Over the past year, I have used Evernote to have me be more organized with the "what's for dinner" dilemma. I took all the recipes that I had in my three ring binder out of their plastic sleeves and starting my recipe library in Evernote. With the Evernote Web Clipper in Firefox, I was able to search for the recipes and clip the webpage into Evernote. For those recipes I could not find on the internet or the handwritten family recipes, I scanned them in.
Let me tell you why I LOVE this! I have Evernote on my laptop, iphone & ipad. If I'm in the grocery store and I decide I want to make my delicious spaghetti sauce. I can pull up the app on my phone and get right to my recipe without have to navigate through Safari. It's amazing & a lifesaver. How many times have you walked out of the house and left the "printed" recipe on the counter. You're saving trees and your insanity.
Here's a screenshot of how I have my Evernote set-up:
Here's some more details on my methodology of using Evernote for recipes –
If I clip if for the web, then it goes directly into a folder that I have designated called "To be organized". I leave it in this folder until I actually make the recipe. Then I can decide if it's worth keeping or not. No need to file it, if you don't love it. If I love it, then I put it in my recipe folder and change the title of the note to the categories I have designated within my recipe folder.
So let me explain recipe categories. It's the same way you would set up your traditional recipe book with tabs or the different chapters in an actual recipe book. I use the following categories:
- Main Dish
- Appetizer
- Side Dish
- Vegetable
- Dessert
- Breakfast
- Soup
This way all the same categories appear together. This is just my method. The sky is the limit with Evernote on how you want to organize your recipes.
When I get ready to cook, I can pull them up on my phone or ipad. This has been especially helpful when we go out of town and we are looking for something to cook.
So in my very own OCD way, I have made one of my least fun "things to do" more enjoyable with a little effort, organization & Evernote. I promise you will never go back to that three ring binder.
Side Note – Do you keep magazine because you like the recipes? Well just search those recipes on the web and clip them. Then recycle all of that old magazines that are cluttering up your house.
As an added bonus to this very information blog and a thank you for reading all the way through, here are some links to my favorite recipes.
- Grilled Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos - A great appetizer for a party. super easy and quick to prepare.
http://allrecipes.com/search/default.aspx?qt=k&wt=Grilled%20Bacon%20Jalapeno%20Wraps%20Recipe&rt=r&origin=Home%20Page - Brie & Sausage Breakfast Casserole - My favorite breakfast casserole EVER. I make this for Christmas morning every year. It's also great if you are hosting a brunch.
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/brie-and-sausage-breakfast-casserole-10000000403274/ - Easy Chicken & Dumplings - A great recipe for a cold day. It freezes well too.
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/easy-chicken-dumplings-10000001951477/ - King Ranch Chicken Mac & Cheese - Do you get tired of box Velvetta mac & cheese? Well this is the upgrade. It's delicious and it also freezes well. (do you see a pattern here?)
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/king-ranch-chicken-mac-cheese-50400000118342/ - Black Bean Salad - A great, fresh recipe. It always makes my summer more delicious.
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/black-bean-salad-10000000257591/
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