Eating and cooking healthier, thanks to Internet recipes

By Rick Castellini Special to PRIME So far this year I have shared with you how to use the Internet to gather geographical information (maps), weather information, gardening help, and how to create your own customized news gathering web site. This month, I want to share with you how you can use the Internet to eat healthier, cook faster, and save money at the same time. We are what we eat, and using the web really can help us eat better. Have you ever looked up a recipe on the web? I'm betting yes. And as with almost any topic, dozens of sites exist that collect and share recipes. Of course there are the popular main stays like foodtv.com, epicurious.com, and allrecipes.com. And your favorite cooking magazine has a companion web site where you can search for and look up recipes, but I'm going to encourage you to take a look at some wonderful food blogs. My favorites include foodgawker.com, ourlifeinthekitchen.com, and rickbayless.com. Once you find a recipe on any of these sites, don't just hit the print button. The larger sites will let you create a free account and store your favorite recipes (very handy for travel) and even help you create a shopping list from the recipes you select (save you money). When you DO want to print a recipe, use the site's printing tools to properly setup your page without all the ads and extraneous web info. Most of them will even let you choose what size of print you want (3 X5, 4 X 6, etc). One word of warning on saving money for groceries; more and more fake coupon sites are cropping up to try an invade your computer or steal your money. Use your local newspaper or a store's web site to find coupons instead. If you are kitchen klutz, then you will love the web because almost all of the sites I mentioned above have video how-to and the step-by-step photos and instructions are wonderful. And if you want to learn how to cook some of the food you enjoy at restaurants, then you will like this collection of popular restaurant recipes; copykat.com. I'm hoping you enjoyed this web primer regarding food and cooking. If you have any great food sites that you enjoy, please visit me at HelpMeRick.com and tell me about it. While not a true foodie, I love to cook and learn about cooking and the web offers limitless options for learning! Rick Castellini is an author, computer consultant, and hosts a computer radio show from Colorado. Visit his web site at www.HelpMeRick.com for new tips every week and sign up for his free weekly email newsletter. You can also follow Rick on Twitter at twitter.com/helpmerick.