Tips for Organizing Recipes

By Onesummer

Archives: Request: Tips for Organizing Recipes Archived on 12/21/2009 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 Feedback: RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes I see that you've got a bazillion backlogged ideas, but I am chiming in to second (or 3rd or 4th) the binder idea. I have a binder that my Grandmother started when she clipped recipes, some have her additions and ideas on them. I then organized many a times my mother's collection and now have my own. My Mom has a baking book (with my teenage writing still on it) and a cooking book. 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 RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes I keep my recipes in a magnetic sheet photo album. For the ones I have written or cut out or from friends, I have them dated with the name of person I got it from. They are not organized. Well maybe an organized mess. But at least I know exactly where to open to what I want. 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 RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes Besides my favorite recipes which I keep in a binder with plastic sheet covers, I have folders: From Newspapers and Magazines, From Friends and Other Cookbooks, From the Internet, From the Mail, etc. Often I can remember which type of place I got a recipe from and I go to that file. It's also great to stash recipes from various sources until I get to try them. (10/16/2007) By Beth RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes I use Outlook Express. In "My Documents", I have one folder named Recipes. Then in that folder I create sub-folders with names like: Beef, Chicken, Seafood, Deserts, and whatever else you want to include. 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 RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes I'm the same, I love collecting new recipes to try. My method is to use a filing cabinet. Simply label a header under a general topic such as Pork, Desserts, Seafood, etc, then I sub-label folders under them. For example, Desserts are further broken up into Pies, Puddings, Ice creams, etc. Pork is further broken up into the categories of Mince, Cutlets, Ribs, etc. Then when I get a new recipe, I simply file it into the appropriate folder. Good luck. (10/18/2007) By Cathy from Townsville, QLD RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes I use a Rubbermaid bin and lots of recipe cards. Once I try a recipe from a book, magazine, or a friend, it then gets its own recipe card. To keep my recipe cards clean when I am cooking I just slip it into the freezer bag at the front of my bin. (05/30/2008) By littlebird Report Spam or Abuse Request: Tips for Organizing Recipes Archived on 10/13/2007 I LOVE to cook and bake and I enjoy trying new recipes. Unfortunately this leads to a lot of pages from magazines and newspapers, recipes scribbled on napkins and post it notes as well as recipe cards. Has anyone found a good way to organize mass amounts of recipes? I've tried file folders and a notebook (and obviously the box system isn't working). I get inspired to try new things when I try to organize the bazillions of recipes I've accumulated - however, when I try a good one - and then want to cook it again - I can't find it. The piles of recipes are intimidating and overwhelming, but throwing them ALL out and starting over isn't an option! Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks. Lovinladyd from Prosperity, SC Answers: RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes The photo album thing works great! One of my granddaughters and I made her mom (my daughter) a recipe book for valentines day. She loves to cook and doing this with my grandchild gave her the interest in cooking too. At 10 she's going to be a natural in the kitchen. Some magazines come with recipes that are already on index cards with pictures and all. Those were the kinds that we used in "our recipe book". (06/13/2006) By PeggyLee RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes Why not buy a box of sheet protectors and a duo tang or binder at your local office supply store. Just pop the recipes in the sheet protectors and "file" in the binder. (06/13/2006) By Judy two dogs RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes I use egg-crate type file boxes (a true recipe-holic, I'm now up to three crates) with hanging folders for the major categories and regular manila folders for sub-categories. When I find a recipe that sounds good, I just toss it in the file--quick and easy. It eagerly accepts magazine clippings, restaurant napkins, backs of envelopes--whatever form or condition the recipe is in. When I actually make it, if I like it, that's when it goes into my computer recipe file, where I can adapt or comment to my heart's content. If I don't like it, of course, it goes into the "file" under my sink. Every once in awhile, I use a little TV time to go through the files to dispose of