I had one binder with family favorites. I created this binder when my oldest turned 13 years old. I had my children in the kitchen helping since they were old enough to help. Once each child turned 13 they had a night to cook dinner by themselves. I had them use the binder so I knew what ingredients to buy and also to teach them how to make a grocery list. I had a separate recipe box for desserts. Today they are adults and are excellent cooks. I also had them do their own laundry at 13 and taught them all how to iron, sew a button and hem.
My kids as soon as they were tall enough to reach the knobs on the washer and dryer they started to do their own laundry. My son will start cooking next year, this year it's just introducing the idea and is a helper, I know he is old enough 8th grade but slowly I'm getting him prepared and used to being in the kitchen with someone. I did that with his laundry and once he started doing it himself, he knew how to do it. When my youngest daughter started doing her laundry she fought me over it. So I just told her well, I guess you will just be wearing sticky clothes. At first she was like ok with it, then she finally after a week with now clean clothes and going to middle school she came home and said " fine I'll wash my clothes." I bet she thought I was going to cave but I didn't, even though she still had to go to school. She never did complain about it again. She was at that time in 7th grade. My youngest daughter loves to cook. So she wanted to cook dinner rather then clean the kitchen wash dishes so both my son and I do that. On days my daughter cant cook my husband dose or I do. My oldest daughter now 23 hated to cook and I tried to teach but she never was interested. Now she is out on her own, she called me for cooking tips and recipes that why I also use an app, I can share my whole collection with her and she lives 8hr away.
I don't remember thanking you for this before so here goes. I really enjoy the real time pace of your channel and all the decision making points when you think out loud on camera. You have done this in your early videos too and I always appreciate it.
I love the table of contents at the beginning of each section. What a great idea! Also, your recipe decluttering is a good example of why I love your term "minimalish." You kept what you use and love. That's more important than fitting into a smaller binder.
This was helpful. I have a holiday binder, and another for everything else. Plus, a large tote with recipes going way back...I'm 75, for heaven's sake! But, nice to hear a younger woman prefers the paper in her hand. My thoughts exactly! And recipes of loved ones no longer with us, but spattered with ingredients and hand written notes on them...priceless to those who come after us!
Make a photocopy of the recipes from your favourite cookbooks and put them in the binder. Keeps them handy, and the book stays clean. I did that for my go-to thanksgiving and Christmas recipes. Saves a whole bunch of time and effort.
Just a tip to have pesto (almost) all year round, not only in the summer: when the basil is ready, my grandparents make an insane amount of pesto, they put in a baby food jar a certain quantity (my grandma writes how much/the date on the lid so she remembers it) and they store everything in the freezer. It works wonders for us! Hugs from Italy :) Edit: what about a smaller binder just for dessert recipes? So you can put it in your baking section
I have one binder for ‘Made’ and one binder for ‘Want to Make’. Both have the exact same categories. Mine are all in paper as well. It works crazy well. Nothing makes it to the ‘made’ binder unless we love it.
When my kids were young, I took 30+ recipe cards and on one side I wrote the meal ideas (for example: Cheese Burritos with Spanish rice). On the back side, I wrote all the ingredients needed to make the meal. We also had one card for “fast food” and one for “pizza” (gotta keep it fun). Because I got paid bi-weekly, every two weeks, all the cards went into a bag and my two kids would each pick out 7 cards (2 weeks worth) and we would have our “menu” for dinner for the next two weeks. With the ingredients listed on the back, we would look at what we had on hand first, make our grocery list together and go shopping. This was a great homework project because it included looking in the grocery flyers for sales and looking at the item in the store (brand name or generic) to find the best $$ option. My kids loved going to get the items in the store that were listed on the cards they picked and they then helped to prepare the food. Leftovers were usually my lunch the next day. My kids are now in their 30’s and they still remember this process and my daughter now follows a similar plan with her kids. Below is the list of index cards (Chili, Chips , Cheese & Sour Cream was their absolute favorite!). Index cards meals Chili, chips and cheese Chili and rice Spaghetti, salad and garlic bread Cooked rice, cooked vegetables covered with grated cheese. I would add in a burger patty (beef or veggie) Chicken & biscuit dinner Burritos w/flavored rice (boxed rice in flavor of your choice) Chicken, rice or potatoes and canned vegetable of your choice Hamburger helper, vegetables and pillsbury biscuits Tuna helper and toast Meatloaf, vegetable and baked potato Potatoes or rice with vegetables Stew with Bisquick biscuits Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup Canned soup, bread or rolls, cheese slices and fruit Hamburgers, potato chips Sloppy Joe’s, potato chips Loaded Nachos Tacos Popcorn, toast and fruit (movie night meal) Frozen meal of your choice Tuna, chicken or salmon salad with toast, bread or biscuits Hot dogs, macaroni & cheese Fish sticks and french fries Haystacks - chips, leftover salad, beans/meat, sour cream, cheese Mini pizzas - English muffin w/cheese, pepperoni and tossed salad Leftovers or “concoction” (open the fridge and throw the majority of the leftovers in a pan, mix up, heat up and serve with tortillas or bread/biscuit of your choice) Breakfast for Dinner - Yep! Eggs, sausage or bacon and toast French Toast or pancakes with bacon or sausage Scrambled eggs or omelets with toast Cottage cheese w/pineapple Banana pudding w/banana slices topped with whipping cream Milk chocolate bubble ring Apple Snapple oatmeal Cool and creamy fruit cup Applesauce breakfast cup
@erica lucas Tip!: To get a better rise make sure when using baking powder or baking soda need to get it oven ASAP after it get wet. Starts working as soon as it gets wet and if it sits without heat you will lose your rise!
😳❤️ I NEED TO DO THIS!!! I only cook for myself and still can't think in the heat of the moment. Most of the recipes shared are what I'd also love to try :)
Haha I’ve always wanted to be the person who could SAY beef bourguignon!!😂 Love the video, as always! I also like having paper copies of favorite recipes, but have never tackled the project of making a recipe binder. You inspire me to get started on it!
