How would I try to calculate the calories in a prepared meal of let's say, cabbage, ground beef, and tomato juice etc. I don't know how to go about it.

What I do, and I dont know if this is right but I add up all the calories for everything and then divide it by how many servings there are.

Also there are some websites that if you input all of the information it will give you the calories.
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp This is the one that I use from time to time!

Calorieking dot com rocks. They have a food data base that you can look up just about any food in any measurement to come up with a pretty good idea for the nutritional values for your favorite meals.

I personally keep a database on the meals I make the most.

hmm, well I don't cook them. I guess I'll just have to bother my mom for what she's putting in there. lol

You just need to figure the calories for ech item. I use the Calorie King Fat and Carbohydrate counter.You can buy it at pharmacies or order it online.www,CalorieKing.com There are other online sources such as the Daily Plate.

Here's another site for you, Kassie: http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/rec...submit&count=4

If you can get the recipes from your mom, you can punch them in here, and it will give you a nutrition label. It rocks. I tried it on my homemade spaghetti sauce recipe, and it seems about right. (I may compare it to the one at SparkPeople to see what happens.)