Guest Post: How To Create A Recipe Binder
Today I am happy to introduce you to Amber from The Tidy Lady! She has incredible DIY and organizing ideas, that help you organize your life AND your home! Her amazing household management binder printables will have you printing and printing away! This specific post on how to create a recipe binder has challenged not only me, but I know it will challenge YOU, to organize one of the most disorganized part of our cupboards/drawers: RECIPES. Thank you Amber, for sharing this practical, useful, and creative idea with us!
I’m so happy to be here today from tidylady.net to show you all how to set up a recipe binder that is both super functional and pretty! In my house, our recipe binder has become not only a staple in the kitchen, but really our family story told by food.
Ooooh how I LOVE collecting recipes. There is something so special and nostalgic about food, and the memories it creates. And there are few things better than paging through a magazine, swooning over gorgeous pictures of food and cutting them out in sweet anticipation!
However, my addiction to recipe collecting was becoming quite an unorganized nightmare! There were piles of loose recipes, magazines and cookbooks overflowing in one drawer. So even though I knew I had a certain recipe, it would take 15 minutes just to find it. This is not ok when there are hungry bellies in the kitchen!!
Also, the unorganization of it all was making meal-planning harder and more time-consuming than it needed to be. My go-to recipes or recipes I made and loved, were often forgotten about and I got stuck in a rut with simple grilled cheese/canned soup, frozen pasta dishes and other quick (and often not-so-healthy) meals.
So today, lets talk about the solution to this recipe hoarding!
First, I purchase a standard 2.5″ Binder, plastic sheet protectors and some label tabs. I then made section divider cover sheets, a cover for my binder, and binder spine for the side.
I placed all my divider sheets in plastic sleeves and gave them coordinating tabs.
Here are all of my divider categories for my recipe binder:
Appetizers
Soups
Salads
Poultry
Fish
Snacks
Sandwiches & Wraps
Meat
Vegetarian
Vegan
Entrees
Budget Dishes
Breads
Desserts
Slow Cooker
Juices & Smoothies
Make Ahead Freezer Meals
Holidays
Breakfast
Grilling
Quick Fixes
Drinks – Non Alcoholic
Drinks – Alcoholic
Favorites
Disasters! (To record which recipes didn’t work and remember to not make again!)
After I got my binder all set up, I starting adding all of the recipes I had. Each recipe is placed in a plastic sleeve protector (front and back) so they won’t get ruined with all the splatters, spills and stains from cooking.
After I had all my recipes placed I added a Recipe Index page to each category. This is really helpful to locate my recipes easier and I can also keep adding in my new recipes I collect.
Finally, in the front pocket I keep a Weekly Meal-Planning Sheet.
I can easily scan through my recipes and plan the meal in advance. This also prevents the family from always asking, “what’s for dinner!?” Now they always know where to look 🙂
TIP: I put this sheet in a plastic page protector and use a dry erase marker to write in my meals and wipe off for a new week. This prevents having to print a new meal-panning sheet every week. Save a Tree!
The whole project took me about 3 hours, and now it honestly is SO simple to locate recipes and design meal-time. I put all of my cookbooks neatly on a shelf for a night when I’m inspired to create something new, but otherwise I just use my fabulous recipe binder and I’m set!
You can find all of the templates, meal-planning sheets, and printable divider pages I used at my Etsy shop: Recipe Binder Organization Printables
This is probably hands down, the smartest organization move I’ve made in the kitchen so far; and that’s a BOLD statement! I say this because it has saved me so much time and stress. I highly suggest putting together your own recipe binder and making meal-time more organized, fun and tasty 🙂
Other bonuses I have found because of making an organized recipe binder and using the weekly meal plan sheet:
* Less wasted food
* Less money spent
* Eating fewer processed or pre-packaged foods
* Less stress about planning meal time or scrambling last minute
* Less eating out at restaurants or ordering take-out
* Remembering family favorites and making them more often
* Saving overall time in the kitchen
Thanks for letting me share my recipe binder with you. I hope you make one for your family and find the same positive results!
Happy Organizing
Amber – The Tidy Lady
I love how you created so many categories in your binder. Having all of your recipes and meal planning in one spot is the best way to stay on top of all of the meal prep!
Hi Nikita! Here is the email address of Amber: thetidylady@yahoo.com – she is awesome at creating printables, so hopefully she can give you some helpful hints!