so- the ONE thing about MFP that really bothers me...

carriem73
carriem73 Posts: 333 Member
the way MFP measures food- It drives me absolutely nuts!!! I'm trying to enter a recipe- the recipe calls for CUPS, MFP only measure the ingredients in TABLESPOONS... or CUPS to OUNCES (that one I can usually figure out :smooched: ) or GRAMS to any other measurements!!!!

Not just recipes either- how about macaroni- all the enteries give you UNCOOKED measurement- I cook for a family- I don't just make one serving at a time- I have no idea how my now COOKED pasta measured before I cooked it- I'm serving it COOKED!!!

Am I the only one who gets annoyed by this?

I try to log in food, and end up searching the internet for the grams to ounces conversion!

Very frustrating....

End of rant!!!!

:flowerforyou:
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Replies

  • As far as I understand, MFP is a community run data base... that means... "MFP" didn't enter those measurements... some OUT THERE DID! So you can too! Cook up one serving and MEASURE it... then put it in the data base... YOU can add the cooked noodles to the other pot when all of them are done... NOT much time wasted at all.... THEN you can make it public if you want to... add it to the data base.... JUST A THOUGH! :-)
  • REET420
    REET420 Posts: 160 Member
    1/4 cup dry should make a cup when it's cooked.
  • tat2dmrsgrimm
    tat2dmrsgrimm Posts: 226 Member
    I made chocolate chip cookies and measure my 3/4 cup sugar out by the teaspoon. I think it took 28. LOL
  • jgriffin88
    jgriffin88 Posts: 41 Member
    It aggravates me as well. I am also cooking for a family and trying to figure out how to enter the right amounts in the recipes drives me nuts. :ohwell:
  • daphnegetnfit
    daphnegetnfit Posts: 175
    the way MFP measures food- It drives me absolutely nuts!!! I'm trying to enter a recipe- the recipe calls for CUPS, MFP only measure the ingredients in TABLESPOONS... or CUPS to OUNCES (that one I can usually figure out :smooched: ) or GRAMS to any other measurements!!!!

    Not just recipes either- how about macaroni- all the enteries give you UNCOOKED measurement- I cook for a family- I don't just make one serving at a time- I have no idea how my now COOKED pasta measured before I cooked it- I'm serving it COOKED!!!

    Am I the only one who gets annoyed by this?

    I try to log in food, and end up searching the internet for the grams to ounces conversion!

    Very frustrating....

    End of rant!!!!

    :flowerforyou:

    AGREE!
  • UrbanRunner81
    UrbanRunner81 Posts: 1,207 Member
    you can google to convert cups to tbsp. simply google 'cups to tbsp'
  • angijunbug
    angijunbug Posts: 205
    Yes, this drives me crazy too! I do know that there is 3.5 Tbsp in 1/4 cup so I try to convert it & get it as close as I can. :wink:
  • ekicinsk
    ekicinsk Posts: 92 Member
    its so irritating but I've found ways around it. Number one way is being specific with searches. If you want to add cooked pasta, add the word "cooked" to your search.

    Another is knowing the following: 3 teaspoons to a tablespoon, 4 tablespoons to a quarter cup. That makes it easier to manage the dumb measurements that get put in there.
  • jcpmoore
    jcpmoore Posts: 796 Member
    The dry vs cooked ingredients things does get on my nerves. No wonder I never get it right! I measure what's on the plate, not before hand. *eyeroll*

    For the other, I use this site: http://www.onlineconversion.com/
  • Laoch_Cailin
    Laoch_Cailin Posts: 414 Member
    I cook for my family too, but I generally put what i've made into the recipy setting, this allows you to put the ingredients you've used for the whole dish, say how many portions it makes, and gives you a breakdown per serving which can be entered into your diary then :-)
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    It's called being precise, honestly. There's no accurate way of knowing the calorie count of cooked pasta, that's why all boxes show uncooked nutrition information. Sorry, but there's no way to know exactly how much water dry pasta will absorb.

