General question about entering food

hannahncakes

hi,
I was just wondering how everyone entered the food they eat. For example tonight I am having pasta bake with only a bit of pasta & lots of veg, low fat cheese, salad & veggie sausages.
As it's home-made it doesn't really tally up to any of the meals suggested on the site. Am I best entering each item seperately or going for the meal that's closest?
Many thanks,
Hannah

eresin

I tend to put in each item seperately if I am having a meal like that.

tiffsNEWlife

Try doing "your recipes" you can add all of the items and serving size. Then you can add it to your meal for the day at the serving size and it gives you the amount of calories per serving.

bilsboj

I find the recipe function useful for something like that especially if the meal does more than one serving. You can also save it and use it next time you make the same meal.

robin52077

when you make the meal, weigh the pasta before cooking, log your serving according to the box. Weigh each veggie you put in, your cheese, your meat...add each item separately to your diary. It'll be a list of like ten fresh ingredients rather than one entry called pasta bake, or whatever...

mmelaniewalters

i tend to enter separatley if i know the amounts of each item added .

spacecase76

I add it as a recipe and tell it how many servings it makes. MFP divides it out and tells me how much fat / cals, etc is in each serving, then I just log it from there (Add to: select meal)

Kate_UK

Yes, i put them in seperately too.

suzi67

If it's something you eat on a regular basis, or even if you are going to have it again, set it up in your recipes section.

spacecase76

I find the recipe function useful for something like that especially if the meal does more than one serving. You can also save it and use it next time you make the same meal.

yep, like this. My homemade chicken noodle soup has 16 servings, and only 84 cals & 1 gram of fat in each, but, I tend to eat it for lunch for days, and it makes it easy to add, plus, I cook it the same every time, so its already there the next time I make it.

BuceesNana

I used to put them in separately also until I found this site. http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp

You input all the ingredients and it will figure all the important nutritionals for you. You can then add that to your database on MFP. I did that yesterday when I ate at Saltgrass and they do not publicize their nutritional facts. I also did it with some homemade soup I made this weekend. You can even add your recipe to their site if you become a member and log in. I think it is free.

Hope this helps.

sabrads

If it is a regular dish I would add it to my recipes, if not I would break it down and add them separately.

hannahncakes

Thanks for the advice guys! I didn't know about the recipie section but will deffinately be using it as I basically live off low-fat pasta bake for my dinner.