Tips for using MFP's Recipe Builder

elaineamj

I've only been using MFP for a few weeks and was wondering if there are any tips for using MFP's Recipe Builder. Anything you've learned along the way that has made things easier? I am primarily cooking at home these days and have a kitchen scale on order.

For example, does it help to add the serving size into the recipe title? Sometimes, the next day when I am eating leftovers, I forget how I have divvied up the serving sizes and am now unsure just how much a serving is.

I have also been wondering - when I find a recipe in the MFP database, is there any way to look more closely at the list of ingredients? For now, I have been too nervous about the accuracy of my entries and do not add any of my recipes to the MFP database.

I'm sure there are other tips and tricks that I haven't thought of as well.

jemhh

For many recipes, the easiest serving size to use is 1 gram. Do that by weighing your food after you cook it and then use that number (total grams for the whole thing) as the number of servings that the recipe makes. You will have to put in a generic number of servings when you first start building the recipe but you can go back and edit it after you've done the post-cooking weight check. (Remember to subtract the weight of the dish/container when checking the weight--probably better to do that before you put anything in it.)

I never ever use recipes from the MFP database. I don't trust others enough to do that

Meganthedogmom

Always check your ingredients and make sure the nutrition info adds up correctly. I have to "search for alternative" ingredients every time. For instance if I just put "banana" as one of my ingredients, the one it automatically gives me is like 1265 calories...

CyberTone

Don't bother trying to share the Recipe with the public database; you have to add too much extra information and there is a slim chance that these Recipes will ever get shared. The "recipes" that some users say are shared are not Recipes, they are Foods that other MFP users have created using the nutritional information calculated from the Recipe Builder or copied from another source.

I use the following format to name my recipes. For me, this makes it so much easier to see the information in the Recipe list and in my daily Food Diary when I log it. I actually put "Recipe -" at the beginning of the name so that I can easily distinguish it from the other items logged.

"Recipe - [Keywords] [Date] [Total_Weight] [Number_of_Servings] [Weight_per_Serving] [Calories_per_Serving]"

Examples:
"Recipe - Pudding, Triple Chocolate 2015.06.26 520g 4Srv 130g 108Cals"
"Recipe - Vegetables, Mixed, Coconut Curry 2015.06.21 972g 12Srv 81g 68Cals"​
"Recipe - Jambalaya, Chicken Chorizo Mussels 2015.10.03 4140g 18Srv 230g 169Cals"

I also tend to set my serving size for one-pot Recipes to 230g, which is roughly 1 US customary cup. That way I can just grab a measuring cup and measure out a portion of the leftovers if I am in a hurry.

kami3006

Have a long list of expletives at the ready

findingmyway2fit

jemhh wrote: »

For many recipes, the easiest serving size to use is 1 gram. Do that by weighing your food after you cook it and then use that number (total grams for the whole thing) as the number of servings that the recipe makes. You will have to put in a generic number of servings when you first start building the recipe but you can go back and edit it after you've done the post-cooking weight check. (Remember to subtract the weight of the dish/container when checking the weight--probably better to do that before you put anything in it.)

How do you edit it to show the servings in grams? I tried doing this to a recipe I added a while back but there is no option. Do I need to start over and log the individual ingredients in grams as I add them? Clearly, I am confused .

kami3006

findingmyway2fit wrote: »

jemhh wrote: »

For many recipes, the easiest serving size to use is 1 gram. Do that by weighing your food after you cook it and then use that number (total grams for the whole thing) as the number of servings that the recipe makes. You will have to put in a generic number of servings when you first start building the recipe but you can go back and edit it after you've done the post-cooking weight check. (Remember to subtract the weight of the dish/container when checking the weight--probably better to do that before you put anything in it.)

How do you edit it to show the servings in grams? I tried doing this to a recipe I added a while back but there is no option. Do I need to start over and log the individual ingredients in grams as I add them? Clearly, I am confused .

You can use whatever units of measurement you want. So if I make a pot of chili that is 2000g total weight, then I just put in 2000 for the servings. One serving will be one gram. It won't actually show grams on the serving window but if you do it for everything, you'll know. If you use different measurements for different things, you can just list it in the recipe title.

findingmyway2fit

kami3006 wrote: »

findingmyway2fit wrote: »

jemhh wrote: »

For many recipes, the easiest serving size to use is 1 gram. Do that by weighing your food after you cook it and then use that number (total grams for the whole thing) as the number of servings that the recipe makes. You will have to put in a generic number of servings when you first start building the recipe but you can go back and edit it after you've done the post-cooking weight check. (Remember to subtract the weight of the dish/container when checking the weight--probably better to do that before you put anything in it.)

How do you edit it to show the servings in grams? I tried doing this to a recipe I added a while back but there is no option. Do I need to start over and log the individual ingredients in grams as I add them? Clearly, I am confused .

You can use whatever units of measurement you want. So if I make a pot of chili that is 2000g total weight, then I just put in 2000 for the servings. One serving will be one gram. It won't actually show grams on the serving window but if you do it for everything, you'll know. If you use different measurements for different things, you can just list it in the recipe title.

Thank you!

elaineamj

CyberTone wrote: »

Don't bother trying to share the Recipe with the public database; you have to add too much extra information and there is a slim chance that these Recipes will ever get shared. The "recipes" that some users say are shared are not Recipes, they are Foods that other MFP users have created using the nutritional information calculated from the Recipe Builder or copied from another source.

I use the following format to name my recipes. For me, this makes it so much easier to see the information in the Recipe list and in my daily Food Diary when I log it. I actually put "Recipe -" at the beginning of the name so that I can easily distinguish it from the other items logged.

"Recipe - [Keywords] [Date] [Total_Weight] [Number_of_Servings] [Weight_per_Serving] [Calories_per_Serving]"

Examples:
"Recipe - Pudding, Triple Chocolate 2015.06.26 520g 4Srv 130g 108Cals"
"Recipe - Vegetables, Mixed, Coconut Curry 2015.06.21 972g 12Srv 81g 68Cals"​
"Recipe - Jambalaya, Chicken Chorizo Mussels 2015.10.03 4140g 18Srv 230g 169Cals"

I also tend to set my serving size for one-pot Recipes to 230g, which is roughly 1 US customary cup. That way I can just grab a measuring cup and measure out a portion of the leftovers if I am in a hurry.

Hmmm..this is interesting. A little anal but I can see how it can be useful. I wish there was a way to add notes to the recipes!!