diff --git a/docs/docs/changelog/v0.4.1.md b/docs/docs/changelog/v0.4.1.md
index 747fa6a8473a..2b2a6d7bcedb 100644
--- a/docs/docs/changelog/v0.4.1.md
+++ b/docs/docs/changelog/v0.4.1.md
@@ -12,4 +12,5 @@
 - Fix Backup download blocked by authentication
 - Random meal-planner will no longer duplicate recipes unless no other options
 - New Quick Week button to generate next 5 day week of recipe slots.
+- Minor UI tweaks
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Admin/MealPlanner/TimePickerDialog.vue b/frontend/src/components/Admin/MealPlanner/TimePickerDialog.vue
index eda11de4aa59..35423f9e818d 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Admin/MealPlanner/TimePickerDialog.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Admin/MealPlanner/TimePickerDialog.vue
@@ -42,4 +42,7 @@ export default {
 </script>
 
 <style scoped>
+.v-text-field{
+      max-width: 300px;
+}
 </style>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Recipe/RecipeViewer/Ingredients.vue b/frontend/src/components/Recipe/RecipeViewer/Ingredients.vue
index e3f79077a532..036a3516a60b 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Recipe/RecipeViewer/Ingredients.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Recipe/RecipeViewer/Ingredients.vue
@@ -10,14 +10,14 @@
       <v-checkbox
         hide-details
         v-model="ingredient.checked"
-        class=" pt-0 ingredients my-auto py-auto"
+        class="pt-0 my-auto py-auto"
         color="secondary"
       >
       </v-checkbox>
 
       <v-list-item-content>
         <vue-markdown
-          class="my-auto text-subtitle-1 mb-0"
+          class="ma-0 pa-0 text-subtitle-1 dense-markdown"
           :source="ingredient.text"
         >
         </vue-markdown>
@@ -55,12 +55,8 @@ export default {
 };
 </script>
 
-<style scoped>
-p {
-  margin-bottom: auto !important;
-}
-
-.my-card-text {
-  overflow-wrap: break-word;
+<style >
+.dense-markdown p {
+  margin: auto !important;
 }
 </style>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/frontend/src/pages/Admin/MealPlanner/index.vue b/frontend/src/pages/Admin/MealPlanner/index.vue
index a1b953430890..e9266b53a449 100644
--- a/frontend/src/pages/Admin/MealPlanner/index.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/pages/Admin/MealPlanner/index.vue
@@ -57,28 +57,23 @@
         <strong>{{ groupSettings.webhookTime }}</strong>
       </p>
 
-      <v-row dense align="center">
-        <v-col cols="12" md="2" sm="5">
-          <v-switch
-            v-model="groupSettings.webhookEnable"
-            :label="$t('general.enabled')"
-          ></v-switch>
-        </v-col>
-        <v-col cols="12" md="3" sm="5">
-          <TimePickerDialog @save-time="saveTime" />
-        </v-col>
-        <v-col cols="12" md="4" sm="5">
-          <v-btn text color="info" @click="testWebhooks">
-            <v-icon left> mdi-webhook </v-icon>
-            {{ $t("settings.webhooks.test-webhooks") }}
-          </v-btn>
-        </v-col>
+      <v-row dense class="flex align-center">
+        <v-switch
+        class="mx-2"
+          v-model="groupSettings.webhookEnable"
+          :label="$t('general.enabled')"
+        ></v-switch>
+        <TimePickerDialog @save-time="saveTime" class="ma-2" />
+        <v-btn class="ma-2" color="info" @click="testWebhooks">
+          <v-icon left> mdi-webhook </v-icon>
+          {{ $t("settings.webhooks.test-webhooks") }}
+        </v-btn>
       </v-row>
 
       <v-row
         v-for="(url, index) in groupSettings.webhookUrls"
         :key="index"
-        align="center"
+        align=" center"
         dense
       >
         <v-col cols="1">
diff --git a/mealie/core/config.py b/mealie/core/config.py
index aca765dfff10..0f5e21c2f30c 100644
--- a/mealie/core/config.py
+++ b/mealie/core/config.py
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 import os
 import secrets
 from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Optional, Union
 
-import dotenv
+from pydantic import BaseSettings, Field, validator
 
 APP_VERSION = "v0.4.0"
 DB_VERSION = "v0.4.0"
@@ -11,7 +12,6 @@ CWD = Path(__file__).parent
 BASE_DIR = CWD.parent.parent
 
 ENV = BASE_DIR.joinpath(".env")
-dotenv.load_dotenv(ENV)
 PRODUCTION = os.environ.get("ENV")
 
 
@@ -38,6 +38,11 @@ def determine_secrets(data_dir: Path, production: bool) -> str:
         return new_secret
 
 
+# General
+DATA_DIR = determine_data_dir(PRODUCTION)
+LOGGER_FILE = DATA_DIR.joinpath("mealie.log")
+
+
 class AppDirectories:
     def __init__(self, cwd, data_dir) -> None:
         self.DATA_DIR = data_dir
@@ -74,36 +79,51 @@ class AppDirectories:
             dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
 
