Organizational Baby Steps

I have this habit of working on ‘hidden’ clutter before tackling the more obvious clutter ( like the kids’ toys littering the living room and the pockets of disarray scattered around our home). I was up to my tricks again today as I finished filing the multitude of clipped and printed off recipes I’ve collected over the years. I tend to think that recipes in the paper, magazines or online look really good at the time, so I’ll tear or print them out thinking, “I’ll have to try that sometime!”. Most of these recipes have managed to congregate in a couple of areas that are hidden, but I still know they’re there…taunting me.

So, as I said, I finished up filing all of these today. I bought (before my ‘want’ buying ban, I might add) a FilePLUS organizer for my recipes. A simple accordian file would have accomplished the same thing, but I think I’ll use it more because it’s attractive. I feel more organized when my organizational tools look nice. Here is what it looks like:

Nice, huh? I have a section for the recipes I still want to try. I threw away probably 80% of what I started with. I have other sections for recipes I’ve tried and liked. As I try out the new ones, they will either be filed there or tossed if they aren’t to our liking. The very popular recipes will be transferred to my personal cookbook, which is another great organizational tool.

This isn’t the same one I have (mine is nearly 20 years old, a wedding shower gift), but it’s the same idea. I think this is spiral-bound and mine is a 3-ring binder.

Also, I will NOT be clipping any more recipes unless I am sure I will try them and they will be filed in this folder or they will be thrown away.   I have enough new recipes to keep me busy for quite awhile, so any that get added will have to be VERY impressive.  With allrecipes.com as another great resource, there’s really very little reason to be clipping anything out of magazines (where the recipes seem to emphasize certain products over really great taste anyway).

I hope to share some of our favorite recipes here at HomegrownHearts very soon!

Tags: clutter, organization, recipes