Cuisinable | Devpost

Inspiration

Many of us have experience with allergies or know people who have certain food allergies and/or intolerances. These can severely limit the dishes one can make, based on their own knowledge and experience with certain ingredients. With Cuisinable, we hope to inspire those with food intolerances by generating recipes that adhere to dietary restrictions and tolerances.

What it does

Approximately 7% of Canadians self-report having an allergy, with many more self-reporting food intolerances. Restrictions in diet and ingredients come with restrictions in recipes. Cuisinable removes the friction that comes with evaluating whether a dish respects the user's dietary restrictions, and aims to provide those with food allergies and intolerances with diverse, safe, and delicious meals.

How we built it

React.js, Node.js, Express.js, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Bootstrap

Utilized the spoonacular API, found at spoonacular.com/food-api

Challenges we ran into

During development, we hit a few bumps in the road. Connecting the front end with the back end was trickier than we thought, and figuring out which server ports to use proved to be difficult. Getting specific data from the API was another challenge that took a lot of trial and error to get the results that we were expecting. Plus, navigating git branches was slightly confusing at first, especially with multiple team members working on different parts. Despite these struggles, we learned a ton and managed to create a project that we're excited to show everyone.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re really proud of how our project turned out. Seeing our idea come to life was incredibly rewarding and satisfying. We successfully leveraged an API, which was a big win for us, especially as novice programmers. Setting up a functional front and back end for the first time was a huge milestone, and we learned a lot in the process. Plus, we went from prototyping our UI on Figma to implementing the idea using React, Express.js, Node.js, and CSS. Overall, we're incredibly happy with the progress we've made and how much we've learned throughout HackCamp.

What we learned

Throughout the hackathon, not only did we learn how to successfully realize an idea from scratch, but also many useful web development skills such as integrating a user-friendly and accessible front end with a functional and robust back end, determining the correct server ports, retrieving specific data from the API, and managing git branches. With the help of mentors, we were able to learn how to tackle any obstacles that we ran into while implementing the aforementioned functionality.

What's next for Cuisinable

Looking ahead, we envision various new capabilities that would greatly enhance Cuisinable's capabilities. We want to add user profiles so people can curate and save their preferences and favourite dishes. Expanding our dish database is also a priority to offer even more dining options. We’re planning to implement a search function to make finding recipes easier. To enhance the user experience, we’re thinking of adding animations for a more polished look. We also want to introduce a feature that allows users to invite friends and collaborate to ensure that everyone's dietary requirements are considered. These capabilities will allow Cuisinable to further accomplish it's goal - ensure that everyone has a plate made just for them.