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Stuck in a “food rut”? New site can help

Posted at 11:03 AM, May 11, 2012
and last updated 2012-05-11 11:03:17-04

By Holly Henry, WGNT Online Producer

Is your dinner time playlist stuck on repeat?

If you find yourself in a food rut, there is a website for you.

It’s called Mor.sl.

To get started, just type www.mor.sl inside your browser.

When you first log on to the site, you are prompted to take a fun quiz. You are asked questions about your favorite flavors, food allergies you have, whether or not you are a vegan or vegetarian, and most importantly, your skill level in the kitchen. How long do you feel like spending to prep the meal?

Users can navigate the site freely at first, but when you make an account – the computer will remember your information. The site even allows you to sign in with your Facebook account.

I find the site most useful by using the search box. For example, type “chicken”. Many different chicken meals pop up – and you can sort them each by prep time, taste, or even at random. You can search core ingredients, type of cuisine, and dish type.

When you click on the meal you want, the program gives you a list of appropriate side dishes to choose from – and sometimes wine lists. You can ‘favorite’ the different meals, and come back to them later. That way, the computer remembers your tastes and has suggestions for you next time you log on.

According to a report on Tech Crunch, Mor.sl was created by a young woman named Mili Mittal, who grew up in a home with a mother who worked long hours. Here is an excerpt from the article:

“My mom worked night shifts when I was growing up. She left the house at 4 p.m., came home at 8 p.m. on her break, whipped up a fresh-from-scratch, healthy Indian meal, fed the family, and left to go back to work at 8:30. I was privileged to eat healthy, fresh food every single day growing up, but somehow, as an adult, I never managed to provide such meals for myself,” she said. “Nearly all my friends – busy professionals – faced the same problem. They wanted to cook at home, but they lacked the mental model required to plan and cook gourmet meals efficiently throughout the week. So, we decided to automate the mental model with mor.sl.”

The result? It’s like Pandora for food.

From this…

..to this: 

Editor’s Note: When I told people about this story idea, this was the response I got: “When I was your age we didn’t need a website to help us cook!” But remember, this story is just for fun. Bon appetit!
http://www.mor.sl/

More stories on Mor.sl:

Mor.sl Offers Recipe Recommendations To Hungry Webonauts

Don’t know what to cook? New site learns your tastes, suggests yummy recipes