As an avid explorer of new food territories, I really rack up quite a collection of recipes. Between Pinterest, my favorite food blogs, and my Cooking Light subscription, I've been cooking up 3-7 new recipes a week this summer. Some worked out wonderfully (and I share them here), and some need some work. Usually, I don't just toss a mediocre recipe away; I tweak it until it's yummy. Combining the volume of recipes I collect and all the changes I make to the originals can get a little ugly. Add in the fact that I'm a terribly messy cook, and you have a recipe (ha!) for trouble.
I've kept a 3-ring-binder for recipes for years, but it was becoming so overloaded that the binding was breaking. And it wasn't pretty. It wasn't terrible either. It was just a plain white binder splattered with various dried sauces from my culinary experiments. But if it isn't pretty, I'm not going to be motivated to keep it organized. Enter the $2 recipe binder overhaul.
The great thing about this project is that I only had to buy one thing - the tabs. Everything else I had already. I had two white view binders out in the garage as part of my school supply storage. The clear page protectors were already in use from my previous binder, and the scrapbook paper was part of a huge pad that I had purchased for another project. I already had the cupcake punch as well. You can see it at the top of the desserts binder. Just 'cause it's cute, and I had it. Why not? Cupcakes make everything better. EVERYTHING. Except diabetics. Doesn't make them better. Sorry.
The labels came together very quickly because I already had created the template for organizing my pantry. So yes, my recipe books and pantry match perfectly - fonts and all. Those who know me well are not surprised in the least.
First, I sorted out all the recipes I'd never tried or weren't that good. If I don't love it, it's not worth keeping. I had to come to terms with the fact that if I haven't made a recipe in the past 5 years, I'm never going to make it. Make room for the good stuff, people! Life is too short to spend making and eating crappy food.
Then I separated out my main dishes from all the other stuff. For the entree binder, I created categories for breakfast, poultry, beef/deer, pork, fish/seafood, and meatless. For my etc. binder, I have tabs for small bites (appetizers), side dishes, drinks, cakes/cupcakes, breads, and other desserts. After I decided on my categories, I made a label and attached to a different, coordinating pattern of scrapbook paper. Slip the paper into a plastic sheet protector, add the corresponding stick-on tab, and you're practically done!
I've discovered an unexpected perk to this kind of recipe keeping. It's great for someone who messes with a good thing - moi - because I can note any changes I made while cooking with a dry erase marker. When we taste-test the meal, I have notes to remind me if the tweaks worked well. If not, I simply wipe away the marker, because the recipe is encased in plastic. I should have thought of that sooner, since I've used the same sheet protector technique for cheap personal dry erase boards in my classroom for three years. C'mon, Mrs. N, let's work on generalization of knowledge here. Duh.
If the recipe is really good (a 7 out of 10 on the Drew scale) or I think I can improve it to that level on the next try, it gets a permanent spot in the binder. If not, I don't waste space or calories on it.
There you have it. My way of conquering the hidden mountain of kitchen paper clutter. The next frontier? My bulging binder of recipes that I "want to try sometime..."
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