serving size when using your own recipe

lynnej73

Ok. I have a recipe that I am making that says it serves 5-6 people. It calls for 40 oz of chicken or 2.5 lbs. That works out to be 5 chicken breasts in my case. The serving size on the chicken breast says 3 oz cooked. When calculating this recipe for serving size, should I divide the 40 oz. by 3 oz.? If so, this recipe serves 13? Am I totally off base here?

kathleennf

I divide it by how much I am actually going to eat. Works for me. I this case I would divide by 5, assuming that I am going to eat one chicken breast.

Rossergirl

That is the same math I would do. I struggle with serving sizes too when trying to input recipies. Good luck.

echofm1

My rule of thumb when making recipes is to divide it into serving sizes that make a reasonable calorie amount for the meal. For example, I made a big pot of chili. I could have 4 big bowls for 600 calories each, or 6 bowls for 400 calories each. Therefore, I say it's 6 servings and eat less, because 400 calories seems more reasonable.

So that would be my suggestion. Add all the ingredients to the recipe, then create a serving size that gives you an appropriate number of calories for your goals. Then divide appropriately and enjoy.

P.S. 3 oz of chicken might be a serving size, but that's rarely enough chicken to satisfy anyone. There's nothing wrong with eating two servings of meat at a meal, as long as you understand it's two servings.

Unknown

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Brige2269

I am with the others. Eat your portion, and see how many times you can do that portion.

cheripugh1

Yep... sorry but you need to know the weight of the chicken breasts you're using but I can get 2 even 3 MEALS out of one chicken breast going on a serving is 3 oz.

We think servings are bigger than they are... so if you have 5 chicken breast than yes you have 10 to 15 servings, easily 13! The recipe gives less because we want MORE and we tend to fill the plate a bit more when serving something.

I have a bowl of soup, the can says 2 servings, yet that one can gives me one bowl of soup, to me one serving but actually it's two.

There is a lot to learn on this journey...

970Mikaela1

That is the same math I would do. I struggle with serving sizes too when trying to input recipies. Good luck.

Me too. The other day I made meatballs, counted each one, and just made a meatball 1 serving. I laughed when I had 27 1/2 ounce meatballs

eta Sometimes I will put it all in a big pot marked in liters then convert it to cups, if it is feasible.

fsucrack

My rule of thumb when making recipes is to divide it into serving sizes that make a reasonable calorie amount for the meal. For example, I made a big pot of chili. I could have 4 big bowls for 600 calories each, or 6 bowls for 400 calories each. Therefore, I say it's 6 servings and eat less, because 400 calories seems more reasonable.

So that would be my suggestion. Add all the ingredients to the recipe, then create a serving size that gives you an appropriate number of calories for your goals. Then divide appropriately and enjoy.

P.S. 3 oz of chicken might be a serving size, but that's rarely enough chicken to satisfy anyone. There's nothing wrong with eating two servings of meat at a meal, as long as you understand it's two servings.

You can't do that with this app though.

You cant do what? Make your own reciepe.... yes you can. Go to Food, reciepes, and create a new one

echofm1

You can't do that with this app though.

Yes, you can. At least you can on iPad or Android (which I both use). Go to Settings (the little cog icon towards the bottom of your side menu) --> "My Foods and Exercises" --> "My Recipes" --> Choose the recipe you'd like to alter. To change the serving size, just tap on the serving size box.

To change on the website, go to "Food" on the top --> "Recipes" --> Choose the recipe you'd like to alter. It's easier to change ingredients on the apps, but changing the amount of servings is just as easy.

No matter what you'll have to manually re-add the altered recipe into your diary, but you can change serving size and/or ingredient amounts.

So_Much_Fab

One thing that's worked for me (though it is a bit of a pain) is that I weigh the cooked dish when it's finished. Then, I make the portion size 1 ounce. If I eat 5 oz. of said dish, then it's 5 servings. I'm not even sure it's completely accurate, but it's the only way I could figure out how to make 'absolute' serving sizes.

