The year is 2015 and we’re living in an age of technology. The writer’s stray thoughts get drafted on a laptop, the artist’s fantastical visions digitized with a graphics tablet, and the foodie’s every want and desire logged on convenient phone apps.
With just a touch of your finger, you can become the keeper of hundreds of recipes every college student should know, or the resident expert on cooking temperatures for your next meal. So prepare the ingredients, gather your friends, and let me introduce you to the apps every foodie should install.
The best part? They’re all free.
1. Allthecooks Recipes (iOS and Android)
Photo courtesy of iphoneproguide.com
Number one on the list is the classic recipe app. It’s perfect for those nights when you want to eat something besides your sad TV dinners or your bowls of instant ramen. Subsisting on garbage is great and all, but even college students need some proper dining in their lives.
One of the great things about this app is that you can search for recipes based on not just the category, but also the ingredients on hand. Want a potato and chicken centric meal? Just search “potatoes, chicken” and you’ve got a list of recipes including those ingredients.
Another amazing feature is the nutrition facts list that breaks down the meal into the standard components, such as calories, fat content, vitamin content, and so on. Better not pull up those chart for your favourite desserts, though.
2. SnapDish Food Camera (iOS and Android)
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Photo courtesy of appnanie.com
Have you ever sat and thought, “Man, I wish I could photoshop my food instantaneously and show it off to my envious friends?” If you’ve had that particularly specific thought, then I’ve got the perfect app for you.
SnapDish is like one of those beauty cameras that tweak your features or apply filters to make your food look Vogue-ready. There’s even a range for the perfection level, going from rare to well-done. Now you can upload your food pic onto your social media and rack in those jealous comments.
3. Is My Food Safe? (iOS and Android)
Photo courtesy of collegemobile.com
Need to know if your leftovers are going to give you a foodborne illness? Wondering if your chicken is still too raw for safe consumption?
This informative app compiles some of that information into a user-friendly design for quick access and saves you the minute of googling. If you’re living the frugal college life like me and skipped out on a data plan, then it’s an added bonus that it’s also available offline.
Goodbye salmonella.
4. Food Diary (Android)
Photo by Fei Huang
This app is exactly what the name suggests: a food diary. The interface itself is minimalistic, forgoing snazzy, and skips colourful graphics in favour of a block of blue for the headers and just plain white for the rest of the app.
Preprogrammed into the app is a database of hundreds of items with their estimated calorie count and other nutritional content. The app even goes as detailed as tofu stir-fry, but you should probably read up on your tofu facts first.
If the item you had is not in the database, then you have the option to add it in for future use. Just tap the plus button and simply type in the name of your new entry and it will automatically bring you to a new entry page.
5. EatingWell Healthy in a Hurry (iOS and Android)
Photo courtesy of blog.chinavasion.com
This app is for those post-junk food days when you deeply regret that greasy burger and the large helping of equally greasy fries on the side. EatingWell contains only healthy recipes, which are preloaded and require no internet to access. The recipes are easy to search through, as a swipe of the finger brings you to the next recipe in the category. Or you can find an entire list of healthy breakfast recipes here.
Another helpful feature is the incorporation of icons indicating high fibre content (more than or equal to 5g of fibre), heart healthy food (less than or equal to 3g of saturated fat), and healthy weight food (reduced calories and fat).
Now that wraps up the tour of your average foodie’s phone.