Locavore

Want to eat locally but don’t know where to go?  Available for the Android and iPhone, Locavore helps you effortlessly discover which foods are in season, where to buy them, and how to prepare them.  It even syncs up with Foodista to conveniently provide you with recipes for foods that are currently in season, helping you make meals that come directly from the farm to the table.  And if you feel the urge to peer pressure your friends into becoming more mindful of their eating habits, Locavore even lets you share your farmer’s market finds on Facebook.

Cooking Time

Still haven’t figured out how to navigate the thin line between grilled and burned?  Cooking Time will help you decide just how long it takes to simmer, sautee, or char anything and everything.  You can also set multiple timers, store recipes, and make grocery lists that can be updated as you peruse the shelves.  Available for the iPhone, Cooking Time will not only help you save time, it will also help you save face.

Raw Food for Real People

If you’re looking to shift towards a more health conscious lifestyle or just prefer to stay far away from open flames and sharp objects, Rob Rotondi’s Raw Food for Real People, the app for the book by the same name, could be a great addition to your arsenal of mobile apps.  Available for the iPhone and Android, it’s a bit pricey at $5.99, but in this case, you get what you pay for.  It includes everything from the history of the raw food movement to recipes and advice on transitioning to eating raw.

Foodscanner

Counting calories but don’t enjoy doing math? Foodscanner will do it for you.  Available for the iPhone, Foodscanner works by scanning UPC bar codes or typing in food names and automatically generates the nutrition facts for the respective food.  While Foodscanner is great for packaged foods, it likely won’t come in handy for freshly cooked meals.  And while you could look up the number of calories that are in the brownie you just ate, you might want to let that slide.

Don’t Eat That

Living with a food allergy can be difficult, if not downright dangerous.  If you don’t want to end up in the emergency room any time soon, Don’t Eat That for the iPhone could be a literal lifesaver.  Type in the name of any ingredient to find out if it’s carcinogenic, interacts with any medications, or is banned in other countries.  Just make sure you don’t get so carried away with analyzing your food that you forget to enjoy the act of eating it.

Conclusion

Whether you’re in search of a creative recipe, want to impress guests with a perfectly grilled steak, or just keep your waistline trim, app developers have been hard at work helping to make your life simpler.  Take advantage of these applications and breathe a little bit easier.