There's an app for that, too.

I’m going to take a moment to move away from Pinterest (although it can be incorporated into my Pinterest theme BECAUSE I can take photos of my awesome food and add them to my board — yay) and take a look into a phone app my dad told me about. I’m sure some of you have heard about it, but I hadn’t, because, as usual, I’m almost always the last to know about these things (took me forever to discover Instagram, I just thought everyone suddenly became pro photographers and that I needed whatever kind of snazzy camera they were using). Anyway, the app is called BigOven, and it’s pretty neat.

Big Oven Landing Page

If you’re as unorganized of a human being as I am — mentally and with objects (my room currently looks like the Hulk walked in and had a panic attack), this app will be GREAT for you, at least in the kitchen.

First, you need to create an account. There is a free version (without as many perks, obviously), a $1.99 per month, and then there is a super upgrade for even more money that I’ll upgrade to if I really need to do so.

You can really do so much with this app. On the “Get Ideas” page, you can:

1. Search for recipes, including by keyword and/or ingredients (and exclude certain ingredients as well. You can also set dietary restrictions — there you go, gluten-free fanatics!)
2. Find recipes that have become big hits among the general populace through the “Recent Raves” button (they look awesome, by the way).
3. If you like to live life dangerously, hit the “Random Recipe” button — surprise!
4. This one is a little… odd, because I really could care less what my neighbor is cooking in his kitchen, but hey — maybe you’re wondering what that incredible smell is every time you walk by your neighbor’s apartment door! Fear not — if he, too, is a BigOven user, you can see exactly what he’s cooking by hitting the “Near Me” button (I still think it’s kind of strange).
   

   The “Get Ideas” Page

5. You have milk, eggs, bacon, rice, beans and cilantro in your refrigerator, and you have zero idea of how to combine them into something edible. Welp, BigOven can help with its “Use Up Leftovers” button. Nifty, huh?
6. “Browse by Category” button. Self-explanatory.
7. Cooking for a party or a special occasion? The “Recipes Collections” button provides thousands of recipes by holiday (it’s now displaying Valentine’s Day recipes), occasion (brunch, party, etc.), allergy type (shellfish-free, no red meat — so glad I live food allergy-free) and much more, although some of the features require the Pro upgrade.
8. This is neat — looking for food ideas based on the weather? (This goes into even cloudy and humid weather!) There’s a button for that. The “Menus” button provides BigOven users with recipe selections according to what’s popular, the weather, holidays, seasons, your diet and the type of cuisine your heart oh so desires.

The “My Kitchen” Page

And finally, you can save lots of neat things in the “My Kitchen” page. Have a Pinterest recipe you want to try? Add it to your “Grocery List” (requires the Pro account). If you’ve found a recipe from the “Get Ideas” page that you like, you can add it to your “Try Soon” category, and you can store recipes you’ve tried and liked to your “Recipes I’ve Made” category. Got a fridge stocked full of food? Plan when you’ll cook what with your “Menu Planner” button. You can also post your own recipes to BigOven (Pinterest recipes!) and keep track of them with the “Recipes I’ve Posted” button. Finally (and this is cool, although it is a little pricier), you can take a photo of a recipe you’ve written by hand, and this app will turn it into print AND upload it to the BigOven recipe library. If that’s not cool, you’re too hard to impress.

This app works on most “smart” appliances (including iPad, too, so you can see it on a big screen while cooking!) Have fun, and look for my {Spice of Life} recipes on there! (Once I post them, of course).

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