I hate cooking the same things over and over. Being a bachelor, I tend to get in that rut at times. It just seems easier to cook simple meals that you can whip up from memory in an instant. That gets old pretty fast, though. I started looking at alternatives not long ago, trying to come up with some new ideas for my dinner menus. After coming across the BigOven app earlier, I have a feeling my iPad is going to be used quite often down in my kitchen.

BigOven is far more than just a recipe finder. Once you find a recipe you’d like to try, you can bring up the list of ingredients. Let the app help you figure out which of the items you don’t have on hand, and then create a grocery list in seconds. You can then sync the list to your iPhone or Android device and head to the market. That alone is worth the cost of the app to me. I have trouble figuring out what I need to buy and how much of it I need once I hit the store.

If you have no idea what you want to cook up, tap a couple of ingredients you like and let the app find matching entries for you. With more than 170,000 to choose from (and more being added daily!), I’m pretty sure you’ll find something that works for you. You can even submit your recipes, photos and reviews.

I plan to grab this app for myself tomorrow, and will report back to let you know if my culinary skills have improved.