What to cook
Personal project
Why did I start this project?
Growing up, I often heard questions like "What do you want to eat?" or "What should I cook?", yet I didn't fully grasp the challenge it posed for my mother in choosing meals that would satisfy my tastes. Later, I encountered the same queries from my girlfriend. There were also frequent conversations between my girlfriend and her friends when they would ask similar questions: "What did you cook today?", "I'm not sure what to cook", "Give me an idea for dinner." Reflecting on these experiences, I conceived the idea for a web application that can streamline the decision-making process for women in my life.
What problem does the project solve?
The application aims to assist home cooks or cooking enthusiasts in selecting meals to cook based on individual preferences and available ingredients in the kitchen.
The Project
Research
Before commencing development, I consulted with the women in my life and friends in the web development sphere to gather authentic feedback on the application. Their insights provided valuable suggestions and ideas for features that would benefit users. I refrained from examining existing similar solutions to maintain the project's originality and prioritize tailoring it to the specific audience, with the potential to expand it with insights and conveniences from other similar projects.
Planning
I leveraged the flexibility afforded by working on a personal project to choose a technological stack, opting to utilize ReactJS and its accompanying technologies to enhance my skills in that domain. Prior to development, I drafted a detailed plan outlining the application's functionalities and design.
Development
For application development, I employed ReactJS for the frontend and Node.js for the backend. Additionally, I utilized MongoDB as the database to store recipes and user data. Attention was given to refining the application's design to ensure an intuitive user interface and ease of use.
Final Product
The end result is a web application offering personalized recipes and menus tailored to individual user preferences. The application is user-friendly and boasts a diverse collection of recipes catering to various tastes and dietary preferences.