6 (Free) Favorite Healthy Food Apps

by Brooke on July 23, 2012 13 comments »

Somehow, nearly overnight, I went from superfly young cat to technologically incapacitated old woman. I don’t know how it happened. One minute I was rocking the boxy silver flip phone, thinking I was cool beans because I had a cell, the next minute my 14-year-old was laughing at how slow I text and telling me I needed to “get with the program” and download some games to my phone. Aye chi. I already feel accomplished updating my computer and rocking the blogosphere. So, maintaining and manicuring a cell phone seemed like more than one ancient lady like me could add to her schedule.

Still, my teen persevered, promised I could be technologically savvy, set me up on my Nokia Lumia 900 Windows phone with all the details my little heart could desire. I think he knows me well enough to know that a few good food apps, quick access to Facebook, a snappy Twitter connection, and I’m a happy chicken. Turns out, it also makes  me a rather hip mama. Or so says the crazy smart teen in my house who said yesterday, “Mom, I love you. Can I have your phone?”

It’s not easy being this cooltastic. But I try.

If I had the choice, I’d choose to read a recipe book everyday over a gossip mag.  So, the mere idea of having food and recipe apps available on my phone, readily accessible for perusal, is a dream come true. Here are my 6 favorite food & health apps downloaded to my phone which have quickly become daily staples in my reading schedule.

Healthy Chef (above). For quick, budget-friendly meals, I love this app because it so simplifies the process of food prep. The app allows you to add recipes to a food diary, then tracks the ingredients you need to make each recipe. For those moments when you’re standing haphazardly in the grocery store at 5:24, with no clue what to make for dinner, Healthy Chef makes the process snappy city.

Vegan Cookbook. It’s not pretty, it’s not frou frou, but for a free app, Vegan Recipes delivers on the recipes. No pictures but tons of ideas you’ll actually use, from Vegan Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto to Vegan Chocolate Mousse, this is the ultimate app to pull and when you’re putting together your weekly menu and need a few recipes to boost your go-to meals with a little oomph.

Water Log. Please tell me I’m not the only human that arrives at the 8 p.m. hour and realizes I’ve hardly had a thing to drink all day? Having this Water Log app to track daily water intake makes a game out of something that otherwise can feel like a chore to me. It’s entirely uncomplicated, just tap to add a glass of water to your daily count and watch the water level raise in the glass as you go.

Clean Eating. This app gives you easy access to the Clean Eating empire, offering an online portal to their website and quick connection to the latest publications in their magazine. My fave part of the app? The “Clean Cuisine” link, which sends you right to recipes, food tips, and other important things you’ll want to know about eating right. The app itself is largely text-based, not very visually stunning, but is chock full of great info about a great idea in diet trends.

Allrecipes is one of my favorite food apps, because it’s clean, organized, chock full of recipe ideas, and has “The Dinner Spinner” which allows you to quickly search the exact terms you need in a recipe. Just a quick twist of your finger will move you through several menu options which the app will then search, producing a slew of recipes that fit your needs. Fabulous!

Comfy Belly. The Comfy Belly blog offers healthy recipe ideas with a focus on allergen-free cooking. The app will link you to all of Comfy Belly’s most recent blog posts, all of which have insanely beautiful pictures and lots of realistic ideas for cooking good food right in your kitchen. Two snaps up for the prettiest pics on a free food app maybe ever.

Okay, you’re turn! What food apps can you not live without? I’d love to hear! I’m feeling the need to download some serious bling onto my phone now that I’ve decided to go all hip and stuff. My teens will not find me old-fashioned and lamey pants, dang it!

For the next 3 weeks, I’ll be using a Nokia Lumia Windows Phone and sharing a few of the details of this experience with you. This is post 1 of 3, and so far, I’m digging the ease and simplicity of my experience with the phone. Stay tuned for more fun recipes sponsored by Windows.

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