Thursday, August 29, 2013

School Supplies for Mom...

I've had some ideas floating around my brain lately of how I could reorganize around the house a bit.  One is about a new way to corral recipes, and the other involves a place to keep ideas for different things - a central location for lists and brain dumps.  Chore lists, blog ideas, my to do list...

So I've been half watching the school supplies, and today I came home with these beauties.


My frugal self thinks I could probably re-purpose a binder that I already have sitting on my shelf holding stuff I never look at, but I told that self to live a little and splurge.  Seriously, it was a few dollars.

My question for you, as I figure out exactly how to make these work in a way that is helpful for me, is how do you keep organized when it comes to your lists and paper stuff?

How do you keep your running to-do list?

How do you manage your multiple cookbooks and the recipes you use all the time? 

Or do you just rely on technology for all this??  

Come on, all you lurkers, I'm really curious, and I know I can just go search on Pinterest, but I want to hear from real people!  I happen to think that the people who read my blog are pretty awesome...  Thanks in advance for your input, and I will post what I come up with later.

6 comments:

MOM (aka Granny) said...

Hi from your #1 lurker!

Recipes come from all over - mainly the internet these days but often from friends or the newspaper, too. If something turns out yummy I save it on the computer and print out a copy for my 'Family Cookbook' binder. This binder is what I use most times when cooking or baking with a recipe.

Ideas for projects usually just stew in my mind until I tackle it or forget it :} But very often I will post a clipping or hand-written note on the front of my fridge (along with the grandkids' drawings!). They stay there until I actually do it or until I am having a party or something and do a major clean-up where everything goes in the recycle bin.

My to-do list usually gets put on my Google calendar AND on a note in my pocket every day!

And that's my 2 cents worth and you know how much 2 cents is worth these days.

Unknown said...

Recipes are given one shelf in the bookcase that stands in the dining portion of our open concept kitchen/dining room. Yes, there's a binder with magazine cut-outs and print-offs.

To-do items are written in a small notebook (palm sized) with tear-out pages. This fits into a pocket or slips into a purse. Appointments and anything with a predetermined date and time go into the calendar on my BlackBerry.

I hope you find something that works for you!

Nicole said...

I recently got my recipes put into 2 binders too!! I actually started out making lovely copies of them(some for the boys cook books) but then ended up just putting some in that are still just scribbled but at least they are in there. I use page protectors and just slip them into those.Also photo pages...the 4x6 ones work for recipe cards, scribbled scraps:) Eventually I would like to copy all of them but it is sooo nice to be able to find a recipe when I need it. I used binder dividers for sections. I too splurged and bought new binders...haha some of your recipes are in those books:)

Carolyn Ward said...

Thanks, Mom! I knew I could count on you!

Barbara - Thanks for reading and nice to meet you! I like having something small with me to take down notes as they come to me, too.

Nicole - there's a balance, hey? Having a "someday I would like..." plan, but also knowing where it is today... Yay for new binders and yay for sharing yummy recipes with friends!

Unknown said...

My "system" for recipes is still evolving, but I have 2 binders - one for new recipes that I found online or in a magazine that I want to try and one for the tried and true that are keepers. After I try a new recipe, I either transfer it or trash it.

Carolyn Ward said...

Melanie - that's a great idea. A place for new ones to try is something I plan to include, but not sure yet if it will go in it's own binder of just one section of the main one...