Containers and recipe question
jlcbooth
Posts: 35 Member
Hi -
Brand new here. I hope to buy the 21 day fix this week. I am a little confused about the containers though. I eat a lot of skinnytaste / lowfat recipes. How do you account for all the ingredients? I rarely eat anything like a plain piece of grilled chicken. If I marinate chicken and then grill it, or bake chicken with a lowfat cheese mixture on top, how do you account for the small amount of marinade that's made it into that one piece of chicken, or the cheese mixture? I wouldn't think that small amount of cheese would take up a whole container, so do I have to keep a tally of how many 1/2 containers I've eaten throughout the day? Seems like a lot of figuring to me, and I've been going a little crazy figuring out my calories for the last 2 months on MFP, so I am a little worried about the containers.
Thanks!
Brand new here. I hope to buy the 21 day fix this week. I am a little confused about the containers though. I eat a lot of skinnytaste / lowfat recipes. How do you account for all the ingredients? I rarely eat anything like a plain piece of grilled chicken. If I marinate chicken and then grill it, or bake chicken with a lowfat cheese mixture on top, how do you account for the small amount of marinade that's made it into that one piece of chicken, or the cheese mixture? I wouldn't think that small amount of cheese would take up a whole container, so do I have to keep a tally of how many 1/2 containers I've eaten throughout the day? Seems like a lot of figuring to me, and I've been going a little crazy figuring out my calories for the last 2 months on MFP, so I am a little worried about the containers.
Thanks!
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Replies
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@jlcbooth First, congrats on choosing 21 Day Fix. I am still amazed with the results I am having and have begun recommending it to everyone I know!
As for the containers . . . I actually do track 1/2 servings sometimes. Yesterday I had several meals with 1/2 a protein or veggie. But it was easy for me to balance it out later with a slightly larger portion of chicken (lunch) and a few extra toppings on my salad (dinner).
I asked my coach about the dietary exchanges that are found in some recipes and she said that they conform to the containers. So if your recipes have exchanges, you'll have no problem figuring out what containers your recipes use. You might also consider going on Pinterest and searching for 21 Day Fix recipes. Trust me, they are almost always very low in fat but, more importantly, you'll likely find a recipe that is similar to one you already make and can just use that as your guideline for what containers you're using.
As for marinade, I don't track it. I just don't bother. I figure the calories are negligible and if I weren't losing weight (I am) I might think differently but at this point I don't see that it really matters. But others may disagree and may even have easy suggestions for how you can and should track it.
BTW, if you look in our threads, I posted an easy way to modify MFP so you can easily track your containers. Yes, even if you only use half of one at one meal. And you'll be surprised how easy the containers become once you're used to using them.0 -
SatinRenee answered most of your questions. But I'll throw my two cents in
I count half containers. And after a week I was able to figure out how to adjust recipes to incorporate the containers. Sometimes it's browning the meat, the draining and measuring using the red container how many portions it should be then add it back to the pan (I'd also freeze the leftovers in portion size for something quick later). Then you can measure your other things in the container before using them...veggies and cheese.
As far as marinates. I don't see that those are "allowed". She suggests using a lot of herbs and spices. They are free foods. The purpose of this program, as I see it, is to eat a more clean diet and less premade/processed things.0 -
@dwi04 What about if you use the salad dressings as marinade? I've been using the dressings from the Food Guide. I guess I didn't think about bottled marinade. I was thinking about my own, made from scratch.
@jlcbooth Yes, the goal here is to eat more natural foods. If you love marinade then make the dressings in the food guide right away. They are so delicious! I love the Dijon one as a marinade for pork. For chicken and beef, the Citrus Asian one is a joy. I've also made raspberry vinaigrette and I'll probably be making the creamy one next! It doesn't take a lot of time to make the dressings and well worth making a few so you have choices within easy reach.0 -
Yeah, I would think making your own would be fine. Doh! I never really thought of that.0
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Thanks. My marinades are homemade, not processed, and I guess I could see what is in each one - as in, 2 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, etc - but my thinking is that so little is actually consumed with each serving that it'd be hard and time consuming to track.0
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@dkwi04 LOL! And my mind immediately went to homemade but that's because my husband and I love cooking so even our marinades are from scratch.
@jlcbooth I think my rationale is that the marinade adds flavor but most of the marinade remains in the container and then the rest gets almost completely cooked off. The bother of calculating the quantity of marinade before and after, then dividing by number of servings . . . just too much trouble in my opinion.0 -
I keep it straight with a tally sheet on my fridge. I eat a strictly plant based diet so I am usually doing a meal for one but if my daughter wants what I have I just measure out double of the containers and adjust the recipe for the servings.
I think for the marinade I would be tempted to call it a dressing and measure accordingly with the orange container. There would be less meat sitting in the sauce but if you turn it frequently the juice would sink in (my kids are not plant based...so yes I cook meat for them)0 -
How can you modify the MFP app for containers?0
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