I find 99.9% of my recipes online these days. However, until recently I was holding on to a few dozen cookbooks.
Not anymore.
I got rid of my wardrobe and the toys–but getting rid of a few dozen cookbooks was still hard. When I declutter anything I always have a moment of self-doubt.
What if I need this book again someday?
So before my stack of cookbooks hit the donation pile, I was sure to keep some old favorites from each book. I still wanted to have hard copies. Call me old-fashioned, but I am not ready to go fully digital in the kitchen.
Things get pretty messy cooking with my kids in my kitchen and I try to keep my devices sauce-free.
I didn’t need the barely used cookbooks laying around anymore (each book only had 1 or 2 recipes I wanted to keep)–so I consolidated into one simple solution with all the essentials.
Last week I told you about my Simple Weekly Meal Planning Method (something old, something new, something prepared, and some kind of stew)–I use this method to help keep me on track with meal planning.
But when it comes to organizing those recipes, here’s what you need to get started.
- The Simple Weekly Meal Planner [<–click to get it here]
- Three Ring Binder with Clear Cover
- Plastic Sheet Protectors
- Printed copies of your favorite recipes
I went through each recipe book and made a photocopy of my favorites. I also printed copies of my favorite online recipes as well. Then I added all of those to my recipe binder in plastic sheet protectors.
Here’s a two-minute video to show you how it all comes together.
I did keep one favorite cookbook: this one.
What does recipe organization look like in your house? How many cookbooks are you holding onto?
