food for thought

Lately I've been tring to eat a little healthier. I know, I know - this is a really vague goal, but I have a plan. It is clear that, when left to my own devices, I will make whatever I know how to make to eat. At the moment, my cooking repetoire consists of Kraft Dinner, Spaghetti, Salad (eww), and.. oh yes, grilled cheese. I figure the best way to improve my behaviour is to improve my knowledge. And so, we come to the plan.

I don't find cooking or recipes particularly exciting so I've tried to spruce up the food search with my two true loves: organizing and design. I've found recipes with nutritional information mostly at Recipezaar and in my Chatelaine magazines (I know, I'm becoming such a wife). After picking out the ones I like, I've made up recipe templates in a word file so that they are easy to read, and of course, pretty to look at. I've put all my recipes into clear page covers in a pretty binder in the kitchen, and I actually enjoy looking at them.

Another wife-ish website I frequent, GetOrganizedNow.com, had some great tips for organizing recipes. My favourite suggested organizing recipes alphabetically and creating indexes by category. As there are no page numbers, you won’t ever have to worry about adding new recipes. In the index you can create: low-calorie (or healthy choices), main courses, appetizers, deserts, 15-minute meals, 5 ingredients or less, etc. Put each recipe in every category that works, even if you include it in all categories. Also, keep the indexes on your computer for easy updating without messy pencil additions. I love to organize far too much.

Happy eating!