Food scales and family meals...

I would weigh my ingredients and then use the recipe builder here to create a recipe with those ingredients. I would make my serving number the number of grams in the total (cooked) dish. I would then log 1 serving for each gram of the finished dish that I had.

TiffanyR71 wrote: »

Ok - yes, I do use the recipe builder, but my portion ends up being approximate, based on visual.... I know it's not accurate...

If you want to be more accurate, you can enter the serving number as a unit of weight (1 gram, for instance, equals 1 serving) and then you will be able to understand exactly how much you need to log. This is also great if you will have different serving sizes at different times (you might want a little soup if you're having leftover soup for lunch, or a big bowl if you are having it for dinner).

I create recipes while I make the dish, weight the ingredients, cook it, and when serving it divide it into visual "servings." It is not 100% accurate, but it has worked for me when I make food for lunch/dinner parties.

The thing with weighing the food before and after you cook the ingredients is the weight won't match. Most foods lose water when you cook them. This will decrease the weight. I didn't even think of weighing the fully cooked food and using that as the servings. That would account for the weight difference. The difficulty will come from crock-pot meals. You could use your ladle as a serving. The servings don't have to be exact, but in the approximate.

I also modify my recipes each time I cook. My ingredients/quantities change each time I cook.

janejellyroll wrote: »

I would weigh my ingredients and then use the recipe builder here to create a recipe with those ingredients. I would make my serving number the number of grams in the total (cooked) dish. I would then log 1 serving for each gram of the finished dish that I had.

This is exactly what I do and would recommend.

ana3067 wrote: »

beemerphile1 wrote: »

Weighing food portions is probably best, however, I have lost 53 pounds without weighing anything but me. I don't own a food scale.

I guess I am talented at estimating.

You probably have/had a lot of weight to lose. THe more you have to lose, the less accurate you need to be.

Or you know, even with a lot of weight to lose, he's a man and taller.

Short women, even with having a lot to lose need to be accurate or the scale movement is painfully slow. Especially if they're older.

OP, you've gotten all of the really good recommendations. I will add that I weigh the dish again every time I reheat leftovers if there will be more than one time I'm eating unless I've already divided it up into portions (subtracting the weight of the storage container). Stored food loses weight due to evaporation, so what you calculate for a serving size might change.

To weigh my portions, I have a calculator I keep in the kitchen to help. I just use the recipe builder, weighing each ingredient as I go as suggested. I weigh the final dish, and subtract the container weight. I divide that by the number of servings I've allowed for the full recipe. Then I subtract that number from the total weight of the dish (the recipe plus the container) and scoop out my portion until the scale reads what my calculator says.