I am in the UK this is my never fail bread recipe. 400grams of strong flour/bread flour, 1sachet of instant dried yeast, 2 teaspoons of salt and sugar - put the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. (Next) 260 mls of finger hot water and 4 tablespoons of oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry. It will look wet, tip it into a lightly floured surface and start kneading for 10 minutes, I use a dough scraper for this. Place in a bowl, cover and leave somewhere warm for about an hour, it should be doubled in size, knock back and knead lightly and shape. Cover and let it ride for about 30minutes. Cook 200c for about 30 minutes. I also cut lines in the top of the bread before the second rise and add a egg wash before I cook it. It makes a small loaf, UK size - double the amounts to make more. I hope it works.
Can't wait to make that zucchini bread recipe! Someone gave us a gigantic zucchini and we grilled half of it and have the other half just sitting there so now I know what to do with it. Yay!
Lots of comments so I’m not sure if this was mentioned but supposedly if you crack your eggs on a flat surface (like the bench) you don’t get eggshells in your mix. Thank you for sharing your wonderful family and your minimalish journey with us x😁😁
I had a binder. Actually I think I had three half inch binders. One was for main meals. One was for sides. And one was for desserts. I decided to switch it up and get an old style tin canister that holds recipe cards. Then I went through the binders and pulled out everything that we hadn't made in a long time and anything that's tried and true got written on a recipe card and now is in that recipe box.
Thank you for this! I copied your binder idea last time you posted about it. This motivated me to go through my recipes! And, as soon as you said American goulash, I knew what we were having for dinner. 😊
I always look forward to your videos. You are such a motivator and an inspiration to me. Going to now get my recipes put into an organized binder. Thank you for all you do to inspire others!
This is such a cool way to organize recipes! I have 2 recipe boxes ... they are both messy! One I will probably not change because it was Dad's so it's special ... but my recipe box in a cigar box file is truly wreakage... I have a binder and some document protectors somewhere so I plan to give this a try. Since it's just me and my husband I can use a smaller binder but I love your system ... it will be fun to create a recipe binder!!! I might even use my 1/2 size binder 8.5x5.5" pages ... since it has document protectors and I could slide the recipe cards into rhose tabbed sections ... so awesome!! 😎
I so agree with you on not getting a bigger binder or more hangers. We have to make limits for ourselves otherwise we end up with 4 sheds in our back yard! Lol I decluttered all my cook books a long time ago because I never used them and just kept a few cooking magazines but ended up getting rid of those too recently. I just look up recipes online if I need one but I’m basically not a recipe person unless it chocolate chip cookies or something like that. 🤪
Oh my goodness, I needed this! I currently have FOUR gigantic recipe binders. 🤦♀️ Granted we are a family of 6 who has gone through a lot of dietary changes over the years (vegetarian, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, vegan, and several combinations thereof). And I have this enormous backlog of recipes because what if? And paper is flat so each one doesn't *seem* like it makes a difference. Except there are 4 binders. I am a paper person too, although I do probably have easily as many recipes bookmarked on my phone too. That's a project for another time. But the binders? I can tackle those. Maybe even get them down to one. Thanks for the inspiration!
I did this awhile ago but I made separate binders for sweets and meals and holidays and within each binder I organized further and used tabs to make finding certain recipes easy...
Hi Erica, I loved this video, you really make me laugh. Your recipe storage is very much like mine (binder storage/headings etc) but I have two 'thinner' binders: one for the main meals (savoury) and one for desserts (sweet stuff, including smoothies etc). I find it works really well and if I needed to, I could always upgrade to bigger binders. I love your slightly laissez faire approach to baking - that is so me!
Staples has binders they call Better Binders, which come in a variety of sizes. They last an extremely long time and have a space for a spine label and front insert. So, you could print off a Recipes page to put on the front. I have had mine for over 15 years at this point. I also use them to store my children’s report cards, car info (one for each car) and various other info.
A quick hack for the table of contents to stay neat: just print an empty table of contents with the lines, but instead of writing on the paper itself, write with a thin permanent marker on top of the transparent sleeve. That way it doesn't easily wipe off, but it you want to change something, you can just remove a line with some alcohol on a cloth (vodka works fine). Also i suggest looking into plant-based proteins and "main ingredients" (legumes, tofu, seitan, tempeh, ...) Not only for more variety but also good for health and better for the environment than meat. And of course less meat means less harm to animals ;) thanks for your videos, they are very helpful!
Looks like you are giving everyone on your Christmas list dried basil! Love seeing your garden grow. My zucchini bread recipe also calls for a lot of oil and sugar…but I think the healthy zucchini totally counterbalances it. Ha!
I enjoy watching your videos. I have a suggestion...instead getting a bigger binder....I would recommend having 2 binders. I have a binder for sweets and a binder for savory. This makes the binders less full and heavy. I have the same system as you, keeping recipes to try separate and only putting the tried and liked ones in page protectors.
Loved your binder idea for recipes. My life is making a big change and reminded me to think about reviewing my recipes. I was glad to see that you did find recipes in your big binder that your family over time did not like and you could remove them, I remember first time I had zucchini bread and thought YUK! but over the years had so many yummy treats made with zucchini's. My sister started my binder for me and that was a great gift, she is the cook in the family I just cook LOL. Thanks for the video today.
Thank you for creating this content. I have a 5 inch binder for my faves with no tabs or table of contents (yes, it's essentially useless.) Today I am going to tackle this beast.
I've been cooking from scratch for 12 years. I have 4 binders. Breakfast/breads, lunch (soup, sandwich, salad), dinner (meat, casserole, sauces), and drinks/dessert. Mostly 1" binders, except for my dinner binder, which makes it not too heavy to use. Ps I'm jealous of your basil/pesto! I've been doing this every year...this year I planted several basil plants instead of just one... And they've all struggled. 😒 I LOVE homemade pesto!
