Rock Springs Retreat Center / December 30, 2022 /
Anna Rutherford /
0
Scouring the internet through hundreds of thousands of recipes that fall in line with your goals can be overwhelming. While Fit Farm has provided macro-balanced recipes for you, naturally, you’re going to want more options. It’s not the end of the world if you find a recipe that you like that may go outside of the boundary of your meal plan. The key is determining how you can craft that recipe into one that does follow your plan and is still just as good! Fit Farm is here to help you easily determine if a recipe is good to go as is or if it needs some modifying in our Recipe Review series!
As the first entry into this series, we’ll be going into more depth to help you get started, then each new entry will be briefer as you become more comfortable understanding how to break down a recipe. We’ll be starting off with Meal Planner Pro’s Sweet Potato Beef Stew because it’s relatively close to Fit Farm’s meal plan with each serving being only 429 calories.
As the first entry into this series, we’ll be going into more depth to help you get started, then each new entry will be briefer as you become more comfortable understanding how to break down a recipe. We’ll be starting off with Meal Planner Pro’s Sweet Potato Beef Stew because it’s relatively close to Fit Farm’s meal plan with each serving being only 429 calories.
1. Let’s kick things off by breaking down the ingredients of this recipe (feel free to view the recipe to follow along). We have the following ingredients..
- 2 tbs Olive Oil
- 2 lbs Sirloin Steak
- Kosher Salt
- Black Pepper
- 1 Sweet Onion
- 1 Carrot
- 2 Celery Ribs
- 3 Cloves Garlic
- 8 oz Cremini Mushrooms
- ¼ cup All-purpose Flour
- 2 tbs Tomato Paste
- ½ cup Dry Red Wine
- 4 cups Beef Stock
- 4 sprigs Fresh Thyme
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 large Sweet Potato
- 2 tbs Parsley Leaves
Important Note: You’ll notice this recipe is for 6 servings, so the ingredients also reflect that number. This is very important to note as some recipes don’t include a caloric count or macro breakdown, and you’ll need to consider that when you’re manually calculating this information. Keep this in mind as we move along to the next step.
2. We’ve put together a handy PDF for you that you can use for this step and to help you keep track of all of your ingredient breakdowns for your recipes. You can download the ingredient breakdown sheet here. Leave the “Macro Calories” column blank. We will fill that in later.
We’re going to begin breaking down each ingredient’s macros – fat, carbohydrates, and protein, to determine if the meal is macro-balanced. You can learn more about macro-balanced meals in our article, Calculating the Magic Macro Blend for Weight Loss. When looking up each ingredient’s nutrition facts, you’ll want to search for products that you would typically use. For instance, if you use 2% milk versus whole milk, canned vegetables versus fresh, or if you have a particular brand preference. These all factor into the ingredient’s macros. For raw vegetables, the FDA has a handy nutrition information chart you can refer to. With that said, let’s begin filling in the blanks!
Start by finding the details for each ingredient for the full 6 servings. Pay attention to the serving size of the nutrition label and make sure you calculate for the amount the recipe calls. For example, the recipe calls for 2 tbs of olive oil. Referring to the label below, we can then conclude that 2 tbs of olive oil = 28g of Fat, 0g of Carbs, 0g of Protein.
We’re going to begin breaking down each ingredient’s macros – fat, carbohydrates, and protein, to determine if the meal is macro-balanced. You can learn more about macro-balanced meals in our article, Calculating the Magic Macro Blend for Weight Loss. When looking up each ingredient’s nutrition facts, you’ll want to search for products that you would typically use. For instance, if you use 2% milk versus whole milk, canned vegetables versus fresh, or if you have a particular brand preference. These all factor into the ingredient’s macros. For raw vegetables, the FDA has a handy nutrition information chart you can refer to. With that said, let’s begin filling in the blanks!
Start by finding the details for each ingredient for the full 6 servings. Pay attention to the serving size of the nutrition label and make sure you calculate for the amount the recipe calls. For example, the recipe calls for 2 tbs of olive oil. Referring to the label below, we can then conclude that 2 tbs of olive oil = 28g of Fat, 0g of Carbs, 0g of Protein.
Image credit: Wikipedia
Your chart should now look similar to below. Continue with the remaining ingredients. Be sure to add the brand name, etc under the ingredient column as we had discussed earlier. Note, that salt has no macros, and because pepper is to taste, the amount is too insignificant to contribute to the total, so these are not included in the chart.
Here is our full ingredient breakdown for the 6 servings. Your chart may vary.
3. Next, we’re going to calculate each ingredient’s macro calories. To do this, go ahead and open up Fit Farm’s macro-calculator and begin plugging in each ingredient’s macro one-by-one.
These numbers look high, right? Don’t worry, divide this by the number of servings and you’ve got the data for one serving. Our macro breakdown appears as this: Fat = 28.5%, Carbs = 20.76%, Protein = 50.73%. Compared to the magic number (Fat = 20%, Carbs = 45%, Protein = 35%) the carbs and protein are a little off. So, you have two options, you can adjust the ingredients to get closer to that number OR you can proceed with this recipe and balance the rest of your meals for the day to account for the carb and protein adjustment.
Once you’ve made your necessary adjustments, you now have a recipe that follows your meal plan and falls in line with your goals! Use that Ingredient Break Down PDF as a tool to refine your current recipes and add new ones as well! Be on the lookout for our next recipe review!
Once you’ve made your necessary adjustments, you now have a recipe that follows your meal plan and falls in line with your goals! Use that Ingredient Break Down PDF as a tool to refine your current recipes and add new ones as well! Be on the lookout for our next recipe review!
Here is our full ingredient breakdown for the 6 servings. Your chart may vary.
Let us know in the comments below if you found this recipe breakdown helpful and whether or not you substituted any ingredients. To get more fitness and weight loss tips and tricks delivered straight into your inbox, be sure to sign up for our newsletter!