Saturday, February 6, 2010

Weekend Cooking: There's an app for that




Weekend cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. Book reviews (novel, non-fiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If you post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up any time over the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.


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While I have a cell phone that has technology circa 1995, my husband has the ever-amazing iPhone. Once T-Mobile releases it's clutches from my hide in July, I shall get one as well. But until then, I have to live vicariously through my husband.

For all you foodies, I found an application that you may be interested in, and its FREE. It is called AllRecipes. If you are in a funk and need a new recipe, or if you are at the grocery store and see that veal chops are on sale and wonder what you can make with them, you need this application. It has a huge database of recipes on which you can search. However, it's unique feature is the spinner, which is simple to use:


First you choose whether you are looking for a main dish, an appetizer, a side dish, etc.

Second, you choose the main ingredient.

Third, you choose how much time you have to prepare the meal.

And voila, the spinner will give you choices.



You can also access these recipes at allrecipes.com. On the website, you can perform pretty complicated searches, where you tell them what ingredients you want, which ones you don't want, and whether you want the dish to be healthy (nutritional info provided). I've made a few meals from these recipes already, and they are really very good:

Angel Hair Pasta with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Feta

Baked Pork Chops with Tomato Sauce

Beer Brisket


This past week I made the baked pork chops, and prepared enough to serve my husband and I, our two kids and my parents, plus leftovers. Well, there were none left over. Normally, I find any type of baked pork chop to be a bit boring, but these chops were soliciting groans of happiness from my family. I think the secret is the layer of brown sugar/salt/dry mustard and lemon juice that you put on the chops before the tomato sauce.

So if you are one of the LUCKY ONES that have an iPhone, check out this app. It is sure to make your life just a tiny bit easier!




19 comments:

Beth F said...

What a cool thing! I wonder if there is a Blackberry app. I do have the Canada food channel on my BB -- and have used it the grocery store.

Margot said...

I am of the generation that says, "Wow, What will they think of next?" so I said it. It amazes me that I can get AllRecipes.com on my computer - but- to have that technology in the grocery store? Wow.

I'm with you on the pork chops. I'm going to go check out that recipe right now. Thanks for sharing all this information. I'm still saying Wow.

ds said...

I am now very grateful that no one in this house has an iPhone (yet). Mr. Epicurious--generally known as Mr. L-S--would be all over that app!
Have fun!

Molly said...

Oh how cool!

I googled to see if they had the same app for Blackberry. While I could not find an app per se, I can access the mobile version of all recipes. This should be fun to experiment with.

Heather said...

What a great way to use that app. to have a recipe handy right at the grocery story.

rhapsodyinbooks said...

What a doubly unfair post - news of great food and iphone show and tell! The pasta with sun dried tomatoes and feta (and fresh basil if available) is one of my very favorite dishes. Oh and then I've also made it with the Feta Mediterranean Crumbles that you can buy.

JoAnn said...

No iPhones in our house yet, either... but I love AllRecipes.com! Have tried quite a few of their recipes and sometimes just wander around the site looking for new ideas.

Darlene said...

There seems to be an app for almost everything now. lol. Those pork chops sound so good!

Kim said...

Um yeah. Pretty much on my phone, I can text! No fancy I-phones for me (yet)! If I had one, I would check this app out for sure. :)
*smiles*
Kim

Nicole (Linus's Blanket) said...

I love new and free iphone apps! How fun. Those recipes you highlighted look really good too. Off to get that for my ipod touch!

Jill said...

I loooove AllRecipes, and I had no idea they had an app. Please, please let there be one for my Blackberry. I'm checking this out!

bermudaonion said...

I just got an iPhone the week before last and have been looking for great apps! Thanks so much!

Lauren said...

Thanks for the recommendation! I'm downloading it now! :)

Alice said...

I don't have an iPhone. Acccck! That pork chop sounds great, but unfortunately, I don't take pork so you can't tempt me. LOL!

Heidenkind said...

I have an iPod Touch, and this is one of the first apps I downloaded. It is so much fun! If only my mom let me cook in her house....

caite said...

golly, I just downloaded this app on my iTouch this week. I love free...
is it telling though that some time ago I actually downloaded the PAID version of Mixologist, where you can look up how to make about any drink out there?

Bonnie said...

Technology is amazing! I don't have an iphone but this app makes me want one. I use allrecipes and agree that it is a great site to find recipes.

Anonymous said...

*DREWLLLL*

Oh, not for allrecipes, mind you, but the iPhone!!!

*need-need-need*

I'll keep your tip in mind for when I've acquired one! Note: 'when', not 'if' :)

Zibilee said...

This was one of the first applications that I bought for my phone. The dinner spinner is such a cool idea and there are tons of great recipes in there! I am glad that you have had success with it as well, and those pork chops sound delicious!!