Organize Your Recipes

 
There are many options here. Here are some options with the pros and cons:

• Recipe Box:
• Pros: 
• Can't think of any. Sorry people.
• Cons: 
• Waste of time! Who has the time to copy a recipe by hand onto an index card? 
• Can get disorganized quickly. Print out a recipe from the computer? Don't have the time to write it on an index card? Guess what happens to it (and many more like it) - it gets shoved into the box. 
• Doesn't stack well on top of each other. Which means that you end up wasting space. If you do have the wooden kind that stack, it is a pain to get the boxes on the bottom. 

•  Photo Albums: 
• Pros:
• Good for those who do the box method and are fed up with it. Just put the same cards into a photo album book and you get many of pros of the notebook method.
• Cons:
• Expensive. Those photo albums will add up.

• Notebooks:
•  Pros:
• Easy to put recipes you print or tear out of a magazine into it.
• Easy to store. They fit in the cabinet just like a cookbook would.
• Are kept in plastic sleeves, so food doesn't get on the paper. 
• Easy to clean. When food does get on the plastic sleeves, just wipe off. 
• Plenty of room for the pictures. I love a recipe that has a picture to go with it. This method gives plenty of room for that.
• Can even fit index cards. Just glue them on a piece of white paper and slide the paper in the plastic sleeve. 
• Cons:
• Can be expensive. Notebooks are pretty cheap, but those plastic sleeves can add up. If you go this route, be sure to put recipes front and back.

•  Online Resources:
• Pros:
• It's online. No paper. It's great for people who like everything to be online.
• Most are free. Here's one option. Here's another. 
• Wouldn't loose all your recipes in case of a fire. 
• Cons:
• Not for people who like paper. For the same reasons I will never get a Kindle, I will also never use an online recipe organizer.
• May be difficult to actually use in the kitchen. You either print out the recipe or have your computer in the kitchen...not ideal.
• Have to spend a large amount of time upfront typing out or scanning your recipes online.

•  Software:
• Pros and Cons: I'm not qualified. Thankfully, there is someone who has is. Meet Lynette of TheFunTimesGuide.com. Here's her review of 6 software programs for organizing recipes. And here's her update. This one's really nice...because it's free!

Once you choose your system, here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Have a "to try" section. For example, if you do the notebook method, have one dedicated to recipes you haven't tried, but want to. All the others can the tried and true ones.
• Label, label, label. Whatever your method, don't just stick the recipes in. Be sure they are organized by food type (seafood, side dishes, desserts, drinks, breakfast, breads, etc).
• Go into as much or as little detail as you want. And do it in stages if you need to. I have a dessert and drink notebook. But, the recipes are just divided into desserts and drinks. Eventually I will add tabs and separate them into cakes, cookies, ice cream, etc. Have the grace to do what you can when you can do it.