Thursday, November 6, 2008

The Recipe Binder


Ever since I started cooking for a family, I've been gathering recipes. After a few years of sticking every random thing I'd collected in a binder, I decided it was time to organize it all in a more logical way so I could find what I needed without sifting through everything every time.

The first four sections of the binder are based on seasons. I love having recipes organized this way. Our eating and cooking habits really do vary by the season, so this has been a great tool to
remember what's worked well and when. The plan is to have at least 15 seasonal recipes for each one (main dishes).


After the seasonal sections there are sections for Salads, Desserts, Sauces and Dressings. You can always add a section for whatever you need. And make sure to use page protectors (if it weren't for those, most of the pages would be unreadable by now).

Some of the recipes, as you can see, are handwritten or printed off the Internet:


Others were torn from magazines or ones I've typed up:

Oh...and, one thing you must keep handy for those times you just don't want to cook. Inside the pocket of the front cover:

TAKE-OUT MENUS!

Weekly Menu November 2-8

Sunday: Chicken Casserole
Monday: Saucy Chicken* with sauteed mushrooms and asparagus
Tuesday: Beef Stew
Wednesday: Taco Soup
Thursday: Slow Cooked Ribs
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Hamburgers

*This time, on the saucy chicken, I seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder before topping wtih the sauce and baking. I also topped the sauce off with some parmesan cheese. It was more flavorful than usual.

The Costco List

I've finally established a sort of standard Costco list and stick to buying the stuff we use and need regularly.

- Tomatoes (I love the small tomatoes on the vine, they're priced well, nicely packaged, a good size and easy to use)
-Hearts of Romaine lettuce
- Milk
- Eggs
- Frozen chicken
- Cheese - a big block of cheddar and/or deli slices of provolone or havarti for sandwiches
- Pre-cooked bacon
- Lunch meat
- Real Butter
- Gregg's Ranch Dressing
- Cereal
- Bread (I always buy 4 loaves and keep them in the freezer)
- Fruit by the Foot, or other fruit snacks
- Granola bars, trail mix, dried fruit or some other snack for lunches
- Chips in the big box, which are great for packing lunches

The non-food items I get there (but much less frequently) are:

- Tide
- Bounce
- Glass cleaner (the kind that comes in a spray can, it works better than Windex)
- Toilet paper
- Paper towels
- Dish detergent