Recipe Organization

I love food and I love organizing, so you’d think that my recipe collection would be highly organized. Think again. My recipes are a mess. Think one small set of cookbooks + one bajillion food magazines + hundreds of random pieces of paper stuffed into a file folder organizer. Never mind. Don’t think about it. It’s bound to make you nauseous.

As I finished up our command center, I was reminded of the cupboards and shelves surrounding it (and the mess contained in them). My cookbooks currently sit on the shelves and the food magazines and random pieces of paper are stuffed into one of the cupboards. This has always been an area that I’ve wanted to organize; it’s just always felt too overwhelming for me to get motivated. 

I have had a difficult time deciding what organization system to use for my recipes. I’ve looked at online databases, cute recipe cards and recipe boxes, binder systems, etc., and while I’ve liked parts of each, I could never settle on one. When I decided it was finally time to tackle this project, I was leaning towards something colorful and cute. But the more I got into it, the more basic, simple, and streamlined approach won out.

I felt an urgency to get my recipes in order, but my budget wasn’t really sensing that same feeling. I decided to get things organized as cheaply as possible and ended up doing it essentially free.

Here is what I started with:

I rarely ever look through the recipe magazines for new ideas so I set the magazines aside for now. I sorted through all my random slips of paper first. I recycled anything that wasn’t titled (and I couldn’t figure out what the recipe was for), anything I made once and didn’t like, and anything I had once intended to make but now didn’t see that happening. 

Next, I divided up the remaining recipes into categories. I menu-plan each week based on what is on sale. So, for example, if beef is really cheap one week, I put together more beef recipes than chicken to save some cash. My final categories were: beef, breakfast, chicken, desserts, fish/seafood, miscellaneous, pasta, pork, sausage/ham, and turkey.

I thought about buying a large amount of page protectors and just taping or gluing the little pieces of paper onto an 8 ½ x 11 sheet and inserting them that way. But the obsessive organizing part of me wasn’t okay with that solution. I created a template in Microsoft Excel that allowed four recipes to be printed on each page. I actually re-typed each recipe into the template. Now before you roll your eyes at how ridiculous that sounds let me tell you that it literally only took me one hour a day for five days. That’s not really all that bad figuring I ended up with a very streamlined and organized recipe binder in the end. Or so I tell myself…

I re-purposed some old file folders by cutting them in half and adding labels to the tabs. These became my category dividers. Then I just printed out each category, three-hole punched the paper, and stuck it in the binder.

I still might invest in some page protectors for each of the printed pages just to protect them from spills and such. I figure now that all the random slips of paper are taken care of, I can go through the magazines and just rip out pages that I’d like to keep. I can three-hole punch the actual magazine pages and insert them in the binder by category. I don’t see a purpose in keeping all the magazines because there is only about one or two recipes in each that I use. 

I saved any handwritten recipe cards from my grandmothers. I’d like to preserve those someday, somehow. All of the other pieces of paper got recycled though. 

Re-typing these recipes helped me remember all of the yummy meals that I have made in the past and got me really motivated and excited to get back to making them again. They also made me really hungry –so word to the wise – don’t work on a project like this when your tummy is rumbling. 

In the end, I opened up an entire cupboard above the command center. I’m considering moving my stash of cookbooks into the kitchen and reorganizing the bookshelves with other items. We’ll see what happens. I’m sure this recipe binder will be updated at some point in the future, maybe even to something cute and colorful. But for now, it solves the problem I was struggling with and will help my recipe collection to stay organized.

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Freezer Meal Friday ~ Turkey Chili

Have you heard of the Paleo Diet? In short, it's eating the way our ancestors used to eat. It's been a topic of great interest to me recently, not because I am necessarily looking to lose weight, but because I often wonder how much all the chemicals and processed foods we eat are causing the illnesses and cancers that we see running rampant through our society. I made it a New Year's resolution of mine not to follow the diet, but to research it. That may seem like a funny resolution, but it's hard for me to make time to do things for myself, like read. One part of my research is this awesome book you can find here. Basically anything you want to know about this way of eating can be found in this book. I also started a Pinterest Board of Paleo recipes to start building up a collection to determine if eating this way is feasible for our family. Along that journey, I discovered a recipe for a Turkey Chili that sounded delicious. I went ahead and made it for dinner last week and it was so yummy! Thought I'd share the recipe with you as this could easily be a freezer meal to add to your collection.

