Counting Home-cooked calories?

Ericaaa89
Ericaaa89 Posts: 48 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So my parents cook a lot, and getting them to measure anything they put into the dish is impossible, they just won't do it. So how do you all track calories in these situations? Tonight for example mom is making spaghetti with meat sauce. What I'll probably end up doing is logging maybe the spaghetti with meat sauce from olive garden? My mom eats pretty healthy and I can't imagine her spaghetti having more calories than olive garden. Thoughts?

Replies

  • SGreen134
    SGreen134 Posts: 136 Member
    That's always a tough call...I like to estimate high in those situations.

    Sorry, I am not much help but I think you are on the right track by checking Olive Garden's NI.
  • chris1816
    chris1816 Posts: 715 Member
    ***POST EDITED BY STAFF for violation of guidelines***

    Second, if you absolutely cannot start becoming part of the cooking process and learning rough estimates, just observe. For example..what noodles is she using? If she uses an entire box of Barillo spaghetti for example, figure out the portions and add accordingly. Itemize things out seperately if you need to for the sauce to the best of your ability. You can find equivalents existing in the database but take it with a grain of salt.

    Instead of Olive Garden, there is likely a "Home Made - Spaghetti with meat sauce" etc. However you can always ask your parents if you can cook with them. You'll become a better eater as a whole by knowing what goes into things.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    That sounds like a reasonable solution to me.

    You could also help her prepare dinners and then get a better guesstimate of the ingredient amounts. And it would be a great way to learn to cook for yourself when you have your own place.
  • ebaumann1
    ebaumann1 Posts: 3
    This is Easy, just click on food then recipes and do your best to guess the ingredients and portions. guess high if you don't know. but get as close are you can with all the ingredients. This feature will let you be more specific with portions than just adding normal foods to dinner. Name it "Mom's Spaghetti" so you can reuse it later if she makes it and ask her if you think you forgot anything.

    Edit: Also, never add things from Olive Garden, your mother would probably never make anything that bad for you. This is the info below.... ugh


    Spaghetti & Meatballs (dinner) Calorie 920 Total Fat (g) 36 Sat. Fat (g) 14 Sodium (mg)1770 Carb. (g)98 Fiber (g) 9 Protein (g) 50
  • BR3ANDA
    BR3ANDA Posts: 622 Member
    Try to measure your portion, a spaghetti noodle portion is about 3/4 to 1 cup cooked, and the meat sauce would be about 1/2 cup, total it would be around 300 cals, if that helps. An Olive Garden portion is probably 2 to 3 times larger than a recommended portion.
  • Ericaaa89
    Ericaaa89 Posts: 48 Member
    First, sorry that you can't handle the eyes Chris, I was a vamp for Halloween last year and and again for Mardi gras.

    Second, I work 11 hour shifts and am rarely home when they do the actual cooking. And dad is the kind of hot head that can have no one in the kitchen with him when he's in the zone.

    And now that I think about it, spaghetti would actually be an easier meal to guestimate, how many cans of sauce, purée, pounds a ground meat, etc. thanks guys! I also like to over estimate my calories when unsure, just to be safe.
  • chris1816
    chris1816 Posts: 715 Member
    First, sorry that you can't handle the eyes Chris, I was a vamp for Halloween last year and and again for Mardi gras.

    Second, I work 11 hour shifts and am rarely home when they do the actual cooking. And dad is the kind of hot head that can have no one in the kitchen with him when he's in the zone.

    And now that I think about it, spaghetti would actually be an easier meal to guestimate, how many cans of sauce, purée, pounds a ground meat, etc. thanks guys! I also like to over estimate my calories when unsure, just to be safe.

    Was a joke, relax sunshine.

    Even if not around when the cooking is happening, keep an eye on whats in the pantry. Start logging ingredients. If you have a smartphone you can scan stuff via barcode with the MFP app suite and keep an accurate log under your foods. While it is safer to overestimate to be safe, you will likely overblow things if you consistently compare to restaurant equivalents where much more butter is used (in almost everything), along with different oils etc.
  • Ericaaa89
    Ericaaa89 Posts: 48 Member
    Yes I picked up on the joke when you mentioned the eye f***ing. I don't know anyone who can take eye f***ing seriously ;)
  • HartJames
    HartJames Posts: 789 Member
    I would compare exact serving with Resturant as well. Make a big salad and enough pasta to fit in your cupped palm. Wouldn't do this daily but occasionally will be fine.

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