Easy Way to Keep Recipes Organized

Do you have a pile of recipes you've clipped from magazines and newspapers but can't find what you want? Do you have a small recipe box filled to overflowing with index cards and folded up recipes and you never know what's there?

What's the easiest way to keep recipes so they can be organized the way you want them, they're accessible all the time and they don't get full of spots from food? Put them in the plastic sheets that are used for photos. Then put them in a three ring binder.

You can organize them by categories if you want. They are all in the same place. They are easy to read and see the whole recipe. You can take them out when you cook and don't have to worry about anything spilling on them, you just wipe it off.

You can get the plastic sheets at Staples or Office Max or Office Depot or go to two of my favorite places for photo supplies Century Photo and Light Impressions. Get the catalog. Don't look online because it is easier to see their products in the paper catalog.

Century Photo www.centuryphoto.com and 1-800-767-0777.

Light Impressions www.lightimpressionsdirect.com and 1-800-828-6216.

Disaster Preparedness, Yet Again (Photos)

As any regular readers know one of my real areas of interest is disaster preparedness. Leah Ingram who has a terrifc blog on how her family is living a green life just had a post about fire safety involving ashes from a fireplace and some other causes of home fires. The Lean Green Family (formerly Suddenly Frugal): Fire Safety for Everyone I never thought of fireplaces ashes causing a fire but this should be read by everyone who has a fireplace and uses it. She also writes about some other common household causes of fires such as candles.

I recently did a presentation about getting organized at my local library and briefly did a section on organizing photos. I also mentioned something that most peple never think about which is what happens if there is a fire or other catastrophe and their home is destroyed. If you read in the news about fires or floods the two things that people always mention losing are their jewelry and their photos. I used to suggest that people pick out some of the most important photos and make copies and store them with a friend or neighbor or a relative across the country. Today you can burn them into a CD and put it in a safe deposit box or send them to a friend or someone out of your area.

Many people store all of their digital photos on their computer and don't think that if their hard drive crashes or there is a catastrophe they will lose all the photos. It can be good to take a few minutes precaution and safeguard those photos. You can replace clothing or furniture or other things but you can't get the photos back.