Recipe/Nutrition/Menu Planning Software (for the Mac)

[tanki]

Does anyone use recipe software (Mac please) that they can recommend? I used to use MasterCook, which is great, but I have switched to the Mac and want to find a non-Windows solution.

[sota767]

If you already own MasterCook or Foodworks 13 you should be able to run them in Crossover Mac (http://www.codeweavers.com/products/).

[turenne58]

Am I understanding you all correctly? I cannot convert / adapt / use my Master Cook data base on my new Mac? I just converted from pc to mac and am very happy so far, but this will be frustrating if I cannot use a mac version of Master Cook (let alone copy all the new recipes I put on my old version). Help!!

[bbqboy]

you can run windows in boot camp on Intel macs.

[ashes15]

Hi! I know I'm pretty late with a reply here, but both MacGourmet and Computer Cuisine now (I don't know if they did before) import MasterCook recipes. I'm not familiar with MasterCook, but I've demo-ed both of these mac programs and personally I think MacGourmet is better. Both do nutrition calculation, meal planning, etc, though MacGourmet requires you to purchase and download plugins to do so. (I actually just realized that I have to pay for the plugins...annoying to have to pay extra for something that should just be included. Maybe it is in the Deluxe version? If so, it might be cheaper all together.)

MacGourmet just came out with a new version a few days ago. The Cuisine iPhone app has some nice features that the MacGourmet doesn't have, like emailing a recipe directly from your phone or iPod. I hope the MacGourmet app catches up soon!

http://macgourmet.com/
http://www.inakasoftware.com/index.ph...

[Michael K]

I used to use a program called MacDine and it had an extensive food data base which had nutritional info . You could build a recipe and then divide it into portions of your choice and it would give you the calories fat etc breakdown. I can no longer find it or even any trace of the company who made it. I was searching for it and found this thread

[RPMcMurphy]

Is there any software is cross-platform? ideally, I'd like to have a USB memory stick and be able to access my "database" from both a PC and a MAC (with the appropriate client software)

Nutrition calculations isn't a big deal for me, just maybe photos, and organization is a big thing for me.

[sarah88]

My favorite recipe program for the Mac is called Computer Cuisine Deluxe:
http://www.inakasoftware.com/cuisine/...

I've tried many others and they either have a poorly designed layout, or they are something awful like A Cook's Book where the interface is cumbersome and it's difficult to enter ingredients.

I really like Computer Cuisine Deluxe because the layout is PERFECT and I can just copy/paste entire recipe blocks from web sites into the program. It can import MasterCook recipes which got my mom to switch to it on her PC as well since they have a Windows version too. Hopefully, this will be the answer you're looking for.

[optimal forager]

Hey, this looks great. I've been looking for a good program for my Mac laptop for a while, but none of the options had all the features I wanted. This looks like it might be it. Thanks for sharing.

[Tom M of Durham NC]

This looks better that what's otherwise available but appears to lack a nutrition database, meaning it won't analyze your recipe for calories, carbs/protein/fat, vitamins, etc. etc. It has the capability for you to input all that information by hand, but the beauty of MasterCook is that it did all those calculations for you automatically.

[sarah88]

You have a point there, but the auto calculations from Mastercook and others are usually *horribly* inaccurate. I actually like the way Computer Cuisine Deluxe handles things. I pop in quite a few recipes from Shape magazine and they usually contain the true nutritional information at the very end of the recipe listing. I'm also seeing much more of it these days. What I also like about Computer Cuisine Deluxe is that you can just copy & paste a whole recipe from the web instead of having to enter each ingredient line by line with other recipe programs.

[jmkizer]

Computer Cuisine Deluxe does do some very slick importing.

[Jen76]

RE: Sarah88

This looks so cool! I don't care so much about the nutritional info, but I've always wanted software to help me plan menus and grocery shopping lists. Voila! Thanks! Always tricky to find stuff for our macs. This is great.

[mrose314]

Can you import recipes from WORD into Computer Cuisine Deluxe, and then get nutritional values?

[JGF]

Can you add ingredients into the database if there are some things that are not in it already. I eat gluten free and mix my own flour mixture with several ingredients. I would love to create "my flour" as an ingredient so that I don't have to add each thing every time I use my flour. I could just add one ingredient each time instead of 7. Thanks for your help.

[annfaulkner]

I don't know if its MAC friendly, but I love Coolbook Wizard-very easy and great support for a PC newby.

[larochelle]

Same situation for me!

Last month I evaluated all the Mac recipe software I could find. My No.1 deal-breaker was/is that it MUST calculate nutrition. I was not able to find anything suitable. I am now retro-fiting my Mac so it can run MasterCook.

I'm pretty sure I did an extensive search but I'd love to hear it if I missed some software that has a nutrition database / calculation function build in.

Note: plenty of software has nutrition FIELDS that you can fill in manually - that is not sufficient - it needs to be a database and needs to automatically calculate the nutrition.

[Tom M of Durham NC]

Amen. I loved MasterCook precisely for the nutritional analysis--otherwise, cookbooks and recipes saved in Word documents are just fine. Why hasn't someone come up with a Mac program that performs this essential function? I mean, for goodness sake, that's exactly what a computer is for--that's where it's power is. A recipe program without a nutritional analysis function is like using a Peugot as a planter. Yeah, your flowers will look great but you're not really taking advantage of the machine's strengths.

That said, I believe there is a program out there with a nutritional database--it's called "A Cook's Books." I gave it a try six months ago or so and for some reason didn't like it--guess I figured something better would come along soon enough. Now that that's proven to be untrue I guess I'll give it another shot. Will report back if it's any good.

[Tom M of Durham NC]

Just downloaded "A Cook's Books" and now remember why I stopped using it. It does have a nutrition database, which is nice, but the program is clunky and, to me amyway, counterintuitive, making the process of building and scaling recipes tedious and difficult. Now, it's true I only played with it for 10 minutes or so, but within 10 minutes I was already a whiz at MasterCook. That's the level of functionality I want in my Mac recipe software.

[bankomeister]

I just noticed that the new version of MacGourmet calculates nutrition

[jmkizer]

I'm in the process of revisiting this. I have been using Living Cookbook under Virtual Machine on my iBook but I would really like to get an OS X recipe program. The only one that I've found that does nutrition very well is ShopNCook which seems kind of OK. MacGourmet seemed to be clunky in that way.

[JudiAU]

Congratulations on your switch. I don't have any experience with the software per see but I've heard people rec MacGourmet. http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/home_learning/macgourmet.html

There is also a freeware widget that might interest you, a web-based product with a search function. http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/food/themeasuringcupcomrecipesearch.html

And also a shareware product Yummysoup http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx...

Finally, if you are running OS X you may able to run mastercook in its native format. Good luck and post back if you like any of these.