Ever get frustrated trying to find your favorite recipe because it's on a 3 by 5 card buried somewhere in a stack of various sized sheets of paper? Here's a simple way to create an index system to organize your recipes so you'll never face this problem again.
Instructions
1. Determine if you prefer to categorize your system by meal type, food type or even family member favorites. Whatever it is you select, it should be something that makes logical sense to you.
2. Begin at the top of your pile of recipes and sort them on a table or on the floor based on how you decided to store them in Step 1.
3. Toss whatever you don't want anymore.
4. Place the sorted recipes in alphabetical order in their own separate stacks. You should have as many stacks as you have categories.
5. Insert each recipe into a clear sheet protector, one recipe per sheet only; do not use both sides as this may mess up the system when you add new recipes to the file.
6. File the plastic sheets in a three ring binder starting with your bottom category and working your way to the top.
7. Label your categories using divider tabs and use those to separate your categories in your binder.
8. Make table of contents. This is your quick reference to quickly see what you have in the folder and find the recipe you need. You can list the contents of your folder in a word processor or spreadsheet program, print it out and place it on the first page of your system.
9. Every time you have a new recipe to add, insert it in a plastic sheet protector and file it in the appropriate place in your recipe index folder. The key is to do it consistently.
10. Update your table of contents each time you add a new recipe.
Tags: recipe index, sheet protector, table contents, your categories, your recipe, your recipe index