Finding That Certain RecipeI have a lot of cookbooks. Sometimes I couldn't remember which recipe was in what book. Now I make a photocopy of the Index pages. I make sure the title is on the top. I highlight the recipes I want to use. I keep the indexes in a loose leaf notebook for that purpose.
Take Photos of Old or Unusual RecipesI have been cleaning and de-cluttering the house and often will find recipes. I take pictures of unusual ones or very old ones, because I don't want to lose them. This one for, example, I would not make as written, but I wanted to keep it just the same.
Create a Computer Index for Your RecipesOver a period of 50 years or more, I have collected many good recipes. Some I have written down and stuffed in a zip lock bag and some are on index cards in a small photo album. Plus, I have a large collection of recipe books and two recipe file boxes full. It can be a problem finding the one I want.
Scrapbook Pockets for Filing RecipesI have so many great recipes and have wanted to get them into some kind of fashionable order. I used scrapbooking paper to start my selected folders.
Tape Recipes to Cupboard DoorI am not a person who does any sort of cooking which requires intricate recipes, no cakes or anything fancy. I have my basic southern corn bread and my very basic instruction on how to cook white rice taped to the back of a cupboard door where they are kept clean for the next use.
Saving Favorite RecipesI love and collect cookbooks. I go through the cookbooks and write down in pencil in each cookbook the page numbers of the recipes I want to make. This saves me so much time and I have the recipes right at hand.
Use Your Cell Phone to Save Magazine RecipesWhile in a waiting room, at a friend's house, or even in the grocery store, there are times you can't rip out the page or take the magazine with you. I have found that my cell phone will take perfect pictures of the ingredients and the instructions.
Organizing Holiday RecipesIf 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.
Plastic Binder For Holiday RecipesI 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.
Saving Newspaper and Package RecipesQuite simply, I have a big tin, a big cookie tin from one of those scrumptious Danish cookie sets and have it sitting next to my microwave oven. Every time I find a dessert recipe I want to keep, I quickly cut it out and stick it in the tin.
Scanning Food Package Recipes Into ComputerHere is how I save all my recipes, with a special tip for "clipping" the ones on packages.
Organizing Recipes on Your ComputerHere is how I save all of my recipes. I have a folder on my hard drive called Recipes (very original, doncha think? LOL). Under it are sub-folders for categories, like soups, vegan, etc. All recipes are saved here, so if I can just remember that the recipe has tomato in the title,
Organize Recipes in 3-Ring BindersI like to print out recipes I find online and I figured out a good way to organize and store them. I print them out so they take up a full page and then three hole punch them. I have two thick 3-ring binders, divided with tabs to make sections.
Recipe and Diet OrganizerI have a hard time recalling the things for a diet and recipies I am to be working on. So one day, I collected all the recipe pages and diet sheets that I needed; some were on the computer so I printed out the important ones.
Keeping Favorite Recipes HandyI keep my favorite, often-used recipes inside the cabinet doors above my kitchen counter. No more fumbling with pages in a cookbook with cookie dough on my fingers or books taking up space on my counter.
Get Recipes Online Instead Of CookbooksI used to constantly buy cookbooks. Either the large cookbooks in the books section of the store, or the small ones near the registers. Then I discovered I could get the same recipes for free online!
Finding Favorite RecipesTo minimize hunting, I take a permanent marker and write on the back of the cookbook, or on the inside back cover, with the name of the recipe and what page it's on. It makes finding my favorites so much faster.
Copy Recipes And Store In Protective SheetsYou can take all your recipes and copy them with a scanner to a computer, print, or use copy machine at library and they become the same size page. Some pages will have more than one recipe, so make sure they are in the same category.
Use Hair Clip for Recipe CardsSince my hair is now short and likely to stay that way, I find uses for these wonderful clips all over the place.
Photocopy Favorite Pages For LaterI love getting magazines with recipes and craft ideas. They can soon add up when you want to keep them for their ideas. If space is limited, it becomes a clutter problem.
Use Those Recipes You SaveI 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.
Recipe Card HolderFor an easy recipe card holder. I took a spring clothes pin apart, nailed one side to my kitchen cabinet at eye level, then put it back together. This is real handy for any recipe that I am using
Binder of Favorite RecipesI have a bookcase in my dining room filled with cookbooks that I have bought over the years. It is difficult, however, to remember which cookbook my favorite recipes are in. So I created my own cookbook with all my favorites.
Personalized Recipe/Tip BookEach time I try a recipe and it works, I type it out adding my own personal thoughts or tips on the dish, including what goes well with it, whether it be a certain wine or side dish.
