Help! Too many recipes!

[ElinorC]

I have so many recipes that I want to try that it's becoming very frustrating. There's only my husband and I and we both have to watch our calories. Everyone has such good recipes that I have difficulty choosing among them. I guess I'll have learn to be more selective.

[RunnerKim]

I have the exact same problem! The worst part is trying new desserts - I currently have 6 bags of 2 slices each of black forest cheesecake in my freezer. Trying to fit 12g fat for dessert into my day is no easy task (original recipe is 8g but I didn't pay close enough attention when making my shopping list).

Kim

[nancy f]

I feel your pain, Elinor! Everytime I cook something good, my husband laments that he will never see again because I have too many other recipes to catch up on. That's why I have a love/hate thing for my Cooking Light subscription--so many good things to try, so little time! I get excited when I get invited to a party or some event where I can cook something special (read: a dessert) to bring. What's a time-strapped cook to do?

[Cathy]

Well, you are not alone! I have tons of recipes I haven't tried too. A large cookbook collection, subscriptions to other cooking magazines and lots of clipped ones too. I am getting a lot more picky these days though. I only collect things that I really think I may get around to trying. It's nice to be able to pull out a file or a book on a particular cuisine and have lots to choose from. Don't despair. I think part of the fun is in the collecting and learning about new dishes.

[Vanessa]

Good morning! I had to laugh because my husband also worries that he won't see a recipe again. The ones he really likes I am marking wirh a magic marker so it catches my attention. I have been cutting and pasting recipes that I really want but now I have 6 books. Luckily 4 have indexes (husband did that)There are so many great recipes we would have to cook hrs a day to try them all right?

[ElinorC]

I had to laugh at the comments about husbands never seeing a recipe again. That's one of my hubbies complaints. I've had to go back into my recipes every once in a while to make "an oldie but goodie". There's only so much experimenting that he'll tolerate without griping!

[RunnerKim]

This probably sounds horribly anal - but I do have a database with all our favorite meals - broken down by type of meat or non-meat and then a few categories that I seem to plan my menu by (pasta, rice, and i'm a big pizza lover).

It all started actually when I couldn't think of what to make for dinner - we were having the same things every week. Now it's the opposite problem!

Kim

[CATHIEA]

When I first joined Weight Watchers some years ago, I learned that one of my eating problems was that I was suffering from food boredom-repeating the same few recipes over and over again, so that I was eating larger portions instead of enjoying the taste of my food. I began a goal-to make at least one new maincourse and one new side each week. At first it was really hard to do, but now, like the rest of you, I find I make new recipes almost every night. My husband, who grieves for old favorites, finally asked that I start an "oldies by goodies" night. This works pretty well for us.
Does this help Elinor?
CathieA-Whose STILL not finished with June CL because there were SO many good things to try!

[anna]

You all are so funny - I can totally relate to all of your comments. I have so many cookbooks that I sit and read, magazines galore and lists of things to try! I am so glad there are others like me out there. Thanks to Weight Watcher's and Cooking Light, I keep all this (or try to) in check but I would love to constantly try new stuff and eat it! From reading this board over the last months I've gotten so inspired to try more new things. I always think I'll make three or four new things a week, but end up at best getting one in. I like the idea of setting a goal each week to try one or two new things. You all have helped me get my thoughts organized about menu planning, grocery shopping, and inspired me to keep trying. Food boredom only makes me reach for something really fattening to make up for being bored and that's not what I need! Thanks for all the good tips and for making me see i'm not alone in this quest!

[rissole]

I'm so glad you posted that. Like one of the other posters above, I too have a love/hate relationship with CL. Sometimes I almost dread it when a new issue comes out, because then that means 60-100 more recipes to wade through. (Frankly, I wish CL were a lot smaller.) And it can be a nightmare trying to winnow through them all to determine the recipes I plan to try. I have to admit that often I make certain recipes because I feel that I *should* make them, rather than because I truly want to. (It's hard for me to verbalize that--I hope you understand what I'm saying.)

My partial solution to the recipe glut out there is as follows. First, I try not to look at any other food magazines besides CL, because it's so huge. Sometimes I make exceptions, though. When I look at each issue of CL, I try to go through it only *once*, writing down the recipes I would like to try. I've found that, as a rule, roughly two recipes a week is the most I can try and still keep my sanity. One of the most valuable tactics I've found is to be VERY picky. Lately, I've only been writing down recipes that seem really good, novel, etc. The Greatest Hits section has helped me a lot in this regard. Finally--and this may be the best advice of all--I'm learning to "just say NO." I've begun realizing that I'm only human, that there are only so many recipes I can realistically try, and that the other recipes will just have to fall by the wayside. Sad as it may seem, some of those recipes just have to be allowed to "die." It's either that or my sanity, and I'll gladly choose the latter any day. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Marcie]

And now a message from a semi-reformed "recipe hoarder." I've learned that, if a recipe is merely good but no one at the table is raving, throw the recipe out! (Or at least mark the CL index so you know it wasn't a top favorite.) I used to keep every recipe I tried, okay results or otherwise. Then I finally asked myself, with so many new things to try, and so many fantastic recipes in my repertoire now, why on earth must I dig through this pile of mediocrity in search for the great ones?

