MEAL PREP ideas ... how do you count cals
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Ok guys, ive read all the above WOW...
question i think many are replying direct im pretty techy how are you that?? Yes Im on my iphone.
Recipes i think can only be seen from pc ill get that going soon.
& TNoir if their losing LBS/kg’s their doing better than i!!!
Im staying under 1500 per day & havnt dropped a kg, LBS but losing patience !!!
There's a Quote button at the bottom of each post below all the reacts on the mobile app that you can use to quote a reply, like I've done here. You can also @ tag someone by typing a @ followed by their username, like so: @standy73 - the tagged person gets a notif (like you probably did) that so-and-so mentioned you in a comment. Just make sure you spell the username correctly.
On the mobile app, tap the hamburger menu on the homepage and scroll down to Recipes, Meals, & Foods to access the recipe builder. I find the desktop version to be a little easier to use, but it's in there.0 -
Having plenty of everything I like is key. Right now I have frozen fish: 4lb raw shrimp, 5lb cod filets, 2 lb Icelandic salmon, 2-3lb of sea scallops. So when in doubt, I drop a freezer bag in some water, 30 minutes later it is thawed and ready to broil or saute. Now to find some sides.0
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MrsMellodoggerello wrote: »I have no idea...maybe I was trying to create drama by calling him infamous. He does have that quote that is heard everywhere about not eating what our grandparents wouldn't recognize. All hardcore processed food lovers must despise that! He is a bit of an expert...from Forbes magazine-"Bittman is not just a celebrity spatula slider though, like many TV chefs. He is a special advisor to Columbia University, where he lectures on food, public health and social justice; six-time James Beard Award winner; distinguished fellow at the University of California – Berkeley, and a fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Bittman’s “What’s Wrong with What We Eat” TED Talk has close to 5 million views. "janejellyroll wrote: »MrsMellodoggerello wrote: »whatever, haha...even if it doesn't help in losing weight it's still good advice in general to limit processed foods.& lots of experts do agree like the infamous Mark Bittman. Anyway, the easiest method, for me, is to eat the same breakfast and lunch most days and then choose from 3 or 4 dinners that I already know fits into my calorie goals .I'll switch those dinners somewhat seasonally.buy a scale, weigh EVERYTHING
Read the backs of all packaging while shopping to find serving sizes
enter it all into MFP
and input all your recipes into the recipe calculator here
it works! that way you can make sure you are eating enough (females 1200 min cals a day)
Also, stay away from processed foods they are the worst! = sodium is one to watch & carbs!
Mark Bittman is a talented food writer. I enjoy his writing and cookbooks very much, but I think even he would agree that his writing skills don't make him a nutritional expert. Also unsure why you'd call him "infamous."
Many hardcore processed food lovers don't even know who Mark Bittman is, let alone hate him. Of those who know who he is, many of them probably have confidence in their own choices and don't worry about what Mark Bittman thinks of their plates.
Since my grandmother thinks that corn flakes covered in melted, green-tinted marshmallow and decorated with cinnamon red hots is a Christmas delicacy, I don't think I'll be basing my food choices on what she does or doesn't recognize.
Bittman does have many accomplishments, but many of them are for the excellence of his food writing. That's what the James Beard awards are for -- food writing. It's not recognition for contributions to nutritional planning. I've never said he was a "spatula slider" or a celebrity chef. What I'm saying is that being an excellent food writer doesn't necessarily qualify you to determine what others should eat or the level of processing that food should undergo.