Photo Album for RecipesI bought this photo card holder to hold the recipes that I make over and over again. I leave it out on my counter top. It makes it handy and attractive at the same time.
Use A Drawer Instead Of A Recipe BoxSave counter space and quickly find a favorite recipe by turning a small, spare kitchen drawer (mine measures 10 inches across) into a recipe box filled only with your family's favorites.
Save Favorite Recipes OnlineEnter your favorite family recipes onto the ThriftyFun website for preservation in case your house ever catches on fire. Spread the recipes around; give to family members, put in safe deposit box, make copies and bury in the backyard.
Organizing Recipes In CookbooksI use many different recipe books. I don't always take the time to copy all the recipes onto recipe cards especially when it is something I make occasionally.
Organizing Untried RecipesWhen I collect a new untried recipe, I put it in a sheet cover in a thin notebook. If after trying it, I like it, I put it in a photo album that has the large peel back sheets. If I don't like it, then I just toss it.
Make Your Own Recipe Box With Recycled CardboardMy recipe file was too full! I like to collect good recipes. I could not find a larger recipe box so I made a larger box with a big popcorn box.
Use A Mini Binder For Organizing RecipesI try to plan dinners in advance by choosing recipes and listing needed ingredients on a shopping list. The shopping list is always written on a sticky note and attached to the first insert (card stock) of my mini binder (7" x 4.5") which is always with me in my purse.
Copy and Paste Recipes Into Text FilesWhen going through the recipes and other stuff, instead of printing out the whole thing or writing it down, I copy it to a word processing program. First I open my office writer or Microsoft Word.
Keeping Recipes OrganizedIf you are like me and have literally hundreds of recipes, I would suggest that you purchase several photo albums and place your loose recipes in there. That way they are organized and easy to find.
Too Many Cookbooks?I had collected lots of recipe books, some with only one or two recipes that I liked to use. I was tired of these books taking up room in my kitchen so I bought a large photo album with see through pockets.
Dealing with Recipes on the InternetWhen I find a internet recipe I'd like to try, I copy it to a blank email and print it. I then cut it to size and scotch tape it to the inside of my kitchen cabinet, where I'm not likely to forget that I was going to try something new.
Organizing Recipes as MealsI've started to organize my recipes together as meals. I know that I always serve my Mexican rice recipe with my Black bean casserole so now I keep them printed out on one sheet and then stored in my 3 ring binder.
Keeping Your Favorite Recipes HandyI don't like using my favorite cookbooks in the kitchen. They get messy and don't last as long. I also don't like having to look for them when I need them. To solve this problem, I made up a list of recipes that I make often, then I bought 2 of the wire-bound index card pads.
Recipe Organization SoftwareI've managed to accumulate a lot of recipes! I'm looking for recommendations on inexpensive (possibly free?) computer software to organize and manage the recipes better. It'd be nice if I could print them out and make a shopping list, too.
Spiral Notebooks for RecipesI keep cheap, bright and colorful spiral journals handy by my resting chair, to have close by when looking through magazines, in case I see a recipe I think I'd like to try.
Creating Your Own Index In CookbooksI have a series of annually produced hardcover cookbooks (based upon a published periodical) but I was having difficulty in finding the recipes I wanted once I had more than 3 of the books.
Consolidating Recipes from BooksIn an effort to cut down the incredible number of cookbooks I had amassed, I purposely went through each cookbook and typed out the few recipes from each that we really used and liked. I then compiled them in a 3-ring notebook with dividers (soups, entrees, desserts, etc.) and sold off at garage sales the cookbooks.
Keeping Recipe Card HandyTo keep your recipe handy while cooking, put a fork, handle-side down, into a water glass. Then prop the recipe card in the tines of the fork. It will be held safe and sound, and easy to see!
5 x 8 inch Index Cards For RecipesThese are great for copying a recipe and printing it. If you don't like it pitch it out! If you have it in hand, you may be more likely to try it rather than save it to your computer, and forget about it.
By Syd
"In Memory Of" Cards for Cookbook BookmarksI never could figure out what to do with the "In Memory Of" cards I had collected from friends and relatives that have died.
Baseball Card Sheet Protectors for RecipesTo organize recipes, buy baseball card sheet protectors, and retype shorter recipes to fit in slots. For larger recipes, put in regular full size sheet protectors.
Store Recipes in ScrapbookWhen I clip recipes from catalogs, I slip them inside a scrapbook page, instead of re-writing them on a traditional recipe card. It protects the recipes and because there's so much space, I can often include a photo of the dish, if it's provided.
