Recipes are everywhere and so many look so good that we bookmark, we rip, we email, we save, we print and we write in order to collect and keep them organized in some sort of orderly fashion. Ideally we’d like to be able to find them again when we need to without having to waste too much time searching for them. I love trying new recipes and often will have two or three new recipes on the menu plan to try each week. The problem is of course finding the best method to track not only new recipes to try but our tried and true favorites as well.
Before I share how I organize my recipes though let’s discuss some of the various methods available to us.
Recipe box:
Recipe boxes work well for recipes on index cards but don’t work so well for holding magazine clippings or 8.5×11 sheets of paper. Most recipe boxes aren’t near big enough either.
Computer:
There are a number of different ways to mange recipes on your computer:
1. Type your recipes into a Word document
2. Bookmark them into your Favorites using a specific recipe folder and then further organized into various sub-folders for the different food categories
3. Online using a bookmarking site such a Delicious. Elise from Simply Recipes has an excellent tutorial on how to do this.
4. Online using recipe software such as Big Oven or Cookbook Wizard
5. Create your own recipe book with an online service such as Tastebook
Photo album/3 ring binder:
Using the old style peel and stick photo albums or a 3 ring binder with page protectors are great ways to contain both regular size sheets of paper as well as smaller clippings and scrap pieces of paper. Adding some simple tab dividers allow you to sort your recipe pages into specific food categories.
photo courtesy of dearbarbie
It’s important to remember that no one method will work the same for everyone. We are all unique in our priorities as well as with our likes and dislikes. That is totally A-okay. Regardless of whichever method you choose I think it’s important to take into consideration your personality and what’s important to you. I discussed this in more detail here.
For me I needed a system that included a place to keep the recipes that my family loves and another location for recipes we want to try. I also know that I don’t enjoy writing out recipes by hand or typing them out on the computer so any kind of system that requires me to do that just wouldn’t work for me. I have comfortably settled on a combination of systems that meet my needs. Due to Menu Plan Monday and wanting to be able to link to the recipes I post I now find most of my recipes online. I created a Recipe folder in my Bookmarks with multiple sub-folders (ie: chicken, pork, beef, meatless, salads, desserts, etc) that make it very convenient for me to add recipe links to as I find them online. Recipes that we enjoy and I know I will make again get printed out and put into a three ring binder that has been divided with the same category tabs. I only have one binder so once that is full I have to go through the purging process before I can add anymore. For recipes found offline I use my folder method until I’ve had a chance to try them out.
As many of you know I also adore the Taste of Home publications and have quite the collection of magazines that I can’t bear to tear apart. I want to keep them intact so I have found that a recipe journal works well for tracking these recipes. I rarely use cookbooks any more but this method would work well for tracking your favorite cookbook recipes as well.
In addition I’ve also been finding it extremely helpful having a Family Favorites Index on my site. To keep consistency I’ve got the recipes listed there organized into the same categories as I use in the other systems I have going on. This definitely makes it very easy to find what I’m looking for.
To keep my bookmarks on my computer under control and from getting out of hand once they’ve been tried they get added to my index and/or printed out and then deleted.
As you can see the possibilities are endless really and I know I’ve given you a lot to think about but let me know if I’ve missed something and/or which method works best for you.
photo courtesy of SummerTX
For more kitchen organizing tips visit this special edition of Works for me Wednesday taking place today over at Rocks in my Dryer.
40 Comments
Thank you for this post. I will be saving it and thinking about the different options and what will work best for me — I have so many recipes saved online and in physical form, and it’s one of my goals to get them organized some day. (Preferably by the end of 2009.)
I put all my favorite recipes in books I make (through Heritage Makers http://www.memorybooksNmore.com). I love it, and they look so nice. I can also make copies for family and friends.
I’m in the process of converting my recipe box over to a Tastebook. Its helping me weed out a lot! But at the same time I need to find a better method of organizing the recipes I want to try and showcase on my food blog…you gave me plenty of ideas to start with…
I keep mine on the computer. I have it organized and the awesome part is I bring the laptop into the kitchen turn it on and voila…recipes…saves from printing recipes and the clutter of recipe books etc.
