Organizing Our Recipes

Since we are on the topic of organization (see yesterday's post) I decided to share some of my fave tips. This is probably the one that saves my life the most...a Grizzle Family Recipe Book.

When Ben and I first got married I was all I-am-going-to-be-the-best-Souther-version-of-Martha-Stewart-wife-ever. I would sift through my plethora of recipe books and Southern Living magazines for elaborate June Clever-esque meals to make for Ben. I had visions of them coming out of the oven, steam rising from the top, whilst I was decked out in my pearls and perfectly coordinated sweater set and apron. We would sit down to a candle-lit dinner of squab and asparagus with a nice hollandaise sauce.

Insert screeching halt here. Ben doesn't eat that stuff...and frankly, neither do I.

So, I worked my way through hundreds of recipes before I finally found a manageable collection of recipes that suited us.

But after all of that work, I was left with a pile of magazine clippings, books with little post-it's saving pages and scraps of scribbled on paper in a drawer. I would have to rummage through them to decide what was on the menu for the week.

SOLUTION:
I bought a cute photo album. It is a binder style with sleeves that are portioned out to fit 4x6 photos. Mine fits 2 4x6 photos in each page. I typed out all of my recipes - 4 to a page, cut them into postcard size and inserted them where the pictures should go. I also created an index for it.

I do my meal planning ever 2 weeks. I usually just flip through the index to pick some recipes and then I can turn to the actual recipe to make my shopping list from the ingredients. It is a definite time saver! Anytime I find a new recipe that works well for my family, I make a new card and add it to my rotation


Of course, I still always run across recipes that I want to try. Today, my friend Rachel from over at "The Johnson's" posted a blog with a solution for those recipes as well. Check it out!

P.S. Once you compile your book of Family Recipes you can make copies for your mom, sister, friends, etc. They are great gifts! Especially for new wives.