This database sucks for recipes

alexbusnello
alexbusnello Posts: 1,010 Member
edited December 23 in Food and Nutrition
Dinner was way too hard to log in. This database really sucks. This is the ingredient list:

Servers: 4

- one pound of cubed stewing beef, fat cut off
- 3 large carrots
- 1 large onion
- 2 large cellury stocks
- 2 large white potatoes
- 2 Tblsp Five Roses flour
- one whole tin of Franco American beef gravy
- Tblsp extra virgin olive oil

There were too many different kinds if stewing beef, amounts, ect. I couldn't even log it in. My mom said she used a pound of cubed stewing beef for the whole thing but I don't know what a pound of that actually is and what it looks like.

I rarely log in homemade stuff because it's too hard and unreliable.

Does anyone else have this problem?

Replies

  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
    I don't really have many problems, though I don't get crazy if I can't find the exact cut of beef, so long as the weight is correct. Also, the names of the cuts of meat, particularly beef, vary by region let alone country. I live in southern New England and I don't know what stewing beef is. It may be what I call "chuck roast" cut into smaller cubes for stew.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    You really only need to get into the ballpark if it's just a one time meal. Most stew beef should be roughly the same as any other stew beef and if you didn't even log the carrots or celery it wouldn't throw your calories that far off. And what was the name of the dish? Someone has probably already entered a homemade recipe very similar that you can use.

    I've used the recipe several times for things that I make regularly at home and saved them for later use. For one off meals, I just pick the closest thing in the database, eat a reasonable portion of it and move on. MFP is here to make my life easier, not more complicated.
  • andreabrightside
    andreabrightside Posts: 46
    I usually ballpark it. If it's not exact, I'm OK with that (I never eat 1,600 calories exactly anyways... I might have 1,539 today and 1,719 tomorrow). It all evens out in the end. I usually err on the side of caution and overestimate what I use rather than underestimate.
  • new_blossom
    new_blossom Posts: 111 Member
    nutritiondata.self.com has great info on all foods. plug in by category. It will give you all nutritional info. and if it is good for losing weight or gaining weight and glycemic levels, ect.
  • Ayirela
    Ayirela Posts: 204 Member
    I tend to have that problem and it gets annoying when making home cooked meals. We get our meat fresh from the butcher in the village. Everything is lean so I just look through the random selections and pick avg calorie choice. I don't pick the super high or super low just one that is in the middle hoping I got close. I weigh everything to the last g/oz/ml I wish the butcher put nutritional facts on the meat they hand ya :)
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,329 Member
    I put one recipe, just to remind me what I used in it. I did not share it because they want TOO much specific info that I couldnt supply.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
    The recipe tool here is awesome compared to the Fitbit food logging site. They still don't HAVE a recipe tool!

    The one thing I wish this site had with a recipe was the ability to 'expand' it once it's in your log. Then you could see amounts and ingredients and edit. Like I might have a recipe for 'green smoothie' but not recall if it's got xyz ingredient or something, and want to do on-the-fly edits. Now, you have to go back to the recipe tool and open it and edit it there.
  • JayByrd107
    JayByrd107 Posts: 282 Member
    I find MFP's recipe builder to be pretty good. Weight/measure what you put in and then divide by the number of servings.

    If you can't identify what you are putting in the problem lies in your own unfamiliarity with cooking and ingredients, rather than with the database. If you don't know cuts of meat or cooking methods, you should educate yourself so that you can choose the correct selection instead of just saying "this sucks because they don't have just plain beef" since not all cuts are the same in composition. Sirloin vs. ribeye, pan fried vs broiled will net you different calories because of fat content and added fats and/or moisture loss during cooking.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    I find it pretty easy to use - but that's because I've had lots of practice.

    I would search for :
    beef lean raw
    celery raw
    onion raw etc.

    Look for entries with no * in front, these are entered by MFP not users and have a range of different serving sizes.
    The good thing is that once you have the recipe in the database, you can use it again next time.
  • SandyAnnP
    SandyAnnP Posts: 252 Member
    I have made some dishes from scratch, and then googled the individual ingredients to find their calorie values. Takes a bit of time but if it is something you are going to making quite a lot, it is worth it, then you can add it to your own meals data.
  • alexbusnello
    alexbusnello Posts: 1,010 Member
    Thank you, everyone, for your input
  • miss_christine
    miss_christine Posts: 13 Member
    if i am unsure of the calorie count of things, i use this site:

    http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/list

    and then find the closest thing on the mfp database. sometimes it takes a bit of time, but i figure/hope they must be correct, it's the USDA after all... it is at least a consistent place for me to go.
  • jesspi68
    jesspi68 Posts: 292
    For one off meals, I just pick the closest thing in the database, eat a reasonable portion of it and move on. MFP is here to make my life easier, not more complicated.

    ^^^^ This!! Well said.
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