Tracking home recipes is the most stressful thing in the world

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  • whmscll
    whmscll Posts: 2,254 Member
    edited June 2019
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    I hate that recipe builder demands that you enter the number of servings at the beginning. If you aren’t following a recipe (like when I make tuna salad), or if you are modifying a recipe or just throwing something together you have to guess at the number of servings. I wish the number of servings could be entered at the end, after you have the whole recipe and can weigh and divide. A lot of my recipes are guesstimates, I can’t be bothered to do math when I’m cooking.
  • whmscll
    whmscll Posts: 2,254 Member
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    I also hate that recipe builder doesn’t save as you go. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve meticulously weighed and logged a long list of ingredients and then hit a wrong button and everything disappears and I have to enter everything all over again.
  • nooboots
    nooboots Posts: 480 Member
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    whmscll wrote: »
    I hate that recipe builder demands that you enter the number of servings at the beginning. If you aren’t following a recipe (like when I make tuna salad), or if you are modifying a recipe or just throwing something together you have to guess at the number of servings. I wish the number of servings could be entered at the end, after you have the whole recipe and can weigh and divide. A lot of my recipes are guesstimates, I can’t be bothered to do math when I’m cooking.

    I thought that the other day but once Id cooked it I realised it woujld divide into 15 portions (yes Im going to be sick of this dish, its all in th freezer now in separate pots) rather than the 12 I initially said it would but it let me change it (and hence the calories per portion went down)
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
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    whmscll wrote: »
    I hate that recipe builder demands that you enter the number of servings at the beginning. If you aren’t following a recipe (like when I make tuna salad), or if you are modifying a recipe or just throwing something together you have to guess at the number of servings. I wish the number of servings could be entered at the end, after you have the whole recipe and can weigh and divide. A lot of my recipes are guesstimates, I can’t be bothered to do math when I’m cooking.

    while you do stick in a serving number at the beginning, it comes up again at the end and can be changed any time. even after the fact.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,022 Member
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    whmscll wrote: »
    I hate that recipe builder demands that you enter the number of servings at the beginning. If you aren’t following a recipe (like when I make tuna salad), or if you are modifying a recipe or just throwing something together you have to guess at the number of servings. I wish the number of servings could be entered at the end, after you have the whole recipe and can weigh and divide. A lot of my recipes are guesstimates, I can’t be bothered to do math when I’m cooking.

    It asks, but I don't think it "demands." At least the legacy recipe builder doesn't. I'm sure I have just typed in a recipe name, then entered all the ingredients, then gone back and done the number of servings and edited the name of the recipe to include the weight of a serving size (or very infrequently I might just say something like "one roll" because I weighed the dough as I was dividing it before cooking). The only problem with waiting is that if you're putting the individual ingredients in ahead of time, I've occasionally had the app collapse on me without saving while I was waiting for dish to finish cooking. You do have to enter a number of servings before you can save. Sometimes I'll put a placeholder number of servings in, and come back after the dish is done to add a real number of servings and serving weight.

    A lot of the time, I'll just jot down the amounts on a piece of paper as I'm cooking (feels quicker to me than having to verify the database entry for each ingredient, plus I'm not getting my screen dirty. Then after the dish is done, or while it's cooking, I go into MFP recipe builder and enter the ingredients, and by then I'll likely know the finished weight.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
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    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    Panini911 wrote: »
    alondrakar wrote: »
    Ok, so in an effort of not getting lost I'm going to repeat the process back to you guys. I'm on my work computer, so normally I'd have some screenshots but I can't do that here.

    Step 1: I go to "recipes" in the food tab
    Step 2: Click on "Enter new recipe"
    Step 3: Enter recipe name (Homemade Cake)
    Step 4: Add ingredients and their amounts (Eggs, flour, milk, etc.)
    Step 5: Weigh all ingredients

    Question: Do I weight before cooking/baking or after??

    Step 6: Enter total grams of meal where it says "number of servings"
    Step 7: Save Recipe
    Step 8: Go to food diary and add meal to breakfast/lunch/dinner

    Question: Do I enter the total grams of my piece of the meal where it says "quantity"? Because it says "1 serving(s)" in the drop down box and gives me no other options..


    You guys are so great btw. I seriously was losing my mind trying to figure it out on my own and the videos on YT really overwhelmed me.

    Step 5: weight of RAW ingredients with RAW entries.

    Step 6: total weight of cooked food (which is what you will portion out to your own bowl/plate). let's say it's 800 grams total, you would put 800 servings.

    Step 8: to log your plate of say 200grams, your servings would be 200.
    servings = 200

    Just to add, for Step 6, if possible, wait to weigh the cooked food until it has cooled down (it's a real eye opener to put something fresh off the stove or out of the oven on the scale and watch the grams fall as the steam escapes).

    Also, it's really helpful to keep a list (I write mine on paper and secure it to the front of the fridge with a magnet) of the weights of the empty pots, pans, casserole dishes, large serving bowls, etc., that you prepare food in. It's really annoying to get to step 6 and realize you don't know the weight of the pan so you can subtract it from the total.

    Oh, yes, do write down the weights of your main pots, pans, etc!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
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    whmscll wrote: »
    I hate that recipe builder demands that you enter the number of servings at the beginning. If you aren’t following a recipe (like when I make tuna salad), or if you are modifying a recipe or just throwing something together you have to guess at the number of servings. I wish the number of servings could be entered at the end, after you have the whole recipe and can weigh and divide. A lot of my recipes are guesstimates, I can’t be bothered to do math when I’m cooking.

    I use the old recipe builder and the number of servings can be entered any time: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
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    Jruzer wrote: »
    I eyeball it. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.


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  • TayaCurragh
    TayaCurragh Posts: 709 Member
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    I use the add meal option rather than the recipe builder. I add all of my ingredients by scanning and weighing. I usually make 4 portions at a time, so when I add this to my diary I set the portion size to 0.25. It is a bit of a pain for new meals but when you make it again it will all be saved and you can just tweak ingredient sizes if necessary
  • peachvine29
    peachvine29 Posts: 400 Member
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    whmscll wrote: »
    I also hate that recipe builder doesn’t save as you go. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve meticulously weighed and logged a long list of ingredients and then hit a wrong button and everything disappears and I have to enter everything all over again.

    Ugh yesss this has happened to me several times and it is distressing lol!!

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