How Do You Keep Track of Your Recipes?

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  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
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    Pinterest! Believe it or not, many of the recipes you already have are available online. In order to keep track of everything, I pin them to various boards - Salads, chicken recipes, Slow cooker, etc. That way I have easy access.

    I just don't understand Pinterest. I try and try and I don't get it. I have things pinned and can't find them. It confuses the hell out of me.

    Thank you for this I thought I was the only one that couldn't figure it out!
  • Lovey50
    Lovey50 Posts: 63 Member
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    I have the free ColorNote app on my phone and my Kindle Fire, which syncs itself. When I find a recipe online, I copy and paste it there. Its terrific! Especially since I can bring the phone into the store to get the right ingredients.

    I also bookmark recipes on my laptop. I also have a Recipe Box on Allrecipes.com and Epicurious, though I dont check them as often since I started using the ColorNote app. And I have my old recipe box :smile:
  • abyt42
    abyt42 Posts: 1,358 Member
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    My mom and I made "family favorite" cookbooks when I went off to college (out of 2 inch binders.) When she died, I took hers (and she'd added bunches of recipes) and we sold the cookbooks. I've upgraded mine to a 4 inch binder, add recipes periodically (both from websites and magazines). I also have a small spiral notebook in the kitchen, so if I'm working on a recipe, I can keep track of what I've done. When it's "right," I move it into the binder.

    I've also got a saved version of the cookbook template on my computer, so, at some point (when I'm done with my masters program, or bored beyond words, perhaps), I'll type the newer (last 15 years worth) of recipes into the same format the others are in....

    People keep giving me cookbooks, however, so those are shelved in the livingroom. My kids pour through them to find things to try out...
  • nmcknny
    nmcknny Posts: 479 Member
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    I have a ring binder for recipes I want to try (and likely will try), a recipe keeper--plastic pages with sleeves-- for my tried and true recipes (the ones I cook all the time or have a special meaning for me or my family) and the cookbooks that I use many recipes from. The binder and recipe keeper and a couple of the cook books I use most often are on my counter where I can access them easily. I keep a few other cookbooks that I use frequently but not weekly on my bookshelf.

    I used to tear out or copy recipes as I found them and keep them in a file folder (a physical one, kept on one of my bookshelves) and I had tons of cookbooks. I realized that I would never make all those recipes so, I went through my file and put the ones I knew I would try into a ring binder and used pocket folders to organize them. I used file tabs and wrote titles like "main dishes," "salads and vegetables," "holidays." I threw away a lot of recipes and gave away a lot of cookbooks. I still clip recipes (and print them from the internet) but my "try it" ring binder is reasonable and manageable and even useful :smile:
  • ClementineGeorg
    ClementineGeorg Posts: 505 Member
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    I have a document on my computer in which I write the recipies I like.
    It sometimes is a pain in the *kitten* to translate (if necessary) and write them, but I bookmark them (online or offline) until I can.

    It's the only system in which I can put recipies from all the sources. And I have them in only one place.
  • bluelena
    bluelena Posts: 304 Member
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    Print them out, tear them out, whatever it takes to get it. Drop it into a box. When it's time to find it again, riffle through that box. Takes a lot less time than creating that database and retyping/scanning them in. And believe it or not, I used to teach data management courses :blushing:

    This! I have a file box that everything goes in. I went the extra mile and bulldog clipped them together by type: Italian, Asian, chicken, pork, sides, vegetarian, potatoes (!), enchiladas, soups, chilis, etc. I keep a few loose ones on the top of the stack that are "on deck" the next time I want to cook something new. I have magnetic clips on my vent hood so I can hang the recipe right in front of me as I cook. When I'm done with the recipe, it goes back into its bulldog clipped section in the box.
  • Sewilban
    Sewilban Posts: 43 Member
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    I had the same problem! I decided to start a recipe blog on Tumblr, since it's a free blogging site. Any recipes I find, I bookmark them, try them, and if they're a success, I immediately put them on the blog. It's mainly for myself but since it's public, anyone who wants to can see it, which makes it easy to share recipes with others.

    Here's my blog if you want an example: http://healthyrecipeexchange.tumblr.com/
  • tasharock
    tasharock Posts: 136 Member
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    I print everything out and put it in a page protector in a binder. Makes it all easy to find, I can put the binder on the counter so I'm not running back and forth to the computer and since I have everything in page protectors, if I spill on the book, it wipes right off.

    Same here.
  • SashleyA
    SashleyA Posts: 122 Member
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    There are a bunch of web and smart phone applications for recipes, I have use several but I finally decided on "Pepperplate" for my recipes, It has apps for most platforms, as well as web based.
    All are synced between each other. You can import recipes from many popular web sites as well as entering them manually. Once entered they can be edited, scaled and you can create a shopping list of items needed for the recipe.
    Best of all it's Free!