duplicates or things that no longer sound as good as they did at first. I'm also in the process of dumping any recipe that calls for ingredients that I don't ordinarily keep in my pantry. (06/13/2006) By czechens RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes Judy two dogs idea is a good one and I use that for the many recipes I print from the internet. I print on both sides of the paper and then slip ea into a clear sheet protector. I have quite a few of these binders and designated ea one with a different category. I have one for beef, chicken/poultry, sausage/pork, desserts, veggies/side dishes and salads. Basically I have made my own cookbooks with the recipes I really like or like the sounds of and want to try. After I try a recipe and decide we like it well enough to keep it, I write notations right on the sheet. I might write what our reaction was, how the kids ate it, if I made any changes, etc. It doesn't stay in the binder if it's only so-so; Also I have a recipe box with many cards written up with our favorites....some of the cards are from family and friends. I am going to weed out my large cookbook "collection" as I find I mostly made one or two recipes in ea book and no sense in storing so many. That is why I like the binders because then you can keep just the recipes that you yourself have chosen to be family favorites! (06/13/2006) By Debbie52 RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes My way to be more organized with cooking is as follows. I write down all recipes I've used or want to try in numbered spiral index cards. Number is on the top right hand outside corner. Then I took the back page of a school spiral 8 1/2 x 11 paper and wrote down the favorites and ones I want to try with the number book they are in. This makes for a quick location. (06/13/2006) By Lori from Marion AR RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes I have - a folder of recipes to try and - a notebook of recipes to keep. The notebook is divided into "meat main dishes," "one dish meals with meat," "meatless main dishes," "sides," and "party food (desserts and dips and stuff)." When I try a recipe, I write down the date I tried it and leave it out on the counter until after dinner. If it turns out good, I move it to the "keep" notebook and put it in a page protector in the appropriate section. If the recipe needs something (more salt, less water, whatever), I write that on the recipe next to the date and put it back in the "try" folder. If it isn't any good, it goes in the "circular file." If I want to use a recipe out of a cookbook, I print it using our scanner so it can go into my "system." But the key to any system is to actually DO it. Your own systems might work fine, you just have to put the recipes where they belong when you're done. (06/14/2006) By Allison RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes When I find a recipe I like I will type it into my computer; I use the master cook program. I then put in the description part whether I like it or I haven't tried it. Once I find out that the recipe is a go; (the program will print out different sizes.) I print out the size to fit a rolodex card. My favorite way of organizing recipes and one of the easiest is to just roll your recipes. You can buy tabs to fit into your Rolodex and categorize anyway you want. I even have a favorite section. You can organize this system so easy just by pulling a card and putting it where you want in a snap. Just remember if you are using just your computer for recipes to always back up to a disk, it's never more frustrating to have to start all over again. It might sound silly but I back-up to a disk and put it in my safe place. We had a house fire a while back and we lost everything. Trying to remember all those recipes you loved to cook over the years is something you never get back. (06/14/2006) By biffy62 RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes I saw a great idea for your recipes on a crafty channel. Put them on index cards, cover them with laminate on both sides, punch a hole thru the corner and put a key ring on it. You can easily hang it up in your kitchen and when you take it down to use it the laminate keeps your recipe from getting ruined. AS far as the ones on your computer, use this freeware. http://homeplansoftware.com/freeware.htm It has a recipe box on there for you, absolutely free. You can organize your recipes very easily and it it so easy to add recipes to it. One thing that I do on it though, I don't type each ingredient in like they do, I just copy and paste entire recipe and add it into the recipe slot. You can then look up your recipes by category or who gave you the recipe. I have had mine for about 5 months and have almost 900 recipes on it so far. Also when I want to share I can just copy and paste and email to whomever or even copy the disk and give someone a whole disk full of my recipes. Also easy to delete one that you try and dont like. It also has a