As far as telling people he's infamous, let's just stick to accurate descriptions and curb the drama. I don't think Bittman deserves that kind of rep.2 -
MrsMellodoggerello wrote: »
janejellyroll wrote: »MrsMellodoggerello wrote: »I have no idea...maybe I was trying to create drama by calling him infamous. He does have that quote that is heard everywhere about not eating what our grandparents wouldn't recognize. All hardcore processed food lovers must despise that! He is a bit of an expert...from Forbes magazine-"Bittman is not just a celebrity spatula slider though, like many TV chefs. He is a special advisor to Columbia University, where he lectures on food, public health and social justice; six-time James Beard Award winner; distinguished fellow at the University of California – Berkeley, and a fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Bittman’s “What’s Wrong with What We Eat” TED Talk has close to 5 million views. "janejellyroll wrote: »MrsMellodoggerello wrote: »whatever, haha...even if it doesn't help in losing weight it's still good advice in general to limit processed foods.& lots of experts do agree like the infamous Mark Bittman. Anyway, the easiest method, for me, is to eat the same breakfast and lunch most days and then choose from 3 or 4 dinners that I already know fits into my calorie goals .I'll switch those dinners somewhat seasonally.buy a scale, weigh EVERYTHING
Read the backs of all packaging while shopping to find serving sizes
enter it all into MFP
and input all your recipes into the recipe calculator here
it works! that way you can make sure you are eating enough (females 1200 min cals a day)
Also, stay away from processed foods they are the worst! = sodium is one to watch & carbs!
Mark Bittman is a talented food writer. I enjoy his writing and cookbooks very much, but I think even he would agree that his writing skills don't make him a nutritional expert. Also unsure why you'd call him "infamous."
Many hardcore processed food lovers don't even know who Mark Bittman is, let alone hate him. Of those who know who he is, many of them probably have confidence in their own choices and don't worry about what Mark Bittman thinks of their plates.
Since my grandmother thinks that corn flakes covered in melted, green-tinted marshmallow and decorated with cinnamon red hots is a Christmas delicacy, I don't think I'll be basing my food choices on what she does or doesn't recognize.
Bittman does have many accomplishments, but many of them are for the excellence of his food writing. That's what the James Beard awards are for -- food writing. It's not recognition for contributions to nutritional planning. I've never said he was a "spatula slider" or a celebrity chef. What I'm saying is that being an excellent food writer doesn't necessarily qualify you to determine what others should eat or the level of processing that food should undergo.
As far as telling people he's infamous, let's just stick to accurate descriptions and curb the drama. I don't think Bittman deserves that kind of rep.
I'm not sure what you think is opinion here, but I assure you that my grandmother loves dying corn flakes green and the James Beard Awards are for food writing, not for nutritional research.4 -
janejellyroll wrote: »MrsMellodoggerello wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »MrsMellodoggerello wrote: »I have no idea...maybe I was trying to create drama by calling him infamous. He does have that quote that is heard everywhere about not eating what our grandparents wouldn't recognize. All hardcore processed food lovers must despise that! He is a bit of an expert...from Forbes magazine-"Bittman is not just a celebrity spatula slider though, like many TV chefs. He is a special advisor to Columbia University, where he lectures on food, public health and social justice; six-time James Beard Award winner; distinguished fellow at the University of California – Berkeley, and a fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Bittman’s “What’s Wrong with What We Eat” TED Talk has close to 5 million views. "janejellyroll wrote: »MrsMellodoggerello wrote: »whatever, haha...even if it doesn't help in losing weight it's still good advice in general to limit processed foods.& lots of experts do agree like the infamous Mark Bittman. Anyway, the easiest method, for me, is to eat the same breakfast and lunch most days and then choose from 3 or 4 dinners that I already know fits into my calorie goals .I'll switch those dinners somewhat seasonally.buy a scale, weigh EVERYTHING
Read the backs of all packaging while shopping to find serving sizes
enter it all into MFP
and input all your recipes into the recipe calculator here
it works! that way you can make sure you are eating enough (females 1200 min cals a day)
Also, stay away from processed foods they are the worst! = sodium is one to watch & carbs!
Mark Bittman is a talented food writer. I enjoy his writing and cookbooks very much, but I think even he would agree that his writing skills don't make him a nutritional expert. Also unsure why you'd call him "infamous."
Many hardcore processed food lovers don't even know who Mark Bittman is, let alone hate him. Of those who know who he is, many of them probably have confidence in their own choices and don't worry about what Mark Bittman thinks of their plates.
