What does "homemade" mean to you?

Macy9336
Macy9336 Posts: 694 Member
edited November 16 in Food and Nutrition
Hello all,
In using MFP, I have noticed a few items that have "homemade" as the brand in the MFP. That got me to thinking, what is homemade? Then I started thinking about all the "homemade" food encounters I have had at bake sales, friends houses etc and realised my conception of homemade is probably only one of multiple viewpoints. This spectrum has two extremes as best as I can think of, which could drastically affect the calories and macros of the recipe/food in the MFP due to either zero use or heavy use of highly processed food components. The two extreme are that homemade=from scratch on one end and homemade=anything cooked at home on the other. An example would be pizza...on the from scratch end of the spectrum a homemade pizza would mean everything made at home...the crust, the sauce, cheese hand grated, the toppings. On the other end of the spectrum of anything cooked, a homemade pizza could simply be popping a premade pizza in the oven and cooking it. Another could be a birthday cake...cooked from scratch for cake and frosting, vs. using a box of cake mix and a tub of premade frosting. So curious what everyone else considers to be "homemade"??

Replies

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Few people keep hand mills in their homes anymore so I expect anything home made is done on the stove somehow.
  • genpopadopolous
    genpopadopolous Posts: 411 Member
    I don't consider a frozen pizza or meal to be homemade.

    But I will use like store bought noodles or sauce in a recipe and still consider it homemade.

    I guess for MFP purposes it's homemade if I can't scan the barcode and call it a day.

    Really though, I don't care what others do or don't consider homemade.
  • __TMac__
    __TMac__ Posts: 1,669 Member
    For my own cooking, I consider it homemade if I've used "ingredients," the definition of which based on what was normalized in my upbringing. It might include premade pasta and sauce, but not a can or box containing both. I consider my pasta sauce homemade even though it starts with canned crushed tomatoes. Homemade baked goods start with flour, not a boxed mix. Homemade soup can contain premade or scratch-made broth, but shouldn't come from the store containing any seasoning (except salt if I can't find unsalted).

    It's all arbitrary and I'm sure it's different in other homes. They might consider soup homemade if it was fancied-up canned cream of mushroom, or on the other hand only if you start with water and chicken or veg to make the stock.
  • perkymommy
    perkymommy Posts: 1,642 Member
    Home made to me means anything from raw. I will make chicken tenders for my kids usually from raw chicken tenders in the meat section at the store not the bagged kind that you re-heat in the oven. If I use a green bean that has to be snapped and cleaned from the produce that is hand made because the canned or frozen is already cooked and ready for re-heating. Same with any other raw meats or veggies. Anything that was raw to begin with and nothing has been done to it yet.
  • Macy9336
    Macy9336 Posts: 694 Member
    I agree that upbringing has a lot to do with what we view as homemade. My parents cooked a lot and were dismissive of stuff like boxed cake mix, jars of pasta sauce, eggs waffles, etc. But I realise people were brought up differently and view cooking differently. Thanks to everyone who's responded so far :)
    I do love the scan function on MFP. For example my DD just made banana chocolate chip cookies and well was obliged to eat one. When I built the recipe using the search and select function, it came up to 200cal per cookie but when I did it with scan function it came up to 134cal per cookie. I had thought the search and select would be more accurate because my exact brands of flour, sugar, etc were in there. But it seems that may not be the case.
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,572 Member
    Homemade to me would mean everything from a complete recipe like a cake or cookies from scratch, to a box of pasta cooked with a jar of canned sauce and parmesan cheese. If it did not come in a package with calories on it, then it's "home made". I love to cook, and make a lot of things like chicken pot pie and pot roast, but I'm no food snob when it comes to convenience.
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    edited March 2017
    @Macy9336 You might find this thread community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1 interesting. It has a section defining homemade, and some other suggestions on proper logging.
  • Macy9336
    Macy9336 Posts: 694 Member
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    @Macy9336 You might find this thread community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1 interesting. It has a section defining homemade, and some other suggestions on proper logging.