print feature, in case you want them hard copy. Hope this helps. (06/14/2006) By micksgirl RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes I am a recipe-holic....I have thousands...and use the loose-leaf binder method. Several years ago I was fortunate enough to retrieve about about 30 loose-leaf binders that were going to be thrown away at my office....these have the clear plastic on the front & down the spine (good thing is I didn't have to pay for them). I labeled each one (Appetizers, Breads, Candy, Cakes & Frostings, etc.). I my home "office" I have floor-to-ceiling shelves along 1-1/2 walls & on another wall I have a six-for double-door bookcase (that my dad build when I was a little girl). All of these are full of cookbooks. I have also printed a couple of hundred from the internet & separated them into categories for the binders, My favorites I put in sheet protectors, the others just put in the binders. Doing this makes it fairly simple to find a recipe I'm looking for....I always make notes by any recipe I try. (06/14/2006) By Rubyred RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes I tried putting my favorite recipes on MasterCook, but this has not been a perfect answer. My daughter is almost always on the computer and is in the middle of a test when I need to peruse my recipes for inspiration. The other problem is that on the few occasions when the computer broke (one of which was when Microsoft kept telling me to load Works, but wouldn't accept my legit disc all of a sudden), so I couldn't access the information. I have a bookcase with labeled folders and these contain recipes that look interesting. If I have prepared a recipe, I put a star next to the title with comments (or throw it out). The best recipes are typed or scanned into the computer and next to the title I write, "PRINTED." They are printed out and placed in plastic cover sheets which I keep handy in the kitchen in binders, grouped according to categories. These are also where I get the ones from internet sources. For I while every recipe that looked interesting was printed out and discovered that we were going through paper and ink at a prodigious rate and had nowhere to put the papers except to stack them. This became annoying and truth be told, when I got around to searching the pile, many were discarded. I don't want to waste paper nor ink, so I decided not to keep on re-printing favorite recipes. And after having had my share of printer problems, don't trust them any more than I trust my computer. All of my favorite recipes are backed up on a flash drive, too. This is because I have lost my recipes twice over the years and do not want to take any chances. One was due to a virus and the other due to a malfunction in my recipe software (also many years ago). I also have hundreds of cookbooks and as soon as my allergenic fussy eater child goes off to college, I am going to start using them and getting rid of those that don't suit. (06/16/2006) By cookwie RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes I buy .99 cent photo albums and put my recipes in them. These albums are small enough that you can put one in your purse to take grocery shopping. One of my albums is just for special occasion recipes, another for favorite desserts, and another for every day meals. (07/23/2006) By SusannL RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes I just type mine into the computer. Unfortunately, for the longest I didn't back up my computer so I lost a lot of good ones. Learned my lesson on that one. When I save it I type in like APPT (appetizer), DESS (dessert), MAIN (main dish), SAL (salad), etc. and then put it into the appropriate file that I have created for that type of recipe. Tonya (09/03/2006) By TonyaG RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes I never had/have the time to transpose them from books, so I have a wonderful and neat book shelf/look of my favorite recipe books, best ones in front, back-ups in back. I have them right beside my kitchen table on a "buffet" I created from a double mahogany dresser, topped with glass which serves as a good resting place for things in/out of the microwave. I don't think I can improve upon the books I've chosen to keep. Good luck to all who have extra time/patience/faith in the computer to type/store them all in a memory bank/or on a disc. God bless you while choosing the healthiest ones, as well. : ) (10/07/2006) By lyndagayle62 RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes I use the binder method, however, I like to keep things simple for myself so that binder is my only location for "loose" recipes. The binder has a pocket in the front where loose notes, packaging that had an interesting recipe on it, recipe cards that I get from our local produce stand (handwritten recipes using the produce that they sell! - so sweet and down home...), etc. For the recipes that I print from the internet, I use the protective plastic sleeves. This way, when it comes