My Newest (Old) Project

It started snowing here on January 14th. Over the course of 6 days approximately 24 inches of snow fell at our house. As of Tuesday at 4:30pm I have been at home....with the kids....and the hubs. Now, granted I had to work on contract language and I was answering questions from my Union brothers and sisters about OT, but other than that, I didn't do ANYTHING. I seriously wonder what it would be like if I wasn't normally so busy. I think I would turn into a couch potato. It's not that I was was watching TV the whole time - we played in the snow, we played legos, we played on the computer, we Skyped Murmur, we taught the kids how to play Hearts, and Spades, we played Euchre, and Sorry, we made cookies, and I did clean up the house. But the week was wrought with organization possibilities that now, on Sunday Eve, are blown. By this afternoon I was so mad at myself I had to kick my butt into gear and decide to do something. So I'm tackling a project that's been ongoing for years.

I am a magazine article keeper. Somehow I've justified to myself that if I just pull out the stuff that I'm going to look at again, or do, or cook, it will be much more space saving than keeping all those "whole" magazines. (And really, it is! I've been tearing these out for years and this is what I've got!) Unfortunately, with the exception of a few things over the years that I've remembered and searched through all of this to find, most of it has just sat in this pile. I think this is like the paper form of Pinterest...

Tonight, however, I decided to once and for all organize all of these into some useful reference guides. I bought binders for all of these years ago. And some of them I have actually filed away. But as I tear out more and more the pile just grows. The plan: to organize into similar categories, slide into page covers, label binders accordingly and actually be able to use them!

Here's where I started:

I spent the evening sorting them into categories and getting rid of the things that I can't figure out why I kept. Then, I slid them into page protectors and put them into binders. Next, I will label them all and create my self a reference guide of ideas. I will post a picture of the final product when I'm done.

As you can imagine, many of these are recipes. What I have done, and will continue to do - only in a little more organized fashion - is tear out new recipes I think we should try. Then, after I've made the meal once, the family votes on whether or not it's a keeper. If it's not, it goes in the trash. If it is, I transfer the recipe to a recipe card and file it in the box. The problem is I don't get them written down all that quickly a lot of the time. My cookbook cupboard is then overflowing with random loose papers and pieces of magazine articles.

In an effort to make it more organized I am instead going to create The Reedy Family Cookbook. I am going to design a template to enter all of our favorite recipes into, print, slide into sheet protectors and put in a binder that will serve as our central cookbook. No more trying to explain to Brandon when I'm running late what kind of paper the recipe is on, where I stashed it, or what kind of stain is on it! (Believe me, I've run late before and he's had to cook unexpectedly and we've spent a half hour on the phone while he runs from pile to pile looking for a recipe. He LOVES that.)

As a bonus to creating the cookbook and having all of our favorites in one place, I have had it in the back of my mind for years to write down all of the kids favorites (along with the family standbys) and make them a cookbook for when they move out. I remember in college making Stuffed Peppers out of the Betty Crocker cookbook (a rare, yummy, home cooked dinner in college that did not come out of a bag with Chinese writing on the side) and after taking one bite thinking, "this does NOT taste like Mom's!" When I called her to ask what I did wrong? "Oh honey, I don't make it like that. I changed some things. Here's what I do...." I figure if I start now I won't be scrambling to type and print recipe pages as she packs her final bags to leave. And this way, she'll know the crazy things I do to recipes to make them "mine."

So that's on my agenda; on the short term list. Getting my pile of magazine articles out has renewed my energy and my mood. I'm just no good at sitting around! More to come on this one...