Organize Your Recipes

I found this great article from a fellow organizer on a topic I haven’t written about before – organizing recipes. I like Evie’s ideas, so I wanted to share them with you.

So, what do you do with all of these clippings, or perhaps you have recipes written out on scraps of paper you got from a friend or coworker sharing her favorite recipe? Here is my current system, and I must say, it is working really well for me. Maybe it will work for you too.

Get an accordion file folder and label each pocket into categories as you would your recipe box. Here is a suggested category list:

• Appetizers and Snacks
• Beef
• Beverages
• Breads & Muffins
• Cakes & Squares
• Cookies & Desserts
• Casseroles & Pasta
• Fish & Pork
• Misc. (Pickles, Sauces, Breakfasts, etc.)
• Poultry
• Salads & Vegetables
• Soups & Stews

Get a large recipe box for your cards. I found this two-drawer holder which is perfect. I use the top drawer only for “my” recipes and family recipes. Any that are in my mother’s handwriting have been laminated to protect them.

The lower drawer is for recipes I have made from TV shows, magazines, or from friends that are “keepers.”

This system works so well, that it doesn’t take long to find my recipe, it is only in one of three places:

• Recipe Cards
• Cookbooks
• Accordion Folder

If I had a larger home, I would love to designate a whole drawer with file folders to recipes, but since I have a small house, this system works really well. The accordion folder fits in the cupboard beside my cookbooks.

The system is: once I make a recipe from a cookbook or a magazine, and it is a “ten,” then I write it onto a recipe card. The cards are proven, tried and true.

Let me know what you use to organize your recipes. I am always looking for new systems and ways to improve.

Elvie Look is an Entrepreneur, Expert Organizer, Cook and Seamstress. She provides organizing solutions, tips, menus and recipes at http://www.elviesessentials.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Elvie_Look

Originally posted 2011-03-19 12:07:24. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Are you Guilty of Having ‘Food Clutter’?

Does your family have a lot of food clutter? You know, the unused portions of veggies, rice or pasta from last night’s dinner that no one wants to eat? Those little bits of bread or rolls left in the bag or the uneaten popcorn? Or the two for one special that you couldn’t pass up? It seems that no matter how much we try to save money, it’s easy to buy too much food for our family and create unnecessary waste. It’s really a shame that so many people throw out perfectly good food. A recent poll announced that Americans throw out at least 30% of consumable food. That’s akin to throwing one meal into the garbage disposal a day! Wow, that is too much, especially when so much of the world’s population goes without the luxuries that we as Americans take for granted every day.

To help reduce some of this food waste, here’s a great resource I learned about from fellow Professional Organizer Lorrie Marrero of the Clutter Diet. This website, based out of the UK, asks you to type in leftover ingredients that you have and it returns a recipe to use up these ingredients, instead of throwing them away! What a wonderful idea to reduce waste and create new healthy meals for your family. Here’s the link if you’d like to check it out yourself: http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com.

Another way to reduce impulse food purchases is to always make a list before going to the grocery store. Just like when making merchandise purchases, each food purchase you make should have a specific purpose for buying it. Here’s a handy grocery list pad that you can affix to your frig. and ask family members to circle items as they are depleted – All Out Of pad. Then take that list to the grocery. No need to write out a grocery list each time.

Originally posted 2008-09-17 15:16:23. Republished by Blog Post Promoter