My Recipe Binder

I have been using a recipe binder for a little over a year now (as Miss Margaret can attest to since it was in use at her visit last year). I've wanted to mention it here but I'm always hesitant to rave about something new that's working for me lest in a month or two I find it completely impractical. Well, I think a year of usage is pretty good for a test run and I can now say that it has worked beautifully and continues to do so.

Do you ever get in a rut when planning and fixing meals for your family? Do you feel like you are cooking the same things over and over? That was the sentiment that inspired this binder. It's not a catch-all binder. Oh no! This binder is strictly for tried and true family favorites that we know and love (or atleast, most of us do). There is a pocket for new recipes to try but they are held back and kept on the outside, so to speak, until they are tested and evaluated and then finally added to The Binder! 

Here is how it works. It's really quite simple as most successful things are!

I chose a colorful binder and added some pretty paper to it. It must be the kind of binder that has clear plastic cover on the outside that you can slip things inside of. Then I created a template for my recipes and started typing up the ones that we used the most, loved the best, or were the easiest to prepare. 

A package of printable dividers allowed me to sort the recipes by my favorite categories. The categories are in alphabetical order (mostly), but the recipes inside each section are not. I'll explain why below.

When I use a recipe, I pop it out of the binder and slip it into the front pocket. This acts like a page protector so that splashes and spills are easily wiped away. Then when I put it back behind it's divider, I always put it up front. What this does is create a record of those recipes I use most often at the front of the section with the ones I haven't used in a while falling to the back. This was quite a happy accident that I didn't intend, but was delighted to discover! So when I feel that rut coming on, I flip to the back of the section and remind myself about all the other meals we enjoy!

So, that's my recipe binder. It has made meal planning and preparing so much nicer. Like I said, I use the inside pocket to store recipes I might like to try, so it still allows for creativity, but those don't get typed up and added to the binder until we decide that it's something that works for a regular family meal. I love how it allows me to refresh my menu plan easily when I feel like I've become stuck and it's functional too having just the one plastic protector instead of one for each recipe.

BTW... here are updated pictures of those bookshelves I linked to above. The K.I.S.S. alphabetical shelf organization is still going strong and working well for us. There was no tidying that took place prior to taking these pictures.