Logging "From Scratch" Meals

Matiara
Matiara Posts: 377 Member
edited September 26 in Food and Nutrition
I would like to keep up with the food log, but my frustration is logging my dinners. Most of the food that I eat at work during the day are simple foods (milk, banana, PB) or packaged (yogurt, crackers) and are easy to log. However, my dinners most nights are 95% from scratch and I find it frustrating to log them. I honestly do not feel like logging every single ingredient.

And then there are the days that I buy lunch at my office cafeteria. No calorie counts provided there.

Replies

  • RDH0513
    RDH0513 Posts: 245 Member
    on these meals, I will estimate what I ate. I will also sometimes over estimate the meal if I really have no idea how many cals ( like the hospital lunches). I would just feel better being a little under than a lot over and not know it!
  • MoonGurl1985
    MoonGurl1985 Posts: 44
    Use the recipe function on here to input your meals that are made from scratch.
  • Shweedog
    Shweedog Posts: 883 Member
    That's what the quick add calories option is for. On nights I don't feel like logging I just add up the calories in everything and "quick add" that number. It doesn't calculate the other nutrients of course but lets you log your calorie count none the less. As far as cafeteria lunches are concerned you just have to use your best guess or start bringing your lunch.
  • harls
    harls Posts: 88 Member
    All of my recipes come from online or are already typed into the computer, so I use this: http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php to get the # of cals. With that calorie counter, you don't have to input each individual ingredient. Then, after I get the nutrition facts I go to MFP's "add a food" & just plug in the numbers!
  • momtothreegirls
    momtothreegirls Posts: 26
    I've been putting it into the recipe builder thing they have on here, that way it's one simple click to add it.
  • lollie1285
    lollie1285 Posts: 239 Member
    I have this issue too. I'm still living at home so my mom makes dinner for me every night. She's such a sweetie :)

    Like somebody else said, I'll do a rough estimate. I had crabcakes tonight and had to do an estimate because I wasn't sure. Our homemade crabcakes have very little filler in them, so I'm thinking what I found on here is pretty accurate.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    Adding your own meals to the recipe section helps - I find that I can often take a previous recipe, change one ingredient and use it again (like changing a pork stirfry to a chicken stirfry). And I have things that I make all the time like a green salad there. I don't bother changing it each time I use a different kind of lettuce or add broccoli instead of green beans - the calories are close enough and it still gives me an indication of nutrients, better than quick add calories.
    Or I look up a similar recipe in the database and take my chances that it has similar composition to mine - you can search on something like "lasagne homemade".
    For meals when I eat out I pick something from the database that looks similar.
    Remember, you are never going to be able to have exactly accurate calories and nutrients but by adding a similar product you are keeping a good record and getting a good approximation.
  • tiggr62
    tiggr62 Posts: 64 Member
    I tried using the recipe builder and found that to be a pain. I add up the calories then use the add calories on food diary. I find it much easier then the recipe builder.
  • Matiara
    Matiara Posts: 377 Member
    Thanks for all of the tips, especially about the recipe builder and repeat function in the tracker. That's likely my best option for dinners.

    I do bring lunch to work 99% of the time, but there are days where I want a change of pace and if the daily special at the cafeteria is something that they do really well, I will buy lunch. It's just that I have no idea of what all they put in their dishes, but going with a high estimate when I eat there is a good idea. I ordered a pulled pork sandwich once and they had to redo it because when I wasn't paying attention, they had buttered the bread. Butter and BBQ pork? Makes me wonder what goes in the food that I *can't* see.

    I know logically that all calorie counts are estimates, but I have difficulty overriding the part of my brain that wants things to be exact. I'm a little too left brained when it comes to numbers.
  • ladybg81
    ladybg81 Posts: 1,553 Member
    Make a recipe then determine how much you ate. It's easy.
  • wewon
    wewon Posts: 838 Member
    Use the recipe function on here to input your meals that are made from scratch.

    Ditto.

    I find that this is the most effective, especially for foods that I plan to eat repeatedly. I just go to the recipe tab and get it from there.
  • lklein
    lklein Posts: 215 Member
    Use the recipe function on here to input your meals that are made from scratch.

    I do this all the time. 90% of my dinners are made from scratch. Most of the time I will enter just the ingredients into the recipe over my lunch break or the daybefore. This way all I have to do is enter the entire thing for my meal and I'm done, and it will still be there for the next time I make that particular meal.
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