I'm Cuckoo for Recipe Apps!

It's been a week since my very life has been changed.... by that My Recipe Book app, of course! During the past week, I have spent almost every free moment playing with it, much to my husband's chagrin. But I have a huge project to conquer! Remember, I have over 5000 recipes which "need" to be catalogued! Well, in the past week, I have managed to enter over 500 recipes into the app! Which is no kidding around! Already, my life has been made easier by using it. Normally, meal planning involves 30- 45 minutes of me flipping through folders of recipes and cookbooks. But on Friday, I planned food for the whole week in 3 minutes..... on my iPad.... while at work.... with a baby sleeping on me. Talk about multitasking!

Even though I have only dealt with a small percentage of recipes that I possess, having 500 recipes at my instant disposal is pretty handy. And pretty fascinating to see what happens when you use the search function. For example, how many Vegan Mac and Cheese recipes does one girl need? Answer: 13. Hey, I'm in the mood for tofu, how many recipe options do I have? Answer: 56 And why would a vegan have 81 recipes for chicken? Answer: Fake meat for the win!

 

While I am convinced purchasing this app is the best $1.99 I have ever spent, I do have a small issue with the Categories that it allows you to sort your recipes into. All of my problems would be solved if you were allowed to enter your own custom categories, but you aren't, and their category options are haphazard and incomplete. For example, I am pleased it includes "Mexican" as a category (so I can locate my recipes for 17 different types of tacos with great ease), but why on Earth is that the only category of regional foods? Why not at least one for Asian food? Or Italian? True, there is a category for "Pasta" (104 recipes and counting), but I have tons of Italian recipes that aren't pasta based... pizzas, polentas, calzones, stews, salads, etc. And why include courses like Soups, Salads, Side Dishes, Desserts (and it even has a separate location just for Cookies) and not include a Sandwich category? As a result, I took to labeling my 59 kinds of sandwiches and burgers as "Gluten Free," just so I could sort them out. And my final concern with this app is HOW MUCH CAN IT HANDLE?!? Am I going to stretch it to capacity well before I get my 5000 recipes in it?!? I could make myself lose sleep at night worrying about that!

This is what I have spent the last week staring at... at this rate, I should only have 9 more weeks to go!

This will be me by the time I actually get all of my recipes imported into the app!

 

Anyway, there is another reason why I have been going like gangbusters with the recipe data entry this week. I have known this was going to happen for several months, but now, I have the date for this awful event. April 17. Our landlord has decided it is necessary to tent our entire complex to fumigate. Which not only means 48 hours in a hotel room with an angry cat, but obviously, all of the food needs to leave the house. And I have a notoriously well-stocked pantry! So, I now have a new goal. In addition to making myself eat all kinds of foods I never eat, I simultaneously need to use up as much food as possible in the house. This recipe app is going to simplify this process! I need to use up half a bag of raw cashews, half a pound of orecchiette, 5 bags of frozen black beans, 2 cups of Arborio rice and a half a jar of bread and butter pickle slices? Well, my nifty app is gonna tell me exactly what I need to do to expedite this pantry purging process! And the more recipes I have entered in the app, the more options I will have to help me purge.

Oh, and yes, we have to "get rid off" all of the open bottles of alcohol as well. It's all fun and games now, while there is still some Jack Daniels and Tanqueray lingering around, but I'm going to be a sullen woman the day I realize the good stuff is long gone and I need to use up the Buttershots and Sour Apple Pucker! ;-)