I love the table of contents in each section of the binder. Last time you shared about your binder I looked around the internet but never found anything like yours. I guess a simple paper would also work lol!
I’m working on my over flow of recipes as well. Learning who my fantasy self is has been an eye opener! What are your thoughts when 2 people share the cooking responsibilities? Currently I have my recipes he has his, but neither are organized well.
I have 2 binders. I have one for family favorites and regular meals, and one for vegan/vegetarian meals that are some of my favorites. (There are desserts in both.)
You inspire me A LOT, thank you so much! May I tell you one of my game changers? Three years ago I was inspired by dianeindenmark‘s flylady home organization and holiday binder! I guess everybody adapts theirs over the years and there are definitively things I threw out and things I added! I got two slim A5 binder and a batch of matching sheet protector pockets. One for the home organization and one for the holiday planner - in the smaller size to fit in with my cook books in the kitchen! They work like a breeze! The holiday planner has a section for recipes. OUR favourite cinnamon star/Bethmännchen/Florentiner cookie recipes, ALL recipes served on winter birthdays and holidays, but as OUR holiday dish is a Dutch oven wild deer ragout that takes hours, but can be cooked in great batches, I usually cook it a few times in autumn and freeze the holiday batches well in advance. I still rely on all the recipes for all the trimmings (caramelised Chestnuts, red cabbage, Brussels sprouts, Spätzle noodles, pear halves filled with cranberry sauce). AND I recorded the amounts needed! It‘s a lot to think of, and it helps to have it all in one place, with a chronicle of innovations, appetizers/desserts and why they were loved or rejected. I actively reference this binder about holiday/birthday food from September to February. But I also appreciate the section for presents. Whenever I find a book review/ gift idea … it goes into this binder all year round to be contemplated again late September as a probable Christmas gift. There is a gift list there (and naturally an archive of the previous years!) and I keep all the receipts in one pocket! This would extract all holiday recipes from your recipe binder! As of this video, I plan on creating a separate binder for cakes and desserts, as my recipe binder may be quite organized, but would need slimming as well!
Great video. Lots of ways to reduce refined sugar and oil, like applesauce, if you want to explore that. Start by replacing a little and taste buds will adjust!
I have a 4” binder that holds recipes, similar to yours but a little bigger. I have a smaller 1.5” binder for dessert recipes only - that may be a solution for you, too 🙂 When I make my weekly meal plan I pull the recipes I’ll be using while I make my grocery list, so I don’t have to fish for them later.
You could take the best, tried and true, or family recipes and type them up in such a way to save space on a page--put two or three recipes on a page or reduce two page print outs to one simple page. Then you could reduce the actual number of pieces of paper in the binder to make more room. Maybe start fresh on your index pages? Could be a lovely crafting afternoon for you?
To make ‘HOMEMADE’ DONUTS, buy a tube (or two 😁) of refrigerator biscuits. Cut with a donut cutter or simply pull from the center out to make the hole. ‘Deep-fry’ in about one inch of vegetable oil and drain on paper towels. Roll in granulated or powdered sugar or frost with your favorite toppings. Tubes of biscuits can be stored in the refrigerator for several weeks and pulled out for quick treats or special occasions.
Binders, huh? I have what I call " my brain book" it's where all kinds of things I'd like to remember live. When it gets full and I have to transfer all the "things" I generally don't copy the recipes I haven't used or no one else needs. I wonder if that counts as a binder .....BUT I so enjoyed you in your kitchen! I'd love to see more of you in there. You could do a "what's for dinner" episode once a week.
I also have the easiest tomato base marinera sauce that is super easy and fast to make. I’m a non measure method because I make it so much. I use any tomato that works for marinera sauce, garlic cloves( I use a lot because I like garlic) but 3/4 cloves is good, basil I usually use a one to two hands fulls, Italian parsley if I have any, just a quick handful, olive oil, salt, pepper, and I use pepper flakes because I like a little spice. You put it all in the blender, add oil or salt as you see it fit. Once is all blended, put it in a sauce pan and cook on low until it boils just a little. I put it in mason jars and fridge. I use it on spaghetti, pizza, even breakfast Colombian arepas with eggs for breakfast. It literally takes about 10 min for the entire process and my husband loves it and rather I cool pasta at home with it than go to a Italian restaurant and he is Italian.
Most of the thigs we eat regularly I don't even have a recipe for, the meals are either something I came up with on my own, or I make it frequently enough that I know the recipe by heart. Everything in my recipe binder is stuff we still eat regularly just not every week, but I still need to reference for measurements or to help me convert the recipe to time and a half because a single batch is too little, and a double batch is too much, and there are special treats that I make occasionally in there too.
Why are you so hard on you’re self with something you been looking through and considerd and realy use! It’s like you’re garden 🥰 If that bigger map is giving you more joy, it will be worth is
I think our brains are a lot alike. lol I have figured out over the years that I don't like a recipe book. I use index cards and they are filed under topics that work for me. I don't put anything on an index card unless I've tried it and its been successful. I have tons of recipes torn from magazines and written on notebook paper. There in a manila envelope in the "holding" section. Every now and then when the stack is getting too high, I will go through and throw away stuff that I know I am not going to attempt. Too many ingredients....nope, not happening. lol
I expanded my recipe binder by making one into two binders. I make the binders really pretty- purchasing Kolo binders- and now I need to make a third binder. Recipes only go in it if everyone likes it.
Listen, I'm gunna need that choc chip zucchini bread recipe Stat! Lol! I can't read it on my tiny phone screen and blowing it up from a screenshot didn't help much because it was blurry.
Hi Erica! Great minds think alike! I have the exact same project on my to do list! Can you link your table of contents page? I checked your blog and didn’t see it. Sorry if it’s there and I missed it. Great video. Thank you! P.S. I have basil envy…..I have had the hardest time keeping mine alive this year. We live at 10700 feet, so not sure if that might be the reason…..