    As for converting measurements, Google takes 3 seconds. Just type "x measurement in measurement" into google.
    Example: 5 cups in ounces
    Google will spit the answer out immediately.
  • MamaVeronicaWorksOut
    MamaVeronicaWorksOut Posts: 43 Member
    I regularly use this website for nearly everything. And seeing as I am from the USA and live in Germany, where the metric system is used, it's damn near every day that I have to use it.

    http://calculateme.com/
  • angiesteele
    angiesteele Posts: 366 Member
    As far as I understand, MFP is a community run data base... that means... "MFP" didn't enter those measurements... some OUT THERE DID! So you can too! Cook up one serving and MEASURE it... then put it in the data base... YOU can add the cooked noodles to the other pot when all of them are done... NOT much time wasted at all.... THEN you can make it public if you want to... add it to the data base.... JUST A THOUGH! :-)
    This. it is NOT MFP that enters the information. Other users like yourself do.
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
    I think measuring amounts in cups is an American thing, I measure my food in grams as this is what my scale measures as. I have no idea what a cup measurement looks like so it would be no help to me at all. You have to remember that this site is used by people all around the world and all these measurements are slightly different (ie: a us pint is not the same as a uk one). I think it does very well for a FREE site that relies on user input :flowerforyou:
  • sullykat
    sullykat Posts: 461 Member
    I'm a little confused. I just tried it out and you can put down pasta cooked and there are a whole bunch of listings that come up. I agree, I tend to use the my recipe tab and have a lot entered. I tend to divide the cooked recipe into 1/2 or 1 cup servings. It's not terribly difficult to do. If you have the time, and a little patience, it only takes about 15 minutes to do.
  • Spokez70
    Spokez70 Posts: 548 Member
    Pasta and meat make me a little crazy with cooked vs uncooked weight.
  • leodru
    leodru Posts: 321 Member
    on the cooked pasta point - if you type in macaroni cooked then you'll find it. i never use dry measurements.:huh:
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
    I measure forthe family. I don't find it hard at all. I will make 3 servings of pasta, as an example. When it's cooked, we each get a third. Easy-peasy.
  • spinedocmfp
    spinedocmfp Posts: 109 Member
    cooked pasta weighs about 2 times dry weight, so 100 gm cooked is 50 gm dry. It can vary a bit based on the type of pasta, but it is close.
  • leodru
    leodru Posts: 321 Member
    i wish there was a way to make foods "favorites" - it has recent and my foods but its not the same as tagging something in the portion that you use. Its the one feature it really needs.
  • cspong
    cspong Posts: 260 Member
    http://www.calculateme.com/Volume/index.htm

    ^ That should help with the conversion part :)
  • Yeah its a best guess estimate. Most of the times I see that the MFP data pretty much matches whats on the package, and I say thats good enough for me. I think tracking is definitely better than not tracking. While I havent lost as much as I wanted to by now, its good to keep up with how Ive been eating and figure out ways to eat more often but eat better. These are things that will help me for life, not just to lose 40-50 pounds.
  • thebigcb
    thebigcb Posts: 2,210 Member
    I only buy food with a barcode lol
  • njmp
    njmp Posts: 277 Member
    I find it much more irritating that 20 people have entered different values for the same thing...
  • Jweb8969
    Jweb8969 Posts: 136 Member
    you can google to convert cups to tbsp. simply google 'cups to tbsp'

    ^^ this ^^

    i agree that sometimes it takes me awhile to figure some measurements out, but i figure mfp is a *free* site - and the logging i've done since joining has made all the difference in my weight loss goals - so i deal with it - BUT the pasta thing is one i have to look up EVERY SINGLE TIME - haha
  • fayglet
    fayglet Posts: 72 Member
    Here ya go!

    http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/convert/measurements.html

    And yes, the PASTA THING IS CRAZY!!! I am terrible at measuring dry things, so my estimates usually suck...
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    The user database is often rubbish. Have to double check the nutrition info on EVERYTHING too.
  • marsellient
    marsellient Posts: 591 Member
    I find I'm using my kitchen scale and measuring in grams more and more. The measurements and data on the site seem more precise and easier to use to me. Pasta is still a pain, though. 85g dry is a common serving size on packages and yields vary according to the type of pasta.
  • Yes. This irritates me as well. The first entry for homemade italian bread is in grams. I had to scroll down until I found one that was by the slice. But, people are right when they say you can always enter the measurements yourself by creating a new entry. I usually find another option that has an easier measurement, but if this is happening to you often, it's probably worth the little bit of effort. In the end, it's a free site, so we get what we pay for.
  • skybird455
    skybird455 Posts: 172 Member
    the actual calories of pasta COOKED per serving is also listed on the box. So just measure it cooked and enter a new food yourself based on how much you eat. Also note there are several items posted under each thing logged in, if one is not the right measurement, go back and check the others, then if not, add your own. Thats what I do.