This Turkey Chili Recipe was found here at Inspiredrd.com. You could make this ahead and freeze it for later or combine all the ingredients in a freezer bag and throw it in the crock pot to cook when you're ready to make it.

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 4 stalks celery, diced
• 4 carrots, peeled and diced
• 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes 
• 28 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
• 3 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1 Tbsp. dried oregano
• 1 Tbsp. dried basil
• 1 Tbsp. of cumin
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. onion powder

Optional Toppings: Avocado, cheese, cilantro

If you want to cook this meal before freezing it or just want to make it on the spot, the first step is to saute the onions and garlic in a large pan over medium heat. Once those are getting soft, add the ground turkey and cook until it's no longer pink.

Throw the onion mixture into the crockpot with all the other ingredients. Stir it up well and cook on low for 6-8 hours. 

This chili is the perfect blend of hearty, spicy, and healthy for me. The Mister loved it too! This recipe made a lot of food. By a lot, I mean like 8 servings for the 2 of us!! Perhaps eating this Paleo way wouldn't be so bad after all!

Have you heard of Paleo? What's your take?

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Note: Some of the above links may be affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may get a small commission if you make a purchase.  The affiliate program does not affect my decision of what products to share. I only feature items I would link to with or without an affiliate link. These items and my opinions about them are my honest to goodness personal thoughts and feelings. The Amazon Services LLC Associates Program is an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Thanks for your support! 

Dog Treat Storage + a Bonus Treat Recipe

Like many pet owners, our puppy, Mando, is like a member of our family. I continue to call him a puppy even though he's 16 months old... but to me, he's still a maturing boy. :) While the Mister and I don't adhere to an organic or all natural diet all the time, we do try to watch what we eat and attempt to limit the amount of processed foods we consume. Because Mando is a full-fledged family member, I try to limit his intake of processed or unhealthy foods as much I can as well.

The main way I regulate this is by making his dog treats myself. They are super easy, less expensive, he loves them, and I know exactly what is in them. Up until now, I've stored his treats in a variety of ways including a paper bag, a plastic zip-lock bag, and an airtight storage container. The airtight container allowed them to grow mold rather quickly because it locked in all their moisture. The paper bag seems to regulate the mold growth a little better but a paper or plastic bag on the counter is blah. Besides, Mando deserves a cute treat container to go with his awesome dog food container, don't you think?!

I thought I'd share my easy project of creating a treat container for his yummy treats, and why not include the recipe in case any of you are looking for easy, natural treats for your furry family members as well.

I've made two different versions of dog treats, but this one shared by Dog-Milk.com is by far the easiest.

• 2 Cups 100% organic whole wheat flour (I use brown rice flour which makes them a bit more crunchy and promotes healthy digestion in dogs)
• 8 oz. of pureed natural or organic baby food (beef, sweet potato, chicken, etc).

That's it! Combine the flour and the baby food to create a thick dough. 

Roll out the dough on a floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick. 

Use cookie cutters to cut out specific shapes or a pizza cutter to make cubes.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and add the treats. They can be pretty close together as they don't expand much. 

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.Allow them to cool before putting them in your chosen storage container. An airtight container will keep them softer but will allow mold growth within a short time period. This recipe made me about 7 dozen 1-inch square treats. I like to keep the bulk of the treats in the freezer leaving only enough for about a week out on the counter. This extends their shelf life by a lot. And sometimes, Mando likes a nice frozen treat too.

The flavor possibilities of these treats are endless and you could mix and match flavors to switch it up even more. Just be sure that the baby food you use doesn't contain any ingredients harmful to dogs like onion, garlic, etc. For a list of foods toxic to dogs, check here. 

As for my storage project, I found this cute little jar at the Salvation Army for $1.99.

With a good washing, it was good as new. I cut out some vinyl letters on my Cricut using two different fonts and adhered them to the glass container. 

Then I filled it with treats and let it sit out on the counter. Cute, simple, and effective. That's how I like to organize!

Do you have a recipe for your pet's treats? How about a cute storage solution?

Freezer Meal Friday ~ Sweet Potato Chili

Happy Friday everyone! It's currently 5 degrees outside... Sounds like a good day to stay in and make some chili!

