Welcome back guest blogger Kim Maes. You might recognize the name from the 30 Days to a Food Revolution- Cook IT Allergy Free when she shared her Drunken Chicken and Vegetable recipe. If you want to see something totally cook, watch this video.
The other day, Diane (of The W.H.O.L.E. Gang) asked me if I would be interested in writing a guest post on her blog about my new iPhone/iPad App. I have been hesitant to talk much about my App on my own blog. I wanted to keep my blog as a place to come together with the gluten-free and allergy-free community and share recipes, tips, ideas, and support to help each other improve our skills as chefs in our kitchens of dietary restrictions! I did not want it to become an advertisement for the App.
However, that all being said, there is nothing that I am more proud of (oh, other than my own children, of course) than this project. When I took on this endeavor, I did not quite grasp what exactly would be required of me to bring this from my little idea to this point of being able to help others in the food allergy community. It honestly has been the hardest and most time consuming adventure that I have ever worked on. And although there were many hours of frustration and challenges along the path of bringing it to fruition…I have actually loved every minute of it.
The most humbling of this whole experience is that I have had so many gluten-free and allergy-free bloggers approach me to offer their own amazing recipes to include into the App. These are the very people that I have admired and followed over the years, so to have their special recipes included means so much. Lexie (of Lexie’s Kitchen), Shirley (of gfe-gluten free easily), Zoe (of Z’s Cup of Tea), Amy (of Simply Sugar and Gluten Free), Jenny (of Creative Cooking: Gluten Free), Rhonda (of Allergy Sense), Michelle (of Allergy Sense), and Sarah (of Sarah B Designs)…. these girls have helped to create an invaluable resource and have given such a gift to this project. (Note: some of the recipes from the bloggers listed above are still currently in the process of being added to the App – the addition of each recipe is a long process to ensure the substitution process is correct).
So even though my little video trailer above does a pretty good job of describing this labor-of-love, I will quickly tell you a bit more about it here.
The Cook It Allergy Free iPhone/iPad App is perfect for people with Celiac Disease and/or food allergies. It offers hundreds of gluten free recipes (with more constantly being added), that can all be customized to meet many food allergy needs. This really is a perfect tool for those with Celiac Disease or those who are allergic to gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts, or soy.
There is no need to spend time searching for recipes to suit specific allergy needs. You can pick any recipe in the App and, with a simple tap, trade out your allergens (such as eggs, butter, milk, yogurt, buttermilk, cream, sour cream, cream cheese, cheeses, nuts, nut butters, corn syrup, and soy) for safe and correctly calculated allergen-free substitutions. You can now easily adapt recipes to create delicious meals that hopefully will get your families raving!
The App also offers a number of other features. You can:
- Find tons of great tips and tricks for gluten-free and allergy-free cooking that will help to give you delicious results in the recipes. I recently did a post on my blog that contains many (although not quite all) of these tips in case you want to print them out.
- Share your recipes and cooking tips with your friends through Email, Facebook, and Twitter directly from the app.
- Save your recipes to your Grocery List to have all of the ingredients you need, including your substitutions for your allergens, at your fingertips for easy shopping.
- Organize your Grocery List By Aisle or By Recipe. And you are also able to add items from your daily home list as well.
- Check off items as you shop →clear single ingredients, entire recipes, or your entire list with simple taps.
- Email your Grocery list to yourself (or whoever is doing the shopping) or use the list directly from the phone or iPad
- Save your customized recipes to your category-organized Recipe Box
- Have offline access to your Recipe Box anytime.
- Keep your own notes within each recipe to remind yourself of what you liked or did not like about a recipe.
- Find endless tips and FAQ’s on how to use the App.
Because of my family’s own struggles with Celiac Disease and other food sensitivities, this App and my blog have truly evolved into a passionate endeavor for me. There is nothing that I want more than to help other families that are struggling with the challenges of cooking for food allergies and sensitivities. And I think that this App will go a long way towards taking the confusion out of this crazy world of ingredient substitutions!
The iPhone Version is available for $4.99 at the Apple Store.
The iPad Version is available for $8.99 at the Apple Store.
Wow! How wonderful, Kim, and what a great article! 🙂 I hope to make something soon with your app and share it on my blog. I’m very happy to contribute recipes to your app and to be a part of this by making a difference by doing the very thing you said: by helping others with cooking for food allergies and sensitivities, and overall healthier eating.
Kim–I think the video is great (is that you talking? super professional voice and presentation!) and although I have only seen the app through the video screenshots, I think it's fantastic, too. I love that once you modify a recipe, you can save it that way so you never have to do the substitution thing again. The grocery list, tips, etc. all sound fantastic. And, the app sounds like the best bargain ever to me! Now if only had something to use it on. 😉
Thanks for the shout out, but it was totally my pleasure to share my recipes and I will be glad to do so again in the future. It's an easy way to help tons of folks at once. Major kudos to you and your family for all the work and support that has gone into these amazing apps!
Shirley
Hey Zoe, thanks so much for all of your support! You have been so wonderful! I really mean that! This has to be the most amazing community to be a part of! Cannot wait to hear which recipes that you try out! I will be back to adding more recipes next week. We have been on vacation this week and I have had a lot of other work on my plate lately. So once school starts for the boys, I will again have some time to dedicate!!! ;0)
Shirley, that is not my voice. I had someone else say it for me. I wrote the script and when I listened to my voice saying it on the video, it sounded so young (even though I am nearing 40, I think my voice sounds like I am a kid on the phone or in home videos – I have fooled many a telemarketer by telling them "my mom and dad are not home right now" LOL).
I appreciate more than you will ever know, all of your support and kind words about this project! It is all of you that have helped to make it what it is. Thank you so very much!
I was so excited to hear about this! Congratulations. I know this was a lot of work! Now, if I could just get an iphone or ipad…
Kim–I thought you sounded awfully, uh, mature. LOL Looking at your photo and hearing the voice, the two didn't jive, but one never really knows. 😉 Great job anyway. Sometimes subbing jobs out makes the most sense. LOL on the telemarketer bit. Happy to support your great app!
Shirley