I grew up helping out in the kitchen from time to time, and making my own breakfasts and lunches from probably around middle school. It was always simple things because, like my mom, it didn’t take a fancy or elaborate meal to please me. I also LOVE leftovers. One pot/dish meals were my favorite!
Fast forward to when I got married. The hubby was brought up a bit differently. Like all things in marriage, we slowly found “our” definition of meals that was a mash up of what we each use to like. Then over the years it continued to evolve until I made almost everything from scratch. We attempted to use minimal to no processed foods. For my recipe oriented, easily forgetful mind, this meant meal planning. I soon started searching for the easiest way to manage my recipes and ingredients.
After several failed attempts to find an app that did what I wanted, I finally stumbled upon Paprika. I was in love. It allowed me to do exactly what I wanted. I could add my own recipes, grab recipes from the internet, include notes, nutritional info if I desired, scale up and down, meal plan, and compile a grocery list based off my meal plans.
I quickly bought it for my phone, iPad, and computer.
This thing saves my life. I can get on my computer, drag and drop my recipes around, map out my week, and have a grocery list in no time. It syncs each of my devices so I can have my grocery list on my iPad or phone when I go shopping. I know EXACTLY what I need at the store and I can get in and out of there! Ugh, such a relief.
Note: I use to use my iPad, which I loved since I could see more of the list at once, but now that I have a little one who loves to steal technology and throw it on hard surfaces, I use my phone.
I love the ability to organize my recipes and have sub-categories as well. It really helps me when I’m searching for recipes since I have so many. It allows me to organize things based on dietary needs for family and friends, or for certain times of the year. Ugh, I love organization!
Another awesome feature is rating the recipes. Nothing usually survives in my “cookbook” unless it rates 4-5 stars. The only way a 3 star might survive is if I feel like it might become a 4 or 5 star with some tweaks here and there. It doesn’t always work though!
My only “con” is that I can’t rearrange the grocery aisles on the grocery list. It would be nice to arrange them the way my preferred store is laid out. I don’t like to backtrack in the grocery store, but if I don’t scroll well and miss something, it happens. I hate backtracking so much that sometimes when that happens I will just give up on that item entirely. I’m so lazy!
What’s you’re favorite way to organize recipes?
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