Since my grandmother thinks that corn flakes covered in melted, green-tinted marshmallow and decorated with cinnamon red hots is a Christmas delicacy, I don't think I'll be basing my food choices on what she does or doesn't recognize.
Bittman does have many accomplishments, but many of them are for the excellence of his food writing. That's what the James Beard awards are for -- food writing. It's not recognition for contributions to nutritional planning. I've never said he was a "spatula slider" or a celebrity chef. What I'm saying is that being an excellent food writer doesn't necessarily qualify you to determine what others should eat or the level of processing that food should undergo.
As far as telling people he's infamous, let's just stick to accurate descriptions and curb the drama. I don't think Bittman deserves that kind of rep.
I'm not sure what you think is opinion here, but I assure you that my grandmother loves dying corn flakes green and the James Beard Awards are for food writing, not for nutritional research.
What's your opinion on The Big Lebowski being an iconic movie?
Except for the red hots, those green corn flakes sound...um...well, I'd try them! (If I went by my grandmother, the diabetic, I'd be living off butterscotch hard candies. Not a BAD thing but WHERE'S THE CHOCOLATE, BUBBY?!)1 -
I suppose I'm not a "hardcore processed food lover" (I certainly eat less processed or ultra processed foods than the person saying to avoid all processed foods upthread, and I'm a huge fan of cooking and eating mostly from whole foods I prepare, as well as some lightly processed items (maybe?) like cottage cheese and greek yogurt so on), at least for myself. The idea that someone who says eating processed food isn't some terrible thing is a "hardcore processed food lover" seems questionable, of course. But I would say that one can certainly include processed food in one's diet and lose (and I do and have), so I think the advice we are discussing was wrong.
But that aside, I love Mark Bittman. I recommend his books for newbie cooks all the time, learned to cook fish from his fish book, and love reading his recipes in the paper. I think his statement about eating what your grandparents would have recognized as food,however, is poor advice, although I would say that for many people learning to cook and eat balanced meals as was more common at one time is generally good advice.
I will add, to support what Jane has said, that my grandparents all died by the early '90s, and yet even by that time they ate processed foods (even my mother's parents who had been farmers and had the most amazing garden when I was a kid), so I'm not sure why my grandparents -- let alone people with grandparents alive now, or who are younger than me -- are supposed to not recognize, I dunno, some Marie Callender pot pie as food. (Speaking of, my local farmer's market has farms that sell frozen pot pies and fruit pies.)
Beyond that, I do eat plenty of foods my grandparents would not have recognized or eaten, things like Indian curries or Ethiopian dishes or Moroccan ones, or whatever else I experiment with cooking along those lines, with spices or combinations not so familiar to them. They also would have been really skeptical of a dinner with no meat/fish. I don't think those opinions or tastes should govern what I eat, but perhaps there is disagreement about this?2 -
janejellyroll wrote: »MrsMellodoggerello wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »MrsMellodoggerello wrote: »I have no idea...maybe I was trying to create drama by calling him infamous. He does have that quote that is heard everywhere about not eating what our grandparents wouldn't recognize. All hardcore processed food lovers must despise that! He is a bit of an expert...from Forbes magazine-"Bittman is not just a celebrity spatula slider though, like many TV chefs. He is a special advisor to Columbia University, where he lectures on food, public health and social justice; six-time James Beard Award winner; distinguished fellow at the University of California – Berkeley, and a fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Bittman’s “What’s Wrong with What We Eat” TED Talk has close to 5 million views. "janejellyroll wrote: »MrsMellodoggerello wrote: »whatever, haha...even if it doesn't help in losing weight it's still good advice in general to limit processed foods.& lots of experts do agree like the infamous Mark Bittman. Anyway, the easiest method, for me, is to eat the same breakfast and lunch most days and then choose from 3 or 4 dinners that I already know fits into my calorie goals .I'll switch those dinners somewhat seasonally.buy a scale, weigh EVERYTHING
Read the backs of all packaging while shopping to find serving sizes
enter it all into MFP
and input all your recipes into the recipe calculator here
it works! that way you can make sure you are eating enough (females 1200 min cals a day)
Also, stay away from processed foods they are the worst! = sodium is one to watch & carbs!
