Recipe help!!

lnd0718
lnd0718 Posts: 22 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So recipe builder is difficult. Is this how you do it?
Take all ingredients weigh them for total grams? Determine serving size and divide to get number of servings?

Input all ingredients. Just did a lasagna recipe. Total grams was about 2300 determine a serving was 250 g. Calories came up to 318 per serving and that just seems low. Guess I am not 100% what a 250 g serving looks like just yet. Maybe it'll be on par.

Just trying to not underestimate calories counts in these dishes because I'm using recipe builder incorrectly??

Replies

  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    2300 g=2300 servings, 1 gram per serving. Figure out the cals per gram, or 1.3 (318/250) cal per gram. Weigh out how much you take. If it weighs out to 300 g, then 300x1.3=390 cals for your portion.
    However, 1.3 cal per gram isn't right. Protein and carbs are 4 cals per gram and fat is 9 cals per gram. So you didn't figure something correctly.
  • TinaKen2016
    TinaKen2016 Posts: 8 Member
    Newbie here....where is the recipe builder?
  • lnd0718
    lnd0718 Posts: 22 Member
    Sooooo that seems even more complicated. So how many ever fat grams, protein, and carbs is how the calories are determined.

  • lnd0718
    lnd0718 Posts: 22 Member
    TinaKen2016 wrote: »
    Newbie here....where is the recipe builder?

    When go to log foods there's a recipe tabs and you can bulk import ingredients. Haven't quite figured it out properly

  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    The new recipe tool was so special with so many complaints from members that the head office re-enabled the old recipe tool which I find to be quite easy to use.
    The new recipe tool is indeed a tool. You need a window tab on https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show to find ingredients, then you have to copy/paste the description of the food from the ndp.nal.usda page and then you have to remove the commas in the recipe tool.
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    lorrpb wrote: »
    However, 1.3 cal per gram isn't right. Protein and carbs are 4 cals per gram and fat is 9 cals per gram. So you didn't figure something correctly.

    Water = 0 cals per gram

    Lots of things have fewer than 4 cals per gram because of water weight.

    The step the OP missed was weighing the lasagna after it was cooked. So, weighing portions won't work because you don't know how much the total weight was (unless you can still weigh it now).

    For something like a lasagna, I'd tend to cut a number of equal sized pieces and use that number as the #servings. e.g. It's pretty easy to divide a lasagna into 8 equal pieces - which would be 287.5 g "raw" weight but will weigh less than that after cooking.
  • maxit
    maxit Posts: 880 Member
    For the recipe builder, input all of your ingredients and make sure the match makes sense. Choose the number of servings. Weigh your pan before you build your lasagna and make a note of it. Make your lasagna, and weigh the pan full when it is done. Subtract the weight of the pan. Divide the remainder by servings - then you have your approximate calorie per serving.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,092 Member
    lorrpb wrote: »
    2300 g=2300 servings, 1 gram per serving. Figure out the cals per gram, or 1.3 (318/250) cal per gram. Weigh out how much you take. If it weighs out to 300 g, then 300x1.3=390 cals for your portion.
    However, 1.3 cal per gram isn't right. Protein and carbs are 4 cals per gram and fat is 9 cals per gram. So you didn't figure something correctly.

    Almost all foods contain a substantial amount of water, which is zero calories, so 1 gram of a finished recipe will almost always be less than 4 cals (or less than 9 cals, if it's a high-fat recipe). Many of my recipes read as one or "zero" calories per serving (from rounding down) if I use the method of saying that there are as many serving as the total weight of the finished recipe in grams, which is the one problem I have with it. I like to be able to look at the nutrient listing in my recipes and get a sense of what a serving will really cost me.

    lnd0718 wrote: »
    Input all ingredients. Just did a lasagna recipe. Total grams was about 2300 determine a serving was 250 g. Calories came up to 318 per serving and that just seems low. Guess I am not 100% what a 250 g serving looks like just yet. Maybe it'll be on par.
    If your entire pan of lasagna is 2300 g, a 250 g serving would be just under 1/9 of the pan. (Picture a 3X3 grid of slices.)
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
    Yes, the only thing you did wrong was not accurately measuring the final serving. You can do this by weighing or, if the pan is rectangular, buy making sure you divide it into equal portions that match what you entered - so if you said your recipe had 8 servings, divide it into 8 equal pieces.

    318 is not impossible if there were a lot of vegetables and it was light on the bechamel sauce.
  • lnd0718
    lnd0718 Posts: 22 Member
    CattOfTheGarage wrote: »
    Yes, the only thing you did wrong was not accurately measuring the final serving. You can do this by weighing or, if the pan is rectangular, buy making sure you divide it into equal portions that match what you entered - so if you said your recipe had 8 servings, divide it into 8 equal pieces.

    318 is not impossible if there were a lot of vegetables and it was light on the bechamel sauce.

    I have weighed the final product in the end for other dishes but, thought maybe I was doing things incorrectly.

    Also, unless I am missing it you can't edit the recipe once you build it? Which I find really difficult as well.
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    lnd0718 wrote: »
    <snip> Also, unless I am missing it you can't edit the recipe once you build it? Which I find really difficult as well.

    There are dozens of articles on the MFP/FAQ pages providing instructions on how to use the app for the web/desktop, iOS, and Android versions.

    ​Please see this article, and search for answers to Frequently Asked Questions and other helpful articles, on the MFP Help/FAQ pages...

    https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/en/portal/articles/13994-how-do-i-edit-or-delete-a-recipe-
  • lnd0718
    lnd0718 Posts: 22 Member
    CyberTone wrote: »
    lnd0718 wrote: »
    <snip> Also, unless I am missing it you can't edit the recipe once you build it? Which I find really difficult as well.

    There are dozens of articles on the MFP/FAQ pages providing instructions on how to use the app for the web/desktop, iOS, and Android versions.

    ​Please see this article, and search for answers to Frequently Asked Questions and other helpful articles, on the MFP Help/FAQ pages...

    https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/en/portal/articles/13994-how-do-i-edit-or-delete-a-recipe-

    thank you
  • nfpswife
    nfpswife Posts: 63 Member
    maxit wrote: »
    For the recipe builder, input all of your ingredients and make sure the match makes sense. Choose the number of servings. Weigh your pan before you build your lasagna and make a note of it. Make your lasagna, and weigh the pan full when it is done. Subtract the weight of the pan. Divide the remainder by servings - then you have your approximate calorie per serving.

    Oh Thank God I'm doing it right!! The other instructions were making me feel like an imbecile!

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