Reader Space: An Organized Baker

My girl, Becky, she can bake.  And I know this because my tummy has been personally blessed with her baking skills.  And she runs a great blog sharing her recipes and creations, which you may notice I pin frequently.

I actually featured her incredibly cute and organized baking cabinet awhile back...

So when she emailed me letting me know the organizing bug struck again, I was ecstatic!!

Here she is now:

"One of my very favorite places to be is in the kitchen.  So when something isn't working efficiently, it drives me batty!   I recently tackled a couple of projects to help me keep things running smoothly.  They're small fixes, but they make a big impact in my day to day life.

First up, a seasonal recipe binder.  I really can't believe I didn't think of this one sooner!  As a {self-proclaimed} foodie, I love, love love cooking magazines!  I try to resist their lure but sometimes I am just powerless.  However, I really don't like magazines piling up.  I needed a way to process them that would:

1. Avoid clutter
2. Ensure that I would actually try recipes rather than lose them FOREVER {dramatic much?}

So why a seasonal recipe binder?  In the past, I have used a recipe binder organized by category.  While this can work well, I found that it wasn't perfect for me.  I was forever coming across delicious recipes at less than ideal times.  The Best Ever Christmas Cookie... oh wait, it's June.  Oh my... look at that divine recipe for pumpkin bread.  Sure would be better in October than in April.  The seasonal recipe binder is a great solution!

The ingredients for creating your very own new recipe binder are super simple.  All you need is a binder {pick a fun one!}, 12 tabbed index dividers and page protectors to hold the recipes.

I also found the most perfectly adorable calendar pages to use with the index dividers.  Which makes this binder even sweeter if you want to plan exactly when you'll be making a specific recipe... just schedule it in!

I'm pumped about my new binder.  Now I can tear out the recipes I want to make and file them according to the month I'd like to try them.  The rest of the magazine can be recycled.  Goodbye clutter!  Hello, more time to bake!

This next one has been a long time coming!

I was very suddenly introduced to the world of food allergies five years ago when I discovered that my son {just a baby then} had several food allergies.  I won't go into all the details, but two {of my four} kiddos now have a number a food allergies.  This has been a challenge when it comes to baking, but hey, I'm always up for a challenge!  One thing I discovered when I dove into the world of gluten-free baking was that one needs a variety of gluten-free flours in order to replace all-purpose flour.  In most recipes, you can't substitute traditional flour with a gluten-free version one for one.  You need to "blend".

So it isn't unusual for me to have a wide variety of flours stashed in my fridge.  Oh yes!  I like to keep them in the fridge for freshness.  They don't have quite the same shelf-life as their traditional counterpart.  Anywho, I was finally fed up with all the bags of flour!  I was tired of rifling through them to find what I needed.  I was tired of flour spilling in the fridge.  I was tired of the general lack of organization.

It took me awhile to hit on the perfect solution.  I knew I needed some good storage containers but didn't want to pay an arm and a leg for them.  Then, I {finally} realized that I had a bunch of mason jars that were not currently in use.  Jackpot!

A quick Pinterest search later and I was led to the perfect labels.  I love them!  I printed them out and jotted down what I wanted to keep in the jars... flours, as well as a few other fun ingredients.

Then I laminated the labels for durability.  Victory!  I am so happy with this storage solution!  I can easily find what I need, there is no spilling, and it's cute!

Thank you so much, Jen, for letting me share my kitchen escapades!"

Thank ya right back Becky!  I always love what you come up with in the kitchen, both baking and organizing!

• Recipe binders have always been my favorite solution to cutting down magazine clutter in the kitchen.  
• I love that Becky didn't take the traditional approach when organizing her binder.  She thought about what makes the most sense for her, and went with it.  Organizing it by season is simply genius!
• I also adore that she placed a calendar within the binder for quick baking plans.  Especially since she blogs about her goodies, so I am sure that calendar is especially helpful in her planning.
• She always takes that extra step to make her organizing look oh so great!  
• The mason jars are a quick, inexpensive and all around fantastic solution for her baking ingredients.  The clear storage allows her to quickly see the contents and always know when she needs to add more to her shopping list.
• She problem solved.  She first recognized what slowed her down and frustrated her, and then came up with great organized solutions to remedy the situation.
• She used items she already had to save a little cash.  Even if she didn't have the mason jars, they are fairly inexpensive storage that is very durable and lasts a lifetime.
• The labels, sigh, my heart is in happy flutter mode.  So adorbs!

One last shameless plug for the Becky Bakes blog.  I promise, you will fall in love with something she has shared!

Anyone else saying "Hooray!" for mason jars and recipe binders in the kitchen?

ATTENTION!!  Want to be featured in a Reader Space edition?  Have an awesome organizing story to share?  I am looking for projects that have made a positive impact to your life.  Please submit your story and photos here and I would heart to feature them right here, on the blog!!  Photos should be high resolution and unedited.  Please include a description of the project, including any costs, inspiration, and how it has changed your life and routine for the better!  Oh, and no worries my friends, we will NEVER judge "before" pictures because that just wouldn't be nice!  Only love goes on at this blog!