I love cooking healthy, eating some delicious food, drinking cocktails – and using well made mobile apps. Here is the list that combines all of these.
You don’t need to shop to cook up something useful with Whole Foods app
The Whole Foods app is just like its grocery story counterpart: it is designed to help you eat better and smarter. And it’s best feature doesn’t involve a trip to the store.
Whole Foods Market Recipes offers several useful and easy-to-use features. The most basic function is the search tab. With hundreds of recipes at your fingertips, you can narrow your search by course, food category and even special dietary restrictions. Every recipe includes ingredients, instructions, nutritional information, an add-to-favorites button and a tab to email the recipe.
The real treat with Whole Foods Market Recipes is the On Hand tab. That’s for the times when you have ingredients lying around at home and you’re not sure to make with them.
On Hand solves the problem by asking for up to three ingredients. When you hit search, it looks for recipes for compatible ingredients. I input pumpkin, egg and milk, and was given five recipes to choose from. I could be whipping up pumpkin bread in no time.
Of course, the app includes a Whole Foods Market locator. Each store page includes hours of operation and weekly deals.
Whole Foods Market Recipes is a must-have app for those looking for delicious and nutritious recipes without browsing a cookbook. The download is free and makes meal preparation fun and enjoyable.
Weber’s on the Grill lights a flame in your cooking
If you’re looking to upgrade your grilling routine from brats and burgers, Weber’s on the Grill is a tasty download. It delivers what you would expect: recipes, ideas and even tips to turn your back-yard grill into a gourmet machine.
Weber, which makes the classic charcoal grill, offers 250 recipes–including several for grilled desserts–in this app. Plus, there are an additional 40 recipes for rubs and marinades.
The Techniques tab offers tips and information on grilling basics, food preparation and safety. As a bonus, you can watch demonstration videos. The grilling guidelines provide approximate grilling times and temperatures for red meat, poultry, seafood, fruits and veggies. The Weber’s on the Grill app even includes a grilling timer.
Favorites can be stored at the top of the Recipe tab for later reference while the handy grocery list allows you to add recipes and then sorts the items into categories for easier shopping.
Weber’s On the Grill is a fun way to explore recipes and learn new tricks. Beginners and advanced grilling enthusiasts are sure to love this app.
Epicurious stuffs app with foodie favorites
Download the iPhone app from foodie-favorite Web stop Epicurious.com if you like to discover new recipes, want low-fat ideas or simply want to challenge your kitchen skills. But if you’re new to the kitchen, you might find yourself challenged.
There are plenty of reasons cooks will love the Epicurious app. Reliable recipes from Bon Appetit, Gourmet, renowned chefs and cookbooks are as easy as ever to search through (and to pull up while at the grocery store).
The Epicurious Dietary Consideration filter is sure to please vegans, those on gluten-free diets, and anyone looking for health-minded specifics such as low sodium, high fiber, low cal and low fat. You can also do a basic keyword search or check out Epicurious’ drink-exclusive recipe bank (which has its own similar filter).
Tap the plus sign near an Epicurious recipe title and ingredients automatically populate the in-app grocery list. Ditch clutter ridden paper copies and start a new recipe file on the Epicurious favorites list. Easily fulfill requests from friends when they say “I have to have this recipe” with a quick tap of the Epicurious e-mail recipe function.
A step up from the search capabilities of the Web site, the Epicurious app’s recipe filter is pretty darn handy. Filter by selecting as many of the following in one search as you’d like: Main Ingredient, Meal/Course, Cuisine, Dietary Consideration, Dish Type and Season/Occasion.
If you’re low on ideas, click on Weeknight Dinners, Decadent Desserts, Cool Cocktails, Healthy Lunches, Party Snacks or Dinner Party Ideas, for plenty of recipes.
The one drawback to the wealth of reliable and well-written Epicurious recipes is that they’re not always accessible to all skill levels. It’d be nice if there was a level of difficulty or a section dedicated to recipes that required few ingredients.
Mix up your next mixer with Mixologist 7900 Cocktail Recipes
I happen to like martinis mostly because of the vibrant colors and cool glasses. But cocktails are a great way for bartenders and social drinkers to express themselves. The Mixologist 7900 Cocktail Recipes application for the iPhone is a good way to find what you are looking for before you approach the bar to order a drink or to mix a drink as a bartender.
I have mini panic attacks every time I walk up to any bar to order a drink. I freeze up with all the choices before me. I forget the ingredients to the drinks I like most, and I am usually eager to try brave, new cocktails.
So the Mixologist 7900 Cocktail Recipes app is perfect for people like me. It makes searching for, saving, creating and sharing drinks pretty easy.
Search by cocktail name (results appear in alphabetical order), or search by category or ingredient. There also is an option to randomize the drink search results if you are feeling lucky.
Not sure what you can make with the liquor you have on hand. The mixer tab will give you suggestions. Need some more ingredients to make your favorite cocktail? Mixologist will help you find the nearest liquor store.
Save favorite drinks with this application for easy future access, and share them with friends via email, Facebook or Twitter.
More Toast! app is silly but compelling
I’m making toast on my iPod Touch and slathering it with Nutella and berries. I’ve even burnt a few pieces without the smell filling my condo.
More Toast! is one of those silly apps users find oddly compelling. Why would someone want a piece of virtual toast? And why would you want to share it with your friends? Because you can.
There’s more than toast, of course. I can toast waffles, white bread, wheat bread, a few types of bagels, strudel pastry and even a toaster pancake. For toppings, there is strawberry jam, lemon curd, marshmallow cream, sprinkles, ham, pickles and even mayo.
You can “burn” images of your friends or celebrities into your toast. You eat your toast with a finger to a chorus of chomping sounds.
This folly can be shared, as well. My health-nut friend replied with a “love it” when I emailed her a whole grain waffle with berries. Unfortunately, the Facebook sharing tool didn’t work, so I couldn’t share my creations on the social networking site. That’s a shame because my Edward Cullen French toast would be a huge hit with my “Twilight” loving friends.
I may not be making so much toast when winter arrives, but creating virtual baked goods and sending them off to my pals is heart warming. Really.
Keep reading. There are more delicious apps ahead >>
