It’s the dreaded question -what am I going to make for dinner tonight? Sure, there is no shortage of food inspiration online, in your social media feeds or on tv, but when you need the inspiration the most, it’s never at your fingertips!
And do we ever need inspiration sometimes……One big difference between cooking for a family vs cooking for a hobby is that when you are in charge of feeding your crew, you have to cook REGARDLESS if you feel like it or not. And sometimes you Just.Don’t.Feel.Like.It.Period.
So what do you do? Well, there are a couple great ways to deal with it:
- You can go out to eat or pick up take out (obv!)
- You can pull out some already-made wonder out of the freezer (I wish!)
- Or, you can bite the bullet and commit to something else quick and easy that you can make at home.
Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? But when you have zero motivation and even less inspiration, it’s like climbing the Eiffel Tower with high heels on. Tiring and painful!
You need a system, don’t you?
One big difference between cooking for a family vs cooking for a hobby is that when you are in charge of feeding your crew, you have to cook REGARDLESS if you feel like it or not.
Pinterest for Recipe Organization and Inspiration
One of the smartest things I have ever done as a homecook was open up a Pinterest account to handle my recipe organization. If you don’t already know about it, Pinterest is a visual bookmarking tool that helps you search for and save creative ideas, or in this case, recipes, online. It can be your own personal online “file folder” as well as a visually focussed search engine.
While intimidating at first, Pinterest is incredibly user-friendly once you get the hang of it. It allows you to create different “boards” or categories to organize your recipes that you find all over the place – from your favourite food blog, an online google search or even your Facebook feed. Whenever or wherever you see your inspiration online, you can “pin” or save your recipes to boards labelled as different types of meals (ie. dinner, appetizers), you can create a “board” or folder called “recipes to try”, and so on. For example, when using Pinterest for recipe organization you can create a board for “Family Favourites” or “Quick Weeknight Dinners”, and then as you find more recipes or ideas online, on your other social media platforms or even in magazines, you can easily add them to your own customized Pinterest account for access later.
Other great features include being able to create multiple boards, note saving, and the ability to either duplicate or move your pins around from board to board. For example, you can save a recipe that you found online or on one of your other social media platforms to a “Recipes to Try” board. Once you’ve made it, you can make a few notes such as “added mushrooms and it was delicious”, or “a bit salty, use unsalted broth next time”, move it to your “Tested – Family Favourites” board and then be able to pull it up any time you need some inspiration.
Get your Pinterest Account Now
If you are not already on it, it’s time to bite the bullet and get your Pinterest account. Almost all recipes that you find online now have a “Pin It” button. With one click you can save it to one of your boards. You can also add a “Pin It” button to the top bar on your browser, enabling you to save a recipe or article to Pinterest wherever you are online.
And here’s the best part.
When it’s time to plan your next meal, and you can’t think of a single thing that you want to make, you can easily scroll through or search your pins and find something that gets you excited (or maybe just simply cooking…but that’s a start!).
Also remember that if you can’t find anything on your own boards, you can search ALL of pinterest. Pinterest is like a visual search engine. Just type in what you are craving and voila! Options a plenty. And once you are there, be sure to follow my Pinterest Boards too!
New to pinterest? There are great sites and articles available to get you started. Check out this article on Lifewire. Simple and to the point.
If you are not sold on using Pinterest for recipe organization, have a look at this article on The Best Recipe Organizers for other ways to organize your recipes such as Facebook or using the Paprika App. You might find another way to keep your meal ideas together – the most important things are having a system, any system, and being consistent. Pinterest for recipe organization works like a hot damn for. Find something that works for you.
So that’s the skinny on using Pinterest for your recipe organization. Invest the time now to set it up. Throw in some favourites or some pins that look like ones you might like to try, and get cooking.
If you want more tips and inspiration from me please go ahead and follow me on Facebook and/or Instagram. You can also sign up to receive email updates from me to help you get excited in the kitchen again!
Why I Started a Cooking Club and Why You Should Too
Remember, sharing is caring! If you liked this post, please share it on one of your social platforms.