Recipe Storage

[Chelli]

I love to cook and I have a LOT of recipes. I've tried three ring binder, but they rip out. I've tried index cards, but they are too small. I need some new inspiration!

 

Share with me some of your best, sturdiest ways to store them.

 

My only caveat is I don't want them stored on my computer or online. I prefer paper in some form.

[Alte Veste Academy]

3 ring binder in page protectors. Nice and big. Plenty sturdy. As an added bonus, you can wipe spatters right off. :D

[dbmamaz]

I did the 3-ring binder w page protectors and was happy with it for a long time, but i have to admit, my ipad makes me wonder how I ever survived w paper recipes! I use an app called Paprika recipe manager and i cannot say enough good things about it! You can import recipes from some of the bigger recipe websites, you can type straight in, you can copy and paste. once the recipe is in, you can customize it. you can add pictures. There is a calendar where you can link recipes for the day, so you open up the calendar and click to the dishes you had planned.

 

Oh, and traveling is so much easier knowing I have all my recipes with me! i can easily email one to anyone, any time. Ok, but if you have to buy the ipad, i guess it costs a bit more than a 3-ring and some page protectors, though :D

[Amy in NH]

I use a three-ring binder. I put the printed pages in page protectors which 1) keeps them from ripping out, and 2) makes it easy to wipe them if they get messy.

[Barbara H]

3 ring binder in page protectors. Nice and big. Plenty sturdy. As an added bonus, you can wipe spatters right off. :D

 

That's my system too and it does work pretty well. At the time I set it up the books my then eight year old illustrated the cover page and dividing pages which always makes me happy to see those.

 

I confess that sometimes I do Google if there's a recipe that is know is online and I can't find it in the binders though.

[Chocolate Rose]

I know you said you don't want to store your recipes on your computer, but here's what I do.

I use MasterCook. I collect recipes that I think that I might like to try at some point in my life and have several hundred cookbooks within MasterCook. I also have my own personal cookbooks which I've named after my dd and then put Vol 1, Vol 2 etc. after her name.

So, I have various "cookbooks" within MasterCook in which I have the recipes. The cookbooks correspond to where I found the recipe (Cooking Light, All Recipes, etc.). When I actually make a recipe, I make a copy of it and put it in my personal cookbook (whichever volume I'm on at the moment - right now it's Vol. 6) within MasterCook. Then, every couple or few years, I print out an actual cookbook with all the recipes that I made during that time period. I ask for recipes from other family members and include those, too. I print a master copy, take it to Costco, have as many copies printed as I need, add a cardstock cover and then the plastic protector over that and have it all spiral bound. These become that years Xmas gifts for extended family. I've put away a copy of each volume for dd for when she has a place of her own. I also get extras printed to give as gifts to friends who also love to cook. When dd was younger, I had her illustrate the cover and then after they were printed, she hand colored (with colored pencils) each cover.

This sounds WAY more complicated than it actually is. I printed the first cookbook in 1998, so this has worked for me for quite a number of years.