Need help figuring calories of non pre-packaged food

Options
kimi131
kimi131 Posts: 1,058 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Ok, so I'm still pretty new to all of this. I've done calorie counting before, but some of this stuff through me for a loop even back then (is it because I'm not good at math? haha) I have no problem when it comes to pre-packaged food. Also, no problem when it's something like fresh fruit or veggies.

Last night I decided it was time to break out of my comfort zone and make some sloppy joes. Sounds healthy enough (to me at least). Hamburger meat (I have the extra lean stuff) and sauce. But you're supposed to mix it together before you put it on your plate. And there is my problem. The sauce says there is 70 calories in 1/4 cup, 7 servings per can. The meat says there are 150 calories in 4 ozs of meat, therefore 4 servings. But I'm supposed to mix it together before I serve it, so, how do I know how much sauce I'm actually getting?

I went to the recipe builder, even though it seems like a lot of effort for Sloppy Joes. Recipe builder wanted to know how many the whole thing serves. I don't know how many it serves. I took a guess and said 4. Then I took another guess and said I had 1 serving. MFP recipe builder said it equates to 273 calories for 1 serving. 273?! That sounds awfully high to me. And that's before I add the 100 cal bun, etc.

Did I do something wrong? Or are sloppy joes/extra lean hamburger really that high? Help me out here.

Man, if I have this much trouble with sloppy joes, just imagine the headache when I start cooking more from scratch. :angry:

Replies

  • amerr
    amerr Posts: 190
    Options
    I use the recipe thing all the time. I'll put all the ingredients in and then measure it out when I'm done to know how many cups or 1/2 cups or whatever it made and then add the number of servings.

    Recently I made brownies. I added all the ingredients and then decided how I was going to cut them...turn the pan into 15 brownies or 20 brownies? I decided on 20 because it was still a good size brownie, but made the calories per brownie less of course. It does take a bit more time than just making food and eating it, but I enjoy doing it now and actually knowing how many calories I'm eating when I make my own food.
  • thisismynewmindset
    thisismynewmindset Posts: 273 Member
    Options
    What is this Recipe Builder you are talking about? Do you mean when you can make your own meals in the "Meals" feature?
  • JJHudgens
    JJHudgens Posts: 96 Member
    Options
    If you ask me, that sounds about right. Meats are high, especially beef. The recipe builder sounds like a good idea. Do you have the URL for that? :)
  • EDesq
    EDesq Posts: 1,527 Member
    Options
    Ok, so I'm still pretty new to all of this. I've done calorie counting before, but some of this stuff through me for a loop even back then (is it because I'm not good at math? haha) I have no problem when it comes to pre-packaged food. Also, no problem when it's something like fresh fruit or veggies.

    Last night I decided it was time to break out of my comfort zone and make some sloppy joes. Sounds healthy enough (to me at least). Hamburger meat (I have the extra lean stuff) and sauce. But you're supposed to mix it together before you put it on your plate. And there is my problem. The sauce says there is 70 calories in 1/4 cup, 7 servings per can. The meat says there are 150 calories in 4 ozs of meat, therefore 4 servings. But I'm supposed to mix it together before I serve it, so, how do I know how much sauce I'm actually getting?

    I went to the recipe builder, even though it seems like a lot of effort for Sloppy Joes. Recipe builder wanted to know how many the whole thing serves. I don't know how many it serves. I took a guess and said 4. Then I took another guess and said I had 1 serving. MFP recipe builder said it equates to 273 calories for 1 serving. 273?! That sounds awfully high to me. And that's before I add the 100 cal bun, etc.

    Did I do something wrong? Or are sloppy joes/extra lean hamburger really that high? Help me out here.

    Man, if I have this much trouble with sloppy joes, just imagine the headache when I start cooking more from scratch. :angry:

    Use the RECIPE Calculator/Tab!
  • misschoy
    misschoy Posts: 125 Member
    Options
    I use the recipe calculator here too. And I admit, as it is kind of a pain to figure things out, it is really eye opening. I love to use my 'recipes' here.