I used to be afraid of sweet potatoes. Well, maybe not afraid, but certain I didn't like them. A couple years ago, I was introduced to sweet potato fries and it was love at first bite. Since then, I've tried to incorporate them into our meals in different ways and have found that they're not so scary after all - in fact, they can be quite delicious. This recipe is no exception.

The original version of this recipe, shared over at Once A Month Meals, was actually gluten free. I didn't go out of my way to make it gluten free but, for those out there looking for delicious gluten free meal options, this is one great option. You'll need the following ingredients:

• 2 medium sized sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 15 oz. can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed (I used light)
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped (I used green)
• 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes (undrained)
• 1 tbsp chili powder (gluten free if desired)
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika (I used regular paprika)
• 1 tsp chipotle chili powder (gluten free if desired)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup vegetable broth (gluten free if desired)
• 1/2 cup orange juice

I diced up all the veggies and added them to the freezer bag. I have to give a shout out to my amazing Pampered Chef Garlic Peeler once again. I love this thing!

Finish adding the ingredients to the freezer bag, toss gently to mix, and seal the bag. With a recipe like this that contains a lot of liquid, I often opt to just freeze the solid ingredients and then add the liquid when I dump it into the crock pot. But you can certainly freeze the entire recipe. Another alternative would be to actually cook up this recipe and then store it in one or two serving size containers in the freezer. Just thaw and eat!

If you do decide to freeze it before cooking it, just thaw the bag in the fridge over night and dump the contents into the crock pot in the morning (adding the liquid ingredients if necessary). 

Cook on low for about six hours or until sweet potatoes are tender. Then enjoy! 

I served this with sweet rolls and some crackers but it's filling and satisfying all by itself too.

Do you have a new-found love for a certain food? Which one?

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Freezer Meal Friday ~ Balsamic Chicken and Veggies

I don't remember the first time I used Balsamic Vinegar in a recipe, but I do remember being nervous about it. I hadn't really heard of it, nor had I tried it. I'm pretty sure it was a salad dressing recipe... either way, I'm so happy I found it. I've since used it to make dressings, marinades, and added flavor in stir-fries and other meals. 

Balsamic Vinegar is a key ingredient in this freezer meal recipe shared over at Greenwood Grove.

Here is the recipe:

• 4-6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1 whole head of garlic
• 3 sliced zucchini
• 2 sliced red onions
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1 sliced tomato
• 1 handful of small grape tomatoes
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste

First, I cut the chicken thighs into bite size pieces and sprinkled them with salt and pepper. Then I diced all of the veggies. I used my Vidalia Chop Wizard. I love, love, love this thing! I did cut the tomato by hand though. The garlic cloves just need to be peeled, not diced. If you hate peeling garlic like I do, check out this! I tossed the chicken and the veggies into a gallon size freezer bag and tossed a bit to mix things up. If your freezer bag is stuffed full, split the contents into two bags and make two meals!

I added the balsamic vinegar and the Worcestershire sauce to the bag and tossed everything again. I sprinkled a bit more salt and pepper and sealed it up. When I was ready to make the meal, I thawed the bag in the fridge over night and dumped everything into the crockpot the next morning. I cooked it on low for about six and a half hours. It smelled amazing!

I served this recipe over rice and it was delicious. This batch makes a ton of food - six large servings!

Enjoy!!


Note: Some of the above links may be affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may get a small commission if you make a purchase.  The affiliate program does not affect my decision of what products to share. I only feature items I would link to with or without an affiliate link. These items and my opinions about them are my honest to goodness personal thoughts and feelings. The Amazon Services LLC Associates Program is an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Thanks for your support! 

Freezer Meal Friday ~ Sausage & Peppers

This freezer meal recipe really is as easy as it sounds. I was skeptical that it would be good. It seemed too simple to be anything worth making. But I was wrong, and it now has become one of the Mister's favorite meals. 

Sausage and Peppers was one of the first freezer meals I tried. I found the delicious recipe here. The first time I made it, I followed the recipe to the T. This time, I made a few adjustments:

• 6 Italian Sausage {I used Eckrich 4 Pepper Smoked Sausage}
• 2 Green Peppers {I used orange bell peppers this time because they were on sale}
• 1 Red Pepper
• 1 Large Red Onion {I used a yellow onion because it's what I had on hand}
• 4 Cloves of Garlic, Minced
• 2 Cans Italian Diced Tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp Italian Seasoning {I just added some Italian seasonings like oregano and parsley and then some salt and pepper}

The above recipe makes enough for two meals. So you'd split the above ingredients into two 1-gallon freezer bags. 

