Don’t cook much at home and think it’s too expensive to eat healthy foods regularly? Think making a healthy meal is too complicated and takes too much time? Think healthy food doesn’t taste good and your kids won’t eat it? The Dr. Yum Project is determined to bust through the barriers families face when trying to cook healthy meals at home with their one-of-a-kind free website tool, the Meal o Matic.

The Meal o Matic is a FREE online website tool from the Dr. Yum Project that anyone can use without the hassle of a registration or login process, and works easily on mobile devices. We have all stood in front of the fridge, wondering how to use the random ingredients sitting on the shelves. Now all you need to do is decide what are you hungry for; stir-fry, curry, soup, baked dish, salad, pasta dish, or a “Yum-bowl”? Pull up the Meal o Matic and you will be prompted to choose from a list of the ingredients you may already have on hand, including a carbohydrate, protein, veggies, and seasonings. After making the selections, simply click a button, and the Meal o Matic creates a customized meal that is easy to make and delicious!

During the development of the Meal o Matic, scores of busy working families tested it to make their own recipes. We have heard so much excitement about how families are spending less money because they are using ingredients they already have. Even more exciting is the fact that parents are finding the customized recipes are so fast and easy to make and their kids are engaged and excited about trying new foods.

In one instance the Dr. Yum Project team heard of a little boy in their community who wanted to help an orphanage in Honduras and was asking for jobs to raise money. His mom noted him to be a picky eater, so when one of the Dr. Yum Project team members learned about him, she challenged him to use the Meal Maker Machine to make dinner for his family. He had such a fun time making a customized pasta dish, he has decided to use all the other Meal Makers to make new recipes to explore. See his video below.

In an era where the drive-thru seems like the cheapest alternative, the average fast food meal costs $5 – $7 and is often too high in fat, salt, and sugar. The Dr. Yum Project is determined to make sure the much more nutritious Meal Maker Machine Meals are significantly less expensive and in fact several of our “budget-friendly” recipes clock in at less than $2.50 per serving.

Since the Meal Maker Machine creates recipes based on ingredients already on hand, it also helps to reduce food waste, helping to save families money each year. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that 30 percent of the food supply is wasted each year, with the highest rate of waste rates coming from fruits and vegetables. Many families can relate, as they throw unused produce or leftovers into the trash each week, and waste a portion of their food budget in the process.

Time is of the essence when it comes to dinner for most families and we take the guesswork out of what to prepare. In addition to the Meal o Matic, we created Dr. Yum’s Meal Planner where parents can build a weekly menu and shopping list, based on PREP TIME as it aligns with evening activities. With the click of a button, you can even get a shopping list sorted by grocery department. We make it as easy to do a little bit of planning which goes a long way to be able to enjoy yummy homemade meals, even on the busiest of nights.

In addition to helping families quickly be able to make recipes at home based on the ingredients they have on hand, the Meal-o-Matic also has so many fun and healthy benefits:

Benefits to the Meal-o-Matic

  • It gives children and adults the opportunity to create their own unique recipes and allows kids a chance to have fun with creating a recipe they can make.

  • It helps people to become more comfortable cooking at home.

  • It allows families to take food allergies and dietary preferences into account when creating recipes.

  • It makes it easier for families to cook at home more, which helps them live a healthier lifestyle. Home-cooked meals tend to have less fat, salt, and sugar than those in restaurants.

  • Families can make cooking at home a fun experience that everyone gets involved in, making getting healthy and saving time and money a family affair.

  • The Meal o Matic works beautifully on iPhone and Android for free. If you have an iPhone and prefer it as an app you can also download it from the App Store.