Cook’n Recipe Organizer Review & Giveaway

What is Cook’n?
"Cook'n is an amazing tool for moms and their families. With Cook'n you can enter & organize all of your personal recipes, create meal plans, make shopping lists, print family cookbooks, analyze nutrition, easily scale recipes, and more. With the newest version, you can search for and find the best recipes on the internet using the Cook'n Recipe Browser.  When you find one you like, simply click CAPTURE and it will automatically import it into Cook'n in seconds.  The software is helping families stay organized, save money, eat healthier, and enjoy more home-cooked meals."

What the Cook’n Recipe Organizer Can Do For You

• Find the Best Recipes on the Internet
• Capture and Save Internet Recipes
• Enter Your Own Personal Recipes
• Sync Recipes with iPhone, iPad, & Android
• Print a Family Cookbook
• Analyze Nutritional Values
• Make Menus, Shopping Lists & More!
• Get Free Cookbook with Purchase

Watch the video below to learn more about the Cook’n software.

My Review
When I first got my laptop, I instantly was online looking for recipes. I needed new ideas for my growing kids to eat. I didn’t want to get them used to eating the same thing every week. I was on a MAJOR hunt. So now, I have 4 binders full of recipes along with like a million books. I have a million recipe cards, along with the same amount of magazine pages that I’ve torn out.
I thought I would try and organize it all, but it just wasn’t working. I bought binders, sheet dividers, and tab dividers. I labeled each one- drinks, breakfast, snacks, lunch, dinner, and desserts. I ended up with so many that I had to get a binder for each different label. This wasn’t that organized though. I still had problems finding what I needed to find.
I was hoping to find a software that would help me keep track of all the recipes I was using because half the time, I wouldn’t remember that I had it, and would waste ink re-printing a recipe that I already had. This is how my grandma also ended up with a million recipe binders. =)      I don’t have to waste that ink now though, Cook’n is better than I could have ever imagined A recipe software to be.
Do you know how hard it is to keep all this organized though? Really hard. I can bookmark a page in the binder or book, but soon forget which book or binder it was in and have to search for it all over again. This was driving me crazy. I could never keep anything in just one place, because there was so much.
My cluttered nightmare is no longer an issue now that I have Cook’n. It is more than I ever wished in a Recipe Organizer.
It comes with one cookbook, that has TONS of recipes.
Appetizers
Beverages
Breads
Soups and Stews
Salads
Main Dishes
Side Dishes
Sweets and Desserts
Breakfast
Glossary
and you can buy more cookbooks, and they are all very cheap
=)



Search the internet- I have found recipes online a million times and then never be able to find it again. I wouldn’t be able to find the EXACT recipe. Other’s like it, but not the same one. With Cook’n you can type in a recipe from the main page and search the internet. It then shows 10-12 different pages with 10-15 recipes on each page. You can search through and find the recipe you like best and then capture it. [Just click the Capture button at the top of the Cook’n Software] It then saves it right into your software.
It then allows you to place the recipe into the Category you want it to be in.. [beverages, Main Dishes, Appetizers..] It doesn’t just save the ingredients. It saves EVERYTHING. It saves prep time, cook time, serving size, directions, and also nutrition information. Then you can save and view it. It then shows you your source for the recipe at the bottom of the page (so you know where you got it).
I also love how it let’s you search the internet for items that you already have in your house. You just enter what ingredients you already have and it searches the internet for your keywords, then you can narrow it down to find what fit’s perfectly for your family.

I haven’t yet discovered everything on the software yet. There are so many features and so many fun ways to discover something new. I hadn’t even heard of most of the recipes that come with the software. My family has enjoyed so many of these recipes, that I know we will keep them in our monthly menu’s.
Menu Making is no longer a problem for me. I had millions of pieces of paper laying around with grocery lists, and new recipes I wanted to try. More than likely they all ended up lost in my million papers that need filing. I’m not going to lie, I am unorganized. That’s why getting organized is one of my New Year’s Resolutions this year. I desperately need a filing cabinet for everything. Cook’n just made one less filing cabinet though. I was going to get a small one to put in the kitchen under the cabinet, but not anymore.
I love the way they let you choose your own templates for recipes. You can leave it the way it is, or juice it up. I wanted to leave mine blank because I don’t want to spend a fortune printing stuff, but I love that I can change it if I want.  I am planning on making everyone in my family a recipe binder this year, and want to make it colorful and fun. I will be using templates on theirs.
I love it, and I know you will also. This is making TONS of mom’s more sane, have more free time, and more time to experience other things besides spending hours on weekly/monthly menu plans.
I could go on and on about it, but I know you want to WIN one, right? So, I’ll get to it.
Disclosure: This isn’t a sponsored post. I wasn’t compensated for this review. I did receive products in exchange for an honest review.
I want to thank DVO for working with Made.By.Jess.

~~~WIN IT~~~ Prize:

• One winner will receive their own Cook’n Version 10 Software!  {$99.95}  Available for PC and Mac

Open to Worldwide. This will be a part of my Valentine's Giveaway
Thanks, Jess

All About the Egg.

Yes. You heard right. Egg. As in humpty dumpty..

The egg is an amazing ingredient & I would love to tell you all about it D

The egg is an amazing & magic ingredient. It helps to form some of the most perfect and delicious recipes. Have you ever noticed that you can whip up just about anything as long as you have an egg? The egg is actually the artist behind it all.

Once you have mastered the techniques to making an egg, you’ll find it to be easy as well as fun. The egg to a cook is like a paintbrush to an artist, both create masterpieces. The egg allows beautifulness and texture into the recipe.

Whichever technique you are using the success key is time & temperature. Eggs should be cooked slowly on low to medium heat until the white sets. If cooking an omelet (which require a higher temp) it should only be for a short time.

Overheating can result in tough, liquid, or rubbery eggs..eww =(

So-refrain from disappointing results by skipping the high heat, which separate the protein and liquid.

With eggs, you don’t have to get all gadget happy. Gadgets such as poachers are nice to have but not necessary to gain the technique that’s called for in the recipe. You can almost always get by without them. There are substitutes you can use to gain the same effect. Eggs are simple, don’t think about it too much and eventually it will be as natural as breathing.

The egg is so much more than hard boiled eggs on Easter. It’s a “can’t do without” ingredient that create many recipes and make beautiful masterpieces possible.

There are two parts to an egg. The white & the yolk. The yolk is the fat & the flavor, as well as body. The white is 2/3 liquid & tons of protein.

Egg whites are whipped because they expand in volume. The yolk (fat) is removed because it keeps the white from foaming.

Knowing how to separate an egg (Isolating the white & yolk from each other) is a must know. When a fresh egg is cracked it will reveal a plump yolk & thick white. The same egg weeks later will reveal to be thin as water…

(More on eggs later…) A Jessi