time to bake/cook, I just bring it with me to the counter top, and wipe clean before putting back in the binder (if needed..) For the recipe cards obtained from magazines (like MS Living), I use photo pages that go into a binder (obtained from staples). I get multiple sizes so that I have pockets for all types of cards. I put two in each (back to front). Then of course, there is a pocket in the back of the binder which is where I put recipes and ideas that I want to try this week (or for an upcoming occasion. I like everyone's ideas, perhaps I might try the ring type card system to bring to the store in my purse to pick up the ingredients (I often forget one or two key items....). This might make for less need of creative substitutions! (02/19/2007) By DL RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes I have a collection of "fundraiser" collaboration type cookbooks which started with a few that were my grandmother's. At one point I had thousands of recipes that I had printed off the computer "to try" and never did so I just got rid of the whole lot. Now I am a lot more selective about the ones that sound good that I keep. My system may sound complicated but it's really not. I have a word document named "recipes" and I also have one called "index". I copy and paste the ones that I want to keep from websites, email, etc into my recipe document. I have my index separated into typical cookbook categories and when I add a new recipe to the recipe file I then go to the index and put the title under the heading in alphabetical order, followed by the page number it is on in the recipe document. It only takes about a minute to do both and works out a lot better than the print it off and not use it strategy I was using. The "clipped" recipes and ones from my favorite cookbooks I type it into the recipe document directly and add to the index. I like simple easy recipes so it doesn't take long to type them in. I have printed my recipe file once and it's about 25 pages long, printed on back and front. After I add about that many more pages I will print it again and give the original to my mother. I own a binding machine so I have my own cookbook that only contains recipes that are tried and true for our family or ones that sound appetizing to us. At one point I did have an accordion file for the paper recipes with the categories of a cookbook as sections and that was the best system I had before I started my current one because I could just drop the recipes in their categories. (09/10/2007) By taginmom Report Spam or Abuse Request: Tips for Organizing Recipes Archived on 06/12/2006 Tips and advice for organizing recipes. Post your ideas! Answers: Scanning 05/03/2004 I teach cooking for a living and collect good cookbooks and recipes as a hobby. I found that scanning my favorites and most used onto discs and then copying them on a new disk and having a computer handy when I am cooking keeps the mess organized and I don't have to mess up my good cookbooks to get recipes t cook with. Much easier to share with others. By JULIE (Guest Post) Use a Picture Album for Recipes 05/13/2004 I buy small Picture Albums for 4X6 pictures and place my clipped recipes in there, that way they are protected and do not get soiled. By Esther Photo Album 05/13/2004 I used the Recipe Photo Album idea as a gift to my sister when she got married. I made up pre-addressed, pre-stamped half-fold postcards with a little poem and mailed them to everyone in the family and then gave her the Recipe Album at her shower. All they had to do was write out their favorite family recipe and drop it in the mail. She received most of them back. Some didn't have names on them either so I wished I had return addressed them for the people so she would know who sent it. By Kayvee76 (Guest Post) RE: Recipe Organization 12/21/2004 I am a recipe collector and I started having piles of recipes all over the place. I bought an accordion pocket file and labeled the pockets according to recipe types. It works as my "quick file" until I can sort and file them into my file cabinet (where I have file folders labeled down in my office). By Tawnda Thomas Favorite Recipes 12/21/2004 Print out your favorite recipes on paper and then store in a binder. (You can find them much quicker this way than searching through several cook books.) By GrammySheila (Sheila Saey) Master Cook 12/21/2004 I use a computer program called Master Cook to organize my recipes, it has a great search feature, a pantry list, and can give you nutritional information. By calnorth 3 Hole Protectors 12/28/2004 I also keep my recipes in a binder. But since I do print most of them from the internet, I went one step further, I purchased a box of the 3-holed plastic protector sheets at Staples & slide the recipes into them. It keeps them clean and prevents rips. By Marilyn E. Organizing Recipes On Your Computer 02/03/2005 To organize recipes, I keep a folder marked recipes, which contains recipes that look interesting