Find and compile easy & healthy recipes

So what with my move to Chicago being 8 SLEEPS AWAY (!), I’m really trying to kick this goal into high gear.

I designed a template in Pages (Mac equivalent to Word), and have started filling it with recipes. After the move, I plan to print out the document and store it in a binder.

I tried to keep function in mind while designing the template. The title is in HUGE lettering at the top of the page, so that it will be easy to find what I’m looking for while thumbing through the pages.

Directly underneath the recipe title is (what I deemed) important “at-a-glance” information: Cook time (and Prep time, depending on the recipe), Servings per recipe, and Source (for a URL or cookbook name).

After the Ingredients & Directions, I also included generous space for handwritten notes. This might be the binder’s most useful feature, as I’ll be able to document the result of any ingredient substitutions or recipe tweaks, as well as document successes and failures (but not TOO many failures, hopefully).

If anyone else uses Pages & is interested in using this template to build their own recipe binder, just let me know in the comments & I’ll make it available for download!

I really started working on this goal today.

Because I’m moving soon, instead of creating a recipe book (which will only take up space & weight in my suitcase), I’m going to start by organizing everything on my computer (and then eventually move it to a nice recipe book or binder).

These are the steps I’ve taken so far:

- I took out two beginners’ recipe books from the library (there were TONS to choose from, but I didn’t want to overwhelm myself).

- I created a “Recipes Folder” on my laptop, and even outfitted it with a cute icon (see pic)

- Browsed the internet for Recipe Page Templates for Pages for Mac (the word processing program I use)

My next step is going through the recipe books and entering my favourites into a Pages document. I’ll let you know how it goes!