MasterCook Teleclasses

There are many software packages out there that give you lots of information and are quite powerful to use, but if the learning curve to master it is great, or if the cost of it is prohibitive, then you either won't buy it or it will sit on your shelf.

That's not what happens with MasterCook! Within moments of opening the box and putting the CD through the install process, you should be able to figure out how to use it. If you can't (or didn't) this was the class for you!

MasterCook is also widely popular so that many cooks, Zoners or not, have been using it to import recipes from various web based sites or lists, as well as using it to compile personal favorites. That is one of the reasons that I have begun to use this as my primary recipe analysis tool.

While the program is easy to use generally, there are many fine points that may take you quite awhile to learn to use, which are very helpful if you are someone who is concerned about the finer nutrition points in a recipe, like most Zoners want. That is what the class was all about.

Pru Borland was "volunteered" to take notes, so this is what the class covered:

Hi Karen,

The class was fun! I thought you did a great job of presenting the MC basics. Here are the notes. I didn't go into each STEP of each procedure (now click on "file", etc.) since that's easy to cut and paste from the MC "help" files. Lots of catching up for me to do after my fun and family-packed week. I tried to talk them into leaving the baby here, but (sigh) they wouldn't listen!

Pru

This summarizes what was covered in the MC Teleclass given at 1 PM EST on Mon, Nov. 30, 1998.

1. How to make a new cookbook. (See MC "Help" for specifics on this an other basic operations) Each participant created a new cookbook for zone recipes.

2. How to add a new recipe. Participants went through this, step by step, adding a recipe dictated by Karen for MasterMix with Defatted Soy Flour

3. How to save a recipe.

4. How to do nutritional analysis of a recipe. Karen outlined a special technique that is useful for zoners who want to be able to analyze recipes in terms of "blocks". For this recipe, servings were initially set at "1". Then the total carb blocks for the entire recipe could be established by subtracting the fiber from the carbohydrates and dividing by 9. We found that the entire recipe contained about 21 carb blocks. So then, by resetting the servings to "21", we were able to easily see how many fat and protein blocks PER carb block the recipe contained. Karen estimated that one "serving" of the mix would be 1/2 cup, resulting in 1 carb block, slightly less than 3 protein blocks and 3 fat blocks (slight variations here depending on whether butter or olive or canola oil was used). Entering the block information in the "Notes" area means we don't have to recalculate each time.

5. How to add new categories.

6. How to send a recipe by email. Critical step described was going through "setup" procedure, adding your own name, email address, and server name.