 
-class AppSettings:
-    def __init__(self, app_dirs: AppDirectories) -> None:
-        global DB_VERSION
-        self.PRODUCTION = bool(os.environ.get("ENV"))
-        self.IS_DEMO = os.getenv("DEMO", "False") == "True"
-        self.API_PORT = int(os.getenv("API_PORT", 9000))
-        self.API = os.getenv("API_DOCS", "True") == "True"
-        self.DOCS_URL = "/docs" if self.API else None
-        self.REDOC_URL = "/redoc" if self.API else None
-        self.SECRET = determine_secrets(app_dirs.DATA_DIR, self.PRODUCTION)
-        self.DATABASE_TYPE = os.getenv("DB_TYPE", "sqlite")
-
-        # Used to Set SQLite File Version
-        self.SQLITE_FILE = None
-        if self.DATABASE_TYPE == "sqlite":
-            self.SQLITE_FILE = app_dirs.SQLITE_DIR.joinpath(f"mealie_{DB_VERSION}.sqlite")
-        else:
-            raise Exception("Unable to determine database type. Acceptible options are 'sqlite'")
-
-        self.DEFAULT_GROUP = os.getenv("DEFAULT_GROUP", "Home")
-        self.DEFAULT_PASSWORD = os.getenv("DEFAULT_PASSWORD", "MyPassword")
-
-        # Not Used!
-        self.SFTP_USERNAME = os.getenv("SFTP_USERNAME", None)
-        self.SFTP_PASSWORD = os.getenv("SFTP_PASSWORD", None)
-
-
-# General
-DATA_DIR = determine_data_dir(PRODUCTION)
-LOGGER_FILE = DATA_DIR.joinpath("mealie.log")
-
 app_dirs = AppDirectories(CWD, DATA_DIR)
-settings = AppSettings(app_dirs)
+
+
+class AppSettings(BaseSettings):
+    global DATA_DIR
+    PRODUCTION: bool = Field(False, env="ENV")
+    IS_DEMO: bool = False
+    API_PORT: int = 9000
+    API_DOCS: bool = True
+
+    @property
+    def DOCS_URL(self) -> str:
+        return "/docs" if self.API_DOCS else None
+
+    @property
+    def REDOC_URL(self) -> str:
+        return "/redoc" if self.API_DOCS else None
+
+    SECRET: str = determine_secrets(DATA_DIR, PRODUCTION)
+    DATABASE_TYPE: str = Field("sqlite", env="DB_TYPE")
+
+    @validator("DATABASE_TYPE", pre=True)
+    def validate_db_type(cls, v: str) -> Optional[str]:
+        if v != "sqlite":
+            raise ValueError("Unable to determine database type. Acceptible options are 'sqlite'")
+        else:
+            return v
+
+    # Used to Set SQLite File Version
+    SQLITE_FILE: Optional[Union[str, Path]]
+
+    @validator("SQLITE_FILE", pre=True)
+    def identify_sqlite_file(cls, v: str) -> Optional[str]:
+        return app_dirs.SQLITE_DIR.joinpath(f"mealie_{DB_VERSION}.sqlite")
+
+    DEFAULT_GROUP: str = "Home"
+    DEFAULT_PASSWORD: str = "MyPassword"
+
+    # Not Used!
+    SFTP_USERNAME: Optional[str]
+    SFTP_PASSWORD: Optional[str]
+
+    class Config:
+        env_file = BASE_DIR.joinpath(".env")
+        env_file_encoding = "utf-8"
+
+
+settings = AppSettings()
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/test_config.py b/tests/unit_tests/test_config.py
index fc88f11b8d29..d434e12adfff 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/test_config.py
@@ -4,19 +4,39 @@ import pytest
 from mealie.core.config import CWD, DATA_DIR, AppDirectories, AppSettings, determine_data_dir, determine_secrets
 
 
+def test_default_settings(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.delenv("DEFAULT_GROUP", raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.delenv("DEFAULT_PASSWORD", raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.delenv("API_PORT", raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.delenv("API_DOCS", raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.delenv("DB_TYPE", raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.delenv("IS_DEMO", raising=False)
+
+    app_settings = AppSettings()
+
+    assert app_settings.DEFAULT_GROUP == "Home"
+    assert app_settings.DEFAULT_PASSWORD == "MyPassword"
+    assert app_settings.DATABASE_TYPE == "sqlite"
+    assert app_settings.API_PORT == 9000
+    assert app_settings.API_DOCS is True
+    assert app_settings.IS_DEMO is False
+
+    assert app_settings.REDOC_URL == "/redoc"
+    assert app_settings.DOCS_URL == "/docs"
+
+
 def test_non_default_settings(monkeypatch):
     monkeypatch.setenv("DEFAULT_GROUP", "Test Group")
     monkeypatch.setenv("DEFAULT_PASSWORD", "Test Password")
     monkeypatch.setenv("API_PORT", "8000")
     monkeypatch.setenv("API_DOCS", False)
 
-    app_dirs = AppDirectories(CWD, DATA_DIR)
-    app_settings = AppSettings(app_dirs)
+    app_settings = AppSettings()
 
     assert app_settings.DEFAULT_GROUP == "Test Group"
     assert app_settings.DEFAULT_PASSWORD == "Test Password"
     assert app_settings.API_PORT == 8000
-    assert app_settings.API is False
+    assert app_settings.API_DOCS is False
 
     assert app_settings.REDOC_URL is None
     assert app_settings.DOCS_URL is None
@@ -25,9 +45,8 @@ def test_non_default_settings(monkeypatch):
 def test_unknown_database(monkeypatch):
     monkeypatch.setenv("DB_TYPE", "nonsense")
 
-    with pytest.raises(Exception, match="Unable to determine database type. Acceptible options are 'sqlite'"):
-        app_dirs = AppDirectories(CWD, DATA_DIR)
-        AppSettings(app_dirs)
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="Unable to determine database type. Acceptible options are 'sqlite'"):
+        AppSettings()
 
 
 def test_secret_generation(tmp_path):