Getting Organized (my recipe binder)

Back in January I resolved to get more organized this year. I made a big (really big!) list of all the areas in which I felt we needed to get more organized. I have slowly been plucking away at it, as time allows. My problem is that I will get so enthused to start and about half way through I lose steam. I have learned that I need to pick one room... or closet and start slowly so it is more attainable for me. I am a bit of a procrastinator at times, ;)

I did, however, manage to completely overhaul my recipe binder. I had previously used a binder and a recipe box and it didn't make much sense (to even me) to have recipes in two places. So, I bought a bunch of plastic covers for reports and inserted all my recipes into those and filed them under the appropriate tabs. I made tabs for 5 different categories; main dish, side dish, dessert, appetizer/snacks, and drinks/seasonal. I could have broken them into smaller categories and still may do that, but I already had five dividers. :)

At the front of each section I have a folder for recipes I have cut from magazines that I have yet to try, but want to. That way if I am in search of a new recipe I can always find something on hand.

A few things in my side dish section that I want to try

At the very front of my binder is my weekly shopping list and my menu plan for the next two weeks. I like having everything right where I can see it. I also pull whatever recipe cards I may be needing for the week and insert them into the pockets in the front of the binder as well.  This way there is no frantic searching required later.

My menu plan for the week and shopping list

A few of my recipe cards pulled for the week; cream of chicken over brown rice, turkey chili, and Mom's meatloaf!

 The only thing I want to add to this is a table of contents under each section. Because, as each section grows, it takes longer to locate each recipe. I will just have to save that for another day.

I got that great menu planning/shopping list printable here.