Homemade ranch

I assume that you're talking about a database entry?

Most of the entries in the database are generated by MFP users. This means that while you can usually find an entry that works for what you're looking for, they are also often prone to errors. You should always double-check the nutritional info of any food you log to be sure it's accurate.

Additionally, you should ALWAYS avoid database entries that say something like "homemade." This would imply that someone made it at home, right? But how do you know what they made it with? Perhaps you make your homemade ranch dressing with buttermilk and mayo, but maybe they make theirs with skim milk and fat-free greek yogurt so that it is only 26 calories for a tablespoon. Or maybe it's just a totally made up and inaccurate entry.

Either way, you'll get a lot more accuracy (and success) if you stick with database entries for brand names, generic single-ingredient items, and restaurant foods that can all be verified against other sources of nutritional info, and to use the recipe builder when you're making something at home (if you don't want to log the components separately in your diary) so that you're sure to log a food the way you made it.

Of course there are always times when you'll have to make your very best guess because you don't have nutritional info available, but make those the exception and not the rule. And, if you know darn well that the calorie count you find in the database is totally unreasonable (aka, you made your ranch dressing with buttermilk and mayo, you know there's no way your version is 26 calories), find a different entry. I mean, you can lie in your diary all you want, but the scale will always tell you the truth.

If you're making the ranch dressing use the recipe builder - don't use random entries from the database where you have no idea what the other person is using.

i make homemade ranch but i use buttermilk powder and greek yogurt