Monday, November 2, 2009

Where Do You Get Your Recipes?



Browsing for recipes online became a "hobby" of mine once I decided that I would start eating healthier. Finding recipes that are 1) healthy 2) fairly simple and 3) cheap can be pretty challenging. The best resources I've found are:

1) Food Blogs - These are great because they are often more detailed than traditional recipes, with tons of photos and descriptions. You also get feedback about the recipe from both the poster and anybody who leaves comments on the post.

2) Recipe Databases - The main ones I've had success are RecipeZaar, All Recipes, and Epicurious. These are by far the most convenient, simply type in what you feel like and you'll get hundreds of different recipes. Many of them include the nutritional information, and there's usually at least several reviews of the recipe. A negative is that many recipes can be hit or miss, especially is there aren't any reviews to go off of. As far as photos go, the more popular recipes usually have at least one photo, but often times it's just a small thumbnail of the final product, not any of the actual cooking process.

3) Visual Databases - The "food porn" websites, such as TasteSpotting, FoodGawker, and PhotoGrazing. These are photo walls of different recipes that link back to a food blog that usually contains the recipes. The only bad things about this would be that they aren't necessarily the healthiest of meals, and that if you weren't hungry before going to the site, you definitely will be before leaving.

4) Cookbooks/Magazines - Cookbooks and magazines are great sources for recipes, they're usually by professional chefs who apparently thought they were good enough to sell. The biggest drawback is that unlike the previous sources, they cost money. Nutritional information may or may not be included however, and in most cases photos won't be given for every recipe.

So, how do you find your recipes, if you use them at all?

Also, jump on over to Danica's Daily and check out her Nature's Path giveaway!

1 comment:

  1. Heya!

    I LOVE looking at food blogs for recipes. So much creativity! A really good one is Fat Free Vegan. I'm not vegetarian, but her recipes are amazing. Sophia at Burp & Slurp has some great recipes too. Hers are incredibly creative.

    Also, thanks for commenting on my blog. Haha, we are slowly showing the world that not all college students dine solely on Ramen and pizza.

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