$0.99 Well Spent

Do you ever get in a rut and feel like you make the same five things for dinner every week?  Well, if so, do I have a recommendation for you!  If you are a busy working girl like me, mom or not, and have an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, then then Martha Stewart Everyday Food App is for you.

I already admitted to you that I am a Penelope and I believe it’s fairly obvious by the scope and title of this blog that I’m a foodie.  So in what warped alternate universe would anyone not assume that I watch Marth Stewart’s show, check her website, and read Martha Stewart Living like crazy?!  Add into the mix that second only to my MacBook Pro, my iPhone is my favorite material possession ever, and the Martha Stewart Everyday Food Fresh and Easy Recipes App is the best $0.99 I’ve ever spent.

Ok, I hear you.  Enough about my craziness.  You want to know what this little piece of gadgetry does that is so spectacular, right?  Basically, with this app you have access to thousands of new quick, easy, and healthy recipes right at your finger tips.  Everyday around 3:30 pm I get a text (I like to think it’s from Martha herself) with a “Dinner Tonight” recipe.

Now, the fact that the text is titled “Dinner Tonight” is a little disappointing in that it confirms that Martha does not know me well and did not, in fact, text me herself.  If she did, she would know that I planned my meals for this week last week and don’t need a suggestion for tonight’s dinner.  As such, she would title her text to me “Suggestion for Dinner One Night Next Week.”  But I digress…

Each day I get text with a recipe suggestion in title only.  I then click on my app, which automatically pulls up the recipe.  I look it over, scroll down to the bottom to review the nutritional info, and decide whether I want to save it or not.  If I want to save it, I tap the little “+” in the top right hand corner and have the option to save it, add it to a shopping list, email it, tweet it, or share it on Facebook.

Beyond the texting, the app gives you options to

1. Search and download  new recipes organized by main ingredient, holiday, cooking method, or course.
2. Create shopping lists that are automatically sorted by store and aisle.
3. Add all of a recipe’s ingredients to a shopping list in one click or  add ingredients to a list by name or bar code scan (iPhone 3GS and above only).
4. Simplify your shopping trips by locating grocery stores near you with maps, directions, and store specific shopping lists among other things.

I mentioned that you get all this for  $0.99, right?  Basically, with this you purchase the most versatile cookbook ever and a grocery shopping assistant for under a buck! When I first got my iPhone BG, who had his iPhone for a year before I did, advised me to “never pay for apps.”  By that he meant to only download the free ones.  Well, I must say that this is some spare change that I have absolutely no regrets about spending.

With the help of this app, I can count on one hand the times I’ve repeated a recipe in the last five months because I get a new recipe idea everyday.  If I wanted to repeat a recipe, however, it’s incredibly easy because I have them all saved on my phone!  During this time I have  made such yummy deliciousness as this Flank Steak and Arugula Salad (I’m not an Arugula fan, so I substituted Romaine)…

and this Roasted Salmon with White Wine Sauce…

these Turkey Sloppy Joes…

this Chicken Breast Stuffed with Herbed Couscous (those are MY awesome green beans on the side, not Martha’s)…

and this Zucchini Lasagna…

just to name a few.

Most of the recipes take only 20-40 min to prepare.  I love that the nutritional information is available for the vast majority of the recipes.  I generally try to keep it pretty healthy in our kitchen (at least during the week…there may be some weekend splurging every now and then), so if any of the recipe texts have more than 500 calories, I don’t save them.  Or, if I do save them, they are never options for regular weekly meals…only special treats.

So there you have it.  Talk about bang for your buck.  I don’t know about you, but that’s the most I’ve ever gotten for $0.99!

Cheers, y’all!