    As for the sloppy joe caloric content.... that sounds about right.
  • thisismynewmindset
    thisismynewmindset Posts: 273 Member
    Options
    What is this Recipe Builder you are talking about? Do you mean when you can make your own meals in the "Meals" feature?

    Nevermind I figured it out!
  • Crystal817
    Crystal817 Posts: 2,021 Member
    Options
    The recipe build is super easy to use. My guess is... there is a lot more servings that 4. I made sloppy joes the other night using ground turkey (20oz) and one can of manwich. I used 1/3 cup to measure portions and I got probably 8+ servings. It all depends how much you want on each bun.
    I took a guess and said 4. Then I took another guess and said I had 1 serving. MFP recipe builder said it equates to 273 calories for 1 serving. 273?! That sounds awfully high to me. And that's before I add the 100 cal bun, etc.

    Also, if you're doing a lot of guessing, then nothing will be accurate.
  • bonnymom
    bonnymom Posts: 107 Member
    Options
    If you are only making 4 sloppy joes with the whole pan of sloppy joe meat, then yes, each sloppy joe meat serving is 273 calories.

    I make sloppy joe meat with ground turkey, sloppy joe seasoning, and tomato paste - this makes 8 sloppy joes at 127 calories before the bun.

    Part of a new lifestyle is adjusting the size of your servings. My suggestion is to measure it out (1/2c, 1c, etc) so you know exactly how many servings you are getting from your recipe.
  • shawn_chas102304
    shawn_chas102304 Posts: 27
    Options
    I agree with what everyone else said, there are more than likely more than 4 servings. I use manwich for sloppy joes and 1 regular can with 1 pound of ground beef (85/15) will make 6 big sandwiches or 8 regular ones. I would adjust the serving size for your recipe and it'll be less :)
    I LOVE THE RECIPE FEATURE!!!
  • littlemili
    littlemili Posts: 625 Member
    Options
    I don't get the problem. You are basically combining pre-packaged foods to make a meal, right? Sauce + meat. You know the calorie content of both. So either:

    1. Measure out however much of each you use from their individual containers into a bowl and mix it up then plate it.
    2. Combine a bigger batch and pre-divide into portions. Then add up the total calories from sauce + meat in the recipe maker tool and since you have pre-divided it you know how many servings it is.

    If you are mixing a z of sauce with x amount of meat and it makes y number of portions, you just add z+x for calories and divide it by y. Now if you are talking about how to calculate a sauce recipe from scratch then that's a little more complex but really all this requires is for you to measure 2 pre-determined things with given nutritional values and figure out what portion size you are eating.
  • SixCatFaerie
    SixCatFaerie Posts: 690 Member
    Options
    I don't get the problem. You are basically combining pre-packaged foods to make a meal, right? Sauce + meat. You know the calorie content of both. So either:

    1. Measure out however much of each you use from their individual containers into a bowl and mix it up then plate it.
    2. Combine a bigger batch and pre-divide into portions. Then add up the total calories from sauce + meat in the recipe maker tool and since you have pre-divided it you know how many servings it is.

    If you are mixing a z of sauce with x amount of meat and it makes y number of portions, you just add z+x for calories and divide it by y. Now if you are talking about how to calculate a sauce recipe from scratch then that's a little more complex but really all this requires is for you to measure 2 pre-determined things with given nutritional values and figure out what portion size you are eating.

    Exactly! Couldn't have said it better myself. I'm really bad at math too & had to have my hubby tell me the easy way of figuring it out.

    Good luck!

    4581915.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Nutrition Facts For Foods
  • kimi131
    kimi131 Posts: 1,058 Member
    Options
    Ok, so now I'm going to say what I think. I didn't need to be made to feel dumb for asking. It was a simple enough question, what I needed was a simple enough answer. Not to be made to feel like an idiot for asking or lectured to. And here I thought MFP was full of niceties. Guess not. Ok, going back to my day now.

Categories