Tips/tricks for managing recipes/meals where one ingredient changes each time?

An example would be some kind of breakfast; oats, yogurt, some fruits, honey, etc.

I'd like to rotate out the fruit; maybe a banana one day, an apple the next.

Do I have to create an entirely new copy of a recipe for each permutation? Similarly, I might want to take down an individual ingredient a little bit to stay within my goals. Is this another recipe as well for each adjustment?

Looking for ways to manage this! Thanks :)

Replies

  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,940 Member
    Easiest way is to use the Recipe Builder and add all the permutations you wish when you create it. Then, simply edit the recipe with the actual weight of each ingredient when you need to. Setting serving size to zero if anything you’re not using on that occasion.
  • TheHiggo
    TheHiggo Posts: 3 Member
    Easiest way is to use the Recipe Builder and add all the permutations you wish when you create it. Then, simply edit the recipe with the actual weight of each ingredient when you need to. Setting serving size to zero if anything you’re not using on that occasion.

    That sounds interesting! But how do I edit the instance of the recipe added to that particular day? When I select an entry in my day that is a recipe, I can only customize how many servings of the recipe itself, not zero-out individual ingredients by setting them to zero servings.
  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,940 Member
    TheHiggo wrote: »
    Easiest way is to use the Recipe Builder and add all the permutations you wish when you create it. Then, simply edit the recipe with the actual weight of each ingredient when you need to. Setting serving size to zero if anything you’re not using on that occasion.

    That sounds interesting! But how do I edit the instance of the recipe added to that particular day? When I select an entry in my day that is a recipe, I can only customize how many servings of the recipe itself, not zero-out individual ingredients by setting them to zero servings.

    Ahhh...you can’t edit the recipe through the recipe link through your food diary.

    I only use the app (rather than the website) and if, from your diary page you go bottom right to the ‘more’ link you’ll see a Recipes, Meals & Foods’ link. Access your recipe through that and you’ll be able to play around with quantities etc. Once you’ve edited the recipe to suit what you’re eating that day, save the recipe changes then go to your diary and add your recipe through there.
  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,940 Member
    Just to add, if you’re using the web version I think the procedure is the same - there’s a link to access your recipes separately from the food diary access.
  • lesdarts180
    lesdarts180 Posts: 2,667 Member
    If you create it as a meal, include all the variations, when you add it to your diary all the ingredients will be listed separately and you can edit them then. Easier that accessing and saving the recipe each time.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
    Another way is to make a meal and just copy it to today when you have it. Delete what doesn't fit and add in what does.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,721 Member
    If it's just a small number of items that vary, I make a meal with all the consistent ingredients, then add the varying one as an individual item (scenario like an oatmeal combo that may have blueberries one day, banana the next).

    If it was more ingredients that varied, I'd make a meal with all the varied ingredients, add it to my diary, and delete the ones that weren't involved that particular time.

    There are also cases where i have meal "subassemblies" each saved as a meal. (I'd do that for a case where, just making things up, I put blueberries and yogurt and walnuts (<= one meal) in the oatmeal with PB2 and cinnamon (<= second meal) but other times I put banana and molasses and skim milk (<= 3rd meal) in the oatmeal mixture. At any given meal, I'm eating meal 1+2 or meal 2+3.

    But there's a bit of a balancing act between having lots of pre-made combos as meals, vs. having so many "meals" you can't easily keep track of them. Remember that ingredients you use often will pop up first in the app search (or be in recent/frequent tabs in web MFP), so they're pretty quick to add as individual items.

    I only use recipes for things that don't change much/often.

    If you're new to logging, it would be normal for this all to be a bit confusing & awkward at first, but it tends to sort itself out with experience. Best wishes!
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    Is this some ingredient that you are adding at time of eating (versus pulling out a serving from a pot of something you cooked up that it's already in)? If that's the case, just add it separately. Or create as a meal. (The example you list in the OP sounds more like an assembled meal than what typically lends itself to using the recipe builder).
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,950 Member
    If you create it as a meal, include all the variations, when you add it to your diary all the ingredients will be listed separately and you can edit them then. Easier that accessing and saving the recipe each time.

    This ^^ is what I do for smoothies, oatmeal & the various mix-ins, bowls from Chipotle, etc. If it's something that you're fixing just for yourself (as opposed to a recipe that's multiple serving), I find it much easier to include all the different ingredients I use for smoothie variations, for example, and then just delete anything I didn't use on a given day after I log it. I don't edit the underlying meal, but when you log a meal, you can delete individual ingredients or adjust quantities, unlike a recipe, which requires you to edit the underlying recipe if you want to make adjustments.