From: artemis@netcom.com (Michelle Dick)
Subject: Re: REQUEST: info on recipe software packages
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 03:12:53 GMT

This is a repost of my summary of shareware recipe and nutrition
programs.  There are two Windows recipe programs, but they are not
reviewed here.  They can be found on the cica ftp site (you'll have to
hunt them up yourself).

***********
This is a brief review of 10 shareware recipe managers and nutrition
programs for the PC.  Of these, CompuChef (recipe manager) and
Managing Your Food (nutrition program) are my picks for best programs.
There is one shareware program that I haven't found yet: The Recipe
Processor by Jay Lichtenstein.  Does anyone know if this program is
available by anonymous-ftp?

For each I've given a pointer to where I can be obtained by anonymous
ftp.  Ftp-impaired folks are on your own, and the sites are North
American.  Read the ibm groups if you need more info on obtaining
these programs.

Summary of the review criterion:

Shopping List: program lets you mark recipes for shopping and compiles
a collected list of ingredients needed.

Imperial/Metric: program will convert imperial units to metric and
vice versa.

Units Conversion:  program will convert among similar units (i.e. tsp
to Tbsp to cups).

Serving Size: program will scale recipe up/down

Categories: the number of keywords or categories that can be
associated with each recipe (e.g. Italian, Chicken, Breakfast, etc).

Built-in fields: list of fields (other than title) that are
automatically associated with each recipe.

Nutritional computation:  Whether the program will compute total
nutritional information for a recipe based on the ingredients in it.

Import/Export: Whether the program can read in/out text files

Registration cost: How much it costs to register the shareware program
after you've evaluated it and decided that you would like to use it.

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COMPUCHEF

Anon-ftp:  wuarchive.wustl.edu:/mirrors/msdos/database/cchef20.zip

Shopping list: YES
Imperial/Metric conversion: NO
Measurement units conversion: YES
Serving size adjustment: YES
Categories: 3
Built-in fields: Calories, Fat grams, Cholesterol, Cooking time,
	Favorite, Source
Nutritional computation: NO
Import/Export recipes: YES
Registration cost: $30

Comments: My favorite.  Menu-driven.  Easy to use.  Easy to browse
recipes. No sub-string search on ingredients.

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EDNA'S COOKBOOK

Anon-ftp: ux1.cso.uiuc.edu:/pc/pcsig/disks/disk1229.zip

Shopping list: NO
Imperial/Metric conversion: NO 
Measurement units conversion: NO
Serving size adjustment: NO
Categories: 2
Built-in fields: Recipe source
Nutritional computation: NO
Import/Export recipes: NO
Registration cost: $31

Comments:  The only unique feature of this program is the ability to
protect your secret recipes with a password.

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FOODVIEW  (AND OLD REC.FOOD.RECIPES TROFF DIGESTS)

Anon-ftp: wuarchive.wustl.edu:/mirrors/msdos/database/fdvw233.zip (program)
	  wuarchive.wustl.edu:/mirrors/msdos/database/rec200-1.zip (recipes)

Shopping list: NO
Imperial/Metric conversion: YES 
Measurement units conversion: NO
Serving size adjustment: NO
Categories: N/A
Built-in fields: N/A
Nutritional computation: NO 
Import/Export recipes: NO
Registration cost: $25

Comments: This is a viewer for old rec.food.recipe files in troff
format.  For its limited functionality, it is well done.

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MEALMASTER

Anon-ftp: wuarchive.wustl.edu:/mirrors/msdos/database/mm-701.zip

Shopping list: YES
Imperial/Metric conversion: YES
Measurement units conversion: YES
Serving size adjustment: YES
Categories: 5
Built-in fields: none
Nutritional computation: NO 
Import/Export recipes: YES
Registration cost: $35

Comments: Similar capabilities as CompuChef, but not quite as easy to
use.  Harder to browse recipes.  Can read-in and output recipes for
Prodigy.

