Help when making a recipe do I pre weigh?

Famof72015

So I want to start making meals my whole family can enjoy and not making three different meals a night if I make these meals can I use the nutrients that are already on here or do I have to weigh everything individually? Do I take the person's word that they measured and weighed everything correctly or do I weigh everything out myself it would be a lot easier if I could just take their word I just don't want it to be off I'm worried that it's more than calories than what they say or more grams

serindipte

You should weigh out your own recipes and put them into MFP's recipe builder. Even if they were accurate for theirs, they may do things differently than yours. When I make a recipe, I weigh out everything as I combine it. When it's done and cooked, I get a weight of the total dish in grams and then set my servings to that number. Later, I can weigh it out in grams, put that as the servings and it's accurate.

omakase619

serindipte wrote: »

You should weigh out your own recipes and put them into MFP's recipe builder. Even if they were accurate for theirs, they may do things differently than yours. When I make a recipe, I weigh out everything as I combine it. When it's done and cooked, I get a weight of the total dish in grams and then set my servings to that number. Later, I can weigh it out in grams, put that as the servings and it's accurate.

Nice system!

Famof72015

How would I weight it in grams later? I'm sorry this is all new and I'm awful at math and I have 5 kids so I don't have time or the focus

CyberTone

Famof72015 wrote: »

How would I weight it in grams later? I'm sorry this is all new and I'm awful at math and I have 5 kids so I don't have time or the focus

Prepare a couple weighing items beforehand to keep in your kitchen. Get a few large lightweight containers (a bowl or plastic storage container) and a Sharpie marker. Weigh the empty containers and write the empty (Tare) weights of the containers on the side with the Sharpie. If you can't see the scale display, place a short, squat bowl on the scale, tare the scale with short bowl, then place the empty container and note the weight.

After cooking the recipe, transfer the food to a storage container. Weigh the container with food on the scale. Depending on the amount of food, you may need to use more than one container. Total weight of food+container(s) minus the weight of empty container(s) equals the weight of food.

P.s. I don't have any good suggestions about the kids when you are weighing the cooked food. Maybe play a game that the one who sits still and quiet the longest gets to lick the spoon?

serindipte

Famof72015 wrote: »

How would I weight it in grams later? I'm sorry this is all new and I'm awful at math and I have 5 kids so I don't have time or the focus

When I finish the dish, I weigh the entire dish (Not including the container. Jot the weight down for that before hand so you can subtract if you aren't changing it over into a serving dish) Then in MFP Recipe builder, however many grams the total dish weighs, that's the number of servings.

When you scoop out your own serving onto a plate or into a bowl, have that dish on the scale, turn it on or tare, then scoop. However many grams your serving weighs, use that as the serving size.

ETA: I have a home daycare so I totally get the kids thing, but it truly only takes a few seconds to weigh the food onto your plate. Just jot it down on a bit of paper or keep a notebook in the kitchen so you don't forget the weight between there and your logging.

Famof72015

I don't think my scale has the option for tare, can I just put the measuring cup or bowl on my scale than zero it out then dump the food in? Same thing isn't it?

serindipte

Yes, Tare = Zeroing

deannalfisher

I keep a list of the weight of many of my often used kitchen dishes (my 9x9, 9x13 pyrex, instapot sleeve etc) - to make for quick easy weighing (without dirtying another dish)

drakeshattuck

Great comments here. I'd just like to add that once you make a recipe, you can edit it. For example, I make very healthy chili verde and Colorado. The veggies I weigh at the store so I'm not too concerned about them being exact because they are not calorie dense. I'm overstating a bit because, for example, you remove the skin from onions etc. However, with meat and other high calorie ingredients, I buy the meat, trim it and when it is prepared to cook, I weigh what I'm actually using on this round and I edit the recipe so that it reflects the correct amount. When you edit a recipe, it does not update any previous entries on your diary. I even use the recipe builder for things like protein shakes.

It is challenging at times using raw ingredients, especially meat. When choosing an ingredient or food on the database, I always lean towards a more caloric entry when I'm not sure. I'd rather be sure I'm under my goal, not over. Costco sells a lot of meat that is labeled and can be scanned. This is great, for example, when i buy pork loin in a big pack for 2 bucks a pound. The fat is comparable to chicken breast however I'd never use an entry for pork that is so lean unless I was sure.

The more you use the recipe builder the easier it gets. I'd also suggest that you buy ladles with exact measuring for 3, 4, 8 ounces, etc. This really makes it easy when serving up or setting up food in containers for later. I also put the serving size in the title of the recipe so I don't forget which I used.

drakeshattuck

Famof72015 wrote: »

I don't think my scale has the option for tare, can I just put the measuring cup or bowl on my scale than zero it out then dump the food in? Same thing isn't it?

I have 2 of several containers I use a lot for cooking. If you place an empty one on the scale, turn it on you'll have tare weight for that container and you can just weight the full one. Or, as suggested before, jot down the container weight before you fill it and subtract it. I have a 9x9 casserole dish I do this with which makes it easy because it is pretty easy visually to serve up 1/9th of the dish as one serving. So you just enter all the ingredients and list the servings total to nine.