Happy Friday, friends! I’m thrilled to share a tour of my recipe binder with you today! Getting it organized a few weeks ago was a huge step forward in my 2020 goal of streamlining meal planning. It’s made meal planning and cooking simpler, easier, and more joyful – what more could a gal want?! If you’ve been considering making a recipe binder of your own, I think you’ll love today’s tour!
As promised, I filmed a video of myself flipping through every page, explaining what I included and giving you a little commentary on each recipe. It’s about 20 minutes long, and it might be incredibly boring or just what you’re looking for – ha!
Supplies needed for your recipe binder: — A 3-ring binder! Mine is 1″, nothing fancy, but I’m considering upgrading to 1.5″ or 2″ because it’s currently bursting at the seams. — Tabs to divide your binder into sections. I kept mine simple and have sections for main dish, sides, dessert, breakfast, and my meal planning archive. I might divide them into more specific categories in the future, but for now, this is working well! — Page protecters. These make it easy to slip in magazine clippings or recipe cards. Of course, you can also just three-hole-punch most things, but it’s nice to be able to wipe off splatters :) I actually got my page protectors for free from my neighborhood Facebook group, so it’s worth asking around!
What I put in my recipe binder: — At the front, I keep extra copies of my custom Publix grocery list, organized by aisle at my local store. This has been SO helpful for staying organized and moving through the store quickly! Download a copy here, though be warned it is unique to my family’s favorites and some of my vernacular and abbreviations! :) — In the first tab’s pocket, I keep a cheat sheet of non-recipe meals – things like spaghetti and meatballs, chicken caesar wraps, or buffalo chicken pizza. It’s helpful to have this list handy when I’m meal planning so I remember to consider them as options, even though they’re not otherwise in the binder! — The bulk of the binder is obviously the recipes! You can see all of the ones that are available on the internet in this Pinterest board, though of course my binder also includes recipes from friends and family and magazine clippings gathered over the years. — The last tabbed section is my meal planning archive. Each sheet (download yours here, if you’d like) holds 12 weeks of meals, and having this record is great for jogging ideas when I sit down to plan our meals each week. More to come on this subject soon!
How I use my recipe binder: I meal plan once a week. As I consider our meals for the next few days, I flip through my binder for ideas. I also look through this Pinterest board, where I collect recipes I haven’t made but want to try. If I make a new recipe that we love, I’ll print it out and add it to the binder (and then move it on Pinterest, too).
Why I really love my recipe binder: My absolute favorite thing about this meal planning development is that cooking is now an analog experience. There’s no more navigating my laptop with sticky fingers, impatiently waking up a sleeping screen, or dodging pop-up ads. It’s just nice to be looking at a page after staring at a screen all day, most days!
Also, I’m really grateful to have all of my favorite recipes in one place that’s under my control. I had the alarming experience recently of pulling up one of our favorite recipes and seeing that the blogger had gone back and altered it – yikes!! Thankfully I had the old version memorized, but it was a good reminder that any blog could go offline at any time, taking a prized family meal with it. Plus, I just love having all of my favorites in one place that feels more permanent than the internet cloud! :)
I think that’s it, friends! I’m planning a comprehensive post walking through how I meal plan in detail next week, but I wanted to get this tour to you first. If you have any questions you’d like me to answer in next week’s post, or about my recipe binder, please ask away in the comments!
I’d love to hear: how do you organize your recipes? Any tips to pass along to the group? :)
Though Articles Club has faithfully continued meeting over the last two months, we’ve switched to focusing on “life lately” updates instead of our usual fare. I miss our deep dives into important (and not-so-important) topics, but have also been enjoying the simple, and shorter, time together – after a long day, Zoom fatigue is real!
In honor of Articles Club, I thought I’d collect a few of my favorite recent coronavirus thought-pieces to share – all reads and listens that would be just perfect for discussing around the table. They’re less about current events and more about what life right now means for life beyond the pandemic. I hope they light a little spark in you today!
