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How do I count calories for homemade meals?

seedawg23
seedawg23 Posts: 52 Member
edited December 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Yesterday I made a homecooked meal for the first time since I started logging my intake. I live alone and was preparring a huge pan of spaghetti and baked beans, both with ground turkey, for the college group at my church. With no one else around I had to do all the sampling and tasting for myself. Meaning after adding each ingredient, etc., I downed a small spoonful of the dish to see what I needed to add/change. In the process I realized this would present a challange in recording my intake. Also once everybody arrived I had a plate for myself. I managed to avoid the cookies and treats everyone brought over, but I did have a plate featuring a salad and my baked beans and spaghetti. Also nothing was measured when making the dishes, I just cooked how I normally do and added ingredients until they tasted good. How have you all managed recording intake for homecooked food.

Replies

  • michelec64
    michelec64 Posts: 120 Member
    Go to the recipe section on the "Food" tab. Input the number of servings and ingredients and it will give you the number of calories for reach serving.
  • By actually measuring what you are adding. My wife never goes exactly by a recipe, so logging right off the bat proved to be a bit time consuming because every item has its own serving size. Basically now she makes the serving for two, or three, or eight and then portions it out to a serving size, this allows a pretty good approximation of the calorie count. If it is a dish she makes often she will put the bare bones of the dish as a meal so that she can just add in the extras each time she makes it.
  • QueenofScott
    QueenofScott Posts: 305 Member
    I add together the total calories of all the ingredients in the recipe, then divide by the number of servings. Sometimes it takes a little time, but once you enter it into your food diary, it's already there for the next time you make that recipe.
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