Calories in home cooked food?

Options
ARC86
ARC86 Posts: 5
in Recipes
How can I work out the calories in something I've cooked at home?

I will make most things I eat from scratch, do I need to weigh everything? or is it guess work?

Replies

  • CynthiaT60
    CynthiaT60 Posts: 1,280 Member
    Options
    If you want accurate counts, you'll have to weigh and measure.
  • jigsaw_me
    jigsaw_me Posts: 616 Member
    Options
    You can add recipes into your Food area.

    So if you weigh and measure all of the ingredients and add them as a recipe you can easily add how ever many serves you eat to your diary..
  • albertine58
    albertine58 Posts: 267 Member
    Options
    use a food scale! Just zero it in between adding ingredients. I keep a scrap of paper in the kitchen with me so I can jot down how much I used of each ingredient & enter it all in the MFP recipe calculator after. It sounds tedious but it takes like 2 extra minutes, tops. Plus, it motivates me to lighten up recipes!
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    Options
    I use the recipe builder and weigh all ingredients. It adds a few minutes to meal prep, but it has become second nature now. To get the portion right, I either weigh the finished product, and then weigh my portion. Or, if it's easy enough to divide into half, thirds or whatever, I do that.
  • rostraqueen
    rostraqueen Posts: 22
    Options
    I suggest start weighing stuff, but pretty soon you'll get to know what different weights look like (by eye) in certain foods. Also get to know what quantities things are measured by on the MFP database and put it in your food in quantities relevant to that, e.g. look up the butter you use, if the drop-down menu says 1tsp, then use that much on your toast, or 0.5 of a tsp or 0.75, so that it is easier to add to your food diary later.
    MFP is also good for getting to know average or acceptable portion sizes - it says on some foods something like "70g (1 portion)"
  • morkiemama
    morkiemama Posts: 894 Member
    Options
    I use the recipe builder and weigh all ingredients. It adds a few minutes to meal prep, but it has become second nature now. To get the portion right, I either weigh the finished product, and then weigh my portion. Or, if it's easy enough to divide into half, thirds or whatever, I do that.

    This.
  • wilmnoca
    wilmnoca Posts: 416 Member
    Options
    Count the calories of all the ingredients and divide depending on how many portions the dish is. ????

Categories