P.S. Perhaps you’re tapped out on coronavirus reading right now. Been there! Just for you, I’m including a few photos from this weekend’s backyard campout :) Enjoy!
Present in the Pandemic | This sermon from Jon Tyson was a gentle but firm reminder to abide in the midst of difficulty and sameness. He speaks persuasively about distraction, and what it means for our core relationships and our intimacy with God. If you loved The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, you’ll be nodding along the whole time. In the words of Jon, let’s not say at the end of this, “It was kind of a blur, and then it was over.” The teaching starts at about 44:30.
It’s Okay to Be a Different Kind of Parent During the Pandemic | This is perhaps not the essay you’re thinking it’s going to be. Mary Katherine weaves insight from her husband passing away, leaving her and her two young daughters behind, into advice for parents dealing with our current upheaval. A poignant and lovely piece.
When the Small Things are Everything | Another simply beautiful essay, this time about being a “second responder.” If you’ve been moved by the kindness sprouting everywhere, if you’ve been a part of this kindness in any small way, you’ll love this piece.
Parenting in the Age of Anxiety | Though this is not, strictly speaking, an article focused on coronavirus, it is The Atlantic’s most-recent cover story and couldn’t have debuted at a more relevant time. This is an eye-opening, sobering, and yet hopeful read about the current epidemic of anxiety, focusing on the impact parental anxiety has on children. I think this is a must-read for basically everyone right now.
Have you read anything notable about our current times – something that moved you to action or made you see things in a different light? I’d love to hear. You know I’m always down for a good read!
P.S. Backyard camping was a success! June fell asleep about 10 and woke up with the birds at 6 :) John came inside and promptly crawled into bed next to me, ha!
My 2020 goal of streamlining meal planning is ticking along nicely. It’s satisfying to feel like I’m making real progress on something when so much feels out of my control – AND it’s something that’s making my daily life better right now! Progress has taken all different forms, but today I wanted to share one simple hack that’s been so helpful for us with meal planning.
June school photos!!!
Emphasis on simple. We hung a magnetic dry erase board on the side of our fridge and use it to track inventory of our freezer stash. Now, I can easily see what we have on hand without rifling through our cold storage. This is helpful for both deciding on our meals for the week – what’s in the freezer that we can base a meal on? – and for assembling a grocery list – what do we already have that we don’t need to buy?
You could certainly do this with a pad of paper, but the dry erase board is a neat solution. To note: we don’t include EVERYTHING in our freezer on the list – mostly just ingredients that are relevant for meal planning. For example, you won’t see frozen cookie dough on the list above, but rest assured we are always well-stocked :)
That’s it! A simple meal-planning hack that’s helped us plan more efficiently and waste less food.
I’d love to hear: what meal-planning hacks do you swear by? Also, a question: with my recipe binder pretty much complete, I’m curious if a video flip-through would be of interest? I could give you some commentary on my favorite recipes? I’m not really much of a video person, but thought this could be fun. Let me know what you think!
P.S. If our dry erase board is sold out, this one looks very similar! Ours is fine but nothing particularly special, so don’t worry about going with a different one :)
Today is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day! How cool! While I don’t think of myself as a traditional environmentalist (it’s just not one of the first labels that springs to mind when I think of myself!), I really, really love the Earth and think often about how I can keep her beautiful. We’ve talked about various efforts our family has made over the years, but today I thought I’d highlight a few in one spot (and I’d love to hear yours, too). If you, too, find a lot of the conversation around sustainability and eco-friendliness to be really discouraging and overwhelming, welcome. The power of little-by-little is alive and well here, and I’m excited to cheer each other on as we swap ideas today!
SUSTAINABLE SWAPS AND CHANGES WE’VE MADE:
Using cloth towels and rags instead of paper towels | I wrote about this 5 years ago, and I’m including it first on this list because it was a real aha moment for me: John was initially resistant to this swap, but I eventually realized even if he wasn’t onboard I could still change my own behavior. Half a decade later, we’re still going strong (with the same set of towels, ha!) – this change alone has saved us more than a thousand dollars! We’ve also used 100% cloth napkins for meals for years – our favorites are these from Ikea.
