does anyone have a formula to figure out nutrion facts for home cooked items? i cook frequently because i am vegetarian. i am thinking along the lines of adding up all the values of everything you add to the recipe, and then dividing it by the serving size. is this a correct way to find the nutrtional breakdown of your food?
That would work. I like to enter my recipes in Mastercook, which is a recipe software that also provides nutritional data. FitDay allows you to get the nutrition of home prepared meals, though it's a little time consuming to add everything in. It's still a great option, though.
When I cook, I always add up the calories of the items and divide it by serving sizes. If it is something I make often-I then write down in the corner of the recipe "230 calories per serving-makes 10 servings" or something on the page so I don't have to do it every time.
I really don't know how else you could do it. When I make lasagna, I add all the calories in the noodles, sauce, meat, and cheese for the whole pan, then just divide by 9 (9 servings per pan) and voila! amount per serving
I also make whatever I am cooking healthier and less calories per serving-for instance choosing a lower calorie sauce and 2% milk cheese on the lasagna-and mark that in my recipes, for instance. I can trim down the calories and fat on just about anything.
haha, I don't use recipes I just throw a bunch of stuff together. I couldn't actually find whole-wheat lasagna noodles at my grocery store (only spaghetti and rigatoni), so I had to use white, but I did make my own sauce (no-salt-added tomato sauce, tomato paste, turkey sausage, pureed spinach, and seasonings) and used some 2% cheese and some fat-free cheese (my boyfriend notices if I use all ff cheese since it gets a little "plasticy" when melted, but if I mix them, then he usually can't tell ).
I agree, though, that you can make pretty much any "normal" dish a bit heathier if you put your mind to it.
My husband will notice fat free cheese as well-but the 2% cheese he doesn't notice at all. I love it when I can "trick" him and he is none the wiser. For tacos I do the same thing-use extra lean beef instead of regular, use 2% cheese instead of regular-and I shred a mixture of iceburg lettuce AND a darker lettuce like romaine or something for more vitamins. He would taste the difference if I used all dark lettuces, but half and half he is fine with. Any extra nutrition helps!!!
For calculating calories I go to a day on fitday when I haven't entered anything yet and throw in everything I am putting in a recipe then I add up all the amounts and put it in as a custom food with the amount it is. So if I make a pot of soup that is 600 calories and 10 cups I put in the custom food as that. Then I change the amount to how much of it I ate and fitday does the math for me!
nutritional breakdown on home cooked foods
I just throw a bunch of stuff together. I couldn't actually find whole-wheat lasagna noodles at my grocery store (only spaghetti and rigatoni), so I had to use white, but I did make my own sauce (no-salt-added tomato sauce, tomato paste, turkey sausage, pureed spinach, and seasonings) and used some 2% cheese and some fat-free cheese (my boyfriend notices if I use all ff cheese since it gets a little "plasticy" when melted, but if I mix them, then he usually can't tell 
).
