Caluculating Calories On Homemade Foods

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MandyMH80
MandyMH80 Posts: 20
in Food and Nutrition
Tonight we're having turkey and mashed potatoes on the side. I know I can't go overboard on the potatoes, but I'm thinking a spoonfull or two won't hurt. My question is, how do you calculate the calories on such a meal? The turkey is easy, but I'm not sure what to do on the potatoes. Our recipe for mashed is basically a "to taste" recipe. We boil maybe 2.5lb of skinned potatoes, mash them up and add some milk to make it smoother and then we add some butter once it's on our plate.

Another one of my personal favorites (which we don't have often) is stuffed pasta shells which consists of jumbo shells filled with cheese (ricotta, cream cheese - all low/now fat), hamburger, and spices topped with spaghetti sauce and mozzarella. I know this recipe is not ideal for trying to lose weight, but again as meal every now and then I think it's ok as long as I budget the calorie room. I just don't know how to calculate how many calories would be in one shell.

Any pointers would be appreciated!

Replies

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,978 Member
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    Here's the good part. You can weight out all ingredients and look up their nutritional data then divide into portions and be pretty exact. The bad part is you have to weight all your food etc.:smile:
  • rduhlir
    rduhlir Posts: 3,550 Member
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    I base the mashed potatoes off of how many potatoes I use. I know that one medium potato is one serving. So if I use 4 potatoes I know that bowl of mashed potatoes is about 4 servings (if it is 4 large ones then I know that is more like 8 servings or so). I input that and everything else I have measured or weighed and put into them onto my saved recipes and do it that way.
  • gdrmuzak
    gdrmuzak Posts: 103 Member
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    You can create a recipe in MFP. Input all the ingredients, divide it by the number of servings, and input the servings you had. I've done it for our breakfast pizza, waffles & a couple other homemade ice cream desserts.
  • jdad1
    jdad1 Posts: 1,899 Member
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    That is very hardcore food estimating to me. Make the absolute closest guess you can.
  • andersonjo0306
    andersonjo0306 Posts: 304 Member
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    When I am making any dish I put it through the recipe app and find out the calories per serving. May seem "hardcore" but until I did it I did not realize how out of whack my estimates were, both on serving size and on calories.

    I always did my recipies by taste now I have to taste measure and add. More work but I am learning so much about proper portion control
  • clarrypaul
    clarrypaul Posts: 3 Member
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    They're good tips. I always thought about how to do this!
  • sarski77
    sarski77 Posts: 79
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    Yeah - exactly what the other guys said - create a recipe, weigh and add all the ingredients individually.
    In my opinion, MFP calorie counts for cooked meals are way off most times as they can vary too much depending on you actually cook the dish so you're better off creating your own recipes.

    It's a pain but if you tend to cook those recipes quite often you'll find that you only have to do all the work once.
    Plus in the future you can refer back to the recipe to calculate how much of what to include.
  • queenbea77
    queenbea77 Posts: 404 Member
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    All good ideas. There are "member submitted" mashed potatoes on here but since I don't know the ingredients they uses I think I would do the calculations & do my own or list the ingredients separately. One potato, 1/4 cup milk etc. so long as you get as close as possible.
  • MSeel1984
    MSeel1984 Posts: 2,297 Member
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    Enter the recipe into the recipe part of MFP...measure your ingredients.

    The app has had some problems lately but usually it works for me.
  • 88meli88
    88meli88 Posts: 238 Member
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    For high calorie recipes such as mashed potatoes, I weigh it it all out. A small error in judgment can mean 100 or 200 extra calories.

    I cook a lot, and when the recipe is complex and I want to use it again , I put it into recipe builder. I almost never use the same proportions but it is still worth it bc next time, I just adjust the measurements, the ingredient list will be there already.

    For simple recipes and obvious portion sizes, I may just add the ingredients for my portion directly into my food diary without creating a recipe.
  • soniams
    soniams Posts: 95 Member
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    I love the recipe calculator on MFP. I enter the recipes for all of my home cooked meals (which is most of what I eat). I like having very accurate calculations of what I am eating. It keeps me accountable and on track.
  • Spokez70
    Spokez70 Posts: 548 Member
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    For your first example I would just enter the components (8oz turkey, medium potato, .25 cup milk, .5 tbsp butter or whatever) for things more complicated with more ingredients I enter them in as a recipe- especially if it's something we prepare frequently.
  • danimalkeys
    danimalkeys Posts: 982 Member
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    Here's the good part. You can weight out all ingredients and look up their nutritional data then divide into portions and be pretty exact. The bad part is you have to weight all your food etc.:smile:

    This is how I do it. Every meal, every day.
  • SmallMimi
    SmallMimi Posts: 541 Member
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    Use the recipe app!
  • Jodibear58
    Jodibear58 Posts: 280 Member
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    Honestly,

    I don't figure it out if it is going to be difficult. Just do a search on "homemade mashed potatoes" and pick the closest thing that sounds right. If you are off a few calories, don't sweat it!

    Enjoy and YUM!!

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