BikerGirlElaine

One thing that's worked for me (though it is a bit of a pain) is that I weigh the cooked dish when it's finished. Then, I make the portion size 1 ounce. If I eat 5 oz. of said dish, then it's 5 servings. I'm not even sure it's completely accurate, but it's the only way I could figure out how to make 'absolute' serving sizes.

Yes, I usually go by weight also.

Myhaloslipped

I hate this. It's so hard. How much is a serving? No one knows. It's frustrating. If I make chili or something, I have the same problem.

Chili is the worst when determining portion sizes! I have to just estimate and do the best I can. However, if it something like a lasagna, I will just divide it up into sections and then enter that number as the number of servings in the recipe calculator.

lynnej73

Thank you so much for the responses! I am glad to know I am not the only one struggling with figuring this out. I was afraid to post lol. The only bad thing about cooking your own food/recipes is that it is time consuming to input the recipes! I might eat the same thing for a week at a time

SmartAlec03211988

I don't have a problem with determining serving sizes of my homemade chili...?

seltzermint555

I divide it by how much I am actually going to eat. Works for me. I this case I would divide by 5, assuming that I am going to eat one chicken breast.

This is what I do as well.

Aleta7

I add up the weight of All ingredients and the calories for each weight and divide it up using one ounce as my serving size. I then can have however many ounces of the recipe I want. It seems more accurate for me. It can add up to 40 or fifty ounces. But measured by one at a time.:happy:

mediamogulsteve

The best way to get around this is to weigh your cooking vessels when they're empty. Then weigh the same vessel with the target food. If you're serious about truly keeping track and an "estimate" isn't good enough, a digital food scale is a vital purchase.

Make a spreadsheet of the empty vessel weight, print it and put it on your fridge. I'd recommend using both US and metric so that you can easily subtract the differences. (The 16 ounces in a pound gets tricky sometimes.)

Aleta7

I add up the weight of All ingredients and the calories for each weight and divide it up using one ounce as my serving size. I then can have however many ounces of the recipe I want. It seems more accurate for me. It can add up to 40 or fifty ounces. But measured by one at a time.:happy:

Water weight is included in the recipe.

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jofjltncb6

However much chicken you put into the whole recipe goes into the recipe calculator. You then divide the result of the whole recipe by the number of "servings" you'll have. Ideally, you'd actually weigh the whole recipe and use math to figure out how many grams/ounces are in each serving (but that isn't always practical).

(And inb4 "not able to edit recipes in the app" frustrations...because argh.)


edit: why is it so difficult to type "weigh" instead of "weight"???

wheird

Why not omit the chicken from the recipe and then add itnto your diary as a separate item?

babynew

One thing that's worked for me (though it is a bit of a pain) is that I weigh the cooked dish when it's finished. Then, I make the portion size 1 ounce. If I eat 5 oz. of said dish, then it's 5 servings. I'm not even sure it's completely accurate, but it's the only way I could figure out how to make 'absolute' serving sizes.

Yes I've done that by breaking the portions down into cup measurements..or each portion is 100 grams..Once you start building recipes in the builder it gets easier.
Just make sure you keep your portions the Same,& noteing it in the Recipe Title helps a lot.
:flowerforyou:

LiftAllThePizzas

Ok. I have a recipe that I am making that says it serves 5-6 people. It calls for 40 oz of chicken or 2.5 lbs. That works out to be 5 chicken breasts in my case. The serving size on the chicken breast says 3 oz cooked. When calculating this recipe for serving size, should I divide the 40 oz. by 3 oz.? If so, this recipe serves 13? Am I totally off base here?

A "serving" is just a name for a unit of food. It is not a measure of "this is how much anyone should eat at a given time."

It serves however many people it takes to eat it.

knra_grl

Most chicken breasts are enough for 2 servings if you are conservative with your portions. Guess it depends on how big of a meal you plan to have - I would make 5 breasts 10 portions personally.

WakkoW

My rule of thumb when making recipes is to divide it into serving sizes that make a reasonable calorie amount for the meal. For example, I made a big pot of chili. I could have 4 big bowls for 600 calories each, or 6 bowls for 400 calories each. Therefore, I say it's 6 servings and eat less, because 400 calories seems more reasonable.

