Monday, January 26, 2009

Magazine Cookbook

If you are like me, you have a giant stack of magazine stashed somewhere. I keep mine because I like to get recipes from them. I also like the tips (specifically decorating and organizing) that many of them contain. The only problem with this, is that I have a giant stack of magazines sitting in the corner. It is honestly a rare occasion for me to actually go back through them to find the recipe I wanted to try, or liked. I have been meaning to alleviate this problem for some time, and I actually did it! (A small sampling...)

If you are dealing with the same issue, do what I did and make yourself a Magazine Cookbook. First I went through the magazines and ripped out the recipes that I thought looked good, or we have tried and liked. I then took my paper cutter to them to cut them all down to 8.5 x 11. Next, I used our standard issue three hole punch. And finally, I pulled out a three-ring binder that has been sitting in the closet since college waiting to be re-purposed.



I divided up the recipes into categories that work for me. Soups & Salads, Main Dishes, Side Dishes, Sauces, Desserts, etc. At my weekly trip to the grocery store, I bought the cheapest binder dividers I could find and hand wrote labels for the categories.

Ta da! I now have a place (in my kitchen) for all those recipes. I also print out a fair number of recipes from websites, so I stuck those in as well. Now, no more searching through a stack of magazines or printed paper for the recipe I want. It also frees up the corner of my living room for an even greater toy takeover.


16 comments:

Jillene said...

GREAT idea!!

Ashli Miller said...

I did that with my recipes last year...and I love it! Most of my recipes I get online, and I used to print out the recipe, fold it, and stick it in my recipe box. Not pretty. Plus, now there's tons of room on each page to write comments like when I made it, if we really liked it or just kind of liked it, and any changes I made to the recipe. I actually put mine in sheet protectors because I had a ton left over from the early days of scrapbooking when those were 8.5 x 11. Also, I'm a messy cook, and i like that I can wipe any spills off my recipes. happy cooking!

Mary said...

You are doing so amazingly with your organization!! Great idea. This is something that even I could do :o)

rychelle said...

i have done this same exact thing. i print more recipes than i pull out of magazines, but i needed someplace for them to be ALL TOGETHER!

Meredith & Company said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Meredith & Company said...

Oops, I had to delete the original comment because I used someone's actual first name. I fixed it:

While I must say this is a great idea...how on earth did you come up with time to actually execute it? I actually just recycled all of my magazines a few weeks ago because I am resigned to the fact that I will never actually complete a project like this. Very impressive. Next time you have a sudden spurt of energy and organizational inspiration, just walk your fine self over here. I'd be more than happy to supervise BG :)

Kristina P. said...

I love this idea. I usually just buy trashy magazines and leave them at work for everyone else to read. Spreading the trashiness one person at a time.

Unknown said...

I belong to a cooking club and love getting my monthly cooking magazine. When I get them I usually put the whole magazine in a cover protector then into a binder since Jay and I love to go through the magazines and find new recipies to try out. It makes like a lot easier when you are trying to find that one perfect recipie.

Angie said...

If only i could accomplish this and read blogs at the same time. . .

Brittany Marie said...

Wow that looks like a great idea!

Nicole said...

Ok, this is a great idea. Just today I as going through all of my recipies trying to find a certain one. It took me like 15 minutes, I will be giving this a try.

Nikki said...

I love it! I will definitely have to try it too!

I do a similar thing, but with decorating magazines. I have a whole notebook, with tabs for each room of my (future) house - I think I could pretty much just write up a list to give to someone to decorate my future home, I know it in my head so well already!

Riddle Girl said...

Thank you so much for this idea! I am usually so organized with everything else, that this idea never even occurred to me. I just cut the pages out and threw them in my recipe cupboard.
I may also take it a step further and clear out my cookbooks by just making copies of the 3-5 recipes I use and then give away the book.
Want any?!

Jennifer said...

Aaahhh!! I SO need to do this!! Thanks for the idea!

Mom said...

I keep meaning to do this...hopefully seeing yours all nice & neat will motivate me to do more than stick an empty binder with my stack of print outs & magazine tear outs!
Thanks!

Controlling My Chaos said...

I have one of these too. I've been slowly going through the recipes and making digitally scrapbooked recipe cards for the keepers that I find.