PantryChef stemmed from an idea a few friends and I had back in 2011. It revolved around the idea, "Why isn't there a website that knows what you have in your pantry?" Since then I have spent a lot of free time, single-handedly making the crazy idea of ours come true.
Because neither of us had any real experience with recipe websites, other than the casual browsing, the fist major battle was organizing the mind-boggling number of ingredients in the world. This organizational system had to be so well though out so the system will know that a single lime can supply fresh fruit, lime juice and lime zest but not in the reverse and that artificial sweeteners can be substituted for sugar in different portions.
Over the past few years, technology has change drastically. Because of this, PantryChef has been re-written and optimized to support these new features, such as real-time communications, which enable users to sync data with other members of the same household and with the server without having to refresh the screen. Other advances, such as trending website layouts also cause PantryChef to take a few steps back in refactoring how to keep on the forefront of the curve.
Since PantryChef has been on the backburner and only worked on in my spare time, time has given competitors the ability sprout and mature. This causes a lot of anxiety and is the driving push to get PantryChef out to the market as soon as possible.
As PantryChef is not finished, I do not have any final thoughts on the subject. Although, I have learned a lot along the way, such as setting milestones and becoming more organized.