Calculating calories when cooking

larakolmetz
larakolmetz Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
What is the best way to calculate calories when cooking? For example, if I make chili, I know how to add up the calories for everything I put it in, but I have no idea how many servings are in it. What do you do?

Replies

  • snowynoel07
    snowynoel07 Posts: 1 Member
    I think you're supposed to measure out how much it makes. If people generally eat 1 cup of it, and you measured it out (pain for whomever does dishes) in a separate dish using a measuring cup until it is all transferred over.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Another option is to weigh the finished product and modify the recipe so that your "serving size" is 1 gram. Example: I make a pot of chili and it makes 900 grams. I edit the recipe to reflect that it makes 900 servings. I weigh out the amount of chili that I want and then put in my log a serving for each gram (I want 225 grams of chili, I tell MFP I had 225 servings of chili).

    This is especially helpful for items where you are sharing them with other people (I can't really tell my husband to remove his own portion in 1 cup increments . . . well, I COULD, but he wouldn't like that) or where you are going to eat different amounts at different times.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    If you have a food scale, the best thing to do would be to weigh the final dish and make the number of grams the number of servings. Then when you weigh out your portion, you can long that number of servings.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Another option is to weigh the finished product and modify the recipe so that your "serving size" is 1 gram. Example: I make a pot of chili and it makes 900 grams. I edit the recipe to reflect that it makes 900 servings. I weigh out the amount of chili that I want and then put in my log a serving for each gram (I want 225 grams of chili, I tell MFP I had 225 servings of chili).

    This is especially helpful for items where you are sharing them with other people (I can't really tell my husband to remove his own portion in 1 cup increments . . . well, I COULD, but he wouldn't like that) or where you are going to eat different amounts at different times.

    I do this but 1 serving = 100g
  • CassidyScaglione
    CassidyScaglione Posts: 673 Member
    I keep track of everything I put in and then divide it into cups... don't have a food scale so that's the best that i can do... then depending on how many calories are in it, i will have 1,2, or even 3 servings of it. I have some pyrex bowls that hold exactly 2,4, and 8 cups. I use those to speed up the process.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Another option is to weigh the finished product and modify the recipe so that your "serving size" is 1 gram. Example: I make a pot of chili and it makes 900 grams. I edit the recipe to reflect that it makes 900 servings. I weigh out the amount of chili that I want and then put in my log a serving for each gram (I want 225 grams of chili, I tell MFP I had 225 servings of chili).

    This is especially helpful for items where you are sharing them with other people (I can't really tell my husband to remove his own portion in 1 cup increments . . . well, I COULD, but he wouldn't like that) or where you are going to eat different amounts at different times.

    This.
  • Meganthedogmom
    Meganthedogmom Posts: 1,639 Member
    @janejellyroll and @rabbitjb those are good suggestions. I'll be doing this from now on! I used to just divvy it up by eyeballing, but this will be much more accurate.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Another option is to weigh the finished product and modify the recipe so that your "serving size" is 1 gram. Example: I make a pot of chili and it makes 900 grams. I edit the recipe to reflect that it makes 900 servings. I weigh out the amount of chili that I want and then put in my log a serving for each gram (I want 225 grams of chili, I tell MFP I had 225 servings of chili).

    This is especially helpful for items where you are sharing them with other people (I can't really tell my husband to remove his own portion in 1 cup increments . . . well, I COULD, but he wouldn't like that) or where you are going to eat different amounts at different times.

    I do this but 1 serving = 100g

    This is actually a much easier way. Feeling sheepish I didn't think of it myself.
  • larakolmetz
    larakolmetz Posts: 3 Member
    Great ideas. Thanks!!!
  • niniundlapin
    niniundlapin Posts: 327 Member
    edited January 2016
    I track everything I put and keep an eye on how much (out of that major dish) everyone eats (I know, it sounds creepy). But it might be easier for me since there's usually just two people. I also don't make too much since the other person is really picky & doesn't really touch left-overs :| I have a hard time doing that for party-size dishes I made, so I use a huge soup spoon to estimate the portions.
  • LessthanKris
    LessthanKris Posts: 607 Member
    I always take my portion first and eyeball the servings. My scale is small so not sure how it would handle a whole pot of something but that is a good idea.
  • chastity0921
    chastity0921 Posts: 209 Member
    @janejellyroll and @rabbitjb Those ideas are genius. I'm the only one eating, but that sounds better than having to eat only (for example) 250 g because that's what I put as a serving.
  • grinning_chick
    grinning_chick Posts: 765 Member
    edited January 2016
    Or, if you are the only one eating, then you equally portion the pot after it's cooked and learn how many servings it produces of whatever.

    I know, for example from doing it so many times now, that a double batch of the spaghetti sauce I make is 16-1 cup (whatever "one cup" may truly be) servings. The total caloric content of the recipe (unless I change something from batch to batch) divided by 16 gives me 290 calories per serving. The win-win of portioning out is half (or more) can go into the freezer for later in addition to being able to pull out a portion at a time to reheat and eat.

    Or the chicken enchiladas I just made. The total caloric content of the recipe divided by 6 (6-2 enchilada servings) yielded 583 calories per serving.
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    I would just add that I have a list of the weights of all of my pots, pans, casserole dishes, etc that I keep on the fridge so I can weigh things in the pan & just subtract out the weight of the pan.

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