Use the Internet for meal planning

By Chris McGinn

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Becoming a top chef may be just a mouse click away.

Foodies have transformed the Web into a virtual cookbook with all the best recipes, new ideas, and beautiful food photography you could ever need.  Whether you are looking for a new way to cook ribs, want to save your Aunt Sally’s cake recipes, or need a lesson in boiling water, you can find it online.

What's for dinner?

One of the most common uses for online cooking sites is to search the virtually endless catalog of recipes. Whether you have a favorite chef, favorite cooking method or favorite ingredient, there is likely to be a site that caters to your taste.

Forget tearing out recipes from your favorite magazine. Sites like Epicurious and MyRecipes  offer searchable and saveable recipes at your fingertips from magazines including Gourmet, Bon Appetite, Southern Living, Cooking Light and Real Simple.

You can also search for recipes that taste like your favorite restaurant meals at Copykat.These taste-alike recipes are as close as you can get to your dining out picks without having to leave the house.

Food Network and its squad of sensational chefs have a top shelf site with recipes from all your favorite network shows as well as video clips, printable recipe cards and shopping options.

Recipezaar is a social community of cooks who post their creations and family favorites to help everyone eat better. Whether it's tips for "once-a-month cooking," healthy snacks or holiday desserts, they have a recipe for you.

Similarly, Foodbuzz is a one-stop shop for food and dining info. A social network of foodies, this site aggregates blogs, websites and other food content from all over with easy searches and commenting and ratings from users worldwide.

Looking for something a little different?

Want to expand your eating options? The Internet is a great place to broaden your culinary horizons.

For example, follow along with Freddie from England as his mother attempts to increase his vegetable repertoire by eating their way through the alphabet. From their blog, The Great Big Veg Challenge, they share the journey through three dishes -- each made with vegetable recipes often from blog readers. If you want your kids to eat more greens, this site is a winner.

Another cooking experiment you can follow online is Stephanie O'Dea's Year of Crockpotting,  where she attempts to eat something cooked in a slow cooker every day. Sometimes it's main courses, other times side dishes or desserts, but every recipe posted uses the same cooking method with varying degrees of success.

Lunch in a Box is another site with a distinctive cooking twist -- bento. Bento is a Japanese cooking art form that includes decorative food and packing meals in compartmentalized boxes. Deborah Hamilton offers her own attempts at making bento lunches for her preschooler and husband including quick-cook methods and storage tips.

SOS from the kitchen

Some people grow up learning how to cook from their mothers or grandmothers, but many others leave home barely knowing how to boil water. Fortunately the Web has help.
YouTube is a good place to observe cooking skills. Cooking.com's channel on the site features top-name cooks like Emeril Lagasse and Paula Deen demonstrating kitchen tools and cooking techniques. Other not-so-famous cooks also have help for the novice.

Cooking for Engineers is tailor-made for tech types who like an analytical rather than artistic approach to cooking. Step-by-step instructions with specific details and photos are the highlights of this site.

A cookbook all your own

While gathering new recipes is helpful, sometimes you want to use family favorites. Tastebook has merged the cook's desire for great recipes from the world's best chefs with his love of his own tried-and-true recipes. It's the only place where you can create customized hardcover cookbooks online.

At Tastebook, you can search thousands of recipes from your favorite magazines, and you can also design and add pages to feature your very own recipes complete with photos, stories and tips as you desire.

Other food trends

Eating organic foods and eating local foods are two big trends in food today. LocalHarvest.org helps visitors find sources of sustainably-grown food such as produce, meat and dairy from small growers and family farms in your area.

With childhood obesity increasing, another area of food interest is teaching kids to cook and eat healthy food. Doof is a fast-paced, high energy cooking show for kids ages 6 to 11.

Whatever your cooking skill level from novice to expert, the Internet is your new cookbook shelf. Try out new dishes, share your family favorites, and get advice from other cooks. Now grab a seat at the Internet table and dig in.