Mark Bittman is a talented food writer. I enjoy his writing and cookbooks very much, but I think even he would agree that his writing skills don't make him a nutritional expert. Also unsure why you'd call him "infamous."
Many hardcore processed food lovers don't even know who Mark Bittman is, let alone hate him. Of those who know who he is, many of them probably have confidence in their own choices and don't worry about what Mark Bittman thinks of their plates.
Since my grandmother thinks that corn flakes covered in melted, green-tinted marshmallow and decorated with cinnamon red hots is a Christmas delicacy, I don't think I'll be basing my food choices on what she does or doesn't recognize.
Bittman does have many accomplishments, but many of them are for the excellence of his food writing. That's what the James Beard awards are for -- food writing. It's not recognition for contributions to nutritional planning. I've never said he was a "spatula slider" or a celebrity chef. What I'm saying is that being an excellent food writer doesn't necessarily qualify you to determine what others should eat or the level of processing that food should undergo.
As far as telling people he's infamous, let's just stick to accurate descriptions and curb the drama. I don't think Bittman deserves that kind of rep.
I'm not sure what you think is opinion here, but I assure you that my grandmother loves dying corn flakes green and the James Beard Awards are for food writing, not for nutritional research.
What's your opinion on The Big Lebowski being an iconic movie?
Except for the red hots, those green corn flakes sound...um...well, I'd try them! (If I went by my grandmother, the diabetic, I'd be living off butterscotch hard candies. Not a BAD thing but WHERE'S THE CHOCOLATE, BUBBY?!)
The movie is a total classic.
I always picked off the red hots -- I can't stand them!1 -
I suppose I'm not a "hardcore processed food lover" (I certainly eat less processed or ultra processed foods than the person saying to avoid all processed foods upthread, and I'm a huge fan of cooking and eating mostly from whole foods I prepare, as well as some lightly processed items (maybe?) like cottage cheese and greek yogurt so on), at least for myself. The idea that someone who says eating processed food isn't some terrible thing is a "hardcore processed food lover" seems questionable, of course. But I would say that one can certainly include processed food in one's diet and lose (and I do and have), so I think the advice we are discussing was wrong.
But that aside, I love Mark Bittman. I recommend his books for newbie cooks all the time, learned to cook fish from his fish book, and love reading his recipes in the paper. I think his statement about eating what your grandparents would have recognized as food,however, is poor advice, although I would say that for many people learning to cook and eat balanced meals as was more common at one time is generally good advice.
I will add, to support what Jane has said, that my grandparents all died by the early '90s, and yet even by that time they ate processed foods (even my mother's parents who had been farmers and had the most amazing garden when I was a kid), so I'm not sure why my grandparents -- let alone people with grandparents alive now, or who are younger than me -- are supposed to not recognize, I dunno, some Marie Callender pot pie as food. (Speaking of, my local farmer's market has farms that sell frozen pot pies and fruit pies.)
Beyond that, I do eat plenty of foods my grandparents would not have recognized or eaten, things like Indian curries or Ethiopian dishes or Moroccan ones, or whatever else I experiment with cooking along those lines, with spices or combinations not so familiar to them. They also would have been really skeptical of a dinner with no meat/fish. I don't think those opinions or tastes should govern what I eat, but perhaps there is disagreement about this?
I think Mark Bittman is a great food writer. I have one of his cookbooks and it's a favorite.1 -
So re: weighing for recipes:
I mostly cook for my family. I get weighing each ingredient to get the nutritional value of the entire recipe. Where I'm getting lost is weighing the whole dish at the end to figure out servings. Am I putting a hot pan or baking dish on the scale (that I already know the weight of)? Moving everything to a different dish and weighing that before I set it on the table? A hot pad, then tare the scale, then put the pan on? Then after that, I weigh my own portion out on my plate?