So that would be my suggestion. Add all the ingredients to the recipe, then create a serving size that gives you an appropriate number of calories for your goals. Then divide appropriately and enjoy.

P.S. 3 oz of chicken might be a serving size, but that's rarely enough chicken to satisfy anyone. There's nothing wrong with eating two servings of meat at a meal, as long as you understand it's two servings.

You can't do that with this app though.

You cant do what? Make your own reciepe.... yes you can. Go to Food, reciepes, and create a new one

No, I mean you can't change it.

If you go online, you can change edit the recipes. For some reason you can't do it on the app, but I mostly use the online version.

CallMeCupcakeDammit

I add up the weight of All ingredients and the calories for each weight and divide it up using one ounce as my serving size. I then can have however many ounces of the recipe I want. It seems more accurate for me. It can add up to 40 or fifty ounces. But measured by one at a time.:happy:

I do this, but by grams.

TAsunder

My rule of thumb when making recipes is to divide it into serving sizes that make a reasonable calorie amount for the meal. For example, I made a big pot of chili. I could have 4 big bowls for 600 calories each, or 6 bowls for 400 calories each. Therefore, I say it's 6 servings and eat less, because 400 calories seems more reasonable.

So that would be my suggestion. Add all the ingredients to the recipe, then create a serving size that gives you an appropriate number of calories for your goals. Then divide appropriately and enjoy.

P.S. 3 oz of chicken might be a serving size, but that's rarely enough chicken to satisfy anyone. There's nothing wrong with eating two servings of meat at a meal, as long as you understand it's two servings.

You can't do that with this app though.

You cant do what? Make your own reciepe.... yes you can. Go to Food, reciepes, and create a new one

No, I mean you can't change it.

If you go online, you can change edit the recipes. For some reason you can't do it on the app, but I mostly use the online version.

Which app and which version are you using? I've regularly changed recipes in the iOS app and just confirmed that it is still possible with 5.0 (latest version).

serindipte

One thing that's worked for me (though it is a bit of a pain) is that I weigh the cooked dish when it's finished. Then, I make the portion size 1 ounce. If I eat 5 oz. of said dish, then it's 5 servings. I'm not even sure it's completely accurate, but it's the only way I could figure out how to make 'absolute' serving sizes.

Yes I've done that by breaking the portions down into cup measurements..or each portion is 100 grams..Once you start building recipes in the builder it gets easier.
Just make sure you keep your portions the Same,& noteing it in the Recipe Title helps a lot.
:flowerforyou:

This is what I do, also. If I make something that, in the end, weighs 1310 grams, I then put it as 13 servings so each serving weighs @100 grams. I then weight my actual serving. If it comes to 262, then I input that as 2.62 servings.

WakkoW

My rule of thumb when making recipes is to divide it into serving sizes that make a reasonable calorie amount for the meal. For example, I made a big pot of chili. I could have 4 big bowls for 600 calories each, or 6 bowls for 400 calories each. Therefore, I say it's 6 servings and eat less, because 400 calories seems more reasonable.

So that would be my suggestion. Add all the ingredients to the recipe, then create a serving size that gives you an appropriate number of calories for your goals. Then divide appropriately and enjoy.

P.S. 3 oz of chicken might be a serving size, but that's rarely enough chicken to satisfy anyone. There's nothing wrong with eating two servings of meat at a meal, as long as you understand it's two servings.

You can't do that with this app though.

You cant do what? Make your own reciepe.... yes you can. Go to Food, reciepes, and create a new one

No, I mean you can't change it.

If you go online, you can change edit the recipes. For some reason you can't do it on the app, but I mostly use the online version.

Which app and which version are you using? I've regularly changed recipes in the iOS app and just confirmed that it is still possible with 5.0 (latest version).

It used to be that you couldn't change the recipes in the app and could only do it online. I haven't tried to change a recipe in the app since I first got it, so it very well may have been updated. Thanks for the info.