I don't buy cookbooks anymore. I borrow cookbooks from the library and take a photo of any recipe that interests me and save it to Evernote. I also clip online recipes to Evernote too. When I'm in the mood to try something new I use one of the recipes from Evernote. If it isn't a family favorite I just delete it. If it is a hit with the family I move it to my keep folders in Evernote. I have recipes sorted into different sections there. I then hand write the recipe into an A5 lined book I keep in my kitchen. That way if our internet is down or I'm away from home, family members can still access all our favorite recipes. I currently keep two A5 notebooks. One has meat based meals and desserts, and a few baking recipes in it and the other has vegetarian recipes plus preserves, and pickle recipes. I don't do much baking nowadays but if I did more, that would be a separate book.
I have recipes I find online that i want to try or share with my family so I use an app for that. The app i can share my whole collection to family. But when i cook, i have to have either a book or a paper. If we like it, it goes into my binder if not and it's been an online recipe I'll just though it out. Besides I have a lot of cookbooks and I enjoy cooking out of them. If I have a lot of recipes I use in a book, I'll keep the book. If only a few recipes I'll photocopy the recipes and put on my binder and donate or paperback swap( it's an online book swapping sight) the book. I will handwrite recipe for my kids because eventually my kids will want a copy of the family recipe binder in print. Their is just something about handwritten some of the recipes. I have 2 binders I love to bake, so one binder is just for sweets. I love to decorate cookies, so I have a sections for cookie decorating ideas. Both my son and I have to be gluten free so we always bring a gluten free main dish and a desert for church potlucks. So I'm always trying new recipes.
Do you only put printed recipes on the right hand page? Perhaps using the back side of the plastic sleeve would save space. You could do that for less frequently used recipes.
I have a recipe box, but it's just not working for me anymore. I'm going to try the album idea but using a photo album because my recipes are mostly index card size. Thanks!
I tried it for years but you can’t make dividers at least in mine. I bought a recipe binder with rings and haven’t had a chance to put it together but I think it will solve my sloppy problems. But my photo album broke all apart so it’s a mess. This a timely video.
You probably aren't thinking of desserts when you meal plan, so maybe put all the "sweets" recipes in a separate binder. I have four separate, smaller binders, but I definitely understand not wanting that many.
I think I just watched a video of myself 😂 “I’m going to make some banana bread” ...turns into hmm I should go through my recipe binder. But I’ve noticed over the past couple years I’ve gotten a lot more stingy with what I allow in my binder. Cooking at home has forced me to be realistic. I’m not a chef, I have a 3yo, and I work full time. There’s just not enough hours in a day to make 20 ingredient recipes. And frankly not enough in the budget either!! How I combat the ‘fantasy me’ stack of recipes (because let’s face it, who doesn’t sit on Pinterest and recipe surf for inspiration) is I keep a digital recipe book on Pinterest and then I only allow myself to print off ONE new recipe a week. No more stack of want to make recipes and after I’ve made the recipe and decided if it’s worthy of going in the binder.. it either does or goes to recycling.
Could the recipes your not keeping be put in one of those community little free libraries? (I know that’s an extra step for some... I have one right across the street from my home plus more in my walking distance) Also wonderful 2 ingredient alternative “pancakes” here + the video is 25second long th-cam.com/video/EyJTSyFImes/w-d-xo.html If your like me and you gave up on perfect pancakes I just pour a bunch in my small cast iron and make scrambled “sweet” eggs. A bigger binder does sound like a good investment. If given the room I would include a list that says cheap eats and list 10-20 items with a note on what section they’re in (if not obvious)
Excited to have you spend time in my kitchen today with me!
: )
In soul space, the kitchen is big enough for us all to be in there, measuring and laughing! Bless you and the whole gang.
I had one binder with family favorites. I created this binder when my oldest turned 13 years old. I had my children in the kitchen helping since they were old enough to help. Once each child turned 13 they had a night to cook dinner by themselves. I had them use the binder so I knew what ingredients to buy and also to teach them how to make a grocery list. I had a separate recipe box for desserts. Today they are adults and are excellent cooks. I also had them do their own laundry at 13 and taught them all how to iron, sew a button and hem.
Bravo mom. What every kid should know
Bravo! 👏👏👏
I love this! This took years of dedication from you as a sweet mother and now you can see it in action. ❤️
My kids as soon as they were tall enough to reach the knobs on the washer and dryer they started to do their own laundry. My son will start cooking next year, this year it's just introducing the idea and is a helper, I know he is old enough 8th grade but slowly I'm getting him prepared and used to being in the kitchen with someone. I did that with his laundry and once he started doing it himself, he knew how to do it.
When my youngest daughter started doing her laundry she fought me over it. So I just told her well, I guess you will just be wearing sticky clothes. At first she was like ok with it, then she finally after a week with now clean clothes and going to middle school she came home and said " fine I'll wash my clothes." I bet she thought I was going to cave but I didn't, even though she still had to go to school. She never did complain about it again. She was at that time in 7th grade.
My youngest daughter loves to cook. So she wanted to cook dinner rather then clean the kitchen wash dishes so both my son and I do that. On days my daughter cant cook my husband dose or I do. My oldest daughter now 23 hated to cook and I tried to teach but she never was interested. Now she is out on her own, she called me for cooking tips and recipes that why I also use an app, I can share my whole collection with her and she lives 8hr away.
I don't remember thanking you for this before so here goes. I really enjoy the real time pace of your channel and all the decision making points when you think out loud on camera. You have done this in your early videos too and I always appreciate it.
I love the table of contents at the beginning of each section. What a great idea! Also, your recipe decluttering is a good example of why I love your term "minimalish." You kept what you use and love. That's more important than fitting into a smaller binder.
This was helpful. I have a holiday binder, and another for everything else. Plus, a large tote with recipes going way back...I'm 75, for heaven's sake! But, nice to hear a younger woman prefers the paper in her hand. My thoughts exactly! And recipes of loved ones no longer with us, but spattered with ingredients and hand written notes on them...priceless to those who come after us!
