Unprocessed October is coming up! And that means a lot of time in the kitchen for me. To help make my life a little easier, I whipped out my recipe book. And to help make your life a little easier, I’m sharing my splash-proof laminated cookbook DIY idea.
For more on Unprocessed October, read on to the end of the post. I’ve been doing this challenge for the past three or four years – in a nutshell, you try to eat only whole, unprocessed and unpackaged foods for the entire month of October.
Organizing and Decluttering
This is not a groundbreaking concept, but I decided after having all my recipes scattered in multiple places, I’d put them into one binder. Previously, I had three small recipe boxes and a drawer full of folded up pieces of paper and recipe cards. I picked up a binder from the Target dollar section for $3 during back-to-school season.
Supplies
You’ll need:
- All your recipes
- A three-ring binder
- Laminated three-hole page sheets
- Dividing tabs for each section
This has not only made my kitchen that much more streamlined, but it’s also made recipes easier to find when I’m in the zone and looking for something specific. I divided my binder into five sections:
- Breakfast
- Lunch/Sides (includes soups)
- Dinner
- Snacks
- Drinks/Desserts
Since we’re all getting cozy for the fall, I thought this was the perfect time to get prepped for cooking and baking. The best part about this is if you spill on your recipe, you can simply wipe down the laminated pages and your recipe doesn’t get all crusty and gross, or worse yet, totally destroyed. Pass them down through the generations, people. Happy cooking!
Unprocessed October Rules
More on Unprocessed October. The rules are yours to decide. For me, they’ll be cutting out anything from a box or bag. Canned pantry items are okay. Dark chocolate is necessary for survival. I’m cutting out alcohol and also cutting out protein bars. I tend to rely on those a little too heavily for meals when I’m in a busy season of life (the protein bars, not the alcohol). I’m starting Unprocessed October today so I’ll be free in time to fully enjoy Halloween weekend. This is my public accountability notice; hold me to it!
I hope you’ll think about joining me for the challenge – I find it’s the perfect kickstart before the holiday season of overindulging. And it cuts down on packaging, so the environment and your body will both thank you. It’s also fun to challenge yourself to get creative with ingredients and come up with new recipes you may not have otherwise tried. If you’re having trouble making rules for yourself, think about what is manageable realistically, but then take it one step outside your comfort zone. Technically cooking something is processing it. You may want to go to that extreme. For others, it may be simply to cut out fast food or soda. Whatever it is, challenge yourself. Only you can decide how far is a challenge. And give yourself some grace if you resort to a protein bar in a pinch 🙂
