My Recipe Binder

I love all things organizational in nature, so it's really no surprise that I keep my recipes very organized so that they are easy to find.  Don't get me wrong, even though I have a recipe binder, I am also a die hard collector of recipe books.  The key reason I keep a recipe binder is so that I have a place to collect and store recipes I have found while browsing online, ripped out of magazines and even better it's a place I can collect some of my family favourites that have been passed down from earlier generations. 

As you'll see my recipe binder looks a bit disorganized as sheets of paper are different sizes, some are typed out, some printed out ... but I love it!  For some reason it gives the book an authentic vibe sorta as though I have scored all resources for the recipes.

I started off with a 1 1/2 inch ring binder.  I purchased the type that had a see-through cover, so that I could include a fun title page & spine.  I downloaded this Recipe Binder template via the Internet.  I love it!

Next I purchased page protectors to protect each page & recipe.  I find this so useful as usually I don't like to have my entire binder on my counter top while I'm cooking as it takes up a lot of room.  This gives me the freedom of removing pages and not worrying about spoiling the recipes with spilt milk & loose flour.

I also purchased tabbed dividers for my recipe binder.  I browsed a couple cookbooks at first to find out how cookbooks are easily divided, and I also thought about my recipe database & things I enjoy cooking.  Taking both into account, I had settled on the below categories.

Appetizers

Sides (this can incorporate salads, vegetable dishes, etc.)

Pasta & Rice

Main Dishes

Family Favourites

Breakfast

Breads

Drinks

Desserts

Holiday!

I used alphabet stamps for the first letter on each tab and hand wrote the rest of the word.

Here are some pictures of how I've laid out my recipes within my recipe binder.

Recipes ripped from newspapers & magazines

Handwritten while cooking with my mom.

I have even taken photos of recipes in magazines at Chapters

I love to add comments of my own

Printed off websites

Family favourites handwritten for me!  This one is from my dad of my favourite sandwich - the Monte Cristo!

Sometimes I highlight ingredients I might not buy on a consistent basis.  That way I will be reminded of key ingredients while creating my grocery list.

I love recipes from a magazine, the colors really help you re-create the dish

Post-it notes for quick & easy recipes

Do you have any ways of how you like to organize your recipes?