Mmmmm . . . no. That’s not a before picture.
Oh. You thought . . .
Because of the . . . .
Well this is a little uncomfortable.
Today I’m sharing an idea. One that works well for me. For my brain that tends to think I’ve found the Perfect Place to store something, but then can’t remember where that Perfect Place was.
And I then have to re-create the logic I used. Which can be scary.
But here’s an idea I’ve used for a long time now. I store favorite recipes in the cabinet where I keep the main ingredients for that recipe.
Huh?
OK. I’ve admitted before that I’m a little creative in the kitchen. Sometimes too creative. I believe I once said that I sometimes choose creativity at the expense of deliciousness.
Meaning, I don’t use recipes very often.
I might follow some guidelines once or twice, but after that I wing it.
There are a few things, though, that I’m not comfortable winging. Like the breadstick recipe I use for my Breakfast Pockets. Or the enchilada sauce recipe which we consider to be second to none. Both of these recipes are written on slips of paper, and although my cookbook shelf is far improved from its pre-blog state, recipes on slips of paper are still a pain to locate.
I store the enchilada sauce recipe in my spice cabinet. It’s right where I look for any seasoning packets. The recipe I use for taco seasoning is also in that spot. Right where I would store the taco seasoning.
The breadstick recipe is in my baking cabinet. I don’t bake much, and when I do, I’m usually making those breadsticks.
Now, if you’re normal, you might have the recipe written neatly on a card that would tuck away nicely in these spots. I hope to get to that point someday. For now, I’m just glad I know exactly where to find these beloved recipes.
I’m linking this up to Kitchen Tip Tuesday (which is being hosted today at Finding Joy in My Kitchen)
Sometimes our minds are so simpatico. You help me laugh at myself many many times. I look at your before and after pictures and have to go back cuz I didn't see anything the first time. ^.^ Just an extention of what you do, I tape mine to the inside of my cupboards. I have our favorite bread recipe, herb mixes I prefer to make from scratch and things I don't do often but often enough like our crockpot homemade yogurt and marshmallows.
To avoid losing recipes, I do something pretty similar. I tape a clear plastic wallet file to the inside of the cupboard door where I store all the baking items.I put our six favourite recipes in the wallet. The ingredients I need are right inside the cupboard, easy to find.
I now no longer waste hours looking for our favourite family recipe!
I agree about taping it inside the door.(I love the clear wallet file idea, Fiona!)That would save an itty bitty amount of space and time–you wouldn't have to get it out, unfold it, put it back every time.
All great ideas and is that awesome sauce recipie the one that is linked to the words??? Thanks!!!!
I'm so bad at writing recipes. I have most of my favorites bookmarked on my smartphone. I just hope it never dies on me. My Aunt bought me a recipe book, but I don't use it as much as I should. Maybe one day I will write them all down…
Maybe.
You have to scroll down the page on the sauce recipe. There are quite a few ads and explanations before the recipe. But it's our fave!
Love it – great minds think alike:) I understand and use a similar method!!! Thanks for making me smile and not feel alone!
Whatever works for you 🙂 I keep a file folder in a drawer with all my little scraps of recipe's. I keep thinking I should write them down on actual recipe cards and file them but I can always find my recipes so it works for me. I do a lot of cooking by the seat of my pants too, whenever someone asks for the recipe it's hard for me to actually write it down for them.
Interesting strategy!! I would go crazy that way — but, I'm glad it works for you!!
Just a thought for the ladies – I honestly don't know if this is an old custom or not but I once heard of ladies writing recipies on cards for the bride to be as shower gift…everyone filled out a card or two of their favs and put it in a nice box set for the bride …that would be the only way I would have them ..I keep a folder of snippits from magazines, hand written ones and print outs and then I have a file on my computer favorites that I open when I want it or bring the laptop to the kitchen and do it like that…!!!!
I always struggled with scattered recipes, too. What I did was to buy a cheap photo album at Wal-Mart. Then I stick my clippings in the photo sleeve. I do fold them so that the name of the recipe is visible. Now I know right where to look. Can't wait to check out that enchilada sauce recipe.
I just started to put my recipies into plastic sleeves. Then I put one of the silver rings through the top hole of the sleeve to hold them all together. The inside of our kitchen cabinet (right above where I usually prep dinner) had a nail hole on one cabinet so I stuck a nail in it and I hang them there. These are the really easy recipies… so when I'm struggling to figure out dinner when I get home from work (not lots of advance planning, I know!), it goes pretty quickly. Recipe books are stuck in a drawer. A drawer I rarely open.
all 4 of my recipes are in the drawer where I keep the measuring cups… under the measuring cups. Same idea, I'll need the measuring cups and viola, recipe too… 🙂
I bought a snazzy recipe box that I planned to use as a receipt box (it made sense because (a) it matched my decor and (b) receipt has all the letters of recipe + a t) but ended up deciding to use it for (believe it or not) recipes. It's now over 6 months later and the recipe cards are still in their plastic wrapping, the receipts are still in a shoebox and I've lost half a dozen recipes of my own creation from throwing out school notices without checking the back and one particularly nasty iPhone crash (some in notes, others in a wiki app). Luckily I've managed to find others and they're now tucked securely into random pieces of furniture nowhere near the kitchen. Some are near my cookbooks. The others? Your guess is as good as mine 🙂
mine are pretty much in the same type place as yours… where i would find the bulk of ingredients 🙂 but inlike that … taped inside the cabinet. i may try it. … i may 🙂
I laughed so hard at the intro here! I always find you amusing, but there are posts, like this one, where I just crack up. I’m new to you, so I’m following your advice and starting at the beginning. Not sure if I’ll ever actually catch up. But, you have been inspiring me for months. Actually, a slightly younger version of you has been inspiring me for months.
Thanks!
you gotta do what works!
I’m down to four cookbooks, and I spent a few hours last summer typing our recipes that were on cards into Evernote…so everything is online now if I need to reference it. I think your method is great if it works for you!
Evernote is great for this. It’s free and you can load it on your compter, tablet and/or phone. You can search for a key ingredient and all the recipes with that ingredient pop up. I’m using it for searching out my zucchini recipes right now. After all it’s July in Texas.
After my kids left school I had a plethora of file folders and plastic sleeves. Now have my recipes, hand written, typed, magazine pullouts etc in the plastic sleeves. As I need one I take out the sleeve and attach it to the nearest cupboard door to the bench top with a bit of Blu-tack. After I’ve finished it goes back in the file. Works for me.