Reducing meat in our meals | Though we do have a few meatless meals in our regular rotation, something I’ve found to be even more doable in our current life stage is reducing meat instead of eliminating it entirely. In almost every recipe we make (aside from something like, you know, meatloaf), I’ll half the meat called for, and double the veggies or beans. This has been extremely successful for us – we still get the flavor and depth of meat, but our consumption has basically dropped by half. And I can still rely on my trusty stash of recipes instead of searching out all-new vegetarian favorites!
Buying secondhand, swapping with friends, and reselling or donating when we’re finished | 90% of our kiddos’ clothes is secondhand or a hand-me-down from a relative or friend. Likewise, most of our toys and kid gear is secondhand, passed down, or borrowed (as far as it’s safe to do so). When we’re finished with something, we aim to pass it on instead of trashing it, either through reselling at a consignment sale or on Facebook Marketplace or through donation!
Keeping things for a loooooong time | John and I both come from a hearty stock of thrifty people, and combined with our love for personal finance and hefty money goals, this is a no-brainer. Whether it’s a sofa or car we’ve had for a decade or a shirt we’ve worn since college, we simply don’t replace our things that often. And when we do, we almost always consider a secondhand option first.
Reusing wrapping items | Though I haven’t graduated to my grandmother’s level of folding and reusing wrapping paper, I use the same satin and grosgrain ribbon to tie things off year after year. I also store and reuse tissue paper, boxes, and gift bags, and wrap more things than not in recycled kraft paper (cheap and you can paint designs on it if you’re feeling crafty – fun with kids, too!).
Reducing packaging on cleaning supplies | After hearing rave reviews from friends, we bought the starter pack from Blueland (cleaning supplies and foaming hand soap you replenish with a tablet!) and can’t wait to get started! You can try it here with my referral link and get a free pack of refills with a new subscription.
Using a Lunette cup | I hesitate to recommend this, because I don’t feel like I’ve completely mastered it, but a few months ago I bought a Lunette cup after years of considering it. The waste from a monthly cycle adds up over the years, so I’ll keep experimenting!
Driving more than flying | Since having kiddos, we’ve done a lot more driving to destinations like Connecticut, Maine, and Michigan than flying. Though I don’t think this is perfect math, and we’ve made this swap firstly for other reasons than eco-friendliness, it’s a happy by-product.
Meal planning, eating leftovers, and using reusable containers | Pretty self explanatory, but all greatly help reduce food waste! We received a set of glass storage containers from our wedding registry (similar to these) and they’re still going strong 7+ years later – we use them to store leftovers and take food to and from work. June and Shep take their lunches to school in these bento boxes, which completely eliminate plastic baggies (we have 4).
Composting | The newest addition to our repertoire! I also come from a long line of composters, and it’s something I’ve wanted to try for several years – but I was intimidated by doing it on my own, and didn’t really want to allocate space for it in our small yard. Earlier this year, I had another aha moment: our neighborhood has a community garden with a compost barrel, and I could easily add our output to the community bin! I bought a countertop container in January and haven’t looked back. I empty it every 5-7 days when I’m already on my way out of the neighborhood, and it works great!
Loving the Earth and teaching our children to do the same | In How to Raise a Wild Child, the author makes the point that the best way to help the earth is to have a personal and deep connection to it – and to raise a next generation who does, too. We make a point to spend time in the beautiful places we love, both close to home and farther afield, to keep them close to our hearts. Many are pictured throughout this post.
Things we’d like to try next: using reusable bags at stores other than the grocery, shopping more at our farmer’s market, buying more of my own clothing secondhand, exploring refillable/reusable packaging for beauty products (like this deodorant), replacing Ziploc freezer bags, and bringing our own takeout containers to restaurants (feels so bold but I’m sure once we do it the first time it will be less scary!).
Friends, I’d love to hear: what Earth-friendly swaps have you successfully tried at home? What’s next on your list? I can’t wait to learn from your successes!
