Meal/recipe organization
I have always been a planner so pretty soon into marriage I figured out that I needed to plan ahead and make a list of meals for the week before going to the grocery store. Making dinner has not been that big of a deal when I have all the ingredients for a meal ahead of time. I really don't like the "scrambling" feeling.I have always been a magazine reader, and I like to try new recipes I find. I just couldn't get a system down to organize the recipes I wanted to try. My recipe/cookbook area is a disaster! I can never find what I am looking for. Now, if my computer was downstairs and my printer was working, I would just do it all on the computer, but that's not an option right now.
So enter the 3 ring binder. I sat down this weekend, went through my stack of magazines with the corners folded over and ripped out the recipes I wanted to try.
I wrote down on a piece of binder paper a list of meals (some old reliables and some new ones) I wanted to make for dinner. I also listed the snacks/baked goods I wanted to make and then some other stuff like what I will bring to the potluck, the ingredients for the homemade playdoh for playgroup this week, etc.
I slipped the meal recipes into one sheet protector in the binder, and the snacks into another. There were several recipes I put in another sheet protector for "future" use.
I wrote down what I needed on my list for the store. I went to the store. And now I will cook the food. Some of the recipes will be one-timers, others I hope will be inserted into our routine. I don't decide in advance on what specific days I will cook what, but rather leave it to chance...this is what we feel like tonight. I cross off what I have made and keep a running meal list.
Also, I try to cook some of dinner at lunch time. This is so helpful when there are after school activities, or we decide it's a beautiful day and we need to be outside all afternoon.
This was kind of lengthy--sorry! I would love to hear what others do to make dinner time/grocery shopping smoother....
posted by Kathryn @ 7:11 AM
5 Comments:
Good post! My recipes are everywhere and I'm always thinking I need to organize them better. I like your system. Thanks for the ideas.
Hey Kath,
I don't think I'm quite the planner you are, but I enjoyed your post and comments/suggestions. I, too, have a 3-ring binder system. I started out with typing everything into the computer (Craig even made me templates), but it's too time consuming at this stage of my life. So, I cut out the recipes and then place them in binders. I have one binder for Starters/Salads/Sides/Main Dishes. And, another for desserts broken out by Cakes/Pies/Creams/Misc. Then, I have another binder for 30-minute meals.
When I had one child I would just go to the grocery store and make whatever suited me that day and what was fresh, etc. But, after the second child, I plan weekly. I sort of base it on how much time I'm going to have and save the new recipes or time consuming ones for the weekends when Craig is home. Otherwise, I have a rotating list of good, easy weekday meals. (sorry this is so long.)
i have a binder, but it is not very well organized, just put in a plastic sleeve in the binder. i aspire to be like judy tyler who has a separate binder for each category i.e. one for soups, one for main courses etc...i love how you are so good at planning and being organized, that is half the battle
I feel inspired to move my recipes from folders into binders.
Kath, right now I'm in an overwhelmed stage of life & I'm doing savingdinner.com. She emails you a grocery list & a week's worth of dinner recipes & breakfast & lunch suggestions. I like that there are no repeats & they are all tasty, simple & super healthy & she saves you money by having you buy what's in season, etc. But I love to try new recipes. Chris & I never repeat a recipe unless it is AMAZING. So we would just go through recipe books trying them each in turn for dinner until we were done with the whole book, skipping the ones that sounded gross. (Rachel Ray, Weightwatchers, Belgian & Swedish cookbooks...), Then once in a while we would do the internet search for recipes that match what you need to get rid of (like your later post- hilarious what a gourmet week you had).
Post a Comment
<< Home