How do you file the old Cooking Light recipes?

[MC]

Help! I have 5 years of Cooking Light magazines. I'm looking for a way to archive the recipes that I liked. The magazines are starting to take up a lot of room. Do you cut out the recipes that you liked? Do you rewrite them? How do you keep track? I need some suggestions, please!!!

[Peggy]

I solve my excess magazine problem by buying the Cooking Light Annual Recipe Cookbooks every year. That way, I not only have my favorite recipes but I also have all of the other recipes for that year in one spot. I go through these cookbooks almost weekly and continue trying new recipes from previous years. When someone on the bulletin board recommends an older recipe, I have it neatly at my fingertips. I have done this for the last four years and it works well for me. I then pass along my previous years of CL to a friend that has not yet been converted.

Lots of people use Mastercook and other software packages, but I'm not ready to make that leap into cyberspace. I use a computer enough every day for work and school. Besides, I like to leaf through cookbooks instead of sitting in front of a computer screen.

Good luck finding the right system for you!

Peggy

[Lauren]

Thank you for this post! I was wondering the very same thing! I have stacks of CL in various places around the house. I think I'll buy the annual books. Can I buy last year's edition? I don't really want to cut the magazines up. I was also thinking of buying those stand-up baskets that hold magazines. I saw them at Target, but am unsure how many issues one would hold.

[LIsaP]

In anticipation of my move in a few weeks, I just recently went through 4 years of Cooking Lights and cut out all of the recipies that I wanted to save. I then divided into main dishes, sides, breads/muffins and desserts and stuck them in clear paper protectors and put in 3 ring binders. So far it is great! I got a huge box of the paper protectors at Staples for $10.
It is great to have easy access to the recipies and I am actually able to use them now!

[CrystalB]

I recently bought my first CL Annual Recipe cookbook- I love it! I wish there were more pictures but I love the convience of having all the recipes in one book. I plan to go through my old CL's and cut out the pictures I want to have for visual cues and insert them into the new book.

[lindrusso]

Originally posted by Lauren:
I think I'll buy the annual books. Can I buy last year's edition? I don't really want to cut the magazines up.

Lauren,

Here's the link for the annual cookbooks. They have three different years listed (scroll down to the yellow box). Note that the title of the book is misleading - the 2000 cookbook has the recipes for 1999. I'm going to order one myself.
http://www.oxmoorhouse.com/Brands/CookingLight/default.asp?mscssid=8P1SHFJHE4S92NH700J74KLRABF4C4 V8


[This message has been edited by lindrusso (edited 08-30-2000).]

[lindrusso]

Lauren,

Sorry, it's me again. I just found all those annual cookbooks at www.amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com) for $28 instead of $35 (through Oxmoor). Might even find it cheaper elsewhere, so you may want to shop around first!

[JillC]

I'm in the middle of this project. I'm doing what LisaP (above post) does -- cutting recipes out, categorizing them, and putting them in plastic sheets in a three ring binder. My problem is that I end up rereading the whole magazine again and it slows me down!
Jill

[Lauren]

Thanks for the tips on where to buy the Annual Recipe books. My Mom picked up the 2000 edition at BJ's Wholesale Club, I don't know how much it was. But, it I want previous editions, I'll most likely have to pay full-price. I'll check Amazon.com.

[Pat]

There are bookstores in Cincinnati named Half-Price books and they have old CL annual recipe books for 7.95. I picked up 1990-1993 last year. They have a large cookbook section. That is the first store my daughter takes me when I visit her.

You might check to see if they have a web site or call them to see if they would ship. I bet they would. I get a joy out of looking through the cookbook section of any bookstore.

[This message has been edited by Pat (edited 08-30-2000).]

[BeckyM]

I guess I'm just a pack-rat, but I can't bear to part with any of my old CL magazines! I like saving the articles on fitness & other topics, besides just having the recipes. Also, I'm afraid if I cut out the recipes I'm interested in NOW, I'll throw away one that might interest me later. So, I keep all my old magazines in those stand-up magazine holders (they hold about a year or a little less for each holder). I also go through each month and put little sticky-note tabs on the pages of the recipes I want to try, and I write the name of the recipe on the tab. That makes it easier for me to find the recipes. I also keep the annual indexes with the old magazines, so I can look through those for interesting recipe titles, then find them in the old magazines. I know this system takes up more space than others, but it works for me! I don't know if I'll still feel that way after I have another five years of magazines piled up though! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

Becky

[Beth Y]

As I have said on previous post, I cut or tear out all the recipes I find interesting. Then I file them by type (main dish, breakfast, soup, etc) in file folders in a big manila folder. At the beginning of a week, I go through the file and pull out things to try. If it is a "keeper" for both DH and I, then it gets pasted in a blank book that I bought and put category tabs on. This way I create a "family" book of T&T favorites, which we refer to often. I used to put all the recipes in a book that I found interesting, but that was way too many and I was stuck with them when I didn't like the recipe. Hanging on to the magazines is not an option, as we have NO storage space in our house. If a recipe is raved about on this BB and I don't have the recipe for it, I always have you wonderful people to save me!

