Ch-ch-ch-changes! If you’ve been here before and you’re reading this post directly on my site, you’ve probably noticed it looks completely different. If you’re reading this in Google Reader or by email or something similar, cut it out and get on over here or else this post isn’t going to make much sense to you!

In addition to my new look, I also added some features to improve your experience and make grocery shopping, meal planning and recipe sharing even easier! I’ve outlined all the new features below:

1.    Brand New Look: The most obvious change is my complete new redesign, courtesy of Melissa Rose Graphic Design Studio! I told Melissa I wanted a fresh, clean look that was professional and cohesive while still reflecting my bubbly personality. I’m so happy with what we came up with! Melissa was great to work with and remained patient with me when I asked a ton of questions or wanted the shade of pink changed multiple times until it matched the vision in my head. She did a great job making the site feel like “me” with my favorite colors, and she even kept a few polka dots around as an homage to my old look. Thanks, Melissa!

2.    Ziplist – Recipe Box, Shopping List and Meal Planner: I think you’re all going to be excited about this part. Have you ever wished you could save recipes from all over the web to one central recipe box? Even better, have you imagined you could then select a few of those recipes that you want to make next and have all the ingredients transformed into a printable grocery list with the click of a button? Hey, while you’re dreaming you might as well wish this recipe box also had a mobile app so you could create/carry that grocery list with you anywhere you go (no more “Oops, I forgot the list! What was I here for again…?”). The super-organized among you may even wish for a Meal Planning feature where you can add meals to your queue or schedule them for specific dates.

Guess what? It’s not a dream! I’m happy to say that Emily Bites has teamed up with Ziplist.com which is a really great site that actually does all of those dream-features I listed above. Pretty cool, right? While Emily Bites is undoubtedly your favorite source for recipes on the web (*cough cough*), a lot of other really great sites use Ziplist as well, and you can save recipes from any of them directly to your recipe box! A few examples of sites you may already know and love: Martha Stewart, Recipe Girl, Skinnytaste, Simply Recipes, Baked Bree, Our Best Bites, Kalyn’s Kitchen, Plain Chicken, Pennies on a Platter and many more!

To save a recipe from Emily Bites, simply scroll down to the bottom of the post and click the blue “save recipe” button (as pictured below):


You’ll need to make an account with Ziplist if you haven’t already, but once you have you’ll be able to access your recipe box from Ziplist.com, their mobile app, or on any partner site. To access it on Emily Bites just click on the Ziplist link in the top navigation bar!


3.    Social Media Share Buttons: Love one of my recipes and want to share it with all your friends? It’s easy! At the bottom of each post you’ll now find options to share the recipe on Facebook, like the recipe on Facebook, tweet the recipe, or pin it on Pinterest! All you have to do is click the appropriate button and a pop up will appear so you can customize your message. The bottom of each post also has a print-friendly button (which has always been there, but I’m not sure everyone noticed it before). 


4.    Sponsor Opportunities: Do any of you out there have a blog, etsy shop or web site you want to promote? Emily Bites gets over 360,000 page views a month from over 94,000 unique users – that’s a lot of new potential readers/customers! I’m going to do a separate post to officially announce this so it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle (keep your eyes peeled!), but I wanted to mention it now as well since I’m talking about new features. Click on the Sponsor link in the top navigation bar for more details, pricing and to purchase sidebar ads and share your blog or shop with other Emily Bites readers. I am now accepting September Sponsors!


I hope you’re all as excited about the new look and the new features as I am. What do you think? Leave me a note in the comments below!

Special Note: As always, thank you so much for reading my blog. You can’t imagine how honored I am to have you all making Emily Bites recipes and cooking alongside me. I love reading all your comments (even though I’ve been slow to respond lately – sorry, things have been hectic! I promise I’ll catch up) and discovering the fun twists you add and the reactions of your family members. I have the best readers in the world. Love you all!