Help with creating a recipe, please

ChoiceNotChance

:blushing: I have created my own recipe and can input the ingredient list but in only know how big a serving is. I don't know how to calculate how many servings in the recipe. Any help??

castell5

Well, what is it that you are making?
For instance when I make a tossed salad, I make it BIG.. and when I bag it up into zip lock bags, I see that it equals out to about 6 healthy size salads, so I enter it as able to serve 6. Then MFP breaks down, based on the ingredients I entered, what the caloric intake is.
When you make something that can be scooped, like spaghetti sauce or mashed potatoes, or mashed cauliflower, when you are going to package it for storage, use a measuring cup. If you can scoop out 16 cups of whatever it is you made, then enter it as able to serve 16 but remember that 1 cup is your portion size.

Hope this helps.

crazyellybean

I would divide it up to how you would eat it... for example: 1 bowl.. and then put down how many bowls you got out of the recipe.


I always measure mine in cups...

Copaiba

I measure how many cups it is and call a cup a serving and then eat what I want, measuring what I eat.

Ahanaz

in addition to what Castelle just said, You can name the recipe with how much a serving is. So if one serving is one cup, just add 1 cup to the name and you'll know instantly how much it is.

I think they should add so you can type in your own measure scale for serving. Like some things you see have grams or tbsp and so on that you can choose.

Alford96

I put the serving size in the name (i.e. queen's soup 1 cup). I usually put it in the biggest bowl that I have with a measure (I have some really large mixing bowls that have the measurements in cups on the side) and judge from there.

GenesisandEden

If I make a big pot of chili, I divide it up using 1 cup measure. I usually get 10 -1 cup servings. Hope this helps

EvilShenanigansTX

I make my serving size how much I actually eat. For cookies I usually eat two, so I divide the total number of cookies by 2. For pasta I usually cook for two, so I develop the recipe for two servings in mind. Soup is usually a cup (or 8ounces) per serving for my recipes.

I am not sure if that helps at all ...

yo_andi

Serving size is exactly what it states: how many servings you get out of the whole concoction.

So if you use a big spoon to dish it up one day, you'll get a certain amount of servings, and if you use a smaller spoon to dish it up another day you'll get a certain amount of servings. See?

So, to make it easier on yourself, when you enter the recipe into the database, decide "I'm going to get six servings out of this" and then dish it up in such a way that you get exactly six equally sized servings out of the pot.

KLo924

Basically what others have said - If I know I tend to eat about 1/4 of the recipe I say it serves 4, and then in the title of the recipe I'll note that. For example, "Tomato-Cashew Cream Sauce (1/4 recipe)" is the title of one of my entries. Then I know if I put 1 serving into my food diary I'm putting in 1/4 of the recipe.

bizorra

Did you make a large batch of something? I sometimes make a batch of hummus, and need to figure out how many tbsp are in the batch. I do this by weighing the whole recipe as I put it in to the storage container, and assume 1 tbsp = 15g.
If I'm making soup or pasta sauce, I use the size of the pot to help, ie I know my crock pot is 6qt, so I should get ~24 cups of soup if its full.
If I'm making a casserole, I map out a grid for what I think a reasonable portion would be to figre out the serving size.

ChoiceNotChance

Sorry- I should have been more specific. I made Ranch dressing. A serving would be about 2 tablespoons but the recipe makes almost a quart. I don't really want to measure it out by the tablespoon but I will if I have to.

AMHouse85

I use a large serving spoon(roughly 1 cup when heaping)and count them each as 1. Once it's all served up I know how many "scoops" there was and BAM # of servings. It was a little bit tricky at first but after a few recipes you will be a pro. Now I can pretty much eyeball my meals and know how to break it down. Sometimes I'll put in all the ingredients and be shocked at how much it really is so then I break it down to smaller servings, or if it's not bad I'll eat 2. That's just how I work it for me.

KLo924

Sorry- I should have been more specific. I made Ranch dressing. A serving would be about 2 tablespoons but the recipe makes almost a quart. I don't really want to measure it out by the tablespoon but I will if I have to.

There are about 64 tablespoons in a quart. So, it sounds like your recipe serves about 32.

You can google conversions (some helpful ones here - about 3 tsp. in a Tbs; 4 Tbs in 1/4 c., 2c. in a pint, 2 pts. in a quart, etc.)

ChoiceNotChance

That's a big help. Thank you all.