Make a photocopy of the recipes from your favourite cookbooks and put them in the binder. Keeps them handy, and the book stays clean. I did that for my go-to thanksgiving and Christmas recipes. Saves a whole bunch of time and effort.
Yes! This has helped me a lot with menu planning. ALL the recipes in one spot
I do this too. That way I don't have to drag the heavy cookbooks onto the table, and when I go on a longer vacation, I just bring the binder with me.
Did you Declutter those cookbooks after you called the recipe?
@@EricaLucasLoves you can, if you want to.
@@EricaLucasLoves some books I did, others not, because they still had "potential"🤩
Just a tip to have pesto (almost) all year round, not only in the summer: when the basil is ready, my grandparents make an insane amount of pesto, they put in a baby food jar a certain quantity (my grandma writes how much/the date on the lid so she remembers it) and they store everything in the freezer. It works wonders for us! Hugs from Italy :)
Edit: what about a smaller binder just for dessert recipes? So you can put it in your baking section
This sounds brilliant! You could have sections for seasonal goodies, brownies and squares, cakes and bakes, drinks delight and more
I was thinking of pulling out the baking section! We think alike!!
I have one binder for ‘Made’ and one binder for ‘Want to Make’. Both have the exact same categories. Mine are all in paper as well. It works crazy well. Nothing makes it to the ‘made’ binder unless we love it.
And if I really like a recipe from one of my cookbooks then I take a picture of it and print it out and put it in the binder!
Two great ideas! Thanks for sharing.
When my kids were young, I took 30+ recipe cards and on one side I wrote the meal ideas (for example: Cheese Burritos with Spanish rice). On the back side, I wrote all the ingredients needed to make the meal. We also had one card for “fast food” and one for “pizza” (gotta keep it fun). Because I got paid bi-weekly, every two weeks, all the cards went into a bag and my two kids would each pick out 7 cards (2 weeks worth) and we would have our “menu” for dinner for the next two weeks. With the ingredients listed on the back, we would look at what we had on hand first, make our grocery list together and go shopping. This was a great homework project because it included looking in the grocery flyers for sales and looking at the item in the store (brand name or generic) to find the best $$ option. My kids loved going to get the items in the store that were listed on the cards they picked and they then helped to prepare the food. Leftovers were usually my lunch the next day. My kids are now in their 30’s and they still remember this process and my daughter now follows a similar plan with her kids. Below is the list of index cards (Chili, Chips , Cheese & Sour Cream was their absolute favorite!).
Index cards meals
Chili, chips and cheese
Chili and rice
Spaghetti, salad and garlic bread
Cooked rice, cooked vegetables covered with grated cheese. I would add in a burger patty (beef or veggie)
Chicken & biscuit dinner
Burritos w/flavored rice (boxed rice in flavor of your choice)
Chicken, rice or potatoes and canned vegetable of your choice
Hamburger helper, vegetables and pillsbury biscuits
Tuna helper and toast
Meatloaf, vegetable and baked potato
Potatoes or rice with vegetables
Stew with Bisquick biscuits
Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup
Canned soup, bread or rolls, cheese slices and fruit
Hamburgers, potato chips
Sloppy Joe’s, potato chips
Loaded Nachos
Tacos
Popcorn, toast and fruit (movie night meal)
Frozen meal of your choice
Tuna, chicken or salmon salad with toast, bread or biscuits
Hot dogs, macaroni & cheese
Fish sticks and french fries
Haystacks - chips, leftover salad, beans/meat, sour cream, cheese
Mini pizzas - English muffin w/cheese, pepperoni and tossed salad
Leftovers or “concoction” (open the fridge and throw the majority of the leftovers in a pan, mix up, heat up and serve with tortillas or bread/biscuit of your choice)
Breakfast for Dinner - Yep!
Eggs, sausage or bacon and toast
French Toast or pancakes with bacon or sausage
Scrambled eggs or omelets with toast
Cottage cheese w/pineapple
Banana pudding w/banana slices topped with whipping cream
Milk chocolate bubble ring
Apple Snapple oatmeal
Cool and creamy fruit cup
Applesauce breakfast cup
@erica lucas
Tip!: To get a better rise make sure when using baking powder or baking soda need to get it oven ASAP after it get wet. Starts working as soon as it gets wet and if it sits without heat you will lose your rise!
😳❤️ I NEED TO DO THIS!!! I only cook for myself and still can't think in the heat of the moment. Most of the recipes shared are what I'd also love to try :)
I enjoyed this video very much and especially the cooking segment. Please do more cooking videos now and then. You rock!
Ok will do!
Haha I’ve always wanted to be the person who could SAY beef bourguignon!!😂 Love the video, as always! I also like having paper copies of favorite recipes, but have never tackled the project of making a recipe binder. You inspire me to get started on it!
I am in the UK this is my never fail bread recipe. 400grams of strong flour/bread flour, 1sachet of instant dried yeast, 2 teaspoons of salt and sugar - put the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. (Next) 260 mls of finger hot water and 4 tablespoons of oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry. It will look wet, tip it into a lightly floured surface and start kneading for 10 minutes, I use a dough scraper for this. Place in a bowl, cover and leave somewhere warm for about an hour, it should be doubled in size, knock back and knead lightly and shape. Cover and let it ride for about 30minutes. Cook 200c for about 30 minutes. I also cut lines in the top of the bread before the second rise and add a egg wash before I cook it. It makes a small loaf, UK size - double the amounts to make more. I hope it works.
Can't wait to make that zucchini bread recipe! Someone gave us a gigantic zucchini and we grilled half of it and have the other half just sitting there so now I know what to do with it. Yay!
I Adore how you bake. I laughed so hard. You're the best!
Yes, like a palm top of sugar... 😄
@@marinard6293 lol. I am going to have to go back and watch this many times.
