How can I calculate carbs in "unusual" meals?

[ladybird64]

Cryptic title I know, but couldn't think of another! I have the My Fitness Pal app, fairly useful but I must admit that trying to figure out what gets added and what doesn't is giving me the hump. I digress..

Tonight I had the leftover meat sauce from the Bolognese yesterday, but with added garlic and cayenne and fresh chili to spice it up. I had a small spoonful of corn (doesn't spike me) and turned some red cabbage into the creamed dish I read about here, steamed it, fried off some parma scraps with garlic (we like garlic), added the cabbage and then added some cream. And damned nice it was too. But how on earth would I start to find out how many carbs are in that? Do I have to go through every single ingredient, because it will irritate the heck out of me if I do. I really don't have the time just now, not to mention trying to figure out how much exactly I had of each ingredient..

Suggestions please

 

[CollieBoy]

I agree it could be a maze to navigate as you have the carb loadings of the ingredients and the distorting effects of the fats and the effects of the proteins.
The best I could think of is to estimate for the base ingredient (the bolognaise) and then factor in your experience of how you normally cope with te estimated fats & proteins added.
the first few times you may get it wrong but experience should give you a ballpark for new combinations!
Sorry I cant give a better answer.

 

[sugarsweetDino]

Cryptic title I know, but couldn't think of another! I have the My Fitness Pal app, fairly useful but I must admit that trying to figure out what gets added and what doesn't is giving me the hump. I digress..

Tonight I had the leftover meat sauce from the Bolognese yesterday, but with added garlic and cayenne and fresh chili to spice it up. I had a small spoonful of corn (doesn't spike me) and turned some red cabbage into the creamed dish I read about here, steamed it, fried off some parma scraps with garlic (we like garlic), added the cabbage and then added some cream. And damned nice it was too. But how on earth would I start to find out how many carbs are in that? Do I have to go through every single ingredient, because it will irritate the heck out of me if I do. I really don't have the time just now, not to mention trying to figure out how much exactly I had of each ingredient..

Suggestions please

From the added ingredients you mentioned, the only one that i would consider adding as carbs would be the "small spoonful of corn", (assuming it is corn flour??) and that amount is minimal...! Lets say 10g, plus any amount of cream you added, 5g carbs for every 100ml of cream. All the rest are not counting as carbs.

I must say i am a type 1 insulin dependent but carbs are carbs and i never considered Bolognese when adding insulin, (not using cream or corn) only the loads and loads of Tagliatelle i munch (i always cook it with garlic+ground cumin seeds+fresh parsley+red&green pepper+enough crushed dried chili to give it a "tang").

If it helps:
meat, veg, fish = no carbs ( we are talking about "normal" portions of veg)

 

[noblehead]

@ladybird64, don't know how useful this would be to you but there's an app called Cook & Count which works out the calorie, carb, fat & protein content of home-made meals:

http://www.healthapps.uk.com/cook-and-count.html

 

[AndBreathe]

Cryptic title I know, but couldn't think of another! I have the My Fitness Pal app, fairly useful but I must admit that trying to figure out what gets added and what doesn't is giving me the hump. I digress..

Tonight I had the leftover meat sauce from the Bolognese yesterday, but with added garlic and cayenne and fresh chili to spice it up. I had a small spoonful of corn (doesn't spike me) and turned some red cabbage into the creamed dish I read about here, steamed it, fried off some parma scraps with garlic (we like garlic), added the cabbage and then added some cream. And damned nice it was too. But how on earth would I start to find out how many carbs are in that? Do I have to go through every single ingredient, because it will irritate the heck out of me if I do. I really don't have the time just now, not to mention trying to figure out how much exactly I had of each ingredient..

Suggestions please

Ladybird, MyFitnessPal has an area where you can add a recipe - either by copying a website url (then it does the rest), or by adding each ingredient, and it will do the calculations.

As your profile appears to be hidden, I have no idea what your control regime is for your diabetes. My approach, as someone not medicated, with decent control, is to chase down the biggies (highest carb element), then probably add a margin for other incredients. Clearly I am just looking to keep an eye on my carb consumption level, and you may be "just" wanting to stay under Xgr a day.

If I were taking hefty drugs, like insulin, I would be more inclined to spend a little more time on it.

Sometimes these fridge-clearing-recipes are master-strokes, but usually unrepeatable, in this house!

Good luck with it all.

 

[4ratbags]

I have used MyFitnessPal to add a recipe and it worked it out pretty well.

