Cook what you have

There are some people for whom cooking brings sheer pleasure. They are ever ready to meticulously plan their grocery purchases, set out the monthly menu and cook with an enthusiasm which reflects in the taste of the dishes that they prepare. For others, however, cooking is a tedious chore. They would rather spend as little time as possible on it.

Yet there is one characteristic similar to both, which is their expertise in cooking up something from the leftovers, especially now that food prices have taken their toll on the budget of many households. But those confused about how to make the most f the veggies or anything in the fridge, Cooking by Numbers is a site that will prove to be an aid.

Just select the food items which are in your refrigerator — and pick the same on the website, there is quite a long list to choose from, like butter, chicken, cheese, salad, beef, steak, etc. The next step is to select the items which are in your kitchen cupboard. You can select from flour, lentils, noodles, pasta, bread, coffee and loads more. Once you are done, you can point and click to find out which recipes you can try out.

The recipes are ranked in a unique way, like the recipe containing the most number of items that you are looking for is ranked first — with the percentage showing next to it. The percentage will tell you the extent to which the recipe contains the ingredients that you have specified.

While you are here, you can also try a tomato game available for free. There is also a segment on general cooking tips. If you are a beginner in the kitchen, this section will fill you in on the correct way to chop an onion, make bread crumbs, how to peel citrus fruits and how to get many other basic things done.

However, the most irritating thing is its blue background which hits you in the face — and yes, this background is there on every single page. Moreover, it is again apparent that the basic layout design has not been considered closely, and lacks the pictorial aspect as well. There are many web pages which are titled “Untitled Document” — which does look highly unprofessional. Moreover, the steps in the recipe are not numbered — they appear as one paragraph.

But as far as the functionality goes, this is definitely a very handy website. If you are blessed with a cable or DSL connection, you can log onto this website whenever you are stuck anywhere in the kitchen.

To find out how you can convert leftovers into exotic dishes, log onto http://www.cookingbynumbers.com/