Lots of comments so I’m not sure if this was mentioned but supposedly if you crack your eggs on a flat surface (like the bench) you don’t get eggshells in your mix. Thank you for sharing your wonderful family and your minimalish journey with us x😁😁
I had a binder. Actually I think I had three half inch binders. One was for main meals. One was for sides. And one was for desserts. I decided to switch it up and get an old style tin canister that holds recipe cards. Then I went through the binders and pulled out everything that we hadn't made in a long time and anything that's tried and true got written on a recipe card and now is in that recipe box.
Thank you for this! I copied your binder idea last time you posted about it. This motivated me to go through my recipes! And, as soon as you said American goulash, I knew what we were having for dinner. 😊
Ooooh are you trying Sam the Cooking Guy’s recipe? Soooo yum.
I always look forward to your videos. You are such a motivator and an inspiration to me. Going to now get my recipes put into an organized binder. Thank you for all you do to inspire others!
This is such a cool way to organize recipes! I have 2 recipe boxes ... they are both messy! One I will probably not change because it was Dad's so it's special ... but my recipe box in a cigar box file is truly wreakage... I have a binder and some document protectors somewhere so I plan to give this a try. Since it's just me and my husband I can use a smaller binder but I love your system ... it will be fun to create a recipe binder!!! I might even use my 1/2 size binder 8.5x5.5" pages ... since it has document protectors and I could slide the recipe cards into rhose tabbed sections ... so awesome!! 😎
I so agree with you on not getting a bigger binder or more hangers. We have to make limits for ourselves otherwise we end up with 4 sheds in our back yard! Lol
I decluttered all my cook books a long time ago because I never used them and just kept a few cooking magazines but ended up getting rid of those too recently. I just look up recipes online if I need one but I’m basically not a recipe person unless it chocolate chip cookies or something like that. 🤪
Oh my goodness, I needed this! I currently have FOUR gigantic recipe binders. 🤦♀️ Granted we are a family of 6 who has gone through a lot of dietary changes over the years (vegetarian, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, vegan, and several combinations thereof). And I have this enormous backlog of recipes because what if? And paper is flat so each one doesn't *seem* like it makes a difference. Except there are 4 binders. I am a paper person too, although I do probably have easily as many recipes bookmarked on my phone too. That's a project for another time. But the binders? I can tackle those. Maybe even get them down to one. Thanks for the inspiration!
I did this awhile ago but I made separate binders for sweets and meals and holidays and within each binder I organized further and used tabs to make finding certain recipes easy...
Hi Erica, I loved this video, you really make me laugh. Your recipe storage is very much like mine (binder storage/headings etc) but I have two 'thinner' binders: one for the main meals (savoury) and one for desserts (sweet stuff, including smoothies etc). I find it works really well and if I needed to, I could always upgrade to bigger binders. I love your slightly laissez faire approach to baking - that is so me!
Staples has binders they call Better Binders, which come in a variety of sizes. They last an extremely long time and have a space for a spine label and front insert. So, you could print off a Recipes page to put on the front. I have had mine for over 15 years at this point. I also use them to store my children’s report cards, car info (one for each car) and various other info.
A quick hack for the table of contents to stay neat: just print an empty table of contents with the lines, but instead of writing on the paper itself, write with a thin permanent marker on top of the transparent sleeve. That way it doesn't easily wipe off, but it you want to change something, you can just remove a line with some alcohol on a cloth (vodka works fine). Also i suggest looking into plant-based proteins and "main ingredients" (legumes, tofu, seitan, tempeh, ...) Not only for more variety but also good for health and better for the environment than meat. And of course less meat means less harm to animals ;) thanks for your videos, they are very helpful!
Looks like you are giving everyone on your Christmas list dried basil! Love seeing your garden grow. My zucchini bread recipe also calls for a lot of oil and sugar…but I think the healthy zucchini totally counterbalances it. Ha!
Ha! You get dried basil! You get dried basil! Everyone gets dried basil! (said in my Oprah voice) :)
@@EricaLucasLoves yes! Haha!
I enjoy watching your videos. I have a suggestion...instead getting a bigger binder....I would recommend having 2 binders. I have a binder for sweets and a binder for savory. This makes the binders less full and heavy. I have the same system as you, keeping recipes to try separate and only putting the tried and liked ones in page protectors.
Loved your binder idea for recipes. My life is making a big change and reminded me to think about reviewing my recipes. I was glad to see that you did find recipes in your big binder that your family over time did not like and you could remove them, I remember first time I had zucchini bread and thought YUK! but over the years had so many yummy treats made with zucchini's. My sister started my binder for me and that was a great gift, she is the cook in the family I just cook LOL. Thanks for the video today.
Thank you for creating this content. I have a 5 inch binder for my faves with no tabs or table of contents (yes, it's essentially useless.) Today I am going to tackle this beast.
I've been cooking from scratch for 12 years. I have 4 binders.
Breakfast/breads,
lunch (soup, sandwich, salad),
dinner (meat, casserole, sauces), and
drinks/dessert.
Mostly 1" binders, except for my dinner binder, which makes it not too heavy to use.
Ps I'm jealous of your basil/pesto! I've been doing this every year...this year I planted several basil plants instead of just one... And they've all struggled. 😒 I LOVE homemade pesto!
One idea could be to have a separate binder for desserts and breads, which could free up space for the dinner recipes in your current binder.
You deserve a new binder dear!!!!! 😃
I love the table of contents in each section of the binder. Last time you shared about your binder I looked around the internet but never found anything like yours. I guess a simple paper would also work lol!
I’m working on my over flow of recipes as well. Learning who my fantasy self is has been an eye opener! What are your thoughts when 2 people share the cooking responsibilities? Currently I have my recipes he has his, but neither are organized well.
I have 2 binders. I have one for family favorites and regular meals, and one for vegan/vegetarian meals that are some of my favorites. (There are desserts in both.)
