Creating recipes from scratch and carb counting

[gillrogers]

Hi, I tend to throw food in a pot like curries, casseroles, bean salad etc.
Is there an easy way to count the carbs in the whole thing? Any tips I might have missed.

Obviously I've got the carbs from packets or tins, the only way I can think for things like veg that's not labeled is to look it up and weigh it. Then add all the carbs in the pot up, weigh the whole concoction, then work out what the carb ratio is per 100gms. Then I get stuck. Cos I know that's not quite right. I got really lost the other night and I'm pretty sure I under dosed my insulin

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

there used to be an app ‘cook and count carbs’ which did exactly this, with a huge number of foods, plus the ability to add the details of items in your cupboard. Unfortunately it is no longer developed and has disappeared.

I think you are doing the right things. In general terms I find it sufficient for my purposes to count the ‘main’ things, eg the main source of carbs in a meal like rice, and then add an educated guess of the amount of a portion’s worth of other likely suspects like root veg tinned tomatoes or pulses.

Since we generally recook the same or similar meals (as the ones we all like) rather than cooking completely new ones each time, I have a record on mysugr of what I dosed last time and how it worked out.

Plus there are so many other factors that can affect my BG, that pragmatically I don’t think it’s worth me trying to work out gram-perfect carb counts personally 🙂

 

[Inka]

I keep count of the carbs as I add them. I then simply decide how many servings there are in my pot, and divide the carbs by that. I don’t weigh my pot or work out carbs per 100g at all.

 

[Thebearcametoo]

The carbs and cals book can be helpful in that you can look for curry, soups or stews and it gives you a rough estimate. It also gives /100g lists of basic ingredients. If you make similar things regularly then just keep a notebook with how many carbs you’ve guessed for each thing and keep an eye on your reaction and adjust accordingly. Even with chuck together stuff we tend to do similar things repeatedly so it saves you calculating each time.

 

[rebrascora]

I stick to low carb foods and then just eyeball it. I can't be too far wrong when I am just taking 2-3 units of insulin. If I use very low carb ingredients I can often get away without any need to bolus. I had a veggie sort of curry effort thing with poached eggs for lunch the last 2 days with no appreciable carbs...a bit in the onion, garlic, aubergine and Pak Choi with spices but less than 10g per portion. For me it just makes it easier mentally to cook food if I avoid the carb rich foods. I couldn't be bothered with having to weigh and measure everything and calculate... it would just put me off before I start. I'm a "bit of this and that" cook with "that can go in as it needs using up". Meals are usually spur of the moment cobbled together when I can be bothered. Planning is not my strong point, so avoiding certain carb rich foods just makes it easier for me. Sometime it's not a great success but when I make something really nice, it is pot luck if I can ever repeat it because I never know how much of what I threw in it! 🙄

 

[helli]

I am a bit like @Inka - total my carbs for the whole recipe and then divide by the number of portions.
I also make a note of the carb count in a dish and use the same numbers next time I cook it.
As @everydayupsanddowns mentioned, there are so many things that affect our blood sugars and our meters are not 100% accurate and the carb count on packets is not 100% accurate and you round up (or down) to fit your insulin to carb ratio. So, I don't stress too much about being completely accurate.

 

[Lucyr]

I add every ingredient to a recipe in nutracheck and decide how many portions it serves and it tells me the carbs per portion. You only need to work it out once then just make it similar next time.

 

[pm133]

We weigh things like pasta, rice and veg to stop us over-eating but honestly I have stopped being overly anal about carb counting for them and prefer to estimate. I've learned roughly how many carbs are in the portion sizes I eat now and that works just fine for me at the moment.

I don't use apps for anything.

The entire process of calculating my insulin for a meal honestly takes about 10-20 seconds now. We're eating things like veg, fresh meat (no carbs), pasta, rice, potatoes and different sauces so the meals differ but the carbs tend to be about the same unless we have something unusual like noodles or a takeaway and then I need to maybe take an extra unit of bolus.

 

[gillrogers]

I add every ingredient to a recipe in nutracheck and decide how many portions it serves and it tells me the carbs per portion. You only need to work it out once then just make it similar next time.

Hi @Lucyr , so ive downloaded it and installed it and I'm working my way round it. I've just put in my breakfast but can find for the life of me how to show carbs. It's showing sugars but I think there must be something else to show as the amount of sugars for my breakfast is way under. And carbs isn't just sugars if my understanding is right . Can you send me a pointer please and thank you

 

[Lucyr]

Hiya. On my iPhone I just click this button circled below to choose the nutrient I want to see. I leave mine on carbs.

 

[Lucyr]

And if you press the green button with three white lines, then diary preferences then nutrient choices you’ll get to this screen which you can set to carbs so that carbs is the default second column.

 

[Perfect10]

I use Nutracheck and save all my recipes so it’s easy next time I have the same meal. You can only see one thing to track on the phone app eg, carbs, fats etc but can see more if using a tablet?

 

[gillrogers]

Thank you @Lucyr ! Wow just found out the recipe I had used to get the carb load originally for my porridge was out by 10gms! I was over doing my insulin by 1 unit! . No wonder I was having to snack in the mornings ! This app is fab! Thanks so much

 

[gillrogers]

I use Nutracheck and save all my recipes so it’s easy next time I have the same meal. You can only see one thing to track on the phone app eg, carbs, fats etc but can see more if using a tablet?

Probably, @Perfect10 I need a tablet, I want an iPad for digital that I do and a specific app that I can't find on a Windows or Android platform. So when I've won the lottery I'll do that otherwise it's my mobile for now!

 

[Lucyr]

I use Nutracheck and save all my recipes so it’s easy next time I have the same meal. You can only see one thing to track on the phone app eg, carbs, fats etc but can see more if using a tablet?

You can only see one thing at a time in addition to calories on the phone, but you can easily check your protein, fat, fibre etc by using the arrow at the top. It's just easier to have the default set to carbs as above for us diabetics.

 

[Felinia]

Like others here I use NutraCheck and weigh everything before it goes into the pot. That way I've saved loads of soups and stews and can call them up any time. You are prompted to input how many portions you are making to get the right values. I have the PC version which I find more user friendly (but more expensive).