I feel really dumb for asking, and the answer is probably obvious, but for some reason I am getting really hung up on this, so help would be welcome. Thank you!0 -
For me:
- hot pad or whatever I use to protect the scale -> tare -> weigh whole cooked dish in the pot
- subtract weight of pot to calculate weight of the dish (it's easier if you weigh the empty pot before you start cooking)
Then: put plate on scale, tare, serve individual portion and note the weight1 -
An alternative for the recipe feature is simply logging the ingredients as a meal.
I usually choose a meal in the future where I add all the ingredients, I weigh the final dish, save the meal (with the total weight in the name).
After I've saved the meal, I delete the full dish from that future meal where I logged it, and just log the appropriate fraction when I eat a portion of the dish.
For example: the risotto I made yesterday weighed 3945gr, my portion weighed 809, so I logged 0.205 of the saved meal for my dinner.
This is exactly what I do, although this week I added 2 recipes using the old recipe calculator. But I much prefer listing ingredients individually.
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For me:
- hot pad or whatever I use to protect the scale -> tare -> weigh whole cooked dish in the pot
- subtract weight of pot to calculate weight of the dish (it's easier if you weigh the empty pot before you start cooking)
Then: put plate on scale, tare, serve individual portion and note the weight
Thank you, this is really helpful!
I've been going based on volume thus far but I figure I already bake by weight so it makes sense to get familiar with this too, especially as I get closer to my goal weight where variations in measurement make more of a difference. I have a pan of enchiladas in the oven now so we'll see! I have a rough idea of the calories just from making them before, so I shouldn't be surprised once I log the exact amount, but for right now the concept of a gram or 100 grams is basically meaningless to me. I imagine I'll get more familiar as I go along.0 -
MrsMellodoggerello wrote: »I have no idea...maybe I was trying to create drama by calling him infamous. He does have that quote that is heard everywhere about not eating what our grandparents wouldn't recognize. All hardcore processed food lovers must despise that! He is a bit of an expert...from Forbes magazine-"Bittman is not just a celebrity spatula slider though, like many TV chefs. He is a special advisor to Columbia University, where he lectures on food, public health and social justice; six-time James Beard Award winner; distinguished fellow at the University of California – Berkeley, and a fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Bittman’s “What’s Wrong with What We Eat” TED Talk has close to 5 million views. "janejellyroll wrote: »MrsMellodoggerello wrote: »whatever, haha...even if it doesn't help in losing weight it's still good advice in general to limit processed foods.& lots of experts do agree like the infamous Mark Bittman. Anyway, the easiest method, for me, is to eat the same breakfast and lunch most days and then choose from 3 or 4 dinners that I already know fits into my calorie goals .I'll switch those dinners somewhat seasonally.buy a scale, weigh EVERYTHING
Read the backs of all packaging while shopping to find serving sizes
enter it all into MFP
and input all your recipes into the recipe calculator here
it works! that way you can make sure you are eating enough (females 1200 min cals a day)
Also, stay away from processed foods they are the worst! = sodium is one to watch & carbs!
Mark Bittman is a talented food writer. I enjoy his writing and cookbooks very much, but I think even he would agree that his writing skills don't make him a nutritional expert. Also unsure why you'd call him "infamous."
It wasn't Mark Bittman who said that, it was Michael Pollan, and it wasn't grandparents, but great-grandparents.