You inspire me A LOT, thank you so much! May I tell you one of my game changers?
Three years ago I was inspired by dianeindenmark‘s flylady home organization and holiday binder! I guess everybody adapts theirs over the years and there are definitively things I threw out and things I added!
I got two slim A5 binder and a batch of matching sheet protector pockets. One for the home organization and one for the holiday planner - in the smaller size to fit in with my cook books in the kitchen!
They work like a breeze!
The holiday planner has a section for recipes. OUR favourite cinnamon star/Bethmännchen/Florentiner cookie recipes, ALL recipes served on winter birthdays and holidays, but as OUR holiday dish is a Dutch oven wild deer ragout that takes hours, but can be cooked in great batches, I usually cook it a few times in autumn and freeze the holiday batches well in advance. I still rely on all the recipes for all the trimmings (caramelised Chestnuts, red cabbage, Brussels sprouts, Spätzle noodles, pear halves filled with cranberry sauce). AND I recorded the amounts needed!
It‘s a lot to think of, and it helps to have it all in one place, with a chronicle of innovations, appetizers/desserts and why they were loved or rejected.
I actively reference this binder about holiday/birthday food from September to February. But I also appreciate the section for presents.
Whenever I find a book review/ gift idea … it goes into this binder all year round to be contemplated again late September as a probable Christmas gift. There is a gift list there (and naturally an archive of the previous years!) and I keep all the receipts in one pocket!
This would extract all holiday recipes from your recipe binder!
As of this video, I plan on creating a separate binder for cakes and desserts, as my recipe binder may be quite organized, but would need slimming as well!
Great video. Lots of ways to reduce refined sugar and oil, like applesauce, if you want to explore that. Start by replacing a little and taste buds will adjust!
I legit thought the eggshell hack was going to be - put it in your garden - but what you gave me might be a game changer
It works!
I use Jiffy cornbread mix for pancakes. I add more milk than the recipe calls for to thin it out. 47 cents feeds my 3 kids breakfast.
Loved this video thank you xx
Yes, will,go through my binder again! Thank you
Thank you for sharing your chocolate zucchini bread recipe as I just pulled a few from my garden this morning and planned to bake the same!
I have a 4” binder that holds recipes, similar to yours but a little bigger. I have a smaller 1.5” binder for dessert recipes only - that may be a solution for you, too 🙂 When I make my weekly meal plan I pull the recipes I’ll be using while I make my grocery list, so I don’t have to fish for them later.
Was the zucchini bread delicious?
It sure looked yummy.
You could take the best, tried and true, or family recipes and type them up in such a way to save space on a page--put two or three recipes on a page or reduce two page print outs to one simple page. Then you could reduce the actual number of pieces of paper in the binder to make more room. Maybe start fresh on your index pages? Could be a lovely crafting afternoon for you?
To make ‘HOMEMADE’ DONUTS, buy a tube (or two 😁) of refrigerator biscuits. Cut with a donut cutter or simply pull from the center out to make the hole. ‘Deep-fry’ in about one inch of vegetable oil and drain on paper towels. Roll in granulated or powdered sugar or frost with your favorite toppings. Tubes of biscuits can be stored in the refrigerator for several weeks and pulled out for quick treats or special occasions.
Oooooo, YES!!!!!! Childhood memories 🥰 I thought my Mom had made MAGIC happen with the canned dough!
Binders, huh? I have what I call " my brain book" it's where all kinds of things I'd like to remember live. When it gets full and I have to transfer all the "things" I generally don't copy the recipes I haven't used or no one else needs. I wonder if that counts as a binder .....BUT I so enjoyed you in your kitchen! I'd love to see more of you in there. You could do a "what's for dinner" episode once a week.
I also have the easiest tomato base marinera sauce that is super easy and fast to make. I’m a non measure method because I make it so much. I use any tomato that works for marinera sauce, garlic cloves( I use a lot because I like garlic) but 3/4 cloves is good, basil I usually use a one to two hands fulls, Italian parsley if I have any, just a quick handful, olive oil, salt, pepper, and I use pepper flakes because I like a little spice. You put it all in the blender, add oil or salt as you see it fit. Once is all blended, put it in a sauce pan and cook on low until it boils just a little. I put it in mason jars and fridge. I use it on spaghetti, pizza, even breakfast Colombian arepas with eggs for breakfast. It literally takes about 10 min for the entire process and my husband loves it and rather I cool pasta at home with it than go to a Italian restaurant and he is Italian.
Most of the thigs we eat regularly I don't even have a recipe for, the meals are either something I came up with on my own, or I make it frequently enough that I know the recipe by heart. Everything in my recipe binder is stuff we still eat regularly just not every week, but I still need to reference for measurements or to help me convert the recipe to time and a half because a single batch is too little, and a double batch is too much, and there are special treats that I make occasionally in there too.
I use an app on my iPad. Easy to add recipes and pics, categorize, rate, and it takes up no space. Love it!
Why are you so hard on you’re self with something you been looking through and considerd and realy use! It’s like you’re garden 🥰
If that bigger map is giving you more joy, it will be worth is
I think our brains are a lot alike. lol I have figured out over the years that I don't like a recipe book. I use index cards and they are filed under topics that work for me. I don't put anything on an index card unless I've tried it and its been successful. I have tons of recipes torn from magazines and written on notebook paper. There in a manila envelope in the "holding" section. Every now and then when the stack is getting too high, I will go through and throw away stuff that I know I am not going to attempt. Too many ingredients....nope, not happening. lol
Donuts, I agree. After one try, my donut pan went into the donate box. Amy Marryon makes donuts but she has unbelievable energy.
i've heard you can use apple juice as a substitute (or half oil/half apple juice) for oil in cakes like carrot cake etc. Erica.
I expanded my recipe binder by making one into two binders. I make the binders really pretty- purchasing Kolo binders- and now I need to make a third binder. Recipes only go in it if everyone likes it.
