There was a time I had subscriptions to multiple magazines at one time. Though I am down to only two at the moment (Food Network and Yankee), I still find myself eyeing the racks at grocery stores and bookstores. They’re such a colorful feast for the eyes.
Over the years, I have also managed to rip out and collect a mess of recipes from these magazines. At first, I layered them in a pile in the cupboard that held my other cookbooks. Then I wised up and got them three-hole-punched and into a binder. But today, I finally conquered the sorting and organization of them all. Yahoo! I also went through a stack of magazines that I had kept with the intention of culling recipes from them before recycling.
Why now? I feel major nesting vibes prior to the start of each school year. I clean out closets and pantries, bring hauls to Good Will, and buy organizing tubs for my drawers, which I will complain about six months from now when they are filled with crumbs. So why not organize the recipes, too?
And who cares? My family does. I am in a rut. I have leftover vegetables and see only one option -to chop them up, arrange them on a plate in colorful groupings, cook some rotini, and offer them “make your own pasta salad” for supper. Stick a bottle of Italian dressing and a cup of salsa on the table for some interest, and dinner is done.
This is actually a great idea for kids. They do like it. It’s just that mine have had it eighteen times over the last two months. Last night, they gave me the weakest little smile before eating it yet again.
And so, it’s time to refresh the recipes in this family’s queue.
It started off a little like this:
And ended up nice and tidy like this:
I divided things up into these categories:
- Apps and Snacks
- Brunch
- Salads
- Soups
- Fish
- Pasta
- Chicken and Pork
- Beef
- Veggies
- Grains
- Breads
- Desserts
- Holidays
The high in Colorado today was 73 degrees. It was cloudy and perfect for this task. I feel satisfied and hungry.
Here are some good looking recipes I reconnected with today. I pulled these out, because they are mostly seasonal. They make use of summer corn and tomatoes, fruit, and leftover spinach, which I always seem to have. Some are just fun.
And this one is certainly not seasonal, but it’s not too far off. I saw ceramic pumpkins at the grocery store just today. Also, Jameson’s face lit up when I flipped to this spot in the binder. 🙂
Happy meal planning to you. I’m off to the grocery store and farmers’ market this weekend … time to crawl out of the rut.