    Pepperplate! I just found it and love it. I find a ton of recipes online, so save them, usually to my Pinterest board, but since I never ever follow a recipe dead on, I am starting to copy them to Pepperplate with my tweeks. I love the ability to email the recipes because my sister and I share food, plus you can add a picture.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    While a seeming stupid question, it's a serious one. With the adoption of technology, I find recipes difficult to keep track of.

    In the old days, my mom had a Betty Crocker red checkered book, that she used. And, in it, were all kind of pieces of paper and index cards with various recipes that she has found that we all liked. However, today, it's not so simple. I find them in magazines, online, Pinterest, Facebook, here on this board...its a pain in the *kitten*. I struggle to find a common repository for all these things.

    I realized this as I was searching for an awesome chicken chili that I've made a few times in my slow cooker, but then realized the recipe is in an online magazine that I no longer have access to. Boo!

    Anyway, what's your method of recipe organization? I am starting to think that printing out a hard copy and putting it in a note book might be the best method. But, I'm open to ideas.

    It's a great question and one I'm struggling with myself.

    I have I don't know how many sheets of A4 printed out from various websites (mostly bbc food) nestled behind my food processor (and getting increasingly crinkled and stained with age/use). I have others I've just bookmarked but haven't printed (they may disappear any moment...). I've got loads of cookbooks in my kitchen cupboard that have great recipes.

    It's a logistical nightmare!
  • taoistpunk
    taoistpunk Posts: 57 Member
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    Evernote and Evernote Food...best apps ever for recipes. Snap pictures, clip from the web browser, scan as a searchable PDF, tags, notebooks and sub-notebooks...OMFG! It's the king of recipe management. Set up lists of ingredients to pop up on your phone when you pull into the parking lot of the supermarket!

    I can't be the only one....
  • mistress8956
    mistress8956 Posts: 265 Member
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    I have my great- grandmothers cook book, which I've 'preserved/sealed' and transferred to a binder when I find something really good I add it to this. :)
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    While a seeming stupid question, it's a serious one. With the adoption of technology, I find recipes difficult to keep track of.

    In the old days, my mom had a Betty Crocker red checkered book, that she used. And, in it, were all kind of pieces of paper and index cards with various recipes that she has found that we all liked. However, today, it's not so simple. I find them in magazines, online, Pinterest, Facebook, here on this board...its a pain in the *kitten*. I struggle to find a common repository for all these things.

    I realized this as I was searching for an awesome chicken chili that I've made a few times in my slow cooker, but then realized the recipe is in an online magazine that I no longer have access to. Boo!

    Anyway, what's your method of recipe organization? I am starting to think that printing out a hard copy and putting it in a note book might be the best method. But, I'm open to ideas.

    I do exactly that, either print from the PC or write it down in a notebook. I have a file folder where I keep it all, and a manila folder for each category. Also, I still have about a dozen cookbooks with favorite recipes in them.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    Print them out, tear them out, whatever it takes to get it. Drop it into a box. When it's time to find it again, riffle through that box. Takes a lot less time than creating that database and retyping/scanning them in. And believe it or not, I used to teach data management courses :blushing:


    Ha! :laugh:

    I have several spreadsheets that I have started at various times thinking that it would be quicker to scan everything, but you are *so* right. I wasted several hours, in more than a few spurts of trying, typing and scanning, etc. It took me about 20 minutes or so to label manila folders and sort through my papers, putting them in categories. I can be OCD about some things, but then the ADHD kicks in, and I have to throw in the towel and squash the OCD tendencies. (for me ADHD > OCD :laugh: :laugh: )
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    Pinterest! Believe it or not, many of the recipes you already have are available online. In order to keep track of everything, I pin them to various boards - Salads, chicken recipes, Slow cooker, etc. That way I have easy access.

    I just don't understand Pinterest. I try and try and I don't get it. I have things pinned and can't find them. It confuses the hell out of me.

    Thank you for this I thought I was the only one that couldn't figure it out!

    +1

    It's allegedly a virtual bulletin board to hang onto stuff, but it actually just makes no sense whatsoever.
  • sjp_511
    sjp_511 Posts: 476 Member
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    I write them on index cards and store in my recipe box. I get a lot of recipes from the internet (Pinterest is wonderful), but I always write them down for 2 big reasons:

    1. Never know when the link is going to die and that wonderful recipe is gone forever.
    2. I can be a very messy cook, so I don't want my laptop or I-Pad near me when cooking.

    If the recipe isn't good, then I don't keep the card. Sometimes I look for recipes while I am at work (lunch break), so the recipe is written down on scratch paper. Eventually I get them transferred over to an index card, but there tends to be a stack of them (and magazine clippings) near my recipe box until I do.

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