Did you make that table of contents for each section? I can't find anything like it online nor in templates in Word and it speaks my language!
Listen, I'm gunna need that choc chip zucchini bread recipe Stat! Lol! I can't read it on my tiny phone screen and blowing it up from a screenshot didn't help much because it was blurry.
Also I replace vegetable oil with avocado for my recipe and is good. I know it’s more expensive but is also just a bit healthier
Another substitution can be applesauce. Works great in pancakes :D
I would say “ a lot healthier “.
Hi Erica! Great minds think alike! I have the exact same project on my to do list! Can you link your table of contents page? I checked your blog and didn’t see it. Sorry if it’s there and I missed it. Great video. Thank you! P.S. I have basil envy…..I have had the hardest time keeping mine alive this year. We live at 10700 feet, so not sure if that might be the reason…..
Beef bourbinoung is actually easier to make then it is to pronounce. It's the beef version of caq au vain. We make an easy versions of them both
I don't buy cookbooks anymore. I borrow cookbooks from the library and take a photo of any recipe that interests me and save it to Evernote. I also clip online recipes to Evernote too. When I'm in the mood to try something new I use one of the recipes from Evernote. If it isn't a family favorite I just delete it. If it is a hit with the family I move it to my keep folders in Evernote. I have recipes sorted into different sections there. I then hand write the recipe into an A5 lined book I keep in my kitchen. That way if our internet is down or I'm away from home, family members can still access all our favorite recipes. I currently keep two A5 notebooks. One has meat based meals and desserts, and a few baking recipes in it and the other has vegetarian recipes plus preserves, and pickle recipes. I don't do much baking nowadays but if I did more, that would be a separate book.
What is the proper way to prune basil?
Buy a binder! 🌷💚🌷
What binder do you use?
I have recipes I find online that i want to try or share with my family so I use an app for that. The app i can share my whole collection to family. But when i cook, i have to have either a book or a paper. If we like it, it goes into my binder if not and it's been an online recipe I'll just though it out. Besides I have a lot of cookbooks and I enjoy cooking out of them. If I have a lot of recipes I use in a book, I'll keep the book. If only a few recipes I'll photocopy the recipes and put on my binder and donate or paperback swap( it's an online book swapping sight) the book. I will handwrite recipe for my kids because eventually my kids will want a copy of the family recipe binder in print. Their is just something about handwritten some of the recipes. I have 2 binders I love to bake, so one binder is just for sweets. I love to decorate cookies, so I have a sections for cookie decorating ideas. Both my son and I have to be gluten free so we always bring a gluten free main dish and a desert for church potlucks. So I'm always trying new recipes.
Do you only put printed recipes on the right hand page? Perhaps using the back side of the plastic sleeve would save space. You could do that for less frequently used recipes.
Oh I use the back side of the sleeves too.
Because the baking soda and powder are for a specific reaction, I recommend proper measurement for them 😬
Make a clean pesto with almonds vs pine nuts. I got that recipe from Tosca Reno, and fitness model in her 60s
Oh that sounds intert
I have a recipe box, but it's just not working for me anymore. I'm going to try the album idea but using a photo album because my recipes are mostly index card size. Thanks!
I tried it for years but you can’t make dividers at least in mine. I bought a recipe binder with rings and haven’t had a chance to put it together but I think it will solve my sloppy problems. But my photo album broke all apart so it’s a mess. This a timely video.
Advice please, I don’t like cooking much. So, besides chicken, what else can, I cook? That’s healthy!
I have a binder for meat and another one for everything else.
You make 3 meals a day 365 days a year (some days even more) that's 1095 meals. I dont think 1 full binder is that unreasonable.
I’m a math nerd and you just spoke to my soul.
@@EricaLucasLoves I suck at math hopefully I got it right lol :)
Using applesauce for oil is one way to cut out the fat. Or use just half the oil and applesauce for what would have been the other half of the oil.
I have to be totally ruthless with my recipes, I love to collect them but I only get to keep the ones I use.
Maybe pick some recipes that the kids can use food from the garden to prepare with you. This will help them to learn to try new recipes and foods.
My recipe binder got to be too big so I made one for all baking and one for the rest
You probably aren't thinking of desserts when you meal plan, so maybe put all the "sweets" recipes in a separate binder. I have four separate, smaller binders, but I definitely understand not wanting that many.
I think I just watched a video of myself 😂 “I’m going to make some banana bread” ...turns into hmm I should go through my recipe binder. But I’ve noticed over the past couple years I’ve gotten a lot more stingy with what I allow in my binder. Cooking at home has forced me to be realistic. I’m not a chef, I have a 3yo, and I work full time. There’s just not enough hours in a day to make 20 ingredient recipes. And frankly not enough in the budget either!! How I combat the ‘fantasy me’ stack of recipes (because let’s face it, who doesn’t sit on Pinterest and recipe surf for inspiration) is I keep a digital recipe book on Pinterest and then I only allow myself to print off ONE new recipe a week. No more stack of want to make recipes and after I’ve made the recipe and decided if it’s worthy of going in the binder.. it either does or goes to recycling.
Could the recipes your not keeping be put in one of those community little free libraries? (I know that’s an extra step for some... I have one right across the street from my home plus more in my walking distance)
Also wonderful 2 ingredient alternative “pancakes” here + the video is 25second long
th-cam.com/video/EyJTSyFImes/w-d-xo.html
If your like me and you gave up on perfect pancakes I just pour a bunch in my small cast iron and make scrambled “sweet” eggs.
A bigger binder does sound like a good investment.
If given the room I would include a list that says cheap eats and list 10-20 items with a note on what section they’re in (if not obvious)
??? Sam the cooking guy American gulosh, CANNOT FIND. PKEASE HELP.
The link for Sam in my description should go to that video. I think he called the title Hamburger Helper
spaghetti with bolognese sauce ??????? Are you crazy !!! Spaghetti is not pasta that goes with bolognese ragu