How do you organize your recipies?

[FoxyBlue]

How do you organize your recipies?

I have lots of clippings from magazines, etc, and I don't know how to organize them...

[SweetRed]

I use one of those photo albums with the "sticky" page and the clear plastic cover on each page. It's worked out great. My only gripe is that when I want to clean out a few recipes I never use, they don't always peel off nice and neatly.

[Bloomwood]

I made a 3 ring binder into my cookbook with tabs for the different courses and then put the recipes into sheet protectors. Now, if I print a recipe online, I can just put the print out in a sheet protector and in the binder. For the clippings, etc I already had, I taped them to a piece of paper and slid that into the sheet protector.

I tried the album thing too, but had the same gripe, so moved to this model.

[lawyerlee]

I have a three ring binder with recipes slipped into page protectors, too. I usually retype little clippings or cards on the computer and print them out. Yes, that's kinda sad, but I do. ;) This system also makes it really easy to save recipes I find on CC or other places online, because I'll just copy and paste the text into a Word document and print the pages out. :)

[tenofcups]

I also have a three-ring binder, but no page protectors :) If it's something I've cut out of a magazine, I tape it onto a plain white piece of paper (often with multiple recipes on a page). Or if it's a recipe from someone else, I type it up and print it out on 8.5 x 11 plain paper.

I have no tabs within the binder, but the recipes are organized into sections (meat, fish, desserts, veggies, etc.) so they're pretty easy to find. That, of course, is if/when I actually put them into their correct place in the binder, rather than just stuffed in the front or back, which is where a large number of them are now sitting until I get around to filing them correctly.

[meganth]

I have a three ring binder with recipes slipped into page protectors, too. I usually retype little clippings or cards on the computer and print them out. Yes, that's kinda sad, but I do. ;) This system also makes it really easy to save recipes I find on CC or other places online, because I'll just copy and paste the text into a Word document and print the pages out. :)
Me three!

[andrew&shannah]

I have a three ring binder with recipes slipped into page protectors, too. I usually retype little clippings or cards on the computer and print them out. Yes, that's kinda sad, but I do. This system also makes it really easy to save recipes I find on CC or other places online, because I'll just copy and paste the text into a Word document and print the pages out.

Me four! :)

[Hello Kitty]

For paper recipes, I keep them in a 3 ring binder w/ page protectors.

For recipies gathered online, I keep them in a master word document, and then I have an Excel sheet sorted by category (beef, vegetarian, etc). Each title of the recipe goes in the proper category. I also put titles of recipes in the binder and other cookbooks. That way when I go to plan my weekly menu, I just read through the category headings, pick an assortment of entrees and I'm done!

[ee_chick]

I use Mastercook (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B7TBNE/qid=1144337293/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-0735684-1561441?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=229534)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000B7TBNE/ref=dp_primary-product-display_0/103-0735684-1561441?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=229534&s=software

I find it really easy to find and sort recipes, and importing recipes from online is incredibly easy. I don't love that if I want a recipe from one of my cookbooks that I have to type it (if I can't find it online), but if it's a dish worth repeating it's worth the effort. :)

[gayle]

I use the binder system too :)

[KK812]

I have a three ring binder with recipes slipped into page protectors, too. I usually retype little clippings or cards on the computer and print them out. Yes, that's kinda sad, but I do. ;) This system also makes it really easy to save recipes I find on CC or other places online, because I'll just copy and paste the text into a Word document and print the pages out. :)


me five! :)

[heather 8^)]

I have a ringed photo album with 2 5x7 slots in it per page. I either clip 'em out or stick them to index cards and slide them in, and the plastic protects them. I also have them organized into sections, and only my best, tried and true recipes make it into the book (not the ones that I think I might try some day, etc.).

However, I have to second the plug for the Mastercook software. It is nice for recipes I want to try but I don't want to hang on to a zillion clippings, and I can even make a special cookbook for them so that I can fish one out whenever I'm feeling adventurous. It's also SO easy to input recipes because it autocompletes a lot of your typing (in a good way, not in a Microsoft-annoying way).

My most-loved magazine clippings get ragged quickly, and I would freak out if my photo album ever had an unfortunate spaghetti sauce incident or something. Everyone in my family has it, so it's extra easy to export entire cookbooks for other family members. That's how we have managed to preserve some of our oldest and best-loved recipes.

[Missy2U]

Does anyone remember those big plastic recipe boxes that would hold recipe cards that you would have sent to you monthly? I can't for the life of me remember what they were called or made them, but when I moved into a place about 15 years ago, I found one in the garage of the place I was renting. It had the COMPLETE - both sides were filled - set of cards, which I dug through, pulled out the ones I wanted, and kept the dividers.

The cards were kind of like these (http://jasonbuckley.com/blog/recipes/freezer_veal.htm) - but not real long like that - the picture was on the front and the recipe was on the back. Heavy card stock.

Anyway, I redid the dividers to the categories I wanted them to have (versus the ones they had come up with) and now I keep all my cards/clippings/rip outs, etc. in that bad boy. It sits about 9 inches across the front, maybe 6 inches deep, and about 7 or 8 inches high. And a really really weird shade of avocado green that was popular in the 70's.

I don't worry too much about getting stuff on them - they wipe off easily, and frankly, some of the really old ones have a lot of character from everything that's been spilled on them. :D

[SunnyAB]

Wow Seb's Kitty - can you come run my life for a couple months? :D I have the binder/page protector thing going, and I have tons of recipes saved in word as well, but do need to get them better organized. I know it probably won't take that long, its just to find even that hour to get started! Ah well.. maybe this year! ;)

[Katy]

For paper recipes, I keep them in a 3 ring binder w/ page protectors.

