The Perfect Recipe Book…and so much more…

True story…Mr. T and I were  married about two weeks when I decided to have my first dinner party. I was beyond excited…Set the date, invited the guests, cleaned the house, picked out a menu…wait a minute, a menu? I was 22, and didn’t have a clue in the kitchen. Being the young, naïve newlywed that I was, I thought all recipes were created equal and I was about to learn a big lesson. For some strange reason I decided that a corn casserole would be a wonderful addition to our dinner that night. Let’s just say…it wasn’t! Easily one of the worst things I have ever eaten…and that’s a stretch. Maybe I should say the worst thing I have ever tasted. It was not edible. At all. Ick!

After that I stayed out of the kitchen for the most part. Well, maybe it was after the dinner party we had when I served lasagna. It wasn't terrible, but a one of our guests found a ladybug in her lasagna... Not good. So it was after the ladybug incident that I stayed out of the kitchen. Soon after, we moved, had a baby, had another baby, another move, and before I knew it I was a SAHM on a little budget with four mouths to feed. Every morning, noon and night. I need recipes. Good ones. Fast. I turned to everyone one I knew that had more experience in the kitchen than I did. My favorite aunt gave me a subscription to Southern Living. So I cooked, copied recipes, cut them out, and stuffed them into every nook in the kitchen. They were everywhere. It was time to do something.

I was able to scrape together eight dollars. I bought a 3-ring binder, a pack of 5 dividers (with pockets), a pack of sheet protectors and I came up with a book that 7 years later I live by. It’s my Bible. I love it. I want to marry it. It gets me through the days, weeks, and months. Can you feel my love for it? It has pockets in the front and in the back. It holds all of my recipes, and any other ideas and thoughts that I love. I cut and stuff on a weekly basis and everything goes into this notebook. It’s a must have. It’s a combination of all of my favorite magazines and idea books without a bunch of fluff. Everything in it I love. I know I love, and my family loves. It makes my life easy!

The front inside pocket is filled with house and decorating ideas.

The back pocket is filled with gardening ideas. (It's time for pansies people!!!)

And the middle is filled with recipes tried and true that my family loves. It’s divided into five sections: appetizers/salads, vegetables/vegetarian, chicken/fish, meats, and sweets/breakfast. I keep plenty of extra page protectors in the binder for days when I cut things out. It works great…nothing needs a hole punch.  I just slide them right in and the page protectors do just that when things get messy in the kitchen.

Marlene has informed me that page protectors are too expensive...this coming from the woman that buys $400 designer jeans...

Rachel :)