanning through clippings, notebooks, recipe files, or whatever method I used in the past, and I think I've used them all, including recipe software, which costs money and has to be updated periodically.
Finally, if you're hesitant about taking up space on your hard drive (although files like this don't use much; it's programs that are space hogs), you can look for ways to store your files "in the cloud". If you do that, not only do you save hard drive space, but if you're visiting somewhere and decide to treat everyone to your special recipe of (your favorite here), you can pull that recipe up from any computer. I hope this is helpful to someone.
By Jayni from Richmond, TX
I went to a dollar store and picked up clear plastic pockets to hold each page and a duatang cover with a pocket on back page to collect new recipes and tips. Once a week, I sort them out and place the keepers in a sleeve.
So far, I have a 2 week menu and 30 recipies and 2 grocery shopping list. Most importantly, I have inspiration; ideas for exercise and switching foods to keep on track. Keeping healthy is the main idea. If we lose a few pounds, we are happy.
By Carolyn from Chilliwack, BC
By Pam from Davie, FL
By Kathleen from Dothan, AL
If you find that you are baking the same cookies, cakes, and other baked goods every holiday season, save them to a file on your computer by either typing them in or scanning them. When it comes time to bake, simply print off all of them. You can write on them, make notes (such as where you stored a particular cookie dough-especially if you use a neighbor's fridge) and save your cookbooks from splatters. Plus, it saves having to retrieve the recipes year after year from various cookbooks, clippings, and cards-they will all be in one place.
By Ginny
I need help with printing. I get a lot of recipes sent to my email box. Some of them I like and some I don't. But some have 6 or more on 1 sheet. How do I go about printing out only a certain recipe, rather than all of them? I'm wasting paper and a lot of ink (and paper). Any suggestions please?
By Maryeileen02/26/2010I print mine and put them in 3-ring binders that have tabs with categories such as vegetables, rice and potatoes, breads and muffins, cakes and cookies, etc.
What is the best way to organize recipes? Do you think its easier to buy 4x6 index cards and write all the recipes on them or type them on a full size sheet of paper and cut them to fit or maybe they have some software. Please share your method.
By Onesummer
By Kathryen12/27/2009I collect recipes. After I have tried them, I place them in one of three piles. First Pile is our favorites that will be made again and will be udated to the computer and printed out for a small three ring binder that holds our favorites. Second Pile is for recipes we haven't made up our minds about and "might" want to try again. Third Pile is one that I will never use again but family and friends are free to go through them. I keep the 2nd and 3rd piles in folders in a basket on top of the refrigerator along with menus from carry out restaurants.
I need to organize my recipes on my PC. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good TNT free cookbook or recipe software? I'd like to be able to import recipes from websites as well as email them and also be able to export to email and print. Is all that possible in any of the free or shareware programs? Thanks for any experiences you have to share.
Sherry from Georgia
By tom (Guest Post)01/04/2008Try http://recipe.gauzza.com its free/easy to use and you can access all your recipes where ever there is an internet connection
When I am in the doctor's office or at the hair salon reading a magazine, I always seems to run across a recipe I like. However, when I write it down, I can never find it again. Any advice on how to keep recipes organized in your purse? I like to keep a few recipes in my purse just in case I decide to stop by the grocery store unexpectedly.
By Onesummer
By KLS880008/07/2011If you have a phone that has a camera feature, take a picture of the recipe. You can enlarge the photo if needed.
I love to collect recipes. It has become a great hobby of mine. I have recipes sent to me from friends, groups, clubs etc. One extra way I get some super recipes is going right into the Manufacturer's website.
Example: Go into campbellssoup.com and just click on recipes, there are lots to choose from. More good sites are pillsbury.com/, kraftfoods.com and successrice.com. This is a great way to expand your recipe collection and get manufacturer's coupons also. And it costs nothing at all to sign up.
Your own Internet service usually has a recipe site also. I then print out what recipes I really think I will use. Use a three hole punch to put holes in the paper and put them all in a three ring binder. Use a large one because these recipes will start filling your book. Then buy page separators in any stationary department and mark what type of recipes: Chicken, Beef, Pasta, Dessert, etc. Then you will have your own homemade cookbook filled with all the recipes that you love!
By Jackie from Southern Massachussetts
I print them out as I use them and only keep a paper copy of the really good ones that I know I will use again.
I can also color-code the files and folders in Word so they are easy to find. I keep mine right on my hard drive for easy saving and then back it up occasionally. (03/22/2007)
By Lisa from Lena, WI
There are also many categories to choose from, appetizers, chicken, etc.
The recipes can be sorted by clicking, rating,alphabetically.
Check out the Reeses squares or type in 29679.
I have lost track of time and been on this site for hours.
Hope you like it. (03/22/2007)
By PICO
By
Could anyone please help? I am drowning in a sea of recipes and want to organize them. I have already thrown out a lot, but have so many left. It is boggling my mind, and I don't know how to save them so that I can locate them fairly quickly. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Ann from So. ME
My Mom gave me the idea a while back, when I see a recipe I like, take it out right then. I would dog ear the page, then forget and throw away or forget what recipe I wanted. Now I pull out, if there are several on a page, I take a pen and X through the ones I don't want, then store in a bag beside my couch. When I feel inclined, I buy a lot of glue sticks, get out some pretty binder paper (bought for these occasions), get my paper recycling basket and start away.
I categorize into main dishes, side dishes, then further for baking (I love baking). I then put on the page in a sort of order, all chicken dishes for example. Then into the binder with a protective sheet (makes it easy when you are cooking you only take out 1 page and it's protected from spills). When I like something I write so on the recipe, or what I didn't like, or additions etc. If it's really yucky, the glue stick makes it easy to rip out.
Hope that helps. (10/15/2007)
By michawnpita
This is one thing my kids will fight over years from now. It has about 60 huge pages with 20 or so empty. I have had it 20 years, so only the best recipes are kept. (10/15/2007)
By Ariela
By Beth
I am on Yahoo recipe groups as well, as there are loads of recipes on the Internet. I quit cutting them out a long time ago. When you see a recipe, cut and paste into word processing and save to Recipe Folder and save in the appropriate sub folder. This way, if you are looking for a recipe open your Recipe Folder. Saves a lot of time by not thumbing through lots of books. A big plus, you can go to your recipe on the computer and make changes or delete it.
Books are a lot of clutter, we have found. (10/16/2007)
By Syd
By Cathy from Townsville, QLD
By littlebird
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Tips for Organizing Recipes