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QUIKBOOK

Anon-ftp: wuarchive.wustl.edu:/mirrors/msdos/database/qbook096.zip

Shopping list: NO
Imperial/Metric conversion: NO
Measurement units conversion: NO
Serving size adjustment: NO
Categories: Unlimited
Built-in fields: Recipe source
Nutritional computation: NO
Import/Export recipes: YES
Registration cost: 

Comments: This program has minimal features but allows you to use any
archive program (such as PKZIP) and editor to create free-form
recipes.  It is unique in that it will compute an index based on
title/keywords for any set of recpies. 

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PERSONAL RECIPE MANAGER

Anon-ftp: wuarchive.wustl.edu:/mirrors/msdos/database/prm.arc

Shopping list: NO
Imperial/Metric conversion: NO 
Measurement units conversion: NO
Serving size adjustment: NO
Categories: 1
Built-in fields: none
Nutritional computation: NO 
Import/Export recipes: NO
Registration cost: $25

Comments:  A rather lackluster program considering the competition.

---------------

PERSONAL NUTRITIONIST

Anon-ftp: wuarchive.wustl.edu:/mirrors/msdos/database/nutri321.zip

Shopping list: NO
Imperial/Metric conversion: NO 
Measurement units conversion: YES
Serving size adjustment: YES
Categories: 1
Built-in fields: none
Nutritional computation: YES, detailed 
Import/Export recipes: NO
Registration cost: $45

Comments:  Crippled but powerful program.  You need to register in
order to edit the ingredients database.  Full calorie, fat, protein,
nutrient, fiber analysis for recipes.  Menu planning and exercise
schedule (with calorie computation).  Not a recipe manager --
ingredients listing only, titles limited in length, 10 ingredient
maximum for recipes.

---------------

MANAGING YOUR FOOD

Anon-ftp: ux1.cso.uiuc.edu:/pc/pcsig/disks/disk1056.zip

Shopping list: NO
Imperial/Metric conversion: NO 
Measurement units conversion: YES, configurable
Serving size adjustment: NO
Categories: none
Built-in fields: none
Nutritional computation: YES, detailed 
Import/Export recipes: NO
Registration cost: $35. add'l $15 for USDA database

Comments: Fully functional and expandable nutritional analysis.
Calculates cost, protein, carbs, fat, calories, cholesterol, fiber,
nutrients, food exchanges, and 2 user configurable fields.
Menu-driven, but not intuitive interface.  Can output to file and use
editor of your choice.  Recipes are limited to 20 ingredients and 16
lines of instruction.  Easier to use than the Personal Nutritionist.

---------------

MEALMATE

Anon-ftp: ux1.cso.uiuc.edu:/pc/pcsig/disks/disk0700.zip

Shopping list: NO
Imperial/Metric conversion: NO 
Measurement units conversion: NO
Serving size adjustment: NO
Categories: N/A
Built-in fields: N/A
Nutritional computation: Yes, basic 
Import/Export recipes: NO
Registration cost: $30

Comments:  This is a simple program to calculate calories, protein,
carbs, fat, and food exchanges for a list of ingredients.  Recipes are
NOT stored.  Easy to use, but you must work with the basic units
provided for ingredients.  You can add ingredients to the database.
Because unit conversion (esp volume/weight) is such a pain, I prefer
Managing Your Food.

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BETTER DIET ANALYZER

Anon-ftp: ux1.cso.uiuc.edu:/pc/pcsig/disks/disk2586.zip

Shopping list: NO
Imperial/Metric conversion: NO 
Measurement units conversion: NO
Serving size adjustment: NO
Categories: none
Built-in fields: Source
Nutritional computation: Yes, basic 
Import/Export recipes: NO
Registration cost: $30

Comments: Menu-driven program, similar to MealMate.  Recipe
ingredients can be stored and referenced in other recipes.  Does no
units conversion, but has a pull-down calculator.  Can calculate
nutritional info for recipes, and daily and weekly meals.

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Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking