Monday, February 4, 2008

Notebooking is for Mom, too!

I am still wrapping up a few leftover projects that I had planned for January and I have just finished another one. Yeah. It feels so good to get on top of one more task. One of the annoyances that I've had over the last few years is that my binder of favorite recipes was over stuffed and very inefficient. I could not find certain recipes when I needed them and it was embarrasing when a family member wanted a copy of a family favorite. I knew I had to separate the book into several books and categories and this is how I did it.
I have on hand several extra thick clearview binders-small size. I also have on hand a collection of funny or sweet pictures from magazines and keep them in a file for notebooking or for journals. My collection served the purpose well as I could find relevant pictures for each catagory that I needed. Then I "scrapbooked" the inserts for the covers and spines.
This binder is obviously Main Dishes with tabs marked: red meat, meatless, soups and stews,
poultry, eggs, fish, barbeque and gravy and sauces.

Bread, Muffins, Cakes and Desserts.

Inside tabs include:

cookies and squares

muffins, cakes and quick breads

bread, sweet rolls, pizza dough

pie crusts

desserts and toppings

jams and spreads

granola, pancakes, waffles, breakfasts foods






Salad, Veggies, Dressings and Spice Mixes
Tabs include,
salads

vegetable dishes

dressings, sauces and dips,

spice mixes,

pickles and preserves












This is my Household Management binder which contains Cleaning plans, schedules and requirements, family budget, menu planning, future major purchase list, laundry and cleaning tips, recipes for bug repellant, bone china price lists, food suppliers, furnace filter size and type (this is important when you move often enough to forget what size you need without pulling the filter out each time) etc, everything that is household related.














I haven't officially named this book yet but temporarily it contains all raw food recipes. I may keep this a separate book permanently just so I can find all raw ideas and recipes quick and easily (rather than including each food type in it's own binder.

















Seasonal and Special Occasion is a regular size binder (Not small like the other ones shown) that I keep all sorts of seasonal craft ideas, articles, poems and decorating ideas. It is the larger size because I include many magazine articles, etc, usually too big for the 9X9 size)Tabs include

New Years/Winter.
February/Valentines
March, St Pat's/
Easter
Mother's Day
Father's Day
July Aug/Vacation ideas
Sept/school
Shower/birthday ideas







This is the other half of the above Seasonal and Special Occasions binder containing all the favorite recipes for each special seasons in the year. I include all of the above tabs and include-birthday (cakes, present ideas, and party foods in general)



















And here is the spine shot of them all lined up ready to go in the cupboard. Easy to use, easy to find and easy to add to - The epitomy of notebooking. And we thought that notebooking was only for school subjects!


Tomorrow I'll be posting on the most important weight loss, weight managment tool a health minded person has. And it is free! (no monetary cost)
Any guesses?