Since it’s a job I’ve been putting off for a while I decided to join in the Organising Junkie’s recipe round-up. I did it all this morning – nothing like leaving things till the last minute – so after seeing some of the other wonderful posts on organising recipes I may try something new next time around.
For the most part my system works well enough for me, except when I don’t maintain it by putting new recipes away.
All my cookbooks are stored above the oven.
Except those I found in the coffee table…
and a few in my desk cupboard.
My recipes that have been torn out of mags or printed from fav. blogs lie loose in my desk draw.
I started by getting out ALL the cookbooks. Oh, boy, that’s quite a stack.
I then went through them and ended up with a small, but respectable, giveaway pile.
Next was gathering all the loose recipes and tidying up my folders. Not a fun job when you’re dealing with a few months worth. I also pulled out recipes I’m no longer interested in trying.
Lastly it was time to put everything away. The purple folder is full (and I mean full) of new recipes to try). The pink folders you see below are recipes I have made before and one is for deserts/cakes/etc (both tried and new).
The blue folder is one that contains main meal recipes I make frequently (ideally it would be good to have one of these for deserts/baking as well). Yes, I realise recipes is spelled wrong on my folder :-).
So there we go, a few hours later and I’m all organised. Make sure to drop by the Organising Junkie to see more great ideas.
Oh, I nearly forgot. When I was gathering up the recipe book I came across Deceptively Delicious which I recieved with a magazine subscription.
It looks like a good book but not one I’ll use so I’m going to give it away to one of my readers. If you like to win please leave a comment to this post before Wednesday midnight.
Thanks for sharing about getting your recipe books organized. Great ideas.
I don’t want to enter your giveaway because I have this book 🙂
I just wanted to say good job on getting your cook books organised. Mine are all packed at the moment. I couldn’t bear to cull any of them before I packed them so they might need some organising once we get into the new place 🙂
Wow! That is quite the stack of cookbooks!! I’m glad you were able to purge a few. I like how you have a couple of different binders for different categories of recipes. This looked like it was quite the task, but I’m sure it feels so good to get it done! Happy cooking!!
And, the giveaway…I would LOVE that book. I have TWO picky toddlers, so anywhere I can sneak in some veggies, I’m all over. I’ve seen it a time or two on the shelves at the store, but haven’t picked it up yet. Maybe I’ll win it instead! 🙂
Our pediatrician recommended that book, but I never got around to buying it.
Great job on organizing your recipes by the way….and all in one day too!
Hey Libby,
bravo to you girl, awesome job! that’s one job i have put off for YEARS! its too overwhelming to contemplate at the moment. I’m still trying to get onto last year’s tax! Maybe your pics will inspire me ………
Hi Libby,
You’ve given me some good ideas as to how to organise my recipes, thank you. I would love to go in the draw for the book. I saw a show Jessica did with Opera about it and thought it sounded wonderful. My partner won’t touch veggies which makes things quite difficult trying to cook for him, could give me some good ideas!
Considering Deceptively Delicious didn’t make the cut for me either, I don’t need to win it. I just wanted to let you know that you did an AMAZING purge job! Congrats!
Great job organizing your recipes! I’d love the book, thanks!
Looks wonderful!!! That book looks like a fun read!!
I use a similar system with folders. When we’ve moved I’ve purged recipe books, but they tend to creep in again!
I don’t want to win the DD book as my kids eat vegies anyway. 😉 Just wanted to say, “Well done!”
Hi Libby,
Love the new look of your blog. Thanks for posting so regularly. I check your site everyday just to see what you guys have been up to! I love that you include so many photos, so that it is really easy to see how you do things and your progress. Have been considering photographing some areas in my house so that when I work on them I can actually see that I am making a difference. I loved the change you made with your cookbooks. I woud love to win the DD cookbook as I have problems getting my son to eat vegies due to a medical condition and I have heard that JS has some good ways to hide vegies. Also, my sisters son has just been classified as underweight so I figure we could share the book! Just wanted to also say that I have made lots of your recipes (because I love that you can see what they should look like!) Our favourites at the moment are the zuchini slice (good to hide vegies) and the Creamy Mushroom sauce (have added it to everything!) Thanks for your blog. Take care, lavendersmiler