Thursday, June 4, 2009

A Recipe for de-cluttering

I have several projects that I have neglected FAR. TOO. LONG. So I decided to tackle one this week. It has taken me several days but I think I finally did it.

Here is the before.

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This is the out-of-control stack of magazines.

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The cookbooks that had taken up residence on the counter.

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The cabinet where the recipes need to fit. I forgot to take a photo before I pulled out the magazines.

You see, I love to cook and try new recipes. So I like cooking magazines, and recipe books. Is there an addiction to recipes? It's probably just hoarding... I hate to get rid of recipes, because who knows, I might one day try them. So I finally decided that after asking all the rest of my family to de-clutter and let stuff go, it was time to be a big girl and let some of these go. Sniff!

I started this collection 17 years ago, shortly before getting married. As I was weeding thru I found lots of recipes I remember trying, liking and losing in the abyss of the collection. So now I can welcome them home! I also found recipes that I know are older than my almost 11 year old daughter, that I have NEVER made!

I had an inordinately large amount of dessert recipes! Gotta love me some desserts, even though I can't really eat them right now with the weight loss goals and all....

Needless to say, I ditched quite a few recipes, and was only slightly scared that I might have tossed something that I shouldn't. I was only slightly sad, because you know that you can find almost anything on the internet now....

So here is the finished result.

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My kiddos made the covers of my new binder. Don't you like the way they mis-spelled recipes?

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I put the magazine pages that I kept in binder sleeves and organized them by category.

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Someone at a Bible study I go to showed me this over a year ago. Purchase a photo book that has pockets and slip in the recipe cards you have. I got this one with room for 700 cards at Target for $4.99.


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And look, now I have room for more recipes...

My girls are already discussing what recipes they want when I die. Hmmm, should I be worried?

18 comments:

Lisa said...

Good job on the decluttering. I do something similar with my craft magazines.
The only problem is that I always let a huge messy pile build up, and then tackle it, instead of taking care of things as they come along.

Housewife Savant said...

I love these David & Goliath de-cluttering stories.
They give me hope. =)
Good job!

Debbie said...

Wow. That is inspiring!

Lisa@saltandlightstudio said...

I must say we don't really do "recipies" ;) in our house. Mostly because we are not foodies and the only recipes we require are printed right on the back of the box. I can relate to the need to organize though, you should see my messy stack of books...shameful if I wasn't a baby. ;)

BlogBaby

LitLass said...

Stopping by from SITS...

I have been meaning to put my recipes in a binder, but I don't know if I can get rid of my cookbooks.

Anonymous said...

My daughter loves to cook and bake and she already has a collection of probaby 100 different cookbooks. She loves the older and obscure ones or books that people put together themselves. Stopping by from SITS. :)

Unknown said...

Hi, I found you through SITS...What a task you took on but it turned out awesome! I think your new recipe folder turned out great! I would have had a hard time getting rid of stuff too especially after how long you had been collecting it.

Night Owl Mama said...

great job. I'm the queen of Clutter

Gigi said...

Nice job! I have a similar recipe shelf/cupboard/pile. And mmm mmm, I sure love me some reciPIES! Cute!

Unknown said...

Just Awesome! Stopping by from SITS!

Mammatalk said...

Oh, little lady! You want to see some clutter? I'll show you some clutter.

It looks good, by the way. Do you charge by the hour?

monica said...

Great work organizing! That binder is a wonderful solution to the many many receipes that we have collected.

Stopping by from SITS

Kim said...

Wow! That looks great! I am constantly looking for ways to declutter my house and that is definitely one I will be putting to use! Thanks! :)

Two Pretty Little Skirts said...

Stoppin by from SITS! Sorry your havin a stormy day, hope it gets better!
Congrats on being first poster ;)

Dawn

Anonymous said...

Desert Greetings my fellow SITS follower.

What a wonderful idea for keeping your recipes. I too love to collect recipes, articles that are worth keeping. I just have them in a pile. I now plan to use one of my empty photo albums, just as soon as I finish pulling the pictures out and putting them in a scrapbook.

Wishing you a scent-sational day!
Patty

MaRiN said...

Ahhh, the master cookbook binder. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE mine. Life got so much easier once I put mine together.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Veronica said...

That is a fantastic idea!

Unknown said...

Awesome, I have clutter that is driving me crazy but i have not decided how to organize it yet.