Recipe book courtesy of Martha Stewart

A year or so ago I decided to ditch a huge binder full of printed or torn-out recipes and go digital. I scanned or printed everything to PDF on my laptop and created a virtual recipe box. I'd just put  my laptop on the counter when I needed a recipe as reference. Unfortunately, I found that the digital approach led to an "out of sight, out of mind" scenario. I've been cooking less in general for a whole host of reasons, and not having my favorite recipes led to a rut of quick fix dinners that got boring pretty fast. Once the shine wore off those I went even further down into the PB&J or cereal for dinner realm. Not good.

One day when I was browsing Pintrest and some of my favorite blogs I kept seeing these handy recipe files that people keep right in the kitchen. I didn't want a giant binder like I had before, so I started thinking of options. First I realized that the binder got so out of control before because it was aspirational. It held every recipe I might want to try ever. And I don't know about you but my ambitions far outweigh reality in the kitchen! Second I realized I didn't have room for - or want - a full sized binder in the kitchen. I'd tried a recipe box didn't work for me either (tried it before). I needed something in the middle.

Enter Martha.

I remembered seeing a set of nice, small binders in her new line at Staples. I thought it would be the perfect size for a binder to keep my favorite - and JUST my favorite - recipes for handy reference in the kitchen. I went and got one for the great price of just $6.99 in a pretty aqua color.

The original plan was to print recipes on small sheets of paper and laminate them then punch holes to put them in the binder. But I found something even better in the Martha aisle at staples. Turns out they make sheet protectors just for this sized binder! Some hold a single 5x8 sheet, while others hold two 5 x 4 sheets. I bought a couple packages of each and brought them home.

The next step was to scan my recipe file for the greatest hits. I have another blog about healthy eating so I pulled a few from there, plus those in my virtual recipe box. It was a big surprise to learn that there were only about 15 that made the cut. I printed the recipes on card stock in either a 5x4" box or a 5x8" box depending on length. Then I cut them out and slid each one into the appropriate sized sheet protector for protection against spills. Voila - my very own "greatest hits" cookbook!

I'm sure I'll add more recipes to this over time, and in fact it's encouraging me to try new ones so I can fill it out. I'm going to stock up on the sheet protectors just in case they get discontinued (hoping to do this when I have a coupon to save some $$) and when a recipe is tasty and simple enough to add to the regular rotation it'll go in.

The great news is also that having the recipes so handy has reminded me of my favorites and gotten me back in the kitchen after my rut/hiatus. I've made three of the recipes just in the week since I put this project together. I love it when organization not only helps my mental health, but also my physical health. This project fits that bill perfectly.

There are still a few things left on the to do list, like finding a way to label the outside and maybe adding some dividers to group recipes if it gets too large. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Have you done any fun, creative organizing projects in the kitchen? Come up with a recipe storage solution that works for you? If so please share - I'm always on the hunt for new ideas!

Taking the zip out of lunch

I did the Project Bread Walk For Hunger today (well, 15 miles of it!) and had the pleasure of walking partway with a new friend who is a researcher at Tufts University. She studies the effects of endocrine disruptors (particularly BPA) on breast cancer. We talked alot about environmental factors and how they affect not only cancer but obesity and a whole host of other conditions. She taught me so much, including the fact that thawing frozen plastic containers still emits BPA, not just heating them in the microwave. Methinks my few remaining plastic containers may be seeing the recycle bin soon!

One thing I hadn't found a good replacement for, though, was zipper top baggies. I freeze alot in them and use them for transporting snacks, etc. in my lunches. Well, problem solved. A co-worker uses a neat alternative called "LunchSkins". They are BPA-free, food-safe fabric baggies that are dishwasher safe and reusable. They come in three sizes - snack, sandwich, and sub. I'm going to try them out by buying one snack and one sandwich. If those work out I'll stock up on a bunch. They're more expensive, sure. Each one is about the cost of 4 boxes quart sized of zip top baggies. But these reduce the risk of all sorts of diseases, they keep plastic baggies out of landfills. I'm willing to pay a little more for those benefits, and eventually the cost/benefit equation will even out with enough re-use.

I just ordered several and can't wait to try them out!