I marked the freezer bags with the name of the meal and the date and then added the instructions: Cook on low six hours. Then, I chopped up the sausage, peppers, onion, and garlic and added those to the bag. 

I added the 2 cans of tomatoes, undrained and sprinkled in the seasonings. I flattened out the bags a bit and sealed them as air tight as possible.

When I'm ready to make this meal, I thaw it in the fridge over night and throw it in the crock pot in the morning. I've made this recipe served over noodles and served on toasted french bread. We love the french bread option the best, but in this instance I had yummy egg noodles on hand so it was served on those. I topped it off with some shredded mozzarella cheese.

Simple and easy, just how we like it! I hope you enjoy!

Freezer Meal Friday ~ Beef Stroganoff

I absolutely love mushrooms. Mushrooms of all kinds. Yum. This stroganoff recipe uses plenty of mushrooms and makes for an easy, delicious, warm meal. 

Of course, you could whip this up for dinner anytime, but I chose to make this meal as a freezer meal. I just combined all the ingredients into a one gallon freezer bag and stuck it in the freezer. Here's what you'll need:

1/2 cup minced onion
1/4 cup butter
1 lb. stew beef (I used ground beef)
1/8 t paprika
2 cups chopped mushrooms

3/4 cup sour cream
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup cream cheese
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper

Once again, I was not thinking clearly (probably had mushrooms on my mind) and didn't take many pictures of this process or of the meal when it was fully cooked, but like I mentioned, it's an easy meal to put together.

I thaw the bag (usually over night) and toss everything into the crock pot in the morning. It cooks best on low for 6-8 hours. As the bag says, you can serve this meal over noodles or rice. I prefer some thick egg noodles. Enjoy!

Do you love mushrooms as much as I do? What's your favorite mushroom recipe?

Holy Guacamole, Batman!

Well I don't intend for this to necessarily be a recipe blog, I really wanted to share this recipe with you. I've never been a huge fan of guacamole, but to stay with the theme of being open to trying new things, I decided to revisit it when I discovered this recipe. 

For whatever reason, the idea of eating something somewhat slimy and green sounded more appealing with chunks of other vegetables mixed in. I originally found the recipe in a magazine about a year ago and, I apologize, I can't for the life of me remember which magazine. So cheers to whoever discovered it and, if you know where it came from, please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due! 

• 2 large or 3 small avocados
• 1 ripe tomato, chopped
• 2 tbsp diced onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Salt & Pepper to taste

If you've never handled an avocado before, figuring out how to get it open can be intimidating. With a few easy steps, you'll have that avocado handled in no time! First I slice all the way around the avocado the long way. Then, I twist the halves apart. This should separate the two halves, leaving the pit inside one half. 

To remove the pit I stab it with the end of a sharp knife and twist a bit until it comes loose. Don't throw the pit away though. You may need it later! Once the avocado is split open and the pit is removed, I use a spoon to scoop out all the flesh into a medium sized bowl. The remaining skins can be discarded. Do this for all of the avocados. 

Add the diced onion, chopped tomato, garlic and lemon juice and stir until thoroughly mixed. Try a little bite and add salt and pepper as needed. Yum! 

The downfall of avocados is that they turn brown rather quickly when exposed to oxygen. So, if you plan to make this appetizer a bit ahead of serving time, you want to take some precautions to avoid serving up a brown bowl of mush. First, stick the pits back into the guacamole once it’s fully prepared. I don't know the scientific reason this slows down the oxidation process, but I know it does. 

Second, cover the top of the guacamole with saran wrap so that the wrap lies directly on top of the guacamole. In other words, you want the saran wrap to actually touch the entire top surface of the dish. These two steps should slow down the oxidation for you enough to impress your guests with a gleaming green dish of beautiful guac. 

I made this for a summer camping trip the Mister and I embarked on. I prepared the guacamole on Friday morning and we didn't get to enjoying it until dinner on Saturday. I actually stored mine in a covered glass Pyrex container with the pits stuck in and when I removed it from the cooler and gave it a good stir, it was still green and ready to eat! 

