Recipes, Running, and Reorganization

Recipes


I have been cleaning out and reorganizing my recipe collection. It is still a work in progress, but here are the steps I have taken so far.


1. I went through the cookbooks on the shelf in my kitchen and took off the ones that I rarely, if ever, use. I stored these cookbooks in a cabinet below my shelf. I don't want to get rid of these cookbooks, because I consider them books.....I will reread them from time to time. Also, my girls like to read them too. Since I do have the space to store them in my kitchen, I am ok with keeping them.


2. I went through the cookbooks and took out all of the loose recipes....recipes from newspaper clippings, ones that were printed out from the computer, and loose recipe cards. These items were stuck inside almost every cookbook.

3. I took all of the loose recipes out of my two file folders labeled, "recipes". I also took the loose recipes that were falling out of my one recipe card book.


4. I sorted through all of these loose recipes and put them into two piles, "keep" and "trash". I managed to throw away about half of them.


5. I sorted the "keep" recipes into two piles. "ready to go into the binder " (already typed on normal sized paper) and "needs to be typed or taped to a piece of paper".

6. I decided to keep my one recipe card book that was a wedding gift. It has plastic protectors for cute little recipe cards. Most of the cards have lovingly handwritten recipes from family members and church members. I am not going to retype these recipes or tape them into my binder. I will leave this pretty recipe card book as is.


7. I divided the '"ready to go into the binder" recipes into categories: appetizers, soups, salads, breads, main dishes, side dishes, cookies and candy, and cakes, pies, desserts.


8. I made a pretty cover page for my new 3 ring recipe binder and matching page dividers with the above categories. I laminated these page dividers, inserted them into the binder, and then added the already typed recipes.


To complete the job of recipe organization, I have to do the following:


1. Insert the typed recipes into page protectors.
2. Tape the recipes from newspaper clippings or recipe cards (that don't match or fit in my one recipe card book) onto regular sized paper. Then I will insert those recipes into page protectors, and then put them into the recipe binder.
3. Type any handwritten recipes that are on little bits of paper or those that are printed on both sides of a recipe card. Put those in page protectors and into the binder.


When I finish the job, I will post before and after pictures. I have wanted to organize my recipes for quite a while. Laura at Organized Junkie inspired me to do it this month.

10 Can Soup

1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained

2 cans stewed tomatoes

1 can corn, drained

1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes

6 cans any kind of beans or peas

1 pgk taco seasoning

1 pkg dry Ranch dressing

Combine all ingredients. Cook in crock pot on low for several hours.

Running and Reorganization

While running on the treadmill this week, I watched some different organizing and cleaning house type shows. I was inspired! While I have many, many areas of my home neatly organized, I also have many more areas that need work. Most of these areas are hidden......seldom used drawers and closets, my storage room, my laundry room cabinets, and all of the clothes the children have outgrown. These are a few of the areas that I want to clean out and reorganize. I plan to make a list of every single drawer, cabinet, room, and box that I want to work on. Then, little by little I will tackle each item. I also plan to purchase containers for the jobs each time I visit Walmart or Dollar General. Then I will have the tools I need as I sort things out. You need a wide variety of types and sizes of containers when you are organizing things. I also hope to post some before and after pictures of these projects too. Or maybe I can get a TV crew to come do the job for me!