 

[Lifeissweetenough]

Check out the carbs and cals book and/ or app. Recommended by diabetes education/ dietician sand v useful to help guesstimating carbs. Gives you pics to help with portion sizes. Also as a type 1 meself, I only really count carbs from carb foods- grains, potatoes, bread, pasta, milk and carb dense veggies like parsnip, beetroot, corn. And of course the obvious sugar based foods. Hope this is helpful.good luck- I agree, it is a pain the bum bum and drives me a bit loopy too :-//

 

[Alberti]

I am travelling through SE Asia for the last 3 months. First time since diagnosed T1 9 months ago. At home I try to count carbs. But here every day is an unusual meal, and many times have no clue about the carbs.Eating out every day Avoid rice and noodles. I just simple take 2 units novorapid before an unusual meal. Check my level already after 30 min ,and an hour if I need more bolus. Works fine this way and the meals are getting less unusual, because start to know the effects of that lovely Asian food. Fingerpricking twice as much as at home, but no other choice to avoid spikes.

 

[ladybird64]

Thanks for all the replies, apologies for the lateness in acknowledging them. Glad you understood what I meant, I am using MFP too but it's adding a recipe that's "an unknown" such as the creamy cabbage that I wasn't sure of. At the moment it's all gone out the window anyway, I just don't have the time so will just avoid foods I know spike me. @AndBreathe, I'm T2 of about 5 yrs, take one Metformin purely for the cardiovascular protection so basically am diet controlled.

Thank again everyone.

 

[Indy51]

These sites/apps may be useful for cooks building/calculating recipes:

http://nutritiondata.self.com/mynd/myrecipes/welcome?returnto=/mynd/myrecipes

An app called "cook and count". You can get it here for iPads/iPhones http://www.healthapps.uk.com/cook-and-count.html
and here for Android devices https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.healthapps.cccarbsapp

 

[phil1966]

I've used MyFitnessPal for over a year now and I weigh and record absolutely everything (including all ingredients): it was a bit of a pain at first but I'm used to it now and by doing that I know I can rely on the figures it's giving me

 

[ladybird64]

Thanks Indy, hope you're keeping well xx

Thanks Phil. As I mentioned, I just don't have time at present so will need to guesstimate, I've got a fair idea of what's ok and what isn't so should be ok.

 

[Brunneria]

The longer I do this (T2 diet controlled, LCHF) the more I am learning that certain carbs are 'free' for my body.
By that I mean that while the carbs in something like cabbage exist, sure, the fibre and slow release nature mean that my own feeble insulin production will handle it without a blip.
On the other hand, sugars, fruit, grains, starchy veg - whoa - we are talking mountain peaks of spike.

So for me, the cabbage would be a non-factor, especially when wrapped in cream and cheese.
But the tomato in the sauce (cooked until it had completely broken down, and comparatively fast release) would have been the bigger issue.

I guess what I am saying is that it is more of an art than a science, and that the carb numbers will never give more than a rough guide.
Sorry, that is probably not what you wanted to hear!

 

[Kyi]

Best thing about setting up your myfitnesspal recipes is that you get to save them for next time you have it.

 

[LinsT]

I've never used apps like My Fitness Pal. Life's too short! (and the real reason - im rubbish with tech lol)
But as long as you have a good understanding of what is high carb and what is low carb, and use a meter to test for spikes I don't think you can go far wrong. I certainly don't think you need to worry about the carb count of cabbage with cream and ham scraps, so long as your meter isn't telling you differently.
Now calories are a different matter ......

 

[ladybird64]

If you go to the following website, you can get your own custom list of thousand of ingredients and products that is downloadable. I did my own for vegetables, fruits, grains and meats today

http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/nutrients/index

This looks like a really interesting site, thanks for the link. Thanks to Brunneria, Kyi and Lins too. I think I'm stuck in a quandary, the old carbs vs cals debate. In a way it was so much easier when I was a lot heavier and the bg's had to be watched carefully (although they were never really horrendous), nowadays it is rare that they go up significantly, although it's happened on a couple of occasions. For the most part, I am in the 5's when I test, maybe 6's so it doesn't feel like the diabetes is the problem - if that makes sense? Anyway, I'm still in the undecided mindset, plus I've got a lot on my plate at the moment, which doesn't help. All your advice was very much appreciated xx

 

[D Longstockings]

I've used MyFitnessPal for over a year now and I weigh and record absolutely everything (including all ingredients): it was a bit of a pain at first but I'm used to it now and by doing that I know I can rely on the figures it's giving me

Well done for keeping that up for a year already. Be a little bit careful about thinking you can rely fully on those figures because MyFitnessPal uses crowdsourced data and there are quite a few inaccuracies.

 

[phil1966]

Well done for keeping that up for a year already. Be a little bit careful about thinking you can rely fully on those figures because MyFitnessPal uses crowdsourced data and there are quite a few inaccuracies.

Yeah, I've noticed a few inaccuracies - I always check against the printed label where possible and update the figures if necessary

 

[4ratbags]

The one thing I noticed about MFP is that it rounds up or down with the carb count once you have entered an ingredient, which is the one thing I dont like about it so you do have to be careful if you want your calculations to be correct.