that I haven't tried. Once I try the recipe, I either delete it because it wasn't that good or save it to a folder marked Recipes Tried. I subdivide that folder into dressing and sauces, main dishes, vegetables, and so on. To find a recipe when I can't make up my mind what to fix, I do a find file with the word chicken, or cake, or the name of the vegetable, etc. I print the recipe on recycled paper each time I use it and don't have all the clutter of recipe cards. I use a magnet to hold the recipe on the kitchen vent and it is just the right height for me to read it as I go. Do not do this unless you are in the kitchen and use a very strong magnet or the recipe could fall onto the stove and cause a fire. By Lynn RE: Tips for Organizing Recipes 02/03/2005 I bought a neat little gadget for holding recipes from Regal. My husband attached it to the inside of the cupboard door right above where I do the majority of my food prep. It works great By Faye (Guest Post) From Magazines 03/01/2005 Clip recipes from magazines and tape them directly to recipe cards, kept in a recipe box. At the beginning of the week, take several out and keep them in your coupon holder. When you're running late, or already are grocery shopping, pull out a card, and you have your shopping list, how long it will take you to cook, etc. right there with you. By vickiandnoel Meal Planning 03/06/2005 I just want to share my idea for menu planning: Instead of trying to think of creative recipes each night and browsing through numerous cookbooks, I finally decided to just use my plethora of "scratch" recipes I can make from memory. I started by writing down each entree category, beef, poultry, pasta, etc... then under each category I list all the dishes I know my guys will eat and that I can fix from scratch. Under beef is listed tacos, sloppy joes, hamburgers, meatloaf, etc... I do the same for each category, then I designate a day of the week for each category. For instance, Monday is beef, so I take my calendar and start listing each item on each Monday until I run out of Mondays. I repeat this for each item until I've got a calendar FILLED with entrees to fix. MO By lilithjune Binder 04/14/2005 I use a loose leaf binder. I copy and paste the recipe on computer paper, punch holes in the paper and add to binder. I buy dividers with name tabs on top to put each recipe in a category so its easy to find. By Doris Computer 04/14/2005 After 40-some years of cooking and collecting recipes, I've decided that the computer is the best place to organize them. In the RECIPES FOLDER I made two main categories... "Old Favorites" and "New Adventures." Then within those two folders I made subfolders with standard names like breads, cookies, cakes, casseroles, salads, etc. All the old fashioned methods I had tried, like recipes boxes and 3-ring binders, always failed because I didn't get things put back into the proper place. With the computer, I just print out a copy on scratch paper and toss it after I'm through cooking. The original recipe is still in the computer, still alphabetized. If I can't remember which file to open, I can always us the FIND or SEARCH option to retrieve what I need by just one or two words. By porphuropolis Binder 04/15/2005 Many years ago, BC -- "Before Computer", my Mom would clip out recipes and tape them to loose leaf paper and put them in a organized binder. She would also write recipes on the paper. When she needed a recipe, she would remove the recipe and hold it with a magnet on her refrigerator. By mkymlp Organizing Recipes 09/01/2005 Keep your recipes organized in 99 cent photo brag books. Use one for every day recipes, including recipes you want to try, and handy cooking information like substitutions. Keep a separate brag book for special occasion recipes like the fabulous fruit salad you make for Christmas. Try to keep your other cookbooks in or near the kitchen so that you are more likely to use them. To prevent food stains on the pages, open the cookbook to the recipe you're using and slip the entire cookbook into a freezer bag. If you like the recipe you can copy it into one of your brag books. I take my brag book cookbook with me to the grocery to make sure I don't forget an ingredient. At times, I have also been relieved to have it in my purse when I get off work so that I can quickly decide on a dinner and pick up the ingredients on the way home. By SusannL By ThriftyFun Recipe Bin 10/03/2005 I bought a Rubbermaid type bin that is about 6-8 inches long and is tall enough to hold the large recipe cards and wide enough too. Fits perfectly in my cabinet. I made two sets of dividers. One in front for new recipes that I have not tried and one in back for ones I tried and want to keep. If I don't' like a recipe, I pass it on or toss it. Another thing I started to do was to cut out and save recipes from magazines and collect them in a "to share" binder and save them for graduation gifts, wedding gifts, etc. By Tawnda Report Spam or Abuse