How to Organize Recipes

I agree with putting them on your computer. Maybe instead of typing them all in, you could scan them in somehow. Then if you need one to print off you can, but most of the time they are out of sight :) ~A.~

A personal website. I created one for my family last Christmas so that we can share recipes that we find and we love it...www.contrails.com/recipes

My mother was a personal chef before she got sick, and she had thousands of recipes just lying around everywhere - talk about a mess! We got her a computer program called Mastercook. It cost about $30, and it's great. Now that she isn't cooking for other people any more, I use it to plan the weeks's meals - you can even pick out what you want to cook for the week and then print out a shopping list. I love it!!

Dear K.,

Here is my system:

I have two ways of storing my recipes. I have some on notecards or those I've cut out of magazines. And I have some I have printed from websites, which are on 8 1/2 x 11" paper. I have a system for each of these.

For the ones that are on notecards and cutouts, I have them in a narrow showbox. I have them divided into types of foods like beverages, vegetables, desserts, main dishes, etc. The ones on big paper I have in a 3-ring binder separated in the same categories.

I'm like you...I have hundreds of recipes. With this system, I can find them in no time. Hope this helps.

A.

I know you said yours are all printed and clipped already, however, I just wated to say that I store mine on my documents on my computer in microsoft word. I have a different document for each food group. Example: Pasta, mexican, sides, veggies, chicken, etc.....

I have a 3-inch 3-ring binder full of recipes, tons of recipe books, a plastic shoe box full and I use recipezaar on-line for recipes all the time. Since it is so hard to keep my recipes in order, I tend to just use recipezaar now. I've found that almost all the recipes I've used are already posted there by someone else, and if they aren't, I can post them there myself and save them in my own on-line cookbook. I can print out a copy when I need it and either add it to my collection of paper recipes or just throw it in the recycling bin when I'm done. I love, love, love www.recipezaar.com. You should give it a try! I use the free version, but I think there is an upgraded version you can subscribe to for something like $25/year. Search for a couple of your recipes and see if they are on there. I've done that for my roast recipe and for a potato recipe my husband cut out of the newspaper for me years ago. They were both already posted. Even a recipe my sister-in-law made for us when we visited her in Houston was posted on there already and she got the recipe from someone at her work who made it for a brunch party she was invited to. I thought I was going to be doing everyone on Recipezaar a huge favor by posting the fabulous recipe myself but it was already there! Certainly makes it easier to find the recipe when I need it to do a quick search of my online cookbook where I save all my favorite recipes. Much better than searching thru my scary 3-ring binder anyway. :-)

Eventually I will put them into my computer but until then. . .I just bought a plastic accordian file and made labels for Beef, Chicken, Seafood, Pork, Other Meat, Sides, Soups, Salads, Beverages. It's so much more organized!! Good luck!