Enjoy it with a handful of your favorite tortilla chips and maybe a margarita or two! :) 

What dish were you once not so sure about but now love to eat? 

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Freezer Meal Friday ~ Honey Sesame Chicken

I confess, I love Chinese food. Despite that love, I don’t indulge in that deliciousness very often. There isn’t a great Chinese place close by our house and the ones we do go to are not considered “reasonably priced” in our small spending budget . That being said, I try to make dishes at home now and then that somewhat resemble something we’d get when dining out for Chinese. Enter Honey Sesame Chicken.

I stumbled upon this recipe at Baked In The South. This is a great recipe to make as a freezer meal.

Honey Sesame Chicken

• 1 lb chicken tenders (I used chicken breasts and chopped them into 1 inch pieces)
• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Cup Honey
• 2 Tbsp Sesame Seeds
• ½ Cup Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

Just toss all of the ingredients into a freezer bag, mix it all up, and freeze. 

While putting this meal together is super easy, apparently taking pictures while doing it is not… I apologize for the lack of good pictures of this delicious meal. 

Anyway, I take the bag out of the freezer the night before and thaw it in the fridge. Put it in the crock pot in the morning and cook on low for 4-5 hours. I served this over rice with some steamed veggies. The Mr. ranted and raved about how good it was and I think he may have enjoyed it even more the next day as a leftover lunch. 

Cost to make:
1 lb Chicken - $1.99/lb on sale
Olive Oil – On hand
1 Cup Honey – $4.29
2 Tbsp Sesame Seeds - $.75
½ Cup Soy Sauce - $1.10
Sesame Oil – On hand
Salt – On hand
Pepper – On hand
2 Cups Rice – $.65
Total = $8.78

This recipe made us four good sized meals for only $2.20 per meal!

What eat out favorites have you adapted to make at home?

Freezer Meal Friday ~ Chicken Chili

When I decided to start this blog, I created a focus statement for myself to ensure that each post topic I came up with fell under this focus and the blog maintained a certain theme. That theme is openness. As I mentioned here, openness includes being open to try new things and staying organized to maintain that openness. 

While I've always done some sort of meal planning before heading to the grocery store, the concept of make-ahead freezer meals is fairly new to me. Creating multiple meals in one afternoon and freezing them to enjoy in the future has been a huge time saver for us and has also allowed us to save money on our grocery budget. In an effort to not eat the same meal over and over again, I've been working to branch out my freezer meal recipes and try new things.

I thought it would be fun to share these freezer meal recipes with you so that you too could try them out. While I often make multiple freezer meals at once, I'm choosing to share one freezer meal with you at a time for now in an effort to keep it simple and not overwhelming.

Today's freezer meal recipe is Chicken Chili. I found the original recipe while doing "research" on Pinterest here. I had a white chicken chili recipe that I've loved for a few years but never tried it as a freezer meal. After trying this one, I think my old recipe is going to have to be  replaced. This chili is delicious.

Here is the recipe:

• 2 chicken breasts 
• 1 can diced tomatoes 
• 1 can corn kernels, do not drain 
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed 
• 1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix 
• 1 T cumin 
• 1 t chili powder 
• 1 t onion powder 
• 1 8-oz pkg. cream cheese
• Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours. 

Before I start combining ingredients, I label my bags with a sharpie, listing the name of the meal, cooking instructions, and any serving instructions I might forget by the time I eat the meal. I also include the date the meal was created in case it gets lost in the bottom of the freezer somehow. 

For this meal, I cut up the chicken into bite size chunks and combined all of the ingredients in a one gallon size freezer bag. I flattened it out a bit so it can be easily stacked in our chest freezer and tried to get as much air out as possible. 

When I decide to make the chili, I will take it out of the freezer the night before and let it thaw in the fridge over night. Then, in the morning before heading out to work, I dump it into the crockpot, set the timer and let it cook. I come home to a hot, delicious meal ready to eat! Typically, I'll whip up a batch of Jiffy cornbread to enjoy with this chili. 

If you are interested in seeing more of my freezer meal recipes now, you can visit Pinterest here!

Do you have any good freezer meal recipes you'd like to share?