how to figure calories in homemade recipe?

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karimcguire
karimcguire Posts: 9
in Recipes
I'm new to this so I'm not sure how to figure calories when I make a meal that includes multiple ingredients. Is there a way to do it on here? For instance I made taco soup tonight from a recipe in my head. It's got healthy ingredients - beans, tomatoes, corn, chicken. But no clue how many it serves. Ideas? Thanks for any help!
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  • karimcguire
    karimcguire Posts: 9
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    I'm new to this so I'm not sure how to figure calories when I make a meal that includes multiple ingredients. Is there a way to do it on here? For instance I made taco soup tonight from a recipe in my head. It's got healthy ingredients - beans, tomatoes, corn, chicken. But no clue how many it serves. Ideas? Thanks for any help!
  • iRun4wine
    iRun4wine Posts: 5,126
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    I usually just add everything in individually. It's a pain in the butt the first time, but you can save the meal so that you can reference it the next time. For example, enter the beans, the tomatoes, the corn, the chicken, etc. individually. Hope that helps :smile:
  • erkuhns79
    erkuhns79 Posts: 46
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    try this site:
    http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp

    You type in each ingredient along with quantity...then you type in the amount of servings and it gives you an entire nutrition information panel. Try it out, I use it all the time!

    :tongue:
  • karimcguire
    karimcguire Posts: 9
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    Thanks guys!
  • christahollis
    christahollis Posts: 152
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    go to any search engine, like google, and type in something like 'recipe calorie calculator'. there are tons of free ones on the web that you enter all your ingredients and it tell you the nutritional info, then, just add it to the mfp database.
  • roserex
    roserex Posts: 90 Member
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    I never knew that - thanks for the advice
  • candycaneps
    candycaneps Posts: 340 Member
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    How do you determind the serving size though?
  • BlossysMom
    BlossysMom Posts: 50
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    Also give calorieking.com a try they are very accurate........even tell you how much exercise and what type you need to do to ERASE what you ate:wink:

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    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Food Diary
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
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    another good one is from about.com

    I forget the exact address, I always just google "about recipe calculator"
  • steveppb23
    steveppb23 Posts: 6 Member
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    how dp you determine the serving size after u entered all the ingredients?
  • bearwith
    bearwith Posts: 525 Member
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    Easy, just type it in MY RECIPE section
  • kck7mas2
    kck7mas2 Posts: 7 Member
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    I still tried to figure out the serving size on the recipe input tab. I imputed a recipe and all it gives is calories per serving would like to know how to determine serving size ???
  • Retiredmom72
    Retiredmom72 Posts: 538 Member
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    try this site:
    http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp

    You type in each ingredient along with quantity...then you type in the amount of servings and it gives you an entire nutrition information panel. Try it out, I use it all the time!

    :tongue:

    MFP does the same thing. Go to Foods, Recipes, add a new recipe, and add each ingredient and number of servings. Remember to save the recipe. I don't add mine to the list of foods because I don't want to answer all of the other questions. Give it a try.
  • Retiredmom72
    Retiredmom72 Posts: 538 Member
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    how dp you determine the serving size after u entered all the ingredients?

    To determine the number of servings, I honestly guess--4, 6, or 8 and then divide the dish into that number of portions. I can then eat as much as I want and just put in 1, 1.5, or 2 servings. You will figure out how hungry you are.
  • NinjaJinja
    NinjaJinja Posts: 147 Member
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    As for determining servings size, it helps if you've made the recipe before and kind of have a feel for how much it makes. For recipes with finite pieces like chicken breasts, you can easily call 1 chicken breast a serving. If it is something easily cut apart like a pie or a casserole, then try a few different numbers in the calculator that are easy to cut things into (like 4 or 8). For liquid things like soups and chilies, I measure servings by regular bowlfuls (my regular bowls are cereal bowl sized), and usually I will get 6-8 bowlfuls out of them. (Though I will often eat 2 bowls at a time.) It helps if you've made the recipe before and know how many days you can eat it as leftovers, etc.

    A good strategy is to try numbers in the calculator and see what gives you an acceptable number of calories per serving. (I like the 200-400 range.) Then try to divide the recipe into that number.

    In a nutshell: servings are just an arbitrary marker on how you are dividing your food up.
  • RawTriGal
    RawTriGal Posts: 190 Member
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    try this site:
    http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp

    You type in each ingredient along with quantity...then you type in the amount of servings and it gives you an entire nutrition information panel. Try it out, I use it all the time!

    :tongue:

    MFP does the same thing. Go to Foods, Recipes, add a new recipe, and add each ingredient and number of servings. Remember to save the recipe. I don't add mine to the list of foods because I don't want to answer all of the other questions. Give it a try.
  • mercina22
    mercina22 Posts: 446 Member
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    You determine the serving size weather it be one cup or two per serving
  • RawTriGal
    RawTriGal Posts: 190 Member
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    I just discovered this feature on MFP and love it. It works very well and saves so much time... I don't have to add ingredient by ingredient for the things I make often! As for number of servings... I agree with those who've stated that if you've made it before, gauge the number of people it will feed. : )
  • MsLilly200
    MsLilly200 Posts: 192 Member
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    Weigh the ingredients before putting them in.

    Make a recipe here.

    Weigh the finished product.

    Use weight as serving size of the recipe.

    Weigh portion before you eat.

    That way I don't have to eat the same amount each time if I'm feeling less or more hungry. And I always weigh all my food anyway.
  • kck7mas2
    kck7mas2 Posts: 7 Member
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    Thanks I try and determine the best I can

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