[This message has been edited by Beth Y (edited 09-06-2000).]

[Angelina]

Do these Cooking Light cookbooks contain ALL the recipes for a given year? Knowing me, I would go through all my magazines and rip out the ones that are missing. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

[Laura]

I recently went through this problem because I had 10 years of CL. I went through the magazine and cut out all ads, fitness, non-recipe pages and put the slimmed down versions in a 3 ring binder. I think in the future though I am just going to do the recipes that intrigue me. Although I love CL there are often recipes that I know I will never try simply because of some ingredient. Why am I keeping them?

[CLustik]

I have also been struggling with this issue. I have just started a system, but haven't been using it long enough to tell you if it works. I went through all the magazines and tore out the whole pages with the recipes I wanted plus the cover page. I 3 whole punched them and reinforced the holes. I am putting the pages in order of month and page in a binder. One year per binder. I am also printing out the annual indexes and putting those at the end of the binders. I connect some recipes with the covers, I also have the monthly indexes at the back of each magazine and the yearly. So there are 3 ways to look.

It sounds like a lot of work, but I don't have kids and it's not a bad passtime for while watching tv.

[Peggy]

Angelina,

I believe that starting with the CL Annual Recipes Cookbook 1997 (which contains the recipes from 1996), they have every recipe from every issue. Prior to the 1997 Cookbook, I don't think that all of the recipes are in them. That is my understanding.

Peggy

[Kathy]

I just put my recipes in 3 ring photo albums..peel the plastic back and they are protected.

[CrystalB]

If you decide to buy the Annual Recipe book, do shop around. I bought the 2000 book at a discount book store last weekend for $17. What a deal!!!!!!!

[Homecook]

I use the CookWare software from Cooking Light and have every since they started that program. You only use the ones you want but have excess to all if you so desire. It has all the recipes from the magazine and so easy to use. It can be used with MasterCook or stand alone. The price is very good. The "favorites" can be printed out and I put these in a binder that is indexed. I also put these on a CD RW so I'll never loose them. All this takes about 5 - 10 minutes and is sooo convenient. I must admit I also keep the magazines for reference and have these in wood magazines holders that holds a year. I have these made for me and they are painted to match my kitchen decor on a top shelf. Decorative and useful. Hope this helps.

[food girl]

I have tried several different methods. I am doing something similar to Beth. I clip recipes from the magazine (magazines, internet..) and put them in an expandable folder by groups such as pasta, main dish, appetizer etc.

Do-overs get added to a 3 ring binder with those plastic sheet-covers. I put a sheet of colored paper in the sleeves and the recipes stay in place. I have green paper for vegetables, yellow for pasta, you get the idea.

As you can see I have strong OCD tendencies! I can't stand having magazines cluttering up my kitchen! I thought about the cookbooks, but I can see myself in 2010 saying " Now was that recipe from 1999 or 2003"?

I think this would be an interesting aspect for the magazine to cover.

[SandyDee]

What great ideas posted here. I am not sure which one I will employ or if I will just invest in the cook packs. But frankly all of the manual ones sound fun to do as well and an opportunity to get creative in our own rights. What fun!! I think it is time to do some house cleaning. Off to the office supply store first though.

[Lauren]

I'm confused about the Annual Recipe books. I thought the 2000 edition was all recipes from 1999, however, the blueberry pound cake on the cover (One of my favorites!) is a 1998 recipe. Also, what is the difference between MasterCook and CookWare? Can they both be purchased at a store, or are they available through CL?

[laden]

Lauren, I believe the cookbook with the Blueberry Pound Cake on the cover is a special edition cookbook. The 2000 (recipes from 1999) has a different cover. I know it's blue but I can't remember what the food item is.

Anyway, I was one of those people that wanted to save the magazines so I could read the articles and see the pictures. (I had several years worth) Then two years ago my friend gave me the 1998 annual and it really liberated me. I threw away all my issues from that year, bought the following year and threw those magazines out as well.

It was also like getting a brand new cookbook to browse through. I would highly recommend the annual cookbooks.

[Lauren]

Laden,
Thank you for explaining the various cookbooks to me. Now I'm on a MasterCook software kick! I think that might work well for me. You can even print out shopping lists with the ingrediants needed for trying the recipes. Anyway, I too need to be liberated from the stacks of CL!

[Lisa D]

Thought I would put in my two cents here. I have been subscribing to CL for about 4 years now and I love having the magazines so I don't throw them out. What I do is I stick post it flags with the recipe title (or the gist of it) written on it for the recipes that sound good and interesting to me (this is some times a lot, sometimes not many). Then when I make one of the recipes and it is a "keeper" it gets written on a recipe card with any alterations in ingredients or cooktime. If I make one I am not crazy about, I just take off the flag and back the magazine goes into the cardboard holder for that year.
This really works for me because if I need a tried and true recipe for company or picnic or whatever, I go to the recipe box. If I want to try something new, I look at the magazines. This may be too cumbersome for those who cook all the time, but for me a "sometimes gourmet" it does the trick.
Lisa

[BevP]

Whenever my CL magazines pile up, I go through and put them in the master cook cooking light program. It does take time but once done, they take absolutely no room at all. I love that program. It's a great way to organize recipes from all over.

