How to determine callories?

Nertak
Nertak Posts: 34 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I really like soup. I often make a soup that has

1. 1.7 pounds of short ribs (I skim off the fat at the start, then after 3 hours totally remove it. So its for flavoring. I don't actually eat it in the soup)
2. 2 cans diced tomatoes
3. Can of tomatoes juice
4. Carrots
5. Celery
6. Lima beans
7. Mushrooms
8. Large union
9. Bag of mixed veggies
10. 10 beef bouillon cubes
11. Salt and pepper

All this goes into a giant pot which I then divide into pints to get many meals out of. The thing is I have no idea how many calories a bowl of this soup has. I want to do serious calorie counting. I gained allot of weight this winter and its time to lose it. How do you guys determine calories in home made things like this?

Thanks for the help.

Replies

  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    You add the recipe to MFP. The calories will be determined by the number of servings.

    If you can find something like it on-line, you can import it. Then tweak as needed.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    edited March 2015
    I use the old version MFP recipe builder to enter all the ingredients for a total number of calories. Then I divide by how many servings I get out of it or other useful number. I often include the measurement for serving size in the name of the recipe, e.g. "Ricotta gnocchi - svg=15 gnoccho" or for calories per unit, e.g. "Baked felafel version 1 - svg: 1 falafel (1/8th cup)"

    So, what I'd do for your soup is enter all the ingredients and then when it's all done figure out how many pints you get. That's the number to put in servings. Then you know how many calories are in a pint.

    If you go to http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ you'll find better help with figuring out what number to use for your short ribs.
  • Stevie_PB
    Stevie_PB Posts: 19 Member
    The only real accurate way of doing this is to add all ingredient onto a spreadsheet.
    Protein, carb, fat and kcal per gram.
    Once all items are in set a formula to determine kcal of the entire dish per gram. Then measure out your servings and calculate, either manually or via another formula. Use the same spreadsheet for all your cooking and in time you'll have a good library of ingredients and just have to add how much you are using.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Esssbee wrote: »
    The only real accurate way of doing this is to add all ingredient onto a spreadsheet.
    Protein, carb, fat and kcal per gram.
    Once all items are in set a formula to determine kcal of the entire dish per gram. Then measure out your servings and calculate, either manually or via another formula. Use the same spreadsheet for all your cooking and in time you'll have a good library of ingredients and just have to add how much you are using.

    Or . . . you could just use the recipe builder MFP provides, making sure to choose accurate entries from the database.
  • Nertak
    Nertak Posts: 34 Member
    but how would I input the ribs into fitness pal? I'm skimming the fat but its impossible to get it all, and i'm not actually eating it with the soup.
  • cathleen73
    cathleen73 Posts: 11 Member
    When I make big one pot dishes, I add up all the calories I add in. Then I get the total weight. Then I divide it out by ounces to get how much per ounce...or if you are putting it into equal size containers..just divide total calories by how many jars/etc.. even if I skim off some fat, i usually still go by total calories, then I know i'm overestimating and it's all good.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    You could technically measure how much fat you take out and try to estimate but you can't be exact. If you look at the various http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ figures for "beef short ribs" they have different numbers for starting with different amounts of fat. At a certain point, you will just need to guess how lean your final product is.
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    Nertak wrote: »
    but how would I input the ribs into fitness pal? I'm skimming the fat but its impossible to get it all, and i'm not actually eating it with the soup.
    Note the weight of the short ribs, which you reported as 1.7 lbs., prior to placing in the soup pot. Record the tare weight of a container used for the skimmed fat and removed ribs. Put the skimmed-out fat and discarded ribs into the container and cool. Weigh the cooled fat and ribs in the container and subtract the weight of the container. Log the difference in your recipe as "Pork - Bacon, rendered fat, cooked (bacon drippings)." This would be the closest estimate I could think of.

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