It happened to me again just the other day - I opened the kitchen cupboard where I store my cookbooks and recipes and half of them tumbled out on top of me, scattering the kitchen counter and floor. A sigh escaped me; was I ever going to get these all organized? All the cookbooks and recipes collected over time - received as wedding gifts, shower gifts, housewarming gifts, handed down through generations, purchased in the grocery checkout line, cut out of magazines, clipped from newspapers, and written on recipe or note cards.
I think the bigger question is when do I actually use these dusty old cookbooks, these wedding/shower/housewarming gifts, these scraps of paper, magazine and newspaper clippings, these note cards? With advanced technology, I find it much easier to type a desired recipe into a search engine and see instant results rather than search through cookbooks, but at the same time I find it difficult to let go of them. What if there's a terrific recipe hidden somewhere in my cookbooks that I have not yet discovered?
In reality, I hardly ever use my cookbooks or recipes. I make things up as I go, never looking at a piece of paper or peeking into a cookbook. I may page through to get ideas, but once a meal sticks in my head I figure out my own way to make it. So why wouldn't I just clean out my cupboard to prevent gravity from taking over my cookbooks once again, spilling them out of the cupboard and onto the floor? As I mentioned before, I find it difficult to let go. Three of my books are my in-laws family cookbooks. Two of my books are my family's cookbooks. One "cookie" cookbook was given to me for Christmas a few years back from a very dear friend. Two of them are books that were purchased by or for my kids so they could help in the cooking too. In fact, I still have the first cookbook I ever purchased on my own.
So, I guess I'm not giving up the cookbooks. But what to do with all the loose pieces of paper, the magazine and newspaper clippings? Here are a few ideas, otherwise check out these great recipe organizer products I've found.
-Take smaller clippings and tape to a note card. Make sure you have a recipe box for all those note cards!
-For larger clippings, put them in a plastic sleeve and into a 3 ring binder. The plastic sleeves are great; wipe them off if you spill while cooking!
-Write the "type" of recipe in large bold letters across the top for easy categorizing and easy scanning - when you're in a hurry the last thing you want to do is read the whole recipe to see what it is!
-If you can, group all your types together. Label if you've made the recipe or not, and rate it - it's always good to know if you liked it enough to make it again. If you want, take notes on changes you might make to the recipe.
The point is, get organized! Take just a few minutes out of each day and you'll find that in no time you'll enjoy opening your kitchen cupboard, knowing that you won't have a waterfall of recipes falling out on top of you.

Article author:Natalie Schloesser
About the author:Natalie is a work at home mom who loves crock pot cooking and quick and easy recipes in general. To view her crock pot recipes visit http://www.natalies-recipes.com, which also includes a variety of helpful hints, cooking tips, quick and easy recipes, great products, and a fun and informative newsletter.

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