Talk about neat.  Even if you don’t play video games, you can use your kids Nintendo DS and become a master chef!  From Nintendo-

“Personal Trainer: Cooking is a training title that brings gourmet cooking from around the globe to your Nintendo DS. It features a DS Chef, your own private cooking instructor who talks you through 245+ recipes from more than 30 countries worldwide. It’s a combination of interactive cookbook and live cooking demonstration that’ll have you cooking like a pro, even if you’ve never lifted a ladle before.”

I got this game a little while ago and I was so excited.  I first went in and customized it to my tastes.  You can set the speed of the narrator to your liking.  I am not a patient woman, and if I had to listen to instructions in a slow, methodical voice I probably would have just muted it.  With Personal Trainer: Cooking, I was able to speed the voice instructions up to a pace I’m comfortable with.

It also has the option to customize your ingredients.  I don’t eat seafood, so I went into the ingredients customization and took that out as a cooking option.  I adjusted the meats, veggies and seasonings to make it so when I’m looking for something to cook, I’m not faced with choices I’d dislike.

The first thing to do is select a recipe. With over 245 to choose from, Personal Trainer: Cooking makes it easy to find what you’re looking for by helping you browse by country, ingredients, difficulty, cooking time, cooking technique or even calorie count. Once you’ve found something that looks tasty, take a look at the ingredients. Out of butter or need to buy some cumin? Just tap them with the stylus to automatically add the ingredients to your Shopping List. Making several dishes tonight? Just keep tapping ingredients – your Shopping List keeps it all in one place for you.  No need to write anything down, just bring your compact DS to the grocery store with you and you have your shopping list right in front of you!

Now that you’ve got your ingredients, it’s time to start cooking. The DS Chef is there with you, talking you through every step along the way. Don’t know how to make a roux? Watch the demonstration video when you get to that step. Didn’t quite catch the last step? Just say “Repeat,” and the Chef will explain it again. You can pause the recipe at any time to consult the Cooking A-Z guide, and prompts will appear within recipes for specific terms you might need more information about.

The game can be controlled entirely with the stylus, for maximum accessibility. When your hands are full, covered in cookie batter or otherwise unavailable, all of the in-recipe commands can be given by speaking to the DS microphone. The keyword search function uses handwriting recognition, so you can simply write out that you’re looking for a “sweet” something. Finally, that same handwriting recognition is used to make notes on recipes. If you want to remember to reduce the salt, or simply that this recipe was especially tasty, the software takes the same role as the handwritten note in a cookbook.

I have always enjoyed cooking but have found that my repertoire can get a little stale.  With Personal Trainer: Cooking, I have convenience and creativity right at my fingertips.  I feel confident trying new dishes and I love that I can bring a customized shopping list right to the store.  If I see something on sale that interests me, I simply enter the ingredient into my Personal Trainer: Cooking and I can see what recipe’s I can make.  So many times I’ve bought something simply because it was on sale, yet I hadn’t found a use for it in the kitchen.  The guide in Personal Trainer: Cooking gives me the resources to help me determine if the item is worth testing out or if I shouldn’t waste my money.  At just $19.99, it’s cheaper and more resourceful than a paid live course!