Tag: App

Braised Baby Back Ribs and Creamy Polenta with Brussels Sprouts and Pancetta

I’ve mentioned on here many times, I really stink at getting an entire meal on the table. I can usually handle making the main dish and then I just scramble to throw a salad together and call it a meal. So when Cooking Planit told me about their app, it was like they had made it with me in mind!

The app, available for the iPhone and iPad (android coming soon) can also be accessed online. Your usage is synced up through your login, so you can browse on your computer, iPhone, and iPad seamlessly. (The app is currently on sale for $0.99 for iPhone and $1.99 for iPad)

The overall goal of Cooking Planit is to get a meal, sides included, on the table at the same time. The app includes tons of recipes that come already packaged as meals, but you can also mix and match to suit your tastes.

Once you choose your recipes/meal, you can add it to “My Cookbook” to store for future use. When you’re ready to go food shopping, just add the meal to your grocery list. The app gives you the option of planning for 2, 4, or 6 servings which I absolutely love! The grocery list can be viewed as a list by aisle (produce, dairy & eggs, canned goods, etc.), images (in case you have no idea what a leek looks like), or by recipe so you can see what you need for which recipe. Once you find and purchase your ingredients, just check them off and remove them from the list.

When you’re ready to get cooking, just bring up the recipe and click get started. The app will walk you through the meal, step by step, so that all parts of the recipe will finish at or around the same time. The app even shows you which cooking equipment, kitchen supplies, and appliances you need to make your meal, almost foolproof! It also lets you know how long it will take to make from start to finish. I liked being able to browse the recipes online at work, get the grocery list up on my phone at the supermarket, and then use my laptop at home to view the directions while I cooked. Super easy! The iPhone/iPad app also has voice control, so if you’re elbow deep in cooking, you can give voice commands like “Move On” or “Go Back.”  When parts of the recipe need a timer, automatic timers show up at the top of the screen for you. The app will also tell you when to slow down so that all parts of the recipe finish at the same time.

So I decided to try it out and give the results below! I (of course) messed with the recipe slightly so my version is below. I chose “Sunday Supper”  but changed it to Baby Back Ribs instead of Short Ribs and used my slow cooker instead of the oven.

Ingredients (serves 2):

Braised Baby Back Ribs

  • 1 carrot, large
  • 1 celery stalk, large
  • 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 yellow onion, small
  • 2 lbs baby back ribs
  • 2 cups beef stock, low sodium
  • 1.5 oz tomato paste
  • pepper, to taste
  • 5 black peppercorns
  • 1 dried bay leaf
  • 1.5 tablespoons flour
  • salt, to taste
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 bottle Cabernet Sauvignon

Creamy Polenta

  • 1 tablespoon green onions
  • 2 teaspoons fresh parsley
  • 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
  • 2 teaspoons butter, unsalted
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup polenta (yellow cornmeal)
  • 2 cups chicken stock, low sodium
  • salt, to taste
  • pepper, to taste

Brussels Sprouts & Pancetta

  • 3/4 lbs Brussels sprouts
  • 1 small shallot
  • 3 slices Pancetta
  • 2 teaspoons butter, unsalted
  • 2/3 cup chicken stock, low sodium
  • pepper, to taste
  • salt, to taste
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

Continue reading Braised Baby Back Ribs and Creamy Polenta with Brussels Sprouts and Pancetta

Review of of Cooking Light’s New App & A Chance to Win a Free Download!

It comes as no surprise that I am a huge fan of Cooking Light. I attribute a good portion of my interest in cooking to their magazine. When I was living at home after college, my mom brought the December copy home on a whim from the supermarket. Everything sounded so delicious, I jumped right in, trying to make as many recipes as possible. The rest is history. I am now Cooking Light obsessed.
The issue that got me hooked. Courtesy of cookinglight.com

So when I heard that Cooking Light had made it’s own app for iPad and iPhone, I was overjoyed. The “Quick & Healthy Menu Maker App” is genius. How often do you prepare a nice healthy main course only to wreck it with some ridiculous side that ends up negating the healthiness of the original dish? Or, if you’re like me, how many times do you struggle to find a side that would complement the other components of the meal? 

