REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 11, 2010 — Last week, KitchenPC announced the public launch of its new website designed around intelligent meal planning and recipe organization. Contrary to most recipe websites that allow users to merely search a database, KitchenPC has been designed around the idea of locating a set of recipes that meet a particular goal.
"KitchenPC has an in-depth understanding of the relationship between recipes and their ingredients," said Mike Christensen, founder and Chief Architect of KitchenPC. "Say you have 12 tortillas, a cucumber, 2 pounds of salmon, 8 ounces of cottage cheese and a few strips of bacon. You want to find five recipes to make this week that will use up these ingredients, while at the same time requiring you to buy the least number of new ingredients at the store. KitchenPC is designed from the ground up to do exactly this."
14% of food we buy goes right into the trash
A study from the University of Arizona concluded that Americans throw away around $43 billion in food each year, resulting in serious economic and environmental problems. KitchenPC aims to help users make the most of the food they buy, resulting in less waste and a better selection of meals.
Users are provided with a rich, dynamic web interface allowing them to fine-tune a suggested meal plan by checking or un-checking individual recipes. The required ingredient totals appear on the side, color-coded to provide a quick view of how "efficient" the selected recipes are. Ingredients appear in green if the user has enough to make the selected recipes, in yellow if they'll use up what they have but need to buy more, and in red for ingredients the user doesn't have. Users can further organize recipes on a meal calendar, or generate accurate shopping lists, both of which can be accessed online or from a mobile device.
"As a culinary student, I know the value of making every dollar count at the grocery store. KitchenPC helps keep my kitchen organized, saves me time, and helps me stay on budget," says Cherise Zenoniani, an aspiring professional chef and student in Seattle, WA.
KitchenPC Learns What You Like
So much for using ingredients in the most efficient way possible if that requires cooking "spinach casserole" five nights in a row. Users are able to rate recipes on the site, and KitchenPC will automatically learn about their likes and dislikes. When generating meal plans, users can specify how important their own tastes are compared to the goal of using their ingredients most efficiently. The site's home page is always eager to suggest recipes it thinks the user will like that they haven't yet tried. The site also allows users to "blacklist" certain ingredients to never be considered, in the case of allergies or religious restrictions.
Not Just a Recipe Website
KitchenPC's mission, simply put, is to help families figure out what to cook based on their goals. This goal might be finding recipes to use up what's in the fridge. It might be finding recipes that everyone in the family is most likely to enjoy. Users who are on a diet might want to use KitchenPC to build an efficient meal plan that incorporates only healthy, low-fat dishes.
Product Availability
KitchenPC is available to the public now in beta form at http://www.kitchenpc.com and is a free service. Users are able to work with over 1,000 recipes on the site, or upload their own. Questions or press inquiries should be directed to Email.
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