Don’t forget allrecipes.com! You can input your own recipes there as well as adding the recipes on their site to your “recipe box.” It’s a really great tool.
Thanks for a great post. I just went through this myself a few weeks ago. I ended up deciding on a digital format too - using googlepages (http://sarawyse.googlepages.com/wyserecipes). I sorted into recipes we love, and recipes we want to try… and so far, it’s been helpful in trying a few new recipes! Taste of Home has all their recipes I love from the magazines on line, so I was able to make those recipes easier to find too.
I actually save each recipe in a separate word document, then categorize them in folders of main dishes, chicken, etc. I can get as specific as I want to be in order to find a recipe when I need it. I also condense them and print them out according to their ‘genre’ (you know, main dish, dessert, appetizer) and put them sheet protector and a binder with category dioviders. Truthfully, I still have them clipped out of magazines, jotted down on scrap pieces of paper, and in random cookbooks all over my house!!! But eventually, I want to make a separate binder for each ‘genre!’
MY FAVORITE TOOL is from Midwest Living magazine. They have a cookbook maker that is FREE. You can use their recipes or add your own, and even use your own pics! I am making a family favorites book to print on my pc and give away at Christmas =)
http://www.midwestliving.com/mwl/
Personally, I’ve found that the Cook’n software http://www.dvo.com/ on my computer is fantastic for storing recipes, creating menus, printing shopping lists (hurrah!), etc. I then have binders with page protectors for the recipes I print out.
You are right - having this part of our lives organized makes an enormous difference!
I save “to try” recipes in my email then print out when I’m ready. I recently went through all my recipes and pared them down to tried & true. They are now organized in a binder by category. Easier to flip through a binder than a stack of papers.
Great ideas. I tend to use http://www.allrecipes.com to find new recipes, so I utlize their onsite recipe box to keep track of them. I also use del.icio.us to keep track of other online recipes.
Ultimately, though, my goal is to have an actual paper version that I can keep in the kitchen. As I come up with keeper recipes that the family loves, I print them out nice (like a digital scrapbook page) and place them in page protecters in a notebook. Eventually I may even have this professionally printed. I like the idea of having my own cookbook of favorites.
I am a cookbook/recipe junkie! There are some excellent ideas here. I am going to have to check out delicious, that sounds like an EXCELLENT idea! I, too, have collections of TOH magazines… I finally did get rid of those that I had the annual cookbooks for …. that was very hard for me! lol Love your journal idea!
I actually took the plunge and typed all of mine and printed on 4×6 index cards. Then I took a slide in photo album, made my own post-it tabs and slid them all in. This works great for me because if I decide I don’t like something or want to make another category - it’s super easy to move things around!!
I just love your blog. I may take this idea and turn it into a Christmas gift. Thanks!
I’ve been in the process of organizing my recipes but it is very slow going! I plan to put them in a 3 ring binder with sleeves. Typing the recipe and any other notes along with it that I think would be helpful. I hope to make copies someday to give to my girls. I haven’t worked on it for awhile though.
I like your ideas as well.
I do a twist on the 3 ring binder plan that really works for me - it might for you.
I have binders, one for each catagory (Veggies, Meat, Seafood, Cakes, Pies, etc.) and I fill them with page protectors. Then I label each page protector with a sub-category. For instance, in Sweets I have Cookies, Bars, Brownies, Candy, etc. Then I just stick the recipes - all of them - into the sheet protector. (If I have an overstuffed sheet protector I just add a second one for more.)
Usually I either remember a recipe that I want to make or want to peruse my collection for something that strikes my fancy so this is, for me, the quickest and dirtiest way to get things together in an organized way but not spend forever doing so.
For recipes that I make all the time, like Gram’s sugar cookies, Belgian waffles, our favorite chicken recipes, I tape them inside the cabinets that are over the area where I would be putting them together. SO FAST AND EASY!
Thanks all for sharing!
