Recipe Confusion

ljashley1952

So I am tracking my meals on MFP, as well as doing WW Freestyle and logging there, as well. I found a recipe that stated it was just 370 cal/serving in the MFP Blog recipes. I couldn't figure out how to open the actual written recipe, so I just watched the video. It was using corn tortillas. I went to my local Mexican Deli and they were out of fresh corn tortillas, so I went with whole wheat flour. I expected the flour tortillas to be higher calorie than the corn. When I finished the recipe, what should have been 370 calories ended up 600+ calories! I did all my math correctly. The only thing I can figure is that they were using those little, mini tortillas, but the video didn't say that. Anyway, my lunch ended up 16 pts, which used up all that I was allowed for the rest of the day. Anyone ever have recipe discrepancies like this? It was just a lunch and not the end of the world, but I doubt if I would ever make it again.

lorrpb

Are you using the same serving size?

deannalfisher

Any chance you used other items in the recipe that threw off the calculation

ljashley1952

I halved the recipe and made sure I used half of all ingredients. It kind of shocked me that the tortillas were 140 calories apiece for a medium-sized wheat flour tortilla. The entire recipe was to be 370 per serving and instead of making eight, I made just made four, but I also cut all ingredients by half. (sigh) Oh well, live and learn. If I had been paying attention, I would have realized that there was no way to make it all for just 370. I'm usually right on top of my portions and measurements. Like I said, it isn't the end of the world. Just irritating. Thanks!

RadishEater

I find this to be true frequently with online recipes. One catch is that they don't include toppings or the rice/pasta/starch in their calorie totals even though they show that in their video as being part of the meal. Also some recipes say serves 4-6 and of course when calculating the calories they go off of 6 servings so the calories end up lower.

Then I also find recipes that are blatantly off by 200 calories. As an avid cook and internet recipe scourer, I could go on about all the discrepancies I find all day.

But on your particular case, they could have been using ole extreme fiber tortillas which have a whopping 50 calories per tortilla. Unfortunately I think they taste like cardboard and become worse when heated otherwise I'd be making fajitas and quesadillas all the time.

ljashley1952

kballsocc wrote: »

But on your particular case, they could have been using ole extreme fiber tortillas which have a whopping 50 calories per tortilla. Unfortunately I think they taste like cardboard and become worse when heated otherwise I'd be making fajitas and quesadillas all the time.

Agreed. People sometimes use different calculations and they don't match up. I don't really want to say the exact recipe because I don't want to point fingers at anyone. I don't know who posted it.

Anyway, I'm picky about tortillas. I don't want them tasting like cardboard. I love the taste of good corn tortillas. The flour ones I had to use are definitely higher cal. I was prepared for that. Next time I grab all the stuff to do one I'll make sure the ingredients make sense to me with the calorie/point calculations. Thank you!

seska422

Have you considered pre-logging? Issues like this are why I log everything first to double-check the numbers so that I can change ingredients and/or serving sizes to better hit my calorie/macro goals before I've consumed rather than getting surprised afterward.

ljashley1952

I haven't been doing that. Good idea. Thanks!

RadishEater

seska422 wrote: »

Have you considered pre-logging? Issues like this are why I log everything first to double-check the numbers so that I can change ingredients and/or serving sizes to better hit my calorie/macro goals before I've consumed rather than getting surprised afterward.

Prelogging the food I find super helpful also using the recipe builder to import/copy paste the recipe is great. You just need to double check myfitnesspal is finding the correct foods and amounts. For some reason it pops up eggos instead of eggs sometimes......

Lounmoun

Did you check that the database entries were correct for the ingredients you entered? Sometimes they are off and that can make the calorie count be pretty different. If something seems wrong I would go back and make sure every ingredient is actually correct. I have had this happen many times.
If you used a different serving size or ingredient it could change things too.

I also prelog food so no suprises about the calorie count later.