As grateful as we are when we make it through another day relatively unscathed during this pandemic, we may be fried from either working at home or being trapped in a house with our kids or significant other all day. So when it comes to eating well, many of us are hoovering leftover takeout and a random bottle of pale ale we found in the back of our fridge. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that — you have to do what you have to do).
The takeout is understandable — who wants to hit a grocery store right now? Still, you might want to consider treating yourself to a homemade meal or co*cktail with whatever stash of ingredients you already have on hand. Maybe it seems they won’t come together to make an edible meal, but this might not be the case if you use a recipe- and co*cktail-builder website.
This isn’t to say using food and drinks as an escape from your feelings, but research suggests that rituals, or repetitive behaviors, like cooking a meal or mixing a co*cktail, can act as a buffer against strong negative emotions, improve self-control, and ease anxiety. And after another day of self-isolation, why not doing one little thing for you?
5 Great co*cktail Builder Websites
co*cktails and Shots
Input the list of ingredients you have on hand in the fields on the left, and the co*cktails and Shots co*cktail Builder will generate a list of drink recipes you can make with them on the right.
The listings themselves consist of a picture of the co*cktail and a list of ingredients, so you don’t have to click on each one for the recipe. Recipes you have every single ingredient for are listed at the top and labeled as “ready to make,” while recipes missing one ingredient are listed underneath, making it easy for you to start a list of stuff to buy when you journey out from your house again.
co*cktail Builder
Fill out your bar inventory on the left on the co*cktail Builder website and the list of co*cktail options you can make will continually update on the right. There’s also an additional column that shows suggested ingredients to shop for, and the number of co*cktail options you’ll have at your disposal if you were to add that ingredient to your repertoire.
Best of all, you can save your inventory by signing up for an account using your Google login, which means no new password to forget five minutes later.
Making creative co*cktails from your home has never been easier.
Drinknation
Add the alcohol and other ingredients you have to the Drinknation co*cktail Builder, then use the search feature to hunt down the recipes you can make. You can either search using all of the ingredients in your bar or by checking off specific ingredients you’d like to use. To save your bar inventory for future use, you can sign up for an account directly through Drinknation or by using your Facebook account.
Make Me A co*cktail
Make Me A co*cktail has a super-intuitive interface that makes it easy to go from filling out the ingredients you have in stock to a delicious beverage in your hand. Set up your inventory, click “make me a co*cktail,” and you’ll be taken to a custom list of drinks you can make. They even recommend the type of glass that should be used.
You can register for an account to save your bar inventory, as well as bookmark your favorite co*cktails. If you have 10 or more ingredients in stock, there’s also a feature that offers up suggestions on what you should buy on your next booze run, and the co*cktails you can make if you do.
Webtender
Webtender co*cktail Builder has a bit of a GeoCities vibe to it, but it gets the job done. Check off all of the booze options and additional ingredients you have on hand, and click the “generate list of drinks” button — or if decision fatigue’s got you down, click on the “pick random” button so that Webtender can decide on a co*cktail for you. Cheers!
4 Great Recipe Builder Websites
Food Combo
The Food Combo Recipe Builder is an ingredients-based search engine that helps you find delicious recipes based on what’s already in your kitchen. You can save up to 15 free ingredients in your digital pantry with a free account, and unlimited ingredients if you sign up for a premium one (it’s $9.99 for a lifetime membership).
The search results are organized by type of meal (main meals, side dishes), and you can filter down the results even further by using criteria like food allergies and dietary preferences.
MyFridgeFood
The MyFridgeFood Recipe Builder gives you two options: quick kitchen, to input a highlight reel of the star players in your kitchen, and detailed kitchen, to input your entire inventory (click on “show all ingredients” if you prefer this option).
The recipes you can make right away receive top billing in the search results, while recommended recipes with missing ingredients are shown further down. You can filter the results even further by specifying dietary needs (vegetarian, low-carb) and types of recipes (appetizers, entrees). If you set up a login, you can save your favorites.
Never get bored of what's in your refrigerator.
Recipe Key
The setup of Recipe Key is pretty straightforward: drag and drop the ingredients you have on hand to a virtual pantry, then click on “find recipes” to find ones that match up with your inventory. You can filter the results further using criteria like meal type (breakfast, lunch), cook method (stove, microwave), prep time, difficulty level, and food allergies, as well as sign up for an account to save your entries.
SuperCook
The SuperCook Recipe Builder lets you check off all of the ingredients you have on hand (or the ingredients you want to use up) and gives you a voluminous number of recipe options in return. The recipes you can make right now are featured at the top of the list, and recipes missing an ingredient are listed underneath should you want to add them to your upcoming shopping list.
To save your results, you can create an account using your Facebook login to spare you the pain of forgetting yet another password.
Krissy Brady covers women's health and wellness.
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