Terrific iPod Apps for the Kitchen

I got an iPod. I LOVE IT I LOVE IT! I’ve been wondering about getting one for the longest time, and I finally did. It’s really an amazing little tool. I use it for EVERYTHING now. I’ve been wanting an organizer like this for a long, long time.

The coolest thing I discovered is Apps. OMG I love apps!!! I spent some time last night sifting through the lists of apps, and found some really spectacular ones. Before I list some of the top apps I found, let me explain why they are so cool to me. Maybe I’m the only one this happens to, but I am ALWAYS losing that little piece of paper with the grocery list. It drives me bananas. I tuck it in my purse or pocket… maybe it falls out when I pull out my keys or wallet?? I don’t know, but I am always losing that blasted list. WELL, I found an app that stores grocery lists. It also keeps regular To Do lists, it has a diary, and a travel journal. I love it. It’s called the Awesome Note Lite app. It’s terrific. No more lost grocery lists!!!

iPod also has great recipe apps, loads of them.

So far, I have downloaded the Betty Crocker Recipes App and the All Recipes.com app. I haven’t had a lot of time to try them out yet, but so far, I love them. When I am at the store and need to think of another recipe– or if I see a certain ingredient on sale– I can look up a recipe and get the stuff for it. Wow, it’s totally cool.

There are tons and tons of apps, for everything it seems. I saw stuff for conversions, too (metric always has me stumped), and loads of stuff. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had an app for treatment for hemorrhoid, sheesh! Anyway, iPod is SO COOL!!! It will greatly simplify my life. What took me so long to get it?!

A Little Visual Cooking Incentive

I found this website called TasteSpotting. WOW. The stuff looks so good. It’s a “pictorial” kind of cookbook. There are almost 3,000 pages filled with photos. You can click a photo card to view the recipe, and print it out from your Acer Aspire or whatever. Yum! I saw a lot of Asian recipes, and LOADS based on fish and vegetables. I’m always looking for more vegetable dishes ideas, so this is perfect.

But look out. There are plenty of luscious recipes, too– some complex, and some terribly easy. I saw this one:

Isn’t it pretty? It’s simply white chocolate chips in raspberries! Oooooo lllaaaa laaa!

No More Take Out!

For years, going out or getting take-out was hardly done here. It’s just SO darned expensive, and the food wasn’t all that healthy, either. But since I’ve been a WAHM (Work at Home Mom), I guiltily confess that we order take out a little more frequently now (about 2-3 times a month). While I just LOVE pizza and wings, and Chinese food… it’s horribly hard on the budget. But working all day sometimes has me pooped. And then, there’s the cleaning, the laundry, the kids’ schoolwork, the bills, the phone calls, the HASSLES! Gah!! And THEN I still have to cook! I just don’t have time to cook, let alone think about something to cook, lol! All I want to do is munch on almonds and raisins, and finally relax, surfing for groovy Sony VAIOs or something…

I found a cool site, called No TakeOut, from my Kim Komando tech news emails. The website is really plain Jane. But it has some pretty nice recipes. And best of all, the recipes have a pre-made shopping list and play-by-play instructions. Some of the recipes are a little high-brow for me (uhhh cilantro in the pantry, twigs of rosemary, fresh bunches of mint or Swiss chard? I think not). But the recipes are meant to replace the fancy meals of take-out, so they must be delicious. And they are easy to make. I do like the pre-made list and instructions! The website is growing. I hope to see more recipes added soon.