Best Online Recipe Organizers

While I was growing up and still today, my mom keeps her collection of recipes on hand written cards in a big recipe box. I remember pulling it out and searching in the cookies section for what I wanted to make and pulling out a well worn, spotted card. For the majority of her dinner recipes, she just had them memorized. Weekly meal planning involved her deciding on dishes, writing them down, looking through the pantry, and writing out a shopping list.

 Flash forward 10+ years and I’m trying to find a system that works for me, a newly married girl who likes everything digital (because I loose little papers), tends to stop by the store on the way home, never plans ahead, and will buy doubles of things because I didn’t know it was at home in the pantry. Oh, and I’m trying to build my own recipe repertoire that is dairy-free for my husband.

 I decided I needed something digital that I could access from anywhere. None of the iphone apps seemed to be the answer, so I turned to the internet. After much searching, signing up for sites, and evaluating, I decided that two sites were the winning choices to use and recommend. Below are the ins and outs of the sites: One tsp and Tasty Planner.

 What I was looking for: Most important was the ease of entering recipes. Most recipes I have been using are ones I’ve found online and I wanted an easy way to transfer them into an organizer. Many of the organizers had a line by line ingredient entry system, meaning it was impossible to just copy the whole ingredient list and paste. You would have to type each in and sometimes also use drop down menus for measurement selections. So basically not saving any time over hand written, old school ways.

If you want complete simplicity and a very clutter-free interface, then One tsp is for you. It is a pleasing white and blue design with orange accents. The only pictures you see are ones you add yourself (optional) for the recipe. This site also requires the fewest amount of fields to be completed. Sometimes you don’t want to or need to put a description, prep or cook time, or yield; this site doesn’t force you. It’s a great thing when you are concerned with saving time. You can add recipes to a shopping list that is easily viewable on a smart phone and loads quickly because of the uncluttered site. When at the store, it’s easy to check off items and you can also add other items to your list. Update for One tsp: I wrote this article originally 9 months ago, recently One tsp added a "clip it" button that works like the "pin it" button. It lives in my bookmarks bar and when I'm on one of the many supported sites like Food Network I can just click this button and it pulls all the info and saves it for me. LOVE IT! I also forgot to mention that they have an iphone app as well. The downsides of One tsp are that there are fewer features than Tasty Planner, such as no meal planner. Also, the only way to sort through recipes is with the tags you have created for each. But if you are like me who doesn’t cook every night, then this might be the site for you.

If you want complete simplicity and a very clutter-free interface, then One tsp is for you. It is a pleasing white and blue design with orange accents. The only pictures you see are ones you add yourself (optional) for the recipe. This site also requires the fewest amount of fields to be completed. Sometimes you don’t want to or need to put a description, prep or cook time, or yield; this site doesn’t force you. It’s a great thing when you are concerned with saving time. You can add recipes to a shopping list that is easily viewable on a smart phone and loads quickly because of the uncluttered site. When at the store, it’s easy to check off items and you can also add other items to your list. 

Update for One tsp: I wrote this article originally 9 months ago, recently One tsp added a "clip it" button that works like the "pin it" button. It lives in my bookmarks bar and when I'm on one of the many supported sites like Food Network I can just click this button and it pulls all the info and saves it for me. LOVE IT! I also forgot to mention that they have an iPhone app as well. 

The downsides of One tsp are that there are fewer features than Tasty Planner, such as no meal planner. Also, the only way to sort through recipes is with the tags you have created for each. But if you are like me who doesn’t cook every night, then this might be the site for you.

If you want the same ease of recipe entry but want more features, then try out Tasty Planner. This site is an online community for sharing recipes. It allows you to search for other peoples recipes and add it to your recipe box. Just like One tsp, it is easy to copy and paste ingredients and directions from other recipe sites. Unlike One tsp, you have more required fields, such as description, time, and yield. You also have the addition of a check box for keeping your recipe private if you wish. (Personally, I’m not interested in the community aspect so having to remember to check this each time is a con for me.) Now after recipes are in, is when this site gets fun. You can add recipes to a weekly meal planner where you drag and drop each to the day you want to make it. The meal planner can be added to your calendar on your computer. From the meal planner, the shopping list is generated. In the shopping list, you can rearrange the order of the items and add more. The list can be viewed on a smart phone, emailed, or printed. As far as organization goes, recipes in your box are broken down by categories such as main course.

 Aside from having more required entry fields for recipes, I like what you can do on this site, but feel that some tasks take too many clicks. For instance, if I want to make a shopping list, I have to open a recipe, add it to the planner, drag and drop it to a day and then you can generate a list. Your own recipes aren’t added automatically to your recipe box where there is organization and adding to the planner is easier. You have to open your recipe and click “add to recipe box.” But how much can you really complain about a site that lets you do it all does for free.

 My conclusion: 

 For easy entry and storage of recipes for the occasional cook: One tsp
 For the person who does weekly meal planning and wants it all: Tasty Planner

-Home Sweet Loft

The Best Method for Making Homemade Burgers

I grew up disliking homemade burgers: big, overly think, tasteless, and tough patties. When I grew up and tried to make them on my own (usually with turkey), I would used the only method I knew, making a ball and shaping it into as thin a patty as I could, which would just bulk up anyway. I gave up on the whole idea. Then one day, I was watching one of my favorite cooking shows on PBS, Everyday Food. They were making classic cheese burgers. Lucinda talked about the common problem with homemade patties that I had always experienced. She then presented a different method that keeps the patties tender and delicious.

Best Burger Method:

• Lay out wax paper onto your counter (I will use plastic wrap in a pinch) 
• Simply pull off the amount of ground meat you want for your patty, do not form it into a ball, keep it loose 
• Place the meat onto the wax paper and continue pulling and placing meat onto wax paper, leaving space between each mound 
• After all the patties-to-be are laid out, place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the meat 
• Use a rolling pin or wine bottle to lightly roll over the meat till it is about 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick, don't worry about the patties not being perfect circles. If any little pieces look like they will fall off in cooking, just gently squish them on. Remember, the key to tender burgers is handling the meat as little as possible. 
• Pull off the plastic wrap and then generously salt and pepper the top of the patties 
• I like to use a nice wide spatula to gently move each patty to the (preheated to medium high) grill. You can use a skillet or griddle, but I like to use the cast iron stove top grill we have. Turn over the patty as you put it on the grill so the seasoned side is down, then season the other side 
• Cook about 3 minutes and then turn and cook a couple more minutes (add cheese about 1 minute from done if you want). The most important thing is to keep watch over them, they cook pretty quickly.  

I made sliders with this method for the Super Bowl this year. I put the mini cheese burgers on Hawaiian rolls, made my own thousand island dressing, and set out a build your own slider bar with all the fixings. They were a hit! Those little tasty, tender patties on those soft, sweet rolls just melted in your mouth. I paired them with kettle cooked potato chips. I made sliders with this method for the Super Bowl this year. I put the mini cheese burgers on Hawaiian rolls, made my own thousand island dressing, and set out a build your own slider bar with all the fixings. They were a hit! Those little tasty, tender patties on those soft, sweet rolls just melted in your mouth. I paired them with kettle cooked potato chips.

-Home Sweet Loft