Who doesn't have a couple favorite recipes?!? Do you keep them in a recipe box? A notebook? A website? A pile? A box? A drawer? A mess?!?! 

Today we are going to focus on tackling those recipes!!

STEP 1: Gather your recipes.

Grab all your recipe magazines, recipe cards, Internet print-outs; recipes you wrote on post-its, receipts, scratch paper, etc. and put them in a pile! Make sure it's in a place where you have enough space to go through them!

STEP 2: Decide on an organization method.

Here are a couple ideas.

You can take pictures of your recipes as you cook them and create a new post for each one. A website allows you to electronically "sort" your recipes using parameters you create {i.e. tags, labels, etc.}. My mom, my sister, and I have our own password protected recipe blog where we share new recipes and "old" family favorites from growing up. We add pictures when we can, but even if you don't it's still a great way to share your recipes with others!

 One of the hardest things is actually going through the mounds of recipes you have accumulated.  Make 3 piles "try", "keep", "recycle". {Label your piles if you think you might need to☺.}

Odds are you saw a good recipe in a magazine that you wanted to try... so you saved that magazine. Then the next month's issue came out and you found another good recipe to try.. so you saved that magazine too. Have you actually tried all those recipes that you have been stock piling? Flip through your stash of magazines. If you find a recipe that looks delicious that you just have to save... rip out that page! Start a small pile of the recipes you tear out - the "try" pile. Then, toss  recycle the magazines. Next step... try them. If they aren't good, recycle them. If they are good then add them to your recipe collection.

Next, tackle the recipes that you wrote down on scratch paper, post-its, recipes people gave you, etc. Have you tried those? If not, add them to your "try" pile. If you tried it and liked it... add it to the "keep" pile... or to the "recycle" pile respectively.

Now, how about that recipe box. Go through and recycle the ones that you know you will never use. Then sort the rest into your "try" and "keep" piles.

Now, you should have a pretty good set of piles! Hopefully your "try" pile isn't too big. If it seems like a lot, go through it and get it down to your top 10-15 recipes. Any more than that and it get  too overwhelming and you are back to recipe clutter! Then set a goal to try at least 1 new recipe a week. Once tried, either add that recipe to your collection... or recycle it!

Now that you have the recipes you want, you have chosen your method of recipe storage {☺} it is time to put it all together! If you have chosen the recipe box method {which happens to be the method I currently employ} today is your lucky day! I have a free printable for your very own recipe cards! I suggest printing them on heavy weight card stock. Since your recipes are all now recipes that you know you will use, you can run them through your laminater {or Xyron} so that they are protected from any spills in the kitchen. {If you chose the binder method, you can put your recipes in page protectors to keep them safe as well!}

Click here to download the PDF printable file. Each recipe card is 4"x6".

Happy sorting!!

Tomorrow: Menu Planning and Coupons