I have two three ring binders: one for desserts and the other for main dishes. I put all recipes that are not in a book in one of these binders. I print everything on normal 8.5 by 11 paper and just organize it in the binders with a few categories. I also receive Taste of Home but I do not keep the magazines. Instead I copy the recipes I am interested in and put them in my binder.
To keep track of those recipes which are staples for my family I have a index card box. In here I keep track of recipes that I have made and enjoyed. I don’t write the entire recipe (just a reference to where to find it). I also write prep time, cook time, ingredients, and family member ratings. This allows me to just grab a card from the box and take it with me to the store. I have found it makes for quick menu planning.
I just added my bookmarks to delicious. i am loving it for my recipes.
Another great way to organize recipes is with google docs. I love it!!
http://katescreativekitchen.blogspot.com/2008/09/monday-meal-plan_15.html
I have so many recipes. LOL. I had started an alphabetical binder where I list the recipes names alphabetically and then write down where to find that particular recipe. For example: “Jeremy’s Fave Chili” - personal computer recipe file under crockpot. “Creme brulee” - foodgawker favorites. “Sweet and sour meatballs” - origianl Betty Crocker recipe book pg. __., etc, etc. It helps me to locate when I can’t exactly remember where it is.
I print alot of recipes off of Kraft foods website. So that’s when I decided to do the 3 ring binder with page protectors idea. I have an older recipe book with smaller pages so I’ve either retyped the recipe and printed it. Or just put the smaller page into the page protector. They are separated by food category. And the newest thing I started to do is when I go through and choose what I am making for the week, I put a post it note on the recipe with the day of the week I’m making it on.
Organize recipes…seriously! I think it would be impossible for me. I have some on the computer under favorites. I love cookbooks and I collect them, so I have tons of cookbooks in the dining room cabinet. I wouldn’t even know how to begin to catalog the recipes that my family really likes.
I use a combination of 3-ring binder, online and software method. It meets all my needs:-)
I do the binder w/sheet protectors;That house all the most immportant recipes I have ( 10 of those LOL) so that I have a hard copy for reference or if my computer crashes… word docs:In case of a fire or flood and I lose my hard copies LOL and cabinet door things for the ones I use the most, only thing is, I’m running outta cabinet doors ;-)
Most of my recipes are in a recipe box, or in my favorite cookbooks…or stuck up in my head somewhere. I have a weird gift for memorizing recipes. Thanks for this great post telling us all kinds of great options for keeping those recipes organized. (Eventually, this keeping recipes organized in my brain thing is just NOT gonna work anymore.)
Keeping my recipe’s organized has always been a challenge. You have given me several good options! :)
I actually use my computers excel program for mine. Its great because I can highlight the recipes that we love, add the actual recipe itself as a note on the recipe title, sort it, add extra pages for different items, keep track of my weekly menu and everything right in one place. All I have to do is click “edit comment” then copy and paste it into a word doc and print.
Eventually I would like to create a book of all my favorite recipes but thats something I have to work on later :)
So funny . . . I was just thinking over the past few weeks that I must do a better job of organizing my recipes. I’m so glad I read this today!!! I’ve been using allrecipes.com, like a few others mentioned, but have been looking for something to take it to the next level and tidy it all up a bit. I still find it hard to remember where I found a certain recipe in the past - then I go to look for it and can’t find it. I’ll definitely be trying to tackle one of your suggestions :-)
I used ShopN’Cook menu http://www.shopncook.com/index.html to keep my recipes AND to organize menus with shopping lists. I’m loving it! I’ve even reorganized their categories to match my grocery store (we’re overseas military so I typically do most of my shopping in just one store, on base) so that groceries are a BREEZE now! And recipes are EASY to enter, copy and paste! Love it!
A lot of great ideas on your site. I use a photo album to keep my recipes in. The kind that has slots for 4×6 photos. I write or type my recipe on an index card and slip it into a slot.
I have all of my recipes on-line ar recipezaar.com but Im more a hands on person so I’ve been wanting to nicely handwrite them all out and organize. You have given me some AWESOME ideas and I think I might actually take some time and get my recipe book together. Thanks for the motivation!
