How do you count oils and marinades??

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graysmom2005
graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My husband, the cook, drizzles olive oil when grilling everything...veggies, meats etc. Also, he makes yummy marinades with soy, hoisin, lemon juice, little honey sometimes etc. I don't want to be a freak/pain and bother him with calculations to put into MFP. How many calories do homemade marinades typically add? Especially after cooked? Does drizzling food with some olive oil before you grill/bake something add a ton of calories? I don't know how on Earth to factor these things in! Thanks!

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  • McKayMachina
    McKayMachina Posts: 2,670 Member
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    That depends. My drizzle might be 30 calories while your husband's might be 210. You should just ask him to measure it out for you once so you can have an estimate. It's worth it.
  • ltf304
    ltf304 Posts: 132 Member
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    Ummmmm you're going to have to ask him or start cooking yourself. haha. Olive oil has 120 calories per tablespoon and that adds up, especially since he is "drizzling" it on. :)
  • kellyscomeback
    kellyscomeback Posts: 1,369 Member
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    I was told to measure before and after and the difference is what to log (then again if grilling some could be cooked off).
  • Aesop101
    Aesop101 Posts: 758 Member
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    Oil is just a matter of measuring. Marinades can be entered in food under recipes.
  • pauljsolie
    pauljsolie Posts: 1,024 Member
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    To be sure I'd add the whole amount. I make my own veggie egg rolls and have painstakingly figured out that each egg roll fried at 310F absorbs 1.1 grams of oil.
  • cachef1
    cachef1 Posts: 10 Member
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    Allot of things like that you cannot be precise without rather complex measuring, weighing and so forth before and after cooking and even then it can't be exact. You mentioned a very operative word, "some" olive oil before grilling. Is it really just a matter of lightly tossing with a small amount or do the vegetables get drenched? Do they taste of oil, seem oily, or is it just a matter of enough to keep them from sticking to the grill? The later case can also be partially solved by brushing or rubbing some oil on the grill in which case "not enough to be measurable" would be the answer because of course most of it does burn off. A little bit of olive oil is not going to hurt you. Marinades are another matter particularly if you are watching sodium. If they have a salt or salt base such as soy, salt molecules do act by pulling juices out at first but then penetrating back into meat, seasoning it. That will up your sodium levels if you are watching them. As an example, Kosher food is processed by a salt rub. If you see Empire Brand Kosher chicken in your market, take a look at the label and notice the sodium. Same thing happens when you marinade in any salty rub or marinade. Now it isn't all bad as that particular brand is acutally the preferred one by more than a few food mags. It is good just to be aware. What is boils down to is - how are you progressing? Are you losing at a pound or two a week on the average? Are you satisfied with your progress and how you feel? That will tell you tons about whether or not the grilling methods are helping, hindering, or neutral.

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