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html
Unhappy Meals
By Michael Pollan
Jan. 28, 2007
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
...1. Eat food. Though in our current state of confusion, this is much easier said than done. So try this: Don’t eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. (Sorry, but at this point Moms are as confused as the rest of us, which is why we have to go back a couple of generations, to a time before the advent of modern food products.) There are a great many foodlike items in the supermarket your ancestors wouldn’t recognize as food (Go-Gurt? Breakfast-cereal bars? Nondairy creamer?); stay away from these.1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »MrsMellodoggerello wrote: »I have no idea...maybe I was trying to create drama by calling him infamous. He does have that quote that is heard everywhere about not eating what our grandparents wouldn't recognize. All hardcore processed food lovers must despise that! He is a bit of an expert...from Forbes magazine-"Bittman is not just a celebrity spatula slider though, like many TV chefs. He is a special advisor to Columbia University, where he lectures on food, public health and social justice; six-time James Beard Award winner; distinguished fellow at the University of California – Berkeley, and a fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Bittman’s “What’s Wrong with What We Eat” TED Talk has close to 5 million views. "janejellyroll wrote: »MrsMellodoggerello wrote: »whatever, haha...even if it doesn't help in losing weight it's still good advice in general to limit processed foods.& lots of experts do agree like the infamous Mark Bittman. Anyway, the easiest method, for me, is to eat the same breakfast and lunch most days and then choose from 3 or 4 dinners that I already know fits into my calorie goals .I'll switch those dinners somewhat seasonally.buy a scale, weigh EVERYTHING
Read the backs of all packaging while shopping to find serving sizes
enter it all into MFP
and input all your recipes into the recipe calculator here
it works! that way you can make sure you are eating enough (females 1200 min cals a day)
Also, stay away from processed foods they are the worst! = sodium is one to watch & carbs!
Mark Bittman is a talented food writer. I enjoy his writing and cookbooks very much, but I think even he would agree that his writing skills don't make him a nutritional expert. Also unsure why you'd call him "infamous."
It wasn't Mark Bittman who said that, it was Michael Pollan, and it wasn't grandparents, but great-grandparents.
I thought that too, but googled, and Bittman did say it, or he and David Katz (the interview weirdly doesn't distinguish): https://www.spiritualityhealth.com/articles/2020/02/24/how-to-eat
Q: How can a consumer read online stuff and not fall for clickbait? What should they be looking for in solid nutritional advice?
Bittman and Katz: If it sounds too good to be true, it is. If it wasn’t food in the day of your grandparents and their grandparents, it probably isn’t food now, either. It really isn’t complicated—you just have to decide not to be gullible. Alas, desperation tends to breed gullibility.1 -
Love Mark Bittman. All the nyt food writers are so talented. A true pleasure to read.2
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Reading all of this makes me a little thankful I live alone. I just throw all the ingredients in and divide by however many times I eat it. I weigh the nonpackaged stuff/stuff I won't use the entire container of.2
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kshama2001 wrote: »MrsMellodoggerello wrote: »I have no idea...maybe I was trying to create drama by calling him infamous. He does have that quote that is heard everywhere about not eating what our grandparents wouldn't recognize. All hardcore processed food lovers must despise that! He is a bit of an expert...from Forbes magazine-"Bittman is not just a celebrity spatula slider though, like many TV chefs. He is a special advisor to Columbia University, where he lectures on food, public health and social justice; six-time James Beard Award winner; distinguished fellow at the University of California – Berkeley, and a fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Bittman’s “What’s Wrong with What We Eat” TED Talk has close to 5 million views. "janejellyroll wrote: »MrsMellodoggerello wrote: »whatever, haha...even if it doesn't help in losing weight it's still good advice in general to limit processed foods.& lots of experts do agree like the infamous Mark Bittman. Anyway, the easiest method, for me, is to eat the same breakfast and lunch most days and then choose from 3 or 4 dinners that I already know fits into my calorie goals .I'll switch those dinners somewhat seasonally.buy a scale, weigh EVERYTHING
Read the backs of all packaging while shopping to find serving sizes
enter it all into MFP
and input all your recipes into the recipe calculator here
it works! that way you can make sure you are eating enough (females 1200 min cals a day)
Also, stay away from processed foods they are the worst! = sodium is one to watch & carbs!
Mark Bittman is a talented food writer. I enjoy his writing and cookbooks very much, but I think even he would agree that his writing skills don't make him a nutritional expert. Also unsure why you'd call him "infamous."
It wasn't Mark Bittman who said that, it was Michael Pollan, and it wasn't grandparents, but great-grandparents.
I thought that too, but googled, and Bittman did say it, or he and David Katz (the interview weirdly doesn't distinguish): https://www.spiritualityhealth.com/articles/2020/02/24/how-to-eat
Q: How can a consumer read online stuff and not fall for clickbait? What should they be looking for in solid nutritional advice?
