question about logging recipes

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shoofly435
shoofly435 Posts: 74 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi All - I'm new here and have been reading the "must reads" but I wonder does everyone "deconstruct" their recipes to try and determine calories per serving? I can see how this would be easy for a smoothie, but what about something like a chicken stew? And how would one determine how many servings are in the whole recipe? Hope this is posted in the right area, and TIA for any info!

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  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    The recipe builder is an excellent feature on here. You can determine the servings by weight - I find it easiest to just make a serving 1 gram or 100 grams and work from there - or you can decide okay I want this to be 4 servings or whatever - and just divide it into the number of servings you decided. Or you can divide it out into equal sized tupperware or whatever and then however many you ended up with is your servings.
  • swirlybee
    swirlybee Posts: 497 Member
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    If it's something that I make or if the ingredients are fairly obvious, then I will deconstruct it and log by ingredient. For a stew or when I'm clueless on the ingredients, I'll pick an entry from the database and maybe log twice the amount of what I actually ate. For instance, if I only have a cup of stew, I would put in 2 cups to give room for error.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    Once you start logging recipes you make, you get a better sense of what is in things and how many calories they will be. For things I'm not sure, I usually look at the high end of calories per serving and low end, then choose one of the higher end ones (not necessarily the highest one if it is way higher than the rest).

    Also, if I am making the stew, I log the recipe in the recipe builder and when it is done, I split it into portions. It doesn't really matter how many vs how many servings it is "supposed" to be. I'll take a one cup measuring cup and figure out how many cups are in it and make 1 cup a serving (or something along those lines). I might eat 2 cups but log 2 servings. KWIM?
    Some people will weight the whole recipe cooked and use weight for portions which is probably a little more accurate.
  • shoofly435
    shoofly435 Posts: 74 Member
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    Wow awesome ideas thank you much! I agree the recipe builder is an excellent feature, just a little intimidating thinking about deconstructing every recipe lol. When in doubt, I also tend to error on the side of more calories...
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,982 Member
    edited July 2015
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    shoofly435 wrote: »
    Wow awesome ideas thank you much! I agree the recipe builder is an excellent feature, just a little intimidating thinking about deconstructing every recipe lol. When in doubt, I also tend to error on the side of more calories...

    If you have a repertoire of recipes you cycle through, once the recipe is in there, you're all set. If you're like me and constantly trying new recipes, yes, it's kind of a pain, but doesn't take too long once you get used to doing it.

    I write the weights of the ingredients into a notebook as I'm adding them and then plug them all in to the recipe builder. There are various ways to get servings - you'll find the way that works best for you.
  • barbecuesauce
    barbecuesauce Posts: 1,779 Member
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    shoofly435 wrote: »
    Hi All - I'm new here and have been reading the "must reads" but I wonder does everyone "deconstruct" their recipes to try and determine calories per serving? I can see how this would be easy for a smoothie, but what about something like a chicken stew? And how would one determine how many servings are in the whole recipe? Hope this is posted in the right area, and TIA for any info!
    For the chicken stew, I would
    1. Weigh the pot/keep a list of the pot weights taped inside the cabinet
    2. Weigh all the raw ingredients and cook as normal
    3. Weigh the finished recipe and subtract the pot. The number of grams are now your number of servings.
    4. If you eat 200 grams of stew, log it as 200 servings.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,777 Member
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    You usually use the recipe builder for something you cook that you will eat several times.

    Otherwise it is easier to just record the items you think went into your food straight into your count.

    Sometimes it may be worth saving them as a meal to allow faster repeat entry of typical breakfasts for example.

    But, If I go have a burger somewhere with no nutrition info (or if i'm eating it at a friend's place)I won't create a recipe.

    I will just enter a bun, Mayo (so not!, ketchup, mustard, onion, pickles, relish, 1/4lb of 70-30 hamburger (or a Wendy's quarter pounder patty if I can't find a better entry), a slice of cheese, and then eye ball compare extras such as fries for example and add 1.5 large McDonald's fries or what have you.

    This sucks of course in terms of accuracy, so it is easier to log at home where you can actually weigh the items you are using for your meal one by one on a scale.

    Sometimes it may be easier to jot down notes on a paper and enter the info in mfp while cooking, or while eating.

    Of course many well prepared people pre log before they even start cooking, it avoids "surprises" where you eat something that turns out to have more calories than you thought it would!

  • shoofly435
    shoofly435 Posts: 74 Member
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    Lots of insight here. Appreciated :) Weighing the pot is an interesting idea. I have a weight watchers digital scale, I think the upper limit may be 5 lbs. OTOH as long as it's not cast iron probably run of the mill stainless stuff doesn't weigh more than 5 lbs.
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
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    barbecuesauce wrote: »
    shoofly435 wrote: »
    Hi All - I'm new here and have been reading the "must reads" but I wonder does everyone "deconstruct" their recipes to try and determine calories per serving? I can see how this would be easy for a smoothie, but what about something like a chicken stew? And how would one determine how many servings are in the whole recipe? Hope this is posted in the right area, and TIA for any info!
    For the chicken stew, I would
    1. Weigh the pot/keep a list of the pot weights taped inside the cabinet
    2. Weigh all the raw ingredients and cook as normal
    3. Weigh the finished recipe and subtract the pot. The number of grams are now your number of servings.
    4. If you eat 200 grams of stew, log it as 200 servings.

    This is how I do it. It sounds like a lot of work, but it actually doesn't take me long. I just keep a little notepad by me and quickly jot down what each item weighs so I can enter it into the recipe builder. In the title of my recipe name, I'll put how much a serving weighs. For instance, if I made 1000 grams of stew total and there are 5 servings in the stew, I will call my recipe "Chicken Stew (200 g)" so if I eat it for leftovers I will remember how much to eat. :) I have found that if I type "chicken stew" into the MFP database, there are sooo many options and some are 150 calories for a serving and some are 500. That's a big difference and I want to be really sure how much I'm eating.
  • Livgetfit
    Livgetfit Posts: 352 Member
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    I use the recipe builder. I cook as normal but just weigh everything in between.

    Weigh pot.
    Cut up carrots, weigh them and scribble it on a bit of paper.
    Repeat for all ingredients.
    Cook.
    Weigh total of pot, minus pot weight and divide by 6 or whatever.
    Portion out and weigh to ensure it is balanced.
    Add all to recipe builder and say it is however many portions I got.
    Then just select it from Recipes each time I eat it.

    Not only is this a great way to track the calories, it is also good to get the macros of that meal.

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