[JennyLiz]

Do the cookpacs have pictures? I'm such a visual person, that would help me...

In the meantime, I've done the binder thing too. It's worked out well, but does take time to maintain it.

[BarbaraL]

Strangely enough, I was just bringing this topic up on another thread, but deleted it because it's such a big topic! I, too, have a hard time throwing out the magazines, even when I have the annual cookbook (how anal retentive is THAT). But I also like the fitness articles. Plus, I've been able to find some lost recipes requested on the board (then, of course, I have to try them).

I've tried all kinds of methodsof cataloging. I had a 3-ring binder into which I put recipes I'm interested in (sometimes I copy them into my computer, sometimes I photocopy them -- I hate to cut up my magazine. You destroy the recipe on the back, then someone posts how good it is). Some of them are recipes I've printed from this bulletin board! Trouble is, I should keep separate the recipes I've tried and the ones I haven't (tried-and-true versus the unknown). I've also put sticky notes on the issues -- but you still wind up leafing through stacks of magazines. I have a bunch of magazine holders from Ikea -- they work great, but still take up room. I've been reading the software/MasterCook threads with interest -- haven't taken the plunge yet. I really enjoy seeing the pictures of the food (although I thought the African peanut soup looked weird, and wouldn't have tried it except for the rave reviews on the bulletin board)! There's probably no perfect system.

Has anyone looked at the new CL cookbook yet (the Complete CL Cookbook, or whatever)? They mailed it to me yesterday (unsolicited -probably because I bought the last annual cookbook), but haven't opened it yet. It sounds interesting, but I wonder if I already have most of those recipes. I'm trying to control my cookbook-junkie-itis. Oh, well, it's just ONE more cookbook!

[BarbaraL]

Forgot to mention, as discussed earlier in this thread, check out the sale racks at bookstores! I picked up the CL Annual 1998 at Borders for $4.98 (of course, it was near the end of 1999). You have to search, but can get a bargain!

[Norma]

I have a database that I enter the items of a recipe that I might want to know about in the future...like anything perishible I might have in the frig. I go to my database and look up bok choy. It gives me all the recipes that have bok choy in them and it tells me the other ingredients, the magazine it came from, the month/year/page. Not only do I enter perishibles, but also anything I have in the pantry that I would like to use up to keep the stuff rotating. I can search for crock pot and get all the crock pot recipes that have been in the magazine, etc. This still works when I have thrown away all the magazines after I get the Annual Recipe Book.

[Holly in KC]

I can't imagine throwing away my CL's (or cutting them up). I find my tastes change from year to year, and may try a recipe I hadn't noticed before a year or two later.

I keep my CL's organized by month in 6 stacking magazine organizers (2 months per organizer). I pull out a new months' worth of magazines about a week before the month arrives. I find that many of the recipes rely on what is new/fresh in the produce section, and therefore, it's easier to find fresh ingredients this way. Additionally, I have a whole stack of issues to re-read each month... what fun! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

As I try recipes, I note the date and comments about success/time to prepare near the recipe. I also record each recipe in an Excel file (noting date made, source, a "star" ranking (i.e.: 5 stars through no stars), type of food (i.e.: meat, veggie, etc.), and a few comments about what to serve with it. When I'm hungry for a particular food, or want to find an old recipe again, I go to my Excel file and search for a key word. It's easy to find the recipe in the magazine (or cookbook) from there.

[Grace]

Holly,

Now you have some ideas I really like!! Even though I have CL CookWare software, and use it extensively, I also keep my magazines. I keep them in chronological order in the CL binders that I buy from CL, but I really LOVE your idea of putting them in binders by month, then taking out that months binder and re-reading through it! How fun! I too, find that my tastes change, and recipes that I probably wouldn't have thought about making 2, 3, 4 or more years later, now seem interesting to me. I do, however, immediately transfer any recipe that I've really liked into my "favorites" category in the CookWare software, so as not to forget that it was a winner! But thanks for your terrific ideas - I may just go and sort through my magazines (collecting them since 1991!) and reorganize them by months. Thanks for the great tips!

Grace

[almiter]

You can find tons of CL annual cookbooks on EBay as well as any other software. I highly recommend it.

[carolyn.1]

This is my system that works very well for me. I have the magazines and the Annual's. I like to keep the magazines for the visual of the recipe, if I fix a recipe that is a keeper I will log it on a 3 x 5 index card and put it in a recipe box (only CL) this recipe box is catagorized like any other recipe box. I do not write the recipe on the card though I use it as a reference card, with comments on the dish and what page, what year annual to find the recipe.
Carolyn--

[hhcowgirl]

On a slightly different note (and this may be self-evident to most), I love to, when I find a recipe posted on the BB, simply click "save as" and it is instantly saved on my hard drive. It's fun to go back at the end of the month or whenever and make whatever has caught your eye on the bb recently.