How to Make a Family Recipe Binder

Cooking is something I'm very passionate about and absolutely love doing.  In fact, over half of our shows recorded on the DVR are cooking episodes with recipes I want to make...if only Pinterest recipes didn't keep taking over I'd get through some of them.  But, I have enjoyed cooking for quite some time.  I first started baking with my mom when I was growing up and didn't really start liking to cook other meals until I started college.  I didn't really start experimenting with food until I had moved into an apartment by myself.  That's when the enjoyment turned into something more.

When Adam and I first got engaged, I started making copies of recipes from friends' and family members' cookbooks and cutting out recipes from magazines to try out.  When I found a recipe we really liked, I saved it and glued it to a piece of construction paper.  Then hole punched the construction paper to put in a 3 ring binder.  This method was not only time consuming but was not visually appealing.  I knew I had to do something else, but just couldn't think of how to make it better.  Then one day while I was in graduate school, I realized I had some clear page protectors left over from a project.  It hit me that if I used these I wouldn't have to cut and glue papers AND wouldn't have to hole punch anything because the page protectors already have holes for binders.  That's when I sat down and created our updated Family Recipe Binder.

To start you will need the following:

• 3 ring binder (I used the cheap black plastic 1" binder from Walmart) 
• A box of page protectors (Again I just used the cheapest ones I could find at Walmart) 
• Printed, copied, cut out recipes (this is your collection)
• Set of 8 dividers (I used see-through dividers because I liked the way they looked on top of the cover sheets and happen to find these at the one spot at Target) 
• White paper and printer 
• A permanent marker in a different color than your binder (I used silver)

All the supplies you need for this should cost you under $20 if you already have the printer and paper of course.

Once you have your supplies here's what you do:

1. Organize all your recipes into the following categories if you are using the downloadable versions I created


• Breakfast and Smoothies
• Appetizers and Snacks
• Salad and Soup
• Main Course
• Side Dishes
• Dessert
• Drinks
• Tips and Ideas


2. Download and print off the FREE printables I have created by clicking the individual links below (I did it separately so you could pick and choose which pages you wanted)


• Table of Contents (This document is an editable Word document so you can type in your family's name and change or remove any of the categories you may not need)
• Breakfast and Smoothies
• Appetizers and Snacks
• Salad and Soup
• Main Course
• Side Dishes
• Dessert
• Drinks
• Tips and Ideas
• Favorite Recipes


3. After you printed everything off, it's time to start putting the binder together.  Each page protector holds to sheets, back to back.  The very first protector holds the Table of Contents printable on one side and "backs" up to extra blank copies of the Favorite Recipes page.  I put the pages in back to back so when you turn the pages, it reads like a cookbook.  





Table of Contents page




Turn the Table of Contents and this is what you see



Freezer Storage Cheat sheets are at the front for reference.  This is one of the clear dividers mentioned above.



4. For each section (i.e. Breakfast and Smoothies), the first page is the cover page as seen below and behind it (in the same page protector) is the Favorite Recipes page also seen below.

   

   The Breakfast section cover page.  Each section has an individual cover page.

5. The Favorite Recipes page was created as a mini table of contents for each section because when I put the recipe into the binder it got written down on the Favorite Recipe list and the recipes stay in that order.  When I add a new recipe, I simply write the name at the bottom of the list.  It also serves as a quick reference for the total time it takes me to make the recipe AND if there's anything I needed to remember the next time (like something being freezable or that something has to marinate for 4 hours).  

   

   Favorite Recipes page for Breakfast section. 

6. The last section in my book is the Tips and Ideas section.  I created this one to keep anything that I might have had that I felt like would be a great reference for later on like in the picture below (i.e. internal cooking temperature, tips for baking/icing layered cakes, how to cut a pineapple).  I don't reference this section often honestly, but I know if I got rid of it, I'd eventually need it.

Examples of Tips and Ideas pages.

And that's it!  The most time consuming part is putting all of the recipes back to back in the protectors and then writing everything down on the Favorite Recipes pages.  However, this project took me less than an hour to make after creating the printables which I am gifting to you!  This is a very do-able naptime project for my fellow mommies of young ones out there.  Having all of our favorite recipes at my finger tips makes deciding on a last minute dinner so much easier because it's already something I've made before and I know exactly where to find it!

I hope you enjoyed this little DIY organizational project and as always, thanks for stopping by!

~Ashley Berry