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Here a few methods I have found to organize recipes:
PHOTO ALBUMS
Your can place clipped recipes and recipe cards in a any type of photo album (hint: go to the thrift stores and pick up inexpensive albums) although the type of albums that you can add pages to would be best because this will help you organize the album better. You can place tabs on pages to divide the album into categories then simply place your clipped recipes into the appropriate category. This method is a great way to keep all loose recipes together. The plastic protection will help keep your recipes clean.
A RECIPE FILE
Get an accordion-type file to organize clipped recipes and recipe cards. Label each section with a different recipe category then simply file your recipes. This method will at least keep them all together and is quick, but you will have to sort through all the recipes in a certain category when trying to find a particular recipe.
A RECIPE BOX
With a recipe box, you can put different categories onto tabbed dividers and you can buy more dividers if necessary. You can file clipped recipes but it is neater if you write them onto recipe cards which is time consuming. As with the accordion file, you'll have to sort through recipes in a category to find one.
A COMPUTER RECIPE PROGRAM
If you have a little spare time this is a great way to compile all of your favorite recipes--including ones in your recipe books. These programs are pre-formatted so you just fill in the blanks. It can get time consuming entering in all your recipes, but if you stick to entering in 1 or 2 recipes a day, you'll make some progress.
There's a number of benefits using this method, one being that you can easily find recipes and print them out. You can print out recipes and make homemade cookbooks to give to your friends and relatives. The program will figure the nutrition information for your recipes. Some programs offer a menu maker and a shopping list. It's also easy to locate certain recipes with certain ingredients. For example, if I have ground beef on hand, I can do a search for 'ground beef' and the program will bring up all recipes with ground beef in it. Also, these programs come with recipes--so if you don't want to enter your own, you'll still have a great cookbook to use all these features on.
A THREE-RING BINDER
I use the three-ring binder in conjunction with my recipe programs. I have put tabbed page dividers into it and labeled each divider with its own recipe category. Whenever I print out a recipe to use from my recipe programs, I punch holes in it and place it into the appropriate category in the three-ring binder. This eliminates the need for me to re-print the recipe later. I hope this article gives you some ideas for organizing your recipes. Recipe collecting can be a fun hobby especially if it is organized!
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