Is there way to calculate calories in a home cooked meal? (e

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girl_brett
girl_brett Posts: 166 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Is there an easy way to come up with the calories of a meal that I've cooked? I saw on a search site where is suggests you list everything and then go to the USDA website and enter each item for the calories and then add it together. Also if/when you do that would anything be overrided or would you add up EVERYTHING for the total?

I haven't cooked at home since starting on here 3 days ago and tonight will be the night! LOL When I look in the database I can find similar things which is great but it alarms me when I look at multiple foods and the calories are not even close to eachother!

Replies

  • HMKan
    HMKan Posts: 472 Member
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    You can pretty easily create a recipe on here. Name it, enter how many servings there are, then add each ingredient and it'll divide up the nutritional values per serving. It's a great tool. And you can save it in your recipes so you have it ready next time you cook that meal :)
  • anovasjo
    anovasjo Posts: 382 Member
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    Yep, check out the recipe function. Super helpful. :glasses:
  • McDougal416
    McDougal416 Posts: 74 Member
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    If you can't find the RIGHT product..like the cal are off or fat or soemthing like that doesn't match w/what ur box says..you can add it to the database. I've made a couple of recipes on here...pretty easy!!!
  • verbifyvenus
    verbifyvenus Posts: 175 Member
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    Sparkpeople.com they have a recipe calculator tool on there :smile:
  • Tomhusker
    Tomhusker Posts: 346 Member
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    The recipe tool on this site does a great job. I have created almost 3 pages of dinners, lunches and snacks in the 45+ days I have been a member. If you can't find an ingredient, you can get pretty darn close.
  • lucylane69
    lucylane69 Posts: 2
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    you just have to add all your ingredients one by one. like potatoes(how much),ect,ect
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    funny you ask that. I just did it for my chilli. Nice too, 141 calories, 18 G protein, 14 g carbs, 1.25 g fat (all unsaturated), and 2 g sugar.

    Delicious, very nutritious, and easy to make.
  • kellykat2
    kellykat2 Posts: 87 Member
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    http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php

    I use that to calculate the total calories in a recipe, then divide it by the number of servings. List items like they would in a recipe...

    1lb hamburger
    1 onion
    2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
    etc....

    I didn't know there was a recipe tool on here. I am going to have to try it.
  • girl_brett
    girl_brett Posts: 166 Member
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    Awesome! I didn't realize that could do that! I will be doing that now! =) Thanks you all!
  • chrish1981
    chrish1981 Posts: 156
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    And always remember to double check the stuff for accuracy against whatever the box at home says.

    Sometimes people make mistakes when they put stuff in. Two of the same exact product might say two completely different things in terms of calories, fat, etc. so always double check.
  • Tim33kim33
    Tim33kim33 Posts: 1
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    when entering in a recipe for like taco salad. Do you just enter what 1 serving of the meat would be or do you enter the total calories for the entire pound of meat and then it selects the serving
  • erikapereira
    erikapereira Posts: 196
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    I prefer to log in all the ingredients to be more accurate.

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