[lin43]

Originally Posted by jomatho

Wondering if all of you that cook from scratch have a way to figure out how many portions your recipe makes? For instance if I make a pot of soup or chili, aside from scooping it out cup by cup into another container, I have a hard time knowing how much it made. I did measure in cups of water how much my pot holds like up to the rivets of the handle, but it isn't always the same amount in all recipes, not always perfectly to the rivets.
Any suggestions?

I actually do scoop it out and measure. I only have to do it once for that recipe, though. After you've noted how many servings it makes, you'll know that for each time you make the recipe. In short, calculating recipe calories is only a real pain in the butt the first time you do it for a new recipe. After that, you've saved the information, so there's no calculating.

[josey]

iaradajnos - Very true, if you are a bit off on one portion you are off on the other in the other direction i.e. 1oz more today is 1oz less tomorrow. Totally acceptable!
The 5 minutes it takes to portion will save you time later since it is just grab and go from the freezer.
I do have core recipes where I can use veggies according to the season. I have calories for the main structure and then add and/or adjust the count as applicable.

[lucyford]

Such great advice everyone! I'm a couple days into logging on myfitnesspal and I love that site. I love the way their user compiled database works. I'm no longer logging every cal and gram of fat/carb/protein of every ingredient of every meal. The work is usually done for me! I just got my whole dinner recipe/meal logged in about ten minutes. Would've been easily 20 before and me surrounded by labels from all the different components of the meal.
It's hard for me to recycle the same recipes too often though. I don't usually make the same dinner in the same month or even two months so I'm constantly entering in new recipes. That's where things got tedious for me on other programs. I'm really happy I found myfitnesspal and THANK who ever it was that suggested it!

[josey]

Originally Posted by lucyford

Such great advice everyone! I'm a couple days into logging on myfitnesspal and I love that site. I love the way their user compiled database works. I'm no longer logging every cal and gram of fat/carb/protein of every ingredient of every meal. The work is usually done for me! I just got my whole dinner recipe/meal logged in about ten minutes. Would've been easily 20 before and me surrounded by labels from all the different components of the meal.
It's hard for me to recycle the same recipes too often though. I don't usually make the same dinner in the same month or even two months so I'm constantly entering in new recipes. That's where things got tedious for me on other programs. I'm really happy I found myfitnesspal and THANK who ever it was that suggested it!

If you need a new friend on MFP my nickname there is josey12 :-)