What's for dinner... I've probably said those words as much as I love you! As a small business owner and a full-time caregiver, meal planning is very important to me. I truly believe in the importance of taking care of ones body and a huge part of that is what we eat.
When I switch hats at 5pm, the last thing I need or rather want is the added stress of trying to put together a healthy meal. Don't get me wrong, I love to cook and I even love to grocery shop. Cooking is truly one of my passions but meal planning, well that's for the birds. Chris and I usually sit down early in the week and put a menu together and from there we build the grocery list.
Going through recipes, organizing scraps of paper and inputting into the computer. I knew there had to be a more efficient way to do this and make my life easier. I was right! After trying a few other Apps out, I finally discovered Paprika and couldn't be happier.
Paprika offers a Desktop App, iPhone App, and iPad App (each at an additional but very affordable cost). With Paprika's cloud-based sync service your recipes are just a click away from being sync across all your devices. So if you're like me (prefer the bigger screen), I search for and input my recipes on my MacBookPro, I use my iPhone for grocery lists and my trusty iPad goes me to the kitchen counter where the real magic takes place.
One way cool feature of Paprika is the built-in browser. There are numerous foodie websites already programmed into Paprika, plus you can request additions. So far, I've been quite happy with the 20 or so sites that are already available.
Paprika works in the background while you're surfing for a good recipe. Once you find one you want to add to your recipe collection, you just hit the blue Save Recipe button on the bottom right. From there it opens up the Recipe Editor. Everything is imported into the Editor including a Feature Photo. You can add it to a specific Category. I have mine broken down by Main Meal, Dessert, Vegetable, Casserole, etc. You have complete customization.
You also have the ability to Edit or Create a New Recipe where you input in your ingredients, directions, servings, time and Category. From the Recipe window you can also Rate the Recipe, Share with a Friend (or your daughter), and add it to your grocery list.
Another one of my favorite features of Paprika is the Meal Planner/Smart Grocery List. Your recipes are on the right side of the window and you simply click and drag to the day you want to plan. The Smart Grocery List will actually break down your shopping by the aisle you should find your ingredients.
So there you have it, one of my favorite and must have Apps! Paprika!
I would love to hear from you about favorite recipes, how you handle meal planning in your house... etc.