Here’s a little blurb about what the app actually is and why it is such a useful tool:
The Quick & Healthy Menu Maker offers more than 300 recipes and lets users design create delicious, quick menus in an interactive way. Users simplyswipe through the gorgeous photos to create a complete and healthy menu, selecting one entrée and then adding two sides plus one dessert. The app calculates nutrition per serving in real time—calories, sodium, and saturated fat. If a menu meets or exceeds Cooking Light’s nutrition recommendations, the app lets the user know with green and red indicators. There are thousands of possible menu combinations.

The second to last sentence is what truly makes this app worthwhile in my opinion.  “If a menu meets or exceeds Cooking Light’s nutrition recommendations, the app lets the user know with green and red indicators.”  How fantastic is that??

A friend and I decided to try the app out for ourselves. After finding, oh, 20 different combinations that made our stomachs growl, we finally went with:



Mango Shrimp Kabobs, Corn with Lime and Chipotle, Wild Rice Pilaf with Pecans, and Yogurt with Berry Sauce. How wonderful does this dinner look? (If you click on the photo above, it will enlarge so you can actually read what it says.) The photo above is a screen shot from the Corn. I received corn as part of my CSA share this week so I was excited to see this recipe. I came across the recipe by scrolling through the “vegetable” sides. I then clicked the “suggested menus” button and that gave me suggestions for a main meal, another side, and a dessert.

I will post my attempt at the recipes in a different post. This post is getting too long

So, overall we had the following thoughts about the App:
  • Pros:
    • Love the suggested menu option. Not only are there multiple suggestions, but you can use it by starting off with any part of the meal: Main dish, Side, or Dessert. Genius!
    • You have the option to save a specific recipe you enjoy or the whole menu
    • You can also e-mail the recipe or menu straight from the app.
    • The nutrition per serving is very helpful. Includes all parts of the dish. It also breaks down fat and sodium content.
    • The photos are spectacular. I was so hungry after playing around with the app!
  • Cons/Suggested Improvements:
    • There is no “search” feature. So if you find a recipe you love and don’t save it, you have to scroll through a bunch of other recipes before finding it again. Bummer.
    • It would be nice if there was a way to choose ingredients you had on hand and have menus/recipes suggested that include those recipes.
    • Another possible improvement: adding a shopping list feature. It would make the app more useful in the supermarket.
    • The app is so large, it crashed the iPad a few times. Slightly frustrating but not a deal breaker.
    • I think I’ve already managed to scroll through all of the recipes, so I hope the app is continuously updated with new and delicious meals! 
    • When I tried to e-mail the menu to myself, I realized there is no way to do so. You have to go through recipe by recipe and e-mail them out.
    • I personally am a Droid aficionado. I hope this becomes available for my beloved Android in the near future!
Overall, I think the pros outweigh the cons. It really is a well made app and is really quite useful.


So if you managed to stay with me this entire time, I have a little reward. Cooking Light was kind enough to give me five free codes to their app! To be eligible to receive one of these codes you must meet the following requirements:
  1. Have an iPhone or iPad (this is kind of mandatory, sorry)
  2. Be willing to write either a blog post review of the app on your own site OR a guest review post on my site OR just send me an e-mail with your thoughts about the app
  3. “Like” my facebook page AND/OR follow me on twitter
To enter, leave me a comment letting me know if you’d write your review as a guest blogger or if you’ll have it on your own site (please include a link to your site). If you are not comfortable writing a whole post on the app, an e-mail with feedback about the app is also perfectly fine. In a separate comment, post whether you’ve liked my facebook page or if you’re following me on twitter (excuse my shameless plug.) If you become a facebook fan AND follow me on twitter, post two separate comments letting me know, they will each count as an individual entry. Please be sure to include your e-mail address as well so I can contact you if you win. Note: you do not need to do all three; just leaving a comment will count as an entry.It would also be much appreciated if you’d direct people to this post to allow more people a chance to win! I will choose 5 lucky winners using random.org. Entries must be received by Friday, July 22 at 5:00 pm EST. Good luck!


Note: if you have used the Cooking Light App and have any comments, don’t hesitate to e-mail me at icancookthat@icancookthat.org. I’d love to hear your opinions! To read up on another blogger’s thoughts on the app, check out Katie K. is Losing It. She has used the app on a few posts so far, and has found some great recipes.
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