Home-made meals and keeping track of calories.

princelukas777

I'm sure a lot of us here are home-cooks, LOL, myself included - how do you guys manage with keeping track of the number of calories in the meals that you guys make? It's obviously easier to keep track of foods that are already premade or pre-packaged from the beginning, so how do you do it when you're working from scratch? Do I really have to measure out each and every ingredient I use, or is there an easier method? For example, I tend to do a lot of stir-frys - where would I begin to keep track of calories then, for instance?

Thanks for the advice you guys!!! =D

kathrynmahan

I'm in the same boat Prince, I cook for my kids and myself from scratch most meals. Going through and adding all the nutrients to create your own custom meal is a pain, and unless you have only 4-5 "go to" recipes it's really not worth it.

An easier route is to just enter all the ingredients for a meal that day, with nothing else in that time slot, then do "remember meal." Later you can just add your "Moroccan Sweet Potato-Lentil" dinner and it will list the ingredients the same as the first time you remembered the meal.

The down side is that you don't get to show off your fancy meal name to your MFP friends that way. The up side is that it lists the meal by ingredient, so if you're the kind of person (like me) who varies the recipe from time to time you can adjust it every time.

For me "Kathryn's Skillet Frittata" is one of these. Sometimes I use one egg, sometimes two, now and three. Sometimes I use spinach or sun dried tomato or sometimes even asparagus. I add the basic remembered meal that day then adjust once all the ingredients have been added to my entry.

I hope this isn't too confusing. Nice to meet another cook

kathryn

cwolfman13

Use the recipe builder. I cook almost everything from scratch and have about a gazillion recipes in my recipe builder. It's annoying at first, but once it's in there, it's in there.

Also, yes...you should measure out pretty much everything if you want it to be as accurate as possible...especially cooking oils and the like as a little bit goes a long way calorie wise.

geralynhoerauf

And even with the Recipe Builder you can go back and revise the ingredients list. For example, my husband makes omelettes every Sunday morning so I have a recipe named "Hunky's Famous Omelette". It always has three eggs, zucchini and cheese, but I typically swap out the other ingredients like mushrooms, tomatoes etc., then save it and post it.

Jchambers1130

Wally World has a digital scale that weighs oz, kg, lbs, grams. It was about $20 bucks and puts you at ease with measuring.

cmurphy252

Use the recipe builder. I cook almost everything from scratch and have about a gazillion recipes in my recipe builder. It's annoying at first, but once it's in there, it's in there.

Also, yes...you should measure out pretty much everything if you want it to be as accurate as possible...especially cooking oils and the like as a little bit goes a long way calorie wise.

This^^ . . . . .and I bought a food scale at RiteAid for about $20 to keep accurate measurements of the ingredients.

Runfaster14

I use Spark People Recipe Builder. Easy to use then transfer the informaiton in to MFP.

UrbanLotus

Yes, measure everything and save it in the recipe builder, easy!

Railr0aderTony

Use the recipe builder. I cook almost everything from scratch and have about a gazillion recipes in my recipe builder. It's annoying at first, but once it's in there, it's in there.

Also, yes...you should measure out pretty much everything if you want it to be as accurate as possible...especially cooking oils and the like as a little bit goes a long way calorie wise.

This^^^

silverinc13

The recipe builder is a huge life saver. I have pages and pages of em, it's so much easier than entering individual ingredients all the time!

Babeskeez

I use the recipe builder but I am so lazy and really dont like figuring out how many servings are exactly in my fricken pasta salad :grumble:

I just guess and hope I am right.

Flab2fitfi

i just add everything and add it too my database. It get easier after a while as my normal measurements for oil, garlic , oinions tend to stay the same for whatever I'm preparing.

spetermann190

I hear you OP! For Me was more trouble then worth ... So I stopped! Eat smart and use the time to exercise instead of log

stumblinthrulife

Measure each ingredient.
Create a recipe in MFP (I generally create a new one each time I cook, because I rarely have the exact same mix or amounts)
Decide how many portions it is.
Put the 'leftovers' container on the scale, and zero it.
Before you serve, move the whole lot into the leftover container and weigh it.
Divide the weight by the number of servings to find the right portion size.
Serve that portion size.

Voila accurate (or as accurate as you can get without a bomb calorimeter) calorie counts for a home made meal.

unapologetically_crystal

i love the recipe builder.. and if its something you and your family regularly eat then you can save it and have it for next time. i actually find it FUN.. call me weird lol.

in time, you will get used to it.

dmaloof2013

I use he recipe builder if it is something that I make often. If it's something that I don't typically make or it's the first time, what have you, I plug in each ingredient into the food diary. Tedious, I know, but it gets the job done!

HeidiCooksSupper

I use the recipe builder almost every supper. Oftentimes, I put in what I plan to use and then revise the recipe and replace the old version on my dairy based on what actually happens. I also find the recipe builder makes it easy to see the impact of various tweaks upon the recipe, e.g., "What if I used twice the bell pepper and half the oil?" or "Do I still have spare calories to add some more cheese?" If you look at the suppers on my diary you'll see lots of recipe names. I also reuse recipes and adjust them as I do. For example, the next time I stuff portabellos, I might take one of the recipes I already put in and adjust it based on what goes in the mushrooms that day.

MadameLAL

Logging improvisional cooking is hard. If they are a bunch of veggies, I log those ingredients separately. My sauces tend to add the most calories, so I have those in the MFP recipe builder and log those separately.

