Calling all cooks

mr2u53

I am new to this and am looking for some cooks out there that make there own meals. My question is do you enter every ingredient into the tracker? Do you build a recipe in the recipe area and add the meal into your tracker? A little help goes a long way

LisaO85

Depends on what your are cooking from. I had gotten Cooking Light magazine for years and a lot of the recipes I use are from there. I have found all of the recipes I have used on the MFP data base already so the work has been done for me. I have also noticed Food Network magazine recipes are on here also.

If I cook something out of a cookbook, I enter the ingredients into the recipe area only if it's something I make on a regular basis, that way I can go back to it when needed. I usually do not post the recipes, I just use them for my own reference, otherwise you have to retype the whole thing ( kind of a pain)

ay1978pa

Yes, I typically enter everything (even spices) in the recipe area and divide by the number of servings. If I am making a pot of soup or stew it's easier that way than trying to enter 1/6 of a carrot or 1/16 tsp of cayenne, for instance.

jessicawrites

Hello! I cook at home more often than not (we eat out on the go more often when I've got class or loads of homework, but typically 5-7 nights a week dinner starts in the kitchen). How you enter meals you make is up to you, but here's how I go about it:

1. If I'm making something simple (chicken/rice/veggies, or pasta/sauce/meatballs), I find it simple enough to log ingredients separately. I do this also because this way my "Most Used" for dinner racks up my fridge and pantry staples, so I can plug in string beans/broccoli/whole wheat pasta/92% lean beef without having to break down and reassemble meals recipe by recipe.

2. If I'm making a recipe from one of my cookbooks, or something I find that has a long list of ingredients I wouldn't want to repeat, I create a recipe. I want to be able to log a serving of "Jessica's Banana Bread" rather than calculate how much egg/flour/etc. I'm actually eating :-P. Also, that method means that favorite recipes are a one-click logging option.

3. I log everything that has significant calories. My share of the oil I cook with gets logged (60 cal). The garlic clove and 1/2 teaspoon of fresh ginger (5 cal)? Only if I want to remember that I made shrimp with those spices and should do it again. It becomes a recipe reminder, rather than something calorically important.

A tip: If you are cooking from a popular source, especially magazines, the recipe might already be entered into the database. I've found meals from Real Simple or Cooking Light already available, so check it out!

mr2u53

Thanks!!! So i am doing it right.

VeronicaAM

I cook all the time and I like to prep mady different dishes and yes you can log the recipe just do it one time and name it and will be saved in your recipes , is very good for me to cook we do like good food ,that is not expensive that is clean and delish , the best way is cook yourself,

mr2u53

Yeah the big me, the guy that never cared what food I eat, never cooks the same dish twice. I can see how now I will be more focused on core meals. Then after getting those into the recipe section I can build of that.

jsd_135

Hi. I cook 4-6 times a week and enter anything with multiple servings (and more than 2 ingredients) as a recipe. I find this is much less time-consuming than trying to figure out my share of each ingredient.

If you have a good scale (up to 11 pounds), you may find it useful to weigh the finished recipe and then note the total weight and per serving weight in your recipe name. (Unfortunately, the recipe builder doesn't have a notes field to do things like this.) I've weighed all my pans, pots, and mixing bowls, so I know the tare weight when I weigh a finished recipe.

Have fun!

XRavenhood

I cook all of my own food and enjoy doing so. I look at all my labels and do calculations in my head, then divisions if it's several portions. I think the extra math work helps give my brain a workout too! I have a very good memory so I'll move numbers around to save myself time or space on my food diary.

I think it's great practice to read all the labels and calculate everything as it gets you used to nutrition information and eventually it sinks in your head and you can make an estimate of what a meal will contain just by looking at it, before and after cooking it.