I totally agree with the person from the fruit crisp thread who basically said, we all have a great fruit crisp recipe by now. Why should I try another one, unless there is something truly not-of-this-world about it? That's why I so much appreciate people's recipe reviews here - saves us the trouble of making a recipe that stands a good chance of being merely okay.

[Grace]

I'm with you Marcie!! That's exactly how I felt about the Cherry Coffeecake from the July issue (and many other things in the past, but that was the most recent one!). Anyway, with SOOO much to try, and with sooo many already fantastic recipes, why waste time with stuff that's just OK. My time (as everyone else's is) is valuable, and my grocery bill is big enough not to waste any of it on stuff that's just "OK"....

If a recipe is just "OK", and certainly if it's a definite "do not repeat", I delete it entirely from my Cookware Software! I'd hate to forget that I tried something, only to try it again down the road and dislike it again! That would aggravate me to no end!!

[Ohioan]

Thank goodness I'm not the only one who has this problem -- I was starting to feel like an obsessive freak! I suppose the most systematic way to solve the problem would be to line up all the recipes and make one each day until we get through the whole lineup. Of course, by then we'll have added another 100 or so recipes.... Besides, who wants to be so systematic?

Maybe set one day each week to try something we've never done before? Maybe a whole meal of somethings we've never done before? Oh, I dunno.... http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/confused.gif

Actually, just leafing through all the recipes sometimes gives me an idea about some new variation on an old standby.

[This message has been edited by Ohioan (edited 07-14-2000).]

[lorilei]

I will agree with each of your sentiments...

But let's put a whole new spin on things! Each of us certainly enjoys food -- and think of how blessed we are to have an abundance of (possibly) good ideas to try! Even if it takes us months or years!

We will certainly never be bored -- or boring!!



[This message has been edited by lorilei (edited 07-14-2000).]

[ElinorC]

I heartily agree with the 'be very picky' philosophy. Sometimes a person will give a great review of a recipe and even though my gut feeling says that we won't care for it, I try it anyway with negative results. I have to realize that everyone has different tastes and we won't all agree about a recipe. I also appreciate the not so favorable reviews since that saves me the effort of trying a recipe. There's certainly enough good recipes to try without spending time on the mediocre ones. I'm glad so many people feel the same way I do. I was beginning to feel like a total nut!

[nancy f]

When I first replied to this comment, I thought it would go no further than a bunch of us just venting our frustrations about having too many options. But instead, I picked up some really good advice about knowing where to draw the line: make a commitment to try just one or two new things a week; discard recipes that are only mediocre; and use tools like this bulletin board to identify those recipes that aren't worth trying in the first place. Kim's suggestion about the database is a little more than I can do, however. You must be an organizational wonder woman, Kim!

Thanks, everyone, for the good suggestions!

[laden]

I read cookbooks or cooking magazines all the time. I have so many [cookbooks] I could never use all of them and still order more.If we had the Food Network I'd really be in trouble! It's just the way I like to spend my free time.

It's nice to know I'm not the only one who doesn't have enough days in the week to try new recipes. I really enjoy the CL bulletin boards for recommendations and the CL Greatest Hits. If I can make a few of these each month I'm happy!

[Ohioan]

Wow, this has turned out to be a really enlightening discussion! Inspired by the folks who suggested discarding unsuccessful or barely successful recipes, I started going through my hundreds of backlogged recipes from various sources, and discovered that I had dozens of near-duplicates -- differing only by, say, 1/4 tsp of a seasoning, or the substitution of chili paste for hot bean paste (or tarragon for rosemary), or the addition of a particular vegetable to a mixture of vegetables, or a splash of vinegar or lime juice added at the end, or something equally minor. Not that these subtle differences wouldn't change flavors at all, but that a given change really doesn't warrant a whole index card in the file box or a page in the loose-leaf binder.

So I think my next project will be going through the recipes to see which one of all the similar recipes I'll save as my master recipe, with a "variations" section tacked on at the end. Of course, this could take a very long time, so maybe I'll start by just clipping all the similar recipes together so I can see that they are near-duplicates.

ElinorC, I can't thank you enough for bringing up the subject. And thanks to everyone else for the tips -- and the companionship!

[TamiK]

I have to agree with those who say, "Why bother?" if it's not something new and unusual. I use my Cooking Light by Master Cook to track those oldies-but-goodies. When a new recipe gets raves, I put it in my own personal cookbook I've titled "Family Favorites." This is one of the two new cookbooks I created within the Master Cook program. The other is "Try These" for tnose recipes that I know I'll lose if I don't make them. Just one more way the computer makes life easier!

The only thing to watch is that you need to enter those recipes as soon as you're sure you want to make them again. Otherwise, it becomes one of those things that never gets done!

[Ed]

Hi!

I agree with Marcie. I too, keep only the recipes that we think are Great.

I have one cookbook (3 ring binder) when I find a recipe that is a great one, then I type it and print it and put it in the cookbook.

I have many recipe books and Magazines etc. But I try to just have the one cook book for the recipes we really like. It does take more time to do this but in the long run I think it is more simple.

But then I keep a list of the really good restaraunts in our area because when we want to go out to eat we can't seem to think of where we want to go, so I made a list of the places we like and I keep it in my Day Runner. Now I just look at the list and we pick one.

Best Wishes,

Ed