NovemberJune

For stir fry type stuff, I add each ingredient to my food diary. If it's something I make a lot, I save it as a meal and just adjust the grams/oz when I add it again.

For other stuff (pot pie, chili, etc) I build recipes and enter the servings in either grams or cups.

Babeskeez

Measure each ingredient.
Create a recipe in MFP (I generally create a new one each time I cook, because I rarely have the exact same mix or amounts)
Decide how many portions it is.
Put the 'leftovers' container on the scale, and zero it.
Before you serve, move the whole lot into the leftover container and weigh it.
Divide the weight by the number of servings to find the right portion size.
Serve that portion size.

Voila accurate (or as accurate as you can get without a bomb calorimeter) calorie counts for a home made meal.

Well ****. That makes sense. :laugh:

mlcantwell

I use the recipe builder add everything and then do the servings per people. There are 3 of us so I enter 3 servings and add 1 serving to the diary.

momjuls

My family eats whole foods mostly and I cook from scratch 95% of the time. I agree with the fellow posters. However, I'm not so strict that I measure my foods but try to accurately approximate the amounts in my serving of the dish I make and so far I think it has worked for me. I get lazy sometimes and don't bother adding small snacks of blueberries or other low calorie fruits and vegetables especially if I know I've been good that day or week.

TheArmadillo

I enter all ours in the recipe builder but I do it on a weekend when I am doing the meal plan for the week, while watching telly. I work and my husband is at home so does the cooking during the week but likes me to plan the meals and email him the recipes. While I am doing all that, compiling a shopping list, working out lunches as well, its not much more to enter the recipes as well.

We tend to have more new recipes each week than repeats and even when we do repeat the meals we tend to tweak the recipes.

The only thing that pisses me off is when the app crashes just as I'm finishing entering a long recipe and I have to start again.

rosemaryhon

I'm sure a lot of us here are home-cooks, LOL, myself included - how do you guys manage with keeping track of the number of calories in the meals that you guys make? It's obviously easier to keep track of foods that are already premade or pre-packaged from the beginning, so how do you do it when you're working from scratch? Do I really have to measure out each and every ingredient I use, or is there an easier method? For example, I tend to do a lot of stir-frys - where would I begin to keep track of calories then, for instance?

Thanks for the advice you guys!!! =D

If you take a look at my (open) diary, you'll see often my meal input is LONG LOL ~ because I'll add each ingredient I've used to cook a homemade meal (eg, 1 tbls olive oil, tsp garlic, cup of peppers, etc along that line).

Hope that helps!

shalysewrightbethea

I'm sure a lot of us here are home-cooks, LOL, myself included - how do you guys manage with keeping track of the number of calories in the meals that you guys make? It's obviously easier to keep track of foods that are already premade or pre-packaged from the beginning, so how do you do it when you're working from scratch? Do I really have to measure out each and every ingredient I use, or is there an easier method? For example, I tend to do a lot of stir-frys - where would I begin to keep track of calories then, for instance?

Thanks for the advice you guys!!! =D

Right now I'm trying to look up my fresh ingredients online and see what the nutritional value is. I also compare it to one that I search for in the food database on here. When you make a new recipe it divides up the calories per serving.Of course I've only been doing this for 5 days so there is bound to be tons of better options but so far this is agreeing with me.

Koldnomore

I get out my pad of paper and pencil and start weighing. Everything that goes in the pot I weigh raw/uncooked and write down on my paper (including spices!). Once the meal is done I weigh the whole thing to get my total weight then I log it in the recipe builder either as a new recipe or a modification of one that's already there (I wish you could tweak the numbers instead of having to re-enter it completely). When I take my portion I weigh it and then divide by the total to get my serving size.

Pain in the *kitten*..maybe.. but it has helped me lose 55 lbs so far so I am just going to suck it up and do it because it works!

brower47

Weigh everything you put in the recipe and write it down. Then input everything into the recipe builder on this website. Then, when you eat the food you've prepared, weigh it and log the number of servings you've eaten. That's what I do anyway. It really helps with portion control.

ChangingAmanda

The app is great because it has a barcode scanner that makes entering foods into your diary and recipe builder very. The app also allows you to edit the amount of an ingredient instead of removing and re-adding like the website does.

I use the recipe builder for the majority of my meals since they're frozen crockpot meals that I've made on the weekends. For lunch, I just copy the previous day's sandwich and make adjustments as needed. For my breakfast smoothie, I've saved as a meal my most commonly used smoothies.

MyM0wM0w

And even with the Recipe Builder you can go back and revise the ingredients list. For example, my husband makes omelettes every Sunday morning so I have a recipe named "Hunky's Famous Omelette". It always has three eggs, zucchini and cheese, but I typically swap out the other ingredients like mushrooms, tomatoes etc., then save it and post it.

This.

odddrums

I usually just log the ingredients and spitball it. I try to overestimate my calories for each ingredient and log all the oils and butters. I've built a few recipes but it's only for stuff I eat all the time. I figure everything is an estimate anyway and the calories you burn each day varies so there's no reason to go crazy. So long as I'm full and in my calorie range I'm fine.

princelukas777

THANKS YOU GUYS!!! Sounds like a definite pain in the butt, but I guess we do what we gots to do!!! LOL. The only tough part is that I'm a totally spontaneous and experimental kind of guy, so recipes are anything but consistent...hahahahah. I'll try my best!!!

SMILES to all my fellow cooks out there!!! =D