Thanks for these great ideas! I was thinking that I needed a better system for printed out recipes, just last night, as I taped my print out onto the cabinet where I was prepping the meal. If I put the paper on the counter it gets wet spots (I don’t have a cookbook holder upper!), so I taped it up. It’s still there 2 days later because I don’t have a system in place for storing them! I too use recipezaar.com
Is your son GFCFEF? I saw your comment on Twitter?!? We were on that temporarily, but discovered we have to be soy and oat free! So glad you have great recipes for him!
Erin
Thank you for this. I was just thinking about organizing my recipes last night as we are starting on a new diet for our son due to his special needs. All the recipes I have are online, on sites that I pray don’t go down or away before I write them down.
So, I will get my 3 ring binder today and start creating our family recipe book.
Wow, a great summation of the dilemmas and the many possible solutions! Currently, my efforts at organizing recipes have amounted to: a Recipes folder on my desktop, a Recipes folder in my email inbox, a Recipes Bookmark with subfolders, a shelf-ful of magazines that are thinned down to recipes to try (or tried), a pile of Recipes pages ripped out of less-worthy magazines, and another shelf-ful of cookbooks with sticky notes on a quarter of the pages! The problem (and the blessing of course) is that there are so many sources (and thus formats) for these recipes! So I think I will continue with the stickynotes, but try to evolve into a Recipe Journal approach, since that so appeals to the librarian inside, lol. Thanks so much for the clear and inviting suggestions!
Well…I, use http://www.mealmixer.com... I like to keep my groceries organized, and edit recipes so that they align with my family’s taste and diet. It did take FOREVER to type in all of my personal recipes, but on the upside, there are no dusty books, no thumbing frantically to find something, and I can share recipes in just a few clicks. There is also a new component to the program for food allergies and gluten free menu planning. Sorry I haven’t been keeping up with the Menu Plan Monday, it’s been busy around here - I’m making dinner now (It’s 2:00) because there will be no time later…
I keep a spreadsheet that I update every 6 months or so. Each category has a tab on the spreadsheet - chicken, beef, pork, salads, side-dishes, desserts, etc.
Under each category I have the dish, the place where I can find the recipe (the cookbook or issue of Food and Family for example) and the page number.
I print each spreadsheet out and keep it in a binder in the kitchen. When I want to find a recipe then I just check the index and pull out the source. :)
I use Evernote to capture website recipes (unfortunately they haven’t kept up with the latest version of Firefox) and Mastercook (no longer supported by Broderbund - are they still around?) to keep my recipes in order. When I find a recipe that I ant to try, I’ll often enter it into Mastercook to be able to manipulate it (calories, serving sizes, etc.) It’s definitely NOT a perfect system! I’d pay for something better.
Great ideas of how to organize recipes. Not too long ago I purged my recipes and got rid of so many of those super old newspaper clippings. Now, the only ones I save are those that have been given to me friends or family. The rest I save on the computer or know I can find a similar one online whenever I need a recipe for a certain ingredient or occasion.
What I have found over the years is that everyone’s system seems to evolve depending on your interests, time constraints, changes to your family (kids coming or going, etc.). There is no one right system–just the one that works best for you!
Oooh, I love this
I only have one binder so once that is full I have to go through the purging process before I can add anymore.
I do the Exact same thing so that I don’t live in “what if” land!
I got tired of having lots of cookbooks around that I only needed 6 recipes out of. And the e version of organizing didn’t work that well for me as the recipes I have come from many sources-not just the computer (friend’s, magazines, tv, etc)and I don’t always want to log on to get to recipes. So, I keep a simple folder full of recipe’s to try. Then recipes we tried and liked go into a cheap photo album from Walmart. I have several depending on the type of recipe (soup, side, dessert, salad, vegetarian entree, main dish). This way my cookbooks are small and only filled with recipes we like! And they don’t get dirty. And they fit in a book holder on the counter while I cook. And from sources on the computer, most have a printable version and some will ask you what size you would like(very nice of them!) so these fit well. Great post and ideas from commenters!