Bittman and Katz: If it sounds too good to be true, it is. If it wasn’t food in the day of your grandparents and their grandparents, it probably isn’t food now, either. It really isn’t complicated—you just have to decide not to be gullible. Alas, desperation tends to breed gullibility.
I was actually surprised when you didn't beat me to the Pollan shoutout
Regardless of whether it was Bittman or Katz, the book for which they are being interviewed, "How to Eat: All Your Food and Diet Questions Answered", just came out a year ago.1 -
alisdairsmommy wrote: »
So re: weighing for recipes:
I mostly cook for my family. I get weighing each ingredient to get the nutritional value of the entire recipe. Where I'm getting lost is weighing the whole dish at the end to figure out servings. Am I putting a hot pan or baking dish on the scale (that I already know the weight of)? Moving everything to a different dish and weighing that before I set it on the table? A hot pad, then tare the scale, then put the pan on? Then after that, I weigh my own portion out on my plate?
I feel really dumb for asking, and the answer is probably obvious, but for some reason I am getting really hung up on this, so help would be welcome. Thank you!
If I'm really on the ball, I'll weigh my empty pot/baking dish so I know how much to subtract, but my scale plate is metal so like...it can handle having a hot thing on it for the 20 seconds it takes me to read the number and write it down. I'm also not whipping that s*** out of the oven and throwing it straight onto the scale, like, I let it cool a little bit first.
If I don't think to weigh my empty cooking vessel, then I'll usually weigh out portions into bowls and storage containers and add those together to get the weight of the finished dish all together. I start by filling a bowl with what "looks right," see how much that is, then maybe tweak it a little by adding/taking away food to get to a nice round number to make the math easier. Like if I fill a bowl with 683g of stew, I might add another 17g to get to a nice round 700, then aim to fill the next bowl with another 700g and see where I'm at. I want my servings to all be pretty much the same, so once I have everything transferred from the cooking vessel to the serving/storing containers, I'll do some math and shift around bits until I have 4-6 servings that are all within a gram of each other. I generally tend toward "one pot" type of meals, but on the occasion that I do have a distinct main and side(s) I'll repeat the process with all components of the meal (e.g. divide my meatloaf onto 2 plates and 2 Tupperwares, then the mashed potatoes, then the steamed broccoli). Hubs and I eat a serving each for dinner that night, then leftovers for dinner later, and they're all already portioned out and ready to just reheat and eat.
Edit to add: I'm only cooking for two, I see you're serving a family. I would weigh out servings onto each plate just so you know how much there was - you aren't aiming to serve your husband and kids a particular amount, just go by what looks right and note down the weight. Once you've plated everyone's first serving, weigh what's left - I pack up leftovers immediately as noted, if you're a "go back for seconds" family then you'll need to transfer the leftovers into another container that's already tared out on the scale, again just to get that number. Add together all the servings you portioned out, including yours, plus the leftovers to get the total amount you made, input the recipe where 1 serving = 1 gram (or 10g or 100g, if the math works), and log the amount you ate.1 -
I find having the weight of the pot beforehand helps then I weigh pot with contents in it and subtract pot weight
To make it easier I then round to nearest 100 g and call it however many 100 g serves ie if total contents weighed 2300 g I would call it 23 serves.
Then weigh my portion, and log it as 3 serves if it is 300g etc.
I only do this for variable size serves, eg home made soup.
Things like home made chilli con carne that I use same ingredients in same size each time I just call 2 serves if my husband and I are having half each. No need to weigh total.
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I've never heard of Mark Bittman - but I suppose I could be called a hard core processed foods lover.
I eat plenty of it anyway - along with plenty of fresh food too. It isn't a binary all or nothing scenario.
As for not eating anything our grandparents wouldn't recognise - that is just silly.
My grandmother was born in 1918 and died in 1998. She was a very good cook but she cooked all 'western diet staples'
The idea that I should stay away from Asian stir fries or falafel on account of that seems ludicrous to me.
Fortunately I haven't needed to follow any such arbitrary rules to lose or maintain weight.0
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