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Recipe Generator

Inspiration

When doing some research online, food waste is a big problem in the US. We sought to find a possible solution for using leftover ingredients that otherwise never leave the fridge. It is also our very first hackathon, coming in with little background, so we wanted something simple but impactful.

What it does

Eco-Chef is a smart web application designed to combat household food waste by turning potential scraps into delicious opportunities. It empowers users to transform their leftover ingredients. That half-used onion, the lonely chicken breast, or those slightly wilted carrots are all things you can use for an easy-to-follow recipe. It also has a feature to estimate how much you lessened your carbon footprint by cooking through the generator. Finally, it gives you a fun fact about sustainability and your food items.

How we built it

The powerhouse of this project is Google Gemini. It helped give the framework template for the project. It was able to help create the whole thing in one file so that we could adjust the HTML, CSS, and JS code. The website also uses Gemini to generate responses.

Challenges we ran into

A major challenge we ran into at first was the layout. The overall aesthetics didn't look nice, and we had a hard time adjusting the look of the menu bar. Another issue was the generator button not clicking. With some debugging and better prompting, we got past that. Finally, getting the API key to work took many hours of trial and error. As people who are new to using APIs and using AI to help generate projects, there was a crazy learning curve. Lots of YouTube was used, and it was helpful. The info sessions also helped.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of the fact that this project is versatile and quick. It doesn't only produce one thing... You can give it many different ingredients. It can also become a bigger thing with more time.

What we learned

We learned that AI alone can't create a whole project. You can depend on it to help get you started and help you debug, but it is rarely perfect on its own, especially the first time.

What's next for Eco-Chef

It can take on new features. There can be a way to make an account on there and share the recipes you have created with it, so others can gain inspiration. It can also be improved by having a preference button for different types of cuisines. Maybe the user wants Mexican, Italian, or vegan food. This should be a feature to implement in the future.