serving size when using your own recipe

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lynnej73
lynnej73 Posts: 12 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Ok. I have a recipe that I am making that says it serves 5-6 people. It calls for 40 oz of chicken or 2.5 lbs. That works out to be 5 chicken breasts in my case. The serving size on the chicken breast says 3 oz cooked. When calculating this recipe for serving size, should I divide the 40 oz. by 3 oz.? If so, this recipe serves 13? Am I totally off base here?
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Replies

  • kathleennf
    kathleennf Posts: 606 Member
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    I divide it by how much I am actually going to eat. Works for me. I this case I would divide by 5, assuming that I am going to eat one chicken breast.
  • Rossergirl
    Rossergirl Posts: 105 Member
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    That is the same math I would do. I struggle with serving sizes too when trying to input recipies. Good luck.
  • echofm1
    echofm1 Posts: 471 Member
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    My rule of thumb when making recipes is to divide it into serving sizes that make a reasonable calorie amount for the meal. For example, I made a big pot of chili. I could have 4 big bowls for 600 calories each, or 6 bowls for 400 calories each. Therefore, I say it's 6 servings and eat less, because 400 calories seems more reasonable.

    So that would be my suggestion. Add all the ingredients to the recipe, then create a serving size that gives you an appropriate number of calories for your goals. Then divide appropriately and enjoy.

    P.S. 3 oz of chicken might be a serving size, but that's rarely enough chicken to satisfy anyone. There's nothing wrong with eating two servings of meat at a meal, as long as you understand it's two servings.
  • Brige2269
    Brige2269 Posts: 354 Member
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    I am with the others. Eat your portion, and see how many times you can do that portion.
  • cheripugh1
    cheripugh1 Posts: 357 Member
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    Yep... sorry but you need to know the weight of the chicken breasts you're using but I can get 2 even 3 MEALS out of one chicken breast going on a serving is 3 oz.

    We think servings are bigger than they are... so if you have 5 chicken breast than yes you have 10 to 15 servings, easily 13! The recipe gives less because we want MORE and we tend to fill the plate a bit more when serving something.

    I have a bowl of soup, the can says 2 servings, yet that one can gives me one bowl of soup, to me one serving but actually it's two.

    There is a lot to learn on this journey...
  • 970Mikaela1
    970Mikaela1 Posts: 2,013 Member
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    That is the same math I would do. I struggle with serving sizes too when trying to input recipies. Good luck.

    Me too. The other day I made meatballs, counted each one, and just made a meatball 1 serving. I laughed when I had 27 1/2 ounce meatballs

    eta Sometimes I will put it all in a big pot marked in liters then convert it to cups, if it is feasible.
  • fsucrack
    fsucrack Posts: 68 Member
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    My rule of thumb when making recipes is to divide it into serving sizes that make a reasonable calorie amount for the meal. For example, I made a big pot of chili. I could have 4 big bowls for 600 calories each, or 6 bowls for 400 calories each. Therefore, I say it's 6 servings and eat less, because 400 calories seems more reasonable.

    So that would be my suggestion. Add all the ingredients to the recipe, then create a serving size that gives you an appropriate number of calories for your goals. Then divide appropriately and enjoy.

    P.S. 3 oz of chicken might be a serving size, but that's rarely enough chicken to satisfy anyone. There's nothing wrong with eating two servings of meat at a meal, as long as you understand it's two servings.

    You can't do that with this app though.

    You cant do what? Make your own reciepe.... yes you can. Go to Food, reciepes, and create a new one
  • echofm1
    echofm1 Posts: 471 Member
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    You can't do that with this app though.

    Yes, you can. At least you can on iPad or Android (which I both use). Go to Settings (the little cog icon towards the bottom of your side menu) --> "My Foods and Exercises" --> "My Recipes" --> Choose the recipe you'd like to alter. To change the serving size, just tap on the serving size box.

    To change on the website, go to "Food" on the top --> "Recipes" --> Choose the recipe you'd like to alter. It's easier to change ingredients on the apps, but changing the amount of servings is just as easy.

    No matter what you'll have to manually re-add the altered recipe into your diary, but you can change serving size and/or ingredient amounts.
  • So_Much_Fab
    So_Much_Fab Posts: 1,146 Member
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    One thing that's worked for me (though it is a bit of a pain) is that I weigh the cooked dish when it's finished. Then, I make the portion size 1 ounce. If I eat 5 oz. of said dish, then it's 5 servings. I'm not even sure it's completely accurate, but it's the only way I could figure out how to make 'absolute' serving sizes.
  • BikerGirlElaine
    BikerGirlElaine Posts: 1,631 Member
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    One thing that's worked for me (though it is a bit of a pain) is that I weigh the cooked dish when it's finished. Then, I make the portion size 1 ounce. If I eat 5 oz. of said dish, then it's 5 servings. I'm not even sure it's completely accurate, but it's the only way I could figure out how to make 'absolute' serving sizes.

    Yes, I usually go by weight also.
  • Myhaloslipped
    Myhaloslipped Posts: 4,317 Member
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    I hate this. It's so hard. How much is a serving? No one knows. It's frustrating. If I make chili or something, I have the same problem.

    Chili is the worst when determining portion sizes! I have to just estimate and do the best I can. However, if it something like a lasagna, I will just divide it up into sections and then enter that number as the number of servings in the recipe calculator.
  • lynnej73
    lynnej73 Posts: 12 Member
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    Thank you so much for the responses! I am glad to know I am not the only one struggling with figuring this out. I was afraid to post lol. The only bad thing about cooking your own food/recipes is that it is time consuming to input the recipes! I might eat the same thing for a week at a time ;)
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
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    I don't have a problem with determining serving sizes of my homemade chili...?
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    I divide it by how much I am actually going to eat. Works for me. I this case I would divide by 5, assuming that I am going to eat one chicken breast.

    This is what I do as well.
  • Aleta7
    Aleta7 Posts: 92
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    I add up the weight of All ingredients and the calories for each weight and divide it up using one ounce as my serving size. I then can have however many ounces of the recipe I want. It seems more accurate for me. It can add up to 40 or fifty ounces. But measured by one at a time.:happy:
  • mediamogulsteve
    mediamogulsteve Posts: 115 Member
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    The best way to get around this is to weigh your cooking vessels when they're empty. Then weigh the same vessel with the target food. If you're serious about truly keeping track and an "estimate" isn't good enough, a digital food scale is a vital purchase.

    Make a spreadsheet of the empty vessel weight, print it and put it on your fridge. I'd recommend using both US and metric so that you can easily subtract the differences. (The 16 ounces in a pound gets tricky sometimes.)
  • Aleta7
    Aleta7 Posts: 92
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    I add up the weight of All ingredients and the calories for each weight and divide it up using one ounce as my serving size. I then can have however many ounces of the recipe I want. It seems more accurate for me. It can add up to 40 or fifty ounces. But measured by one at a time.:happy:
    Water weight is included in the recipe.

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