The way I cook just doesn't suit calorie counting - advice?

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skinnysushicat
skinnysushicat Posts: 138 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am a 'creative' cook, and rarely follow a recipie. I cook from scratch pretty much every dinner, using fresh produce. I often throw in some leftovers or use 'a bit of this, a bit of that'. Tonight I am making a mushroom, courgette and spinach and potato pie. The pastry is shop bought - no problem. But For the rest? I am trying to weight the ingredients, but I'm weighing raw, and of course something like mushrooms weigh a lot less cooked (because of the water). So surely although I'm adding the ingredients to a 'recipie' in MFP, when I weigh out my portion the calories will be very inaccurate?

I'm fine at breakfast (cereal) and lunch (sandwiches usually) but for dinner I'm really struggling to accurately guess calories. Help!

Replies

  • norahwynn
    norahwynn Posts: 862 Member
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    Here's a recipe builder...it should help out if you keep everything accurate. caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
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    Weigh the ingredients. Use the raw entries. You won't get the exact distribution of calories in each serving of a stew, for example, but you'll be as close as the packaged goods are.
  • eblakes93
    eblakes93 Posts: 372 Member
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    I'm the same way - I usually will read a recipe (IE today I read tomato chutney) to get ideas and then just do what I want.

    What I've started doing is measuring things out that I want to use, even if I'm not following a recipe, and writing it down as I go.

    Then I put the recipe into MFP recipe database.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    I weigh everything raw as I'm going along not had any problems it's quick and easy too do as you're cooking
  • pluckabee
    pluckabee Posts: 346 Member
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    for counting recipes you just count the calories for every ingredient that goes in, then divide the total calories by the number of servings it is
  • clbortiz
    clbortiz Posts: 98 Member
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    What I've started doing is measuring things out that I want to use, even if I'm not following a recipe, and writing it down as I go.

    Then I put the recipe into MFP recipe database.

    This is what I do too. You put in how many servings the recipe will make and get your per serving calorie count.

    If you are using a mobile version of MFP you may want to log on using the regular site. Under the food tabs: recipe link, add new recipe.
  • JenMc14
    JenMc14 Posts: 2,389 Member
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    Weigh the ingredients raw, but don't go by weight for your final "serving size". What I do is weigh everything, prepare and cook, then get a measuring cup (usually a 1/2 cup, sometimes 1 cup) and scoop the finished product into another bowl, one 'serving" at a time, counting the servings. I divide the recipe by that number, then use the same scoop to get my portion. It's not 100% accurate, but not too bad. If it's something like a cake or casserole, I pre-cut the pieces evenly, then divide the original recipe by the number of pieces to determine what a serving is. I put everything in the recipe calculator and tell it how many servings, and the nutritional data for the recipe is calculated for me!
  • skinnysushicat
    skinnysushicat Posts: 138 Member
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    Oh I see - so for my pie I won't weigh my portion? Just tell mFP I have 1 of 6 servings? That makes sense now!
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    I cook by smell so Im in the same boat... I would build your own recipe thing... But I usually just ball park it to be honest- there is almost always SOMETHING in here that's "good enough"

    take that with a grain of salt- because I'm not really on a massive weight loss plan- I'm just cutting.. and I'm not super serious... but it gets me close ENOUGH to my 1900 a day then I'm good. (I do weigh all my food and pre-portion) So i'm not totally wildly swinging- just getting close enough.
  • caly_man
    caly_man Posts: 281 Member
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    i wouldn't want to mess with your creative dinners

    so if it were me, i would focus on eating the right portion size, guesstimate a calorie count, log it, pay attention to weight, adjust accordingly

    for me the ultimate goal is not to have to count calories the rest of my life
  • maybeazure
    maybeazure Posts: 301 Member
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    If it were me, I would probably guess on stuff like mushrooms, and not stress about it much. 1 cup raw has only 15 calories. So over or underestimating isn't going to make a huge difference. On the other hand, I would be really careful with things like oil and butter, which are really calorie dense.
  • kellyskitties
    kellyskitties Posts: 475 Member
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    I cook based on availability, sales, what's going to spoil if I don't eat it, personal preference for the day, macros and the direction the wind is blowing (just kidding - I never know the wind direction).

    I label the leftovers bowl with a name and exact date - then I save the meal in MFP. When I save the meal the name includes name and date I used to label the leftovers.

    That way later when I eat leftovers I can tell which leftovers to tie it to. (I freeze a lot of leftovers for my work year time crunch)

    That way if chili one time varies from the next I know which was which. And when I eat those leftovers (could be a few months later for me) I know the nutrition of that bowl's contents.

    I usually treat recipes as "ideas" more than rules and instructions to be followed exactly. I'm also prone to tossing in extra stuff like pumpkin or butternut squash in my chili and so forth.
  • wideeyedla
    wideeyedla Posts: 138 Member
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    If you out in raw ingredients, it doesn't matter that you cook them, when you enter the recipe, it asks for number of servings. So I will decide the number usually based on the protein source (I have 2 lbs of chicken breast s, six servings). Then once it is cooked, just portion it out egually, and the numbers will still be mostly good.

    Exception is for grilled fatty meats, which lose some fat and calories in the process.
  • corgicake
    corgicake Posts: 846 Member
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    I don't own a scale either. Most grocery stores have semi-accurate scales in the produce section... they're not precise, but most fruits and vegetables aren't exactly calorie dense so the number of calories off will practically be a rounding error. Meat I tend to buy in mega-packs and repackage at home so that generally gets eyeballed.
  • pluckabee
    pluckabee Posts: 346 Member
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    Oh I see - so for my pie I won't weigh my portion? Just tell mFP I have 1 of 6 servings? That makes sense now!

    You might weigh it to know you're getting the right size portion on your plate, but yes, you just tell mfp how many servings.
  • Lizajayne23
    Lizajayne23 Posts: 123 Member
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    I keep track of everything that goes in and use the recipe creator to get the total calories. Then, after cooking, I weigh the final product and divide it by the ounce. For instance, when I'm making pepper steak and gravy, I'll put in the steak, peppers, mushrooms, onions, gravy as raw/unprepared. Once completed, it weighs around 50 ounces. If the calorie total is 2000, then the per ounce total is 40 and depending on how hungry I felt and calories left for the day,I can portion it out by the ounce as desired.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    I "guesstimate" and I really think I get it pretty close. For me, the point is not 100% accuracy but a good picture of the general calories and nutritional content of the foods I consume.

    Kind of off-topic, but I also find that some people seem to select a random thing in the MFP database which is the least caloric option and go with it. That is a much worse idea IMO than just entering estimated amounts of each major ingredient in a dish you make. For example, if I make homemade veggie pizza on wheat crust, I could enter various pizzas into MFP and come up with a slice of pizza that has 77 cal and a slice with 900 cal. THAT is what I'd call a big problem hehe
  • lbesaw
    lbesaw Posts: 267 Member
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    I too am an accomplished home cook. It's the bits of this, and bits of that that cause all the trouble in our "diets". I started measuring my ingredients and stick to "my recipes" for continuity in my favorite things. If I can eliminate an unneeded fat or calorie per serving I do it.
  • chatogal
    chatogal Posts: 436 Member
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    recipe builder is AMAZING!!!... Tedious to fill in....but soooooo worth it...and you can go back and alter ingredients etc..I love it :-)

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