    Thank you!
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    Do not use any of the "homemade" listings. If it is something that does not have nutrition information listed for it, you should enter it into your recipe builder and use that data. You have no idea what the person who entered the data used or how accurate their weighing was. My homemade lasagne is way different than my mother's lasagne, for example.

    Things like boxed cake mix will often have 2 nutrition labels, one for the mix alone and one "as prepared". This assumes you follow the preparation instructions to the letter so it would be reasonably accurate.

    In general terms, "Home made" refers to anything made from scratch out of individual ingredients. Box mixes do not count as homemade.
  • Macy9336
    Macy9336 Posts: 694 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    Do not use any of the "homemade" listings. If it is something that does not have nutrition information listed for it, you should enter it into your recipe builder and use that data. You have no idea what the person who entered the data used or how accurate their weighing was. My homemade lasagne is way different than my mother's lasagne, for example.

    Things like boxed cake mix will often have 2 nutrition labels, one for the mix alone and one "as prepared". This assumes you follow the preparation instructions to the letter so it would be reasonably accurate.

    In general terms, "Home made" refers to anything made from scratch out of individual ingredients. Box mixes do not count as homemade.

    I think that's good advice because no way to know what was used in the "homemade" version of the foods in the MFP.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited March 2017
    Maybe you're not aware of it, but you are raising two issues that I think warrant a heads-up: 1) "Homemade" can be ANYTHING. Never use a "homemade" entry unless it's your own and made the same way. 2) The scanner function does not guarantee accuracy. Enter each ingredient correctly - values should match those on label, or manufacturer's website, or reliable sources like USDA for generic items.

    For your explicit question: In my opinion, "homemade" is a spectrum as you say, from slaughtering the chicken yourself, to cooking bone broth, to shredding grilled chicken breast into a salad. Personally I have an issue with "cooking" - I don't consider boiling rice and throwing a piece of fish or meat in the oven as "cooking", so I'm a bit embarrassed when I talk about how I "cook dinner". Baking, on the other hand, is something I find labor intensive. And some people have baking as a hobby...! To me, homemade means basically "composing meals from single food ingredients" - raw meat, fish, eggs, flour, pasta, rice, milk, butter, cocoa, raw vegetables, sugar and salt. But there's a spectrum. When I mix a can of tuna with storebought mayo and chop some onions, that is "homemade" to me. Filling a storebough pita bread with storebought tuna salad, is not "homemade".

    I had an idea of "homemade" as an ideal I should aim for as much as possible, but now I just choose homemade whenever homemade is most fun and easy and tasty and cheap, and storebought for the rest.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    Macy9336 wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    Do not use any of the "homemade" listings. If it is something that does not have nutrition information listed for it, you should enter it into your recipe builder and use that data. You have no idea what the person who entered the data used or how accurate their weighing was. My homemade lasagne is way different than my mother's lasagne, for example.

    Things like boxed cake mix will often have 2 nutrition labels, one for the mix alone and one "as prepared". This assumes you follow the preparation instructions to the letter so it would be reasonably accurate.

    In general terms, "Home made" refers to anything made from scratch out of individual ingredients. Box mixes do not count as homemade.

    I think that's good advice because no way to know what was used in the "homemade" version of the foods in the MFP.

    Exactly. I will use it once in a blue moon to help estimate calories in something I had at dinner at someone else's house but I went into it knowing it wasn't accurate but I just wanted an idea. I will take the average of several entries and log them as "quick add" calories.
  • markrgeary1
    markrgeary1 Posts: 853 Member
    "Homade" is a restaurant supply place.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited March 2017
    genpopadopolous wrote: »
    I don't consider a frozen pizza or meal to be homemade.

    But I will use like store bought noodles or sauce in a recipe and still consider it homemade.

    I guess for MFP purposes it's homemade if I can't scan the barcode and call it a day.

    Really though, I don't care what others do or don't consider homemade.

    This.

    For logging, never use a "homemade" entry -- use the ingredients and a reputable entry like from usda.

