Holidays are a time of good cheer and quality family time but it's also a time for long lines in the market and fighting through crowds to get to your flight on time. To help relieve your stress this holiday season here are some helpful apps that will make planning meals, completing shopping lists and keeping family drama down this season a breeze.

Travel Apps

If you're travelling this holiday season to visit family or to escape from the Christmas madness, planning an itinerary can be nerve wracking. Here are two apps that can make that experience easier.

Kayak

This free app for Android and iOS will help you compare hundreds of travel sites at once on your mobile phone. You can compare flights, hotel and car rental deals, look up baggage fess and access airline numbers and airport info. You can even track your flight status to see if you're going to be delayed or not. Kayak also lets you view and manage your trip itinerary and even book your hotel in the app. It's the perfect all-in-one travel app.

Accuweather

Want to know if it's going to raining near Grandma's house? Accuweather will tell you what the weather will be like at your travel destination from your destination. Free for download for Android and iOS.

Cooking Apps

Cooking the family dinner can be the most stressful part of the holiday season. Planning a menu, shopping for ingredients and cooking the meal will age you in a day. Here are two apps that will help make that perfect Christmas dinner

Epicurious

If you're feeling uninspired for dinner recipes this app will let you choose from more than 30,000 food and drink recipes. You can read reviews from other people who have tried the recipe and share your own favorite recipes. You can even create shopping lists in the app and itemize the ingredients by grocery department. If already have ingredients at home you can use the app to supply you with recipes for those ingredients. Epicurious is free from Android and iOS mobile devices.

KitchenPad Timer

The KitchenPad Timer will help you accurately time multiple dishes cooking time so you don't end up with burnt pasta and over cooked chicken. The app will let you input what item you're cooking and assign temperatures and set timers for the four-burners and oven in the app screen. Now you can keep track of everything that's going on in your kitchen. Available for $0.99 for iOS.

Shopping apps

If you're a late shopper like the rest of the population you would have put off your Christmas shopping until the last minute. To help you navigate the crowds to get the best deals here are two essential shopping apps for you.

ShopSavvy

ShopSavvy is for smart shoppers who know that you shouldn't buy an item in the first shop you see but that you should take the time to compare prices in different stores. To expedite the process the app will compare prices for all retailers in the area. All you have to do is scan the bar code of the product you want and the app will tell you the prices for the item in different retailers in the location. This app is available for Android and iOS for free download.

Gift Plan

Gift Plan is the app for your naughty and nice list. You can add a profile for your gift recipient and the budget you're allocating for his or her gift. The app will also be useful beyond the holidays as it can save other gift-giving events like birthdays or anniversaries. It can even alert you on upcoming birthdays to save you the embarrassment of showing up without a gift. Available in the Apple App Store for $2.99

Entertainment apps

Take some time off this holiday season with some good music and games apps. Entertain your children if they're getting antsy waiting for Santa. Here are two apps to make your Christmas and New Years a hit with your family and friends.

Pandora

What party is complete without good music? Pandora is a free radio service that streams music that you love to your phone. You can create a custom station that plays your favorite genre or artist. If you have an existing Pandora account on the web you can log in and the app will integrate your existing stations on your mobile phone. Available for Android and iOS.

Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift

Entertain your guests with one of the most popular smartphone games right now. Cut the Rope has a new holiday themed update that will keep the children and adults entertained for hours. Slice the ropes to feed the cute green monster. Only available for iOS.

Photo apps

Capture that perfect humiliating Christmas office party moment with these two photo apps.

Postagram

Postagram allows you to print images from your smartphone's photo library and send it to anyone you want. Printing and postage is done remotely and you can send photos like a regular postcard. Delivery only costs 99 cents to anywhere in the world and you can even personalize it with a private message. Free app for Android and iOS.

Instagram

Still the go-to app for iPhone photography, Instagram lets you apply filters to your photos to make them look like they were taken by an Instant Polaroid camera. Share your photos with family and friends via Facebook or Twitter. Free for iOS. Android does have its own version with Flickr releasing Instagram-like filters.