Recipe organization

For years my recipe organization has been a disaster. Printed pages from various websites and random recipes written on pads of paper (provided by local solicitors), both in different areas of the house. Unfortunately, I didn't know where anything was and would get very discouraged trying to find a recipe. The result? I didn't use my recipes very often.

I searched for different solutions through Google images and I decided to go with something familiar to me. I work in an office by day, so an expandable file folder seemed to make the most sense. Organizing papers is part of my job, I figured I should live how I work.

I picked up the expandable, see through file folder at Superstore for $4. Depending on how many recipes one has, you may need to get a bigger file. I recently organized my moms recipes, using the same file, and it was a little snug for them all. Depending on how many she accumulates, she may need to upgrade in size in the next few years. I had some of her really old recipes laminated, it was nostalgic to go through beautifully hand written recipes from both my grandmothers.

I have Happy Herbivore's replacing fats in baking PDF in the front. 

Before I started labeling the tabs, I thought I should sort my recipes in to different categories to see which ones I could combine and which ones needed there own tab. After sorting, and recycling the unwanted recipes, I decided on the following categories:

• Dips & Spreads                               
• Appetizers
• Salads
• Soups
• Sauces
• Main meals
• Muffins & biscuits
• Cookies
• Desserts & squares 
• Chocolate & dates 
• Ice cream & novelties 

The folder is easy to store and it fits nicely on top of our fridge with my most used cookbooks, The Happy Herbivore Cookbooks of course. 

For now this is working great. It isn't the greenest option, but I don't go crazy with printing recipes. Maybe in the future I will think about getting a kindle or cloud reader. But for $4, I really can't go wrong with a familiar expandable file.