    For me, homemade means from ingredients but could mean dried or canned beans, dried pasta, flour, butter, etc. as part of it. I don't think most would consider reheating or taking from package to oven homemade. I've never thought about pasta sauce since I always make my own. There's that Sandra Lee semi homemade thing I guess.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    I think of homemade as something that involves some prep work other than opening a bag, box or can. The act of heating food is not what makes something homemade.
    Homemade to me could include the use of some store bought ingredients like a jar of sauce or tortillas. A lasagna doesn't have to be made with noodles, cheese and sauce you made from scratch to be a homemade lasagna to me.

    I would not log someone else's "homemade" entry from the database. Even if they make it completely from scratch you do not know that it will match the ingredients and amounts you used. Use the recipe builder to enter your dish.
  • ajlbookey
    ajlbookey Posts: 12 Member
    For me homemade is everything homemade! Like your pizza example, when my mom and I make homemade pizza, we make our own crust and sauce and only buy fresh toppings! I make a lot of homemade soup and it's all from scratch!
  • Macy9336
    Macy9336 Posts: 694 Member
    I wonder is there a UK site equivalent to USDA for nutritional content? I ask because you can get same brand of stuff here at times but it will have different ingredients and therefore different nutrition. For example we don't have honey nut cheerios, we have honey cheerios...no nuts and less sugar.

    I am shocked the scan function isn't always reliable....sigh was hoping for an easy way out I suppose. I will just have to get really eagle eyed about what I log.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    It means that you are preparing your meal...largely from scratch ingredients and minimally processed ingredients. Making a box of mac 'n cheese at home isn't "homemade" for example.

    When we make pizza at home, we don't generally make the dough and crust, we buy that from our favorite pizzeria...but we add everything else ourselves and I would consider that to be "homemade"
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    Macy9336 wrote: »
    I wonder is there a UK site equivalent to USDA for nutritional content? I ask because you can get same brand of stuff here at times but it will have different ingredients and therefore different nutrition. For example we don't have honey nut cheerios, we have honey cheerios...no nuts and less sugar.

    The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) is the site for nutritional information for agricultural products: fruit, veggies, meat, eggs, grains, etc. Unless the growing conditions are vastly different in the UK, resulting in more or less nutrients in the agricultural products, the entries should still be reliable. They are the average of testing many of the same item so are as accurate as possible for produce that has many variables.

    When logging any prepared food you should use the information on the nutritional label. That is determined by extensive testing of that exact product. Just make sure you actually look at the label rather than scanning the bar code.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,631 Member
    The only time I use homemade or generic options is if I've gone out to a cafe or restaurant and i'm really not sure what the calories of the item I had were. If it happens that a homemade option on the list appears to have a reasonably high number of calories, I'll go with it.
  • FatPorkyChop
    FatPorkyChop Posts: 83 Member
    edited March 2017
    I would consider homemade when you cook it from the scratch
  • teasie77
    teasie77 Posts: 22 Member
    How do you use the recipe builder ? Thanks
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    teasie77 wrote: »
    How do you use the recipe builder ? Thanks

    There are 2 ways:

    1) If it is a recipe online, you can enter the URL and hit "Import Recipe". Remove extra info like "chopped", "sliced", etc., then hit "Match ingredients" make sure each ingredient is correct or change it to what you want. Make sure the number of servings is correct then save it. You can log it any time from the "Recipes" tab in your diary.

    2) Enter each ingredient by weight and description. Don't enter any prep instructions unless it is describing the ingredient like ground cinnamon. Enter the number of servings (which can be changed) Hit "Match ingredients" and play with the results until they are accurate. Save it.

    There is some question about how to determine the number of servings of something like a casserole or stew. I typically go either by the calorie count (if 6 servings are 250 calories each, I might change it to 4 so I get more food and still stay around 325-350 for an entree) or allow a certain amount of something per serving (like 4 oz of ground beef so a lb. would make 4 servings, 1/2 lb would be 2, etc).

    How much is a serving? I do my best to divide up a dish evenly so I eyeball instead of weigh (I live alone so it doesn't matter if I have a little more one meal and a little less the other because I will eat up the entire dish over time). You could weigh the pan/pot before and after fixing the dish and subtract the empty weight from the full. The difference would be divided by the number of servings.

    Hope this helps.
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