For recipies gathered online, I keep them in a master word document, and then I have an Excel sheet sorted by category (beef, vegetarian, etc). Each title of the recipe goes in the proper category. I also put titles of recipes in the binder and other cookbooks. That way when I go to plan my weekly menu, I just read through the category headings, pick an assortment of entrees and I'm done!Are you for hire? :cool:

Or is your spreadsheet available? I'd be SO interested to see what you've done (being the spreadsheet novice th at I am).

[Hello Kitty]

OMG, I'm SO not that organized in other areas of life, but I'm awfully flattered. PM me your email address and I'll email you the Excel if you're interested. :)

[mgrace]

Mine are in a folder, unorganized. The ones I use are in the front. ;)

[Photobug]

I use the old index-card file method. I actually have my great-grandmother's wooden recipe box that fits 3x5 standard cards and has a hole at the top so it hangs on the wall next to the stove. It has a nice hinged lid and is easy to get to. I buy color index cards, so I can color-code different categories, and I know that the ones on white are old family recipes from my mother, grandmother, and aunts. I retype magazine and online recipes to fit onto the cards.

[Janey]

I use The Living Cookbook (http://www.livingcookbook.com/). It's pretty cool software. I like it because it spits out the nutritional info on all your recipes.

[BTB]

For a while, I tried to have compatible meals organized into groups of 7 (for easy, week-at-a-time planning) with linked ingredient lists that compiled into grocery lists (some computer program DH set up). It was too much hassle to add a new recipe to the sequence, or give something a whirl just once or twice before adding it to the regular repertoire.

So I switched to doing something uber-simple that has worked for MIL for 40 years: a shelf of cookbooks, and a box of index cards in clear sleeves for those recipes I use often. I do have to hand-write an index card for recipes I want to transfer to the "we really like" box, but then it's "permanent" at least for my purposes. I didn't do it all at once, at most I write one or two cards per day as we use those recipes while we're transferring over to this method. It's a good separation, stuff we know we love versus everything else.

[pontmarie]

I use a binder, too, but I only put stuff in it that I've tried because I am a recipe junkie. Stuff to try is in a word doc, but tried-and-true stuff goes in the binder, along with all my mom's recipes that she typed up for me.

[luvnbeng]

For clippings, I also use a photo album/3-ring binder with page protectors. The plastic film is great because it cleans up easily if I splatter something on it!

For recipes I get online, I started a file in microsoft word called "recipes". I then created sub-folders for categories like appetizers, chicken, beef, fish & seafood, desserts, breakfasts, cocktails, etc. It makes it really easy to search for something good to make at the last minute.

Unfortunately, I'm not as organized as Seb's Kitty--I don't have an excel spreadsheet! : )

[1MegMeg]

I use Mastercook (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B7TBNE/qid=1144337293/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-0735684-1561441?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=229534)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000B7TBNE/ref=dp_primary-product-display_0/103-0735684-1561441?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=229534&s=software

I find it really easy to find and sort recipes, and importing recipes from online is incredibly easy. I don't love that if I want a recipe from one of my cookbooks that I have to type it (if I can't find it online), but if it's a dish worth repeating it's worth the effort. :)

Me too! I've used it for 4 years now and I *love* it, would never use anything else! :)

[luvnbeng]

Mastercook looks like a great program. I'm definitely going to order it!

[Janey]

Does Mastercook tell you the nutritional breakdown of your recipes? And how easy is it to import recipes from the 'net? I love that my software gives nutritional info, but I think it's too hard to type stuff in & get it linked up to the USDA database. If Mastercook is easier, I should definitely look into using it!

[Mooshie]

All of our "tried and approved" recipes go into a 3 ring binder that is divided by course or type of dish. This also includes magazine recipes that we photocopy and put in the book. (We were always having a hard time when wanted to make something a second or third time and trying to remember what magazine and what issue it came from.)

But all of the new recipes we find go in to a big pastic filing box that has the same dividers. Once we try it and like it, it goes into the binder.

We also have a lot of cookbooks...we're total foodies.

[ee_chick]

Does Mastercook tell you the nutritional breakdown of your recipes? And how easy is it to import recipes from the 'net? I love that my software gives nutritional info, but I think it's too hard to type stuff in & get it linked up to the USDA database. If Mastercook is easier, I should definitely look into using it!

Mastercook does have a nutritional analysis tool built in. That's one of the main reasons that I bought it, and I've been pretty happy with that aspect of it. My only complaint is that it's not great at things like marinades where you don't use all of the ingredients. How is Living Cookbook for that?

I can pretty easily import recipes into Mastercook 7, but the import tool has been vastly improved in versions 8 & 9 from what I've read.

[Janey]

My only complaint is that it's not great at things like marinades where you don't use all of the ingredients. How is Living Cookbook for that?
Same thing, probably. I entered a recipe for Onion Rings from MSL a while back, and it came out to something like 4,000 calories, because Living Cookbook was calculating all of the oil. There is a place where you link your ingredients to USDA ingredients, and what I did was manually cut it down by about 1/10 of what it was. Not accurate, I'm sure... but neither was it accurate before I adjusted it. (I still haven't made those onion rings :p )

The other thing that I really appreciate about Living Cookbook is that the customer service is pheeeeenomenal. The developer seems to spend 24/7 on the forums, answering questions and fixing problems for people. It's great.

I will say, I'm using Living Cookbook 2005. Their import feature may have gotten better if there's a LC2006, who knows.


I can pretty easily import recipes into Mastercook 7, but the import tool has been vastly improved in versions 8 & 9 from what I've read.
Great! For $20, the price is right to try it out. Any idea if I can import my Living Cookbook recipes into MasterCook?