things that aren't in the data base...

Storm_Wolf

ok....the data base for food on MFP is wonderful! I've found just about everything (even obscure brands) that i've eaten.

My problem is I often times buy meat from the local butcher. They do pre-made burgers, turkey and sausage patties. They are delicious but they do not provide any nutritional information. How would I go about estimating at least the calories? Today i had a sweet sausage patty. The packaging says its just meat and spices....so I figured it must be healthier because it's less processed than say...name brand packaged meats? I also cook them on my foreman grill to help reduce the fat.

I want to do this the right way....can anyone help me out?

PaleoPath4Lyfe

I make my own and I don't measure so I just pick something in the database that is similar.

Everything is approximations so just pick something similar

crimsoncat

I just assume it's about the same as a name brand. Assuming it's healthy might lead you to underestimate. Assuming it's just as bad is often a safe way to help you avoid underestimating. In my case I have a local japanese bakery nearby that sells the most divine bread and pasties, so I know what you mean. Here's what I do:

-Weight the item in grams/oz
-Go into the search and find something close (homemade tiramisu? Probably close to bucca de beppo)
-If you cannot find anything even close, look up a recipe online, enter the ingredients in the recipe calculator and go by that.
-Plug the item in by weight
-You're done

rabbit1951

Agree. Choosing something similar is better than not logging the item at all. Also, I purchased a relatively inexpensive kitchen scale. Sometimes knowing the weight of your item, either in ounces or grams, helps to choose something similar that's already in the database.

Grace4DebraAnn

I agree that would be very helpful. I'm new at this and have noticed that as well.

vtmoon

food scale would be your best bet, also you can ask the butcher how much % fat they use, mine used to do 20% fat before he grind it so I then based it on a 80/20 meat and then weighed on the scale and figured how many calories were per ounce. You don't have to go through all that but go with an avg or low end type of meat and base it of that.

A good thing to do when you start the healthier life style change is figure out basic measurements by eye, like I can tell you a 4 oz of chicken or meat, I can figure out a cup of rice or pasta easily, that way you can almost figure out stuff within a ballpark easily.

PayneAS

You can find similar meats. For hamburger (for example) find out the lean meat to fat ratio (i.e. 85/15) and use that. The spices are negligible... unless one of the main spices is salt. If you are watching your sodium intake then you may want to find out how much salt is in their spice blend. Tell them you are on a low sodium diet or something and they should be able to get you the info. And yes, when you use your meat, weigh it and enter it in. I usually stick to 4 oz servings myself.

Storm_Wolf

I have been logging it as something similar because i hadn't any clue how else to do it. the weighing sounds like a good idea as well. i didn't weigh individual patties (really haven't got a way to do it) but there is a total weight provided as it's sold by such.