recipe ingredients

I want to be able to use my own tagged items as recipe ingredients.  They aren't in the CC database and it takes CC forever to put an item in the database if you suggest it to them.  If you "add item" and tag it under your account, it should get an ID number perhaps just related to your account so that you can use it in your recipes.

I CRAVE ACCURACY!

I know you want accuracy but would it not be more practical to go with something already in the database and reasonably close?  I use the recipe analyser a lot and with the exception of some minor herbs and spices, I haven't found too many things missing.

What type of ingredients are they that you use?

Basically it's the brands.  Nutritional elements vary between brands and I often use the store brand because it is cheaper.  Sometimes the data is "close enough for jazz"  but sometimes I feel it is too different.  Even though I have stopped trying to lose weight and am going about maintaining, I am still using this site to count calories.  I want to be held accountable for everything I put in my mouth as well as get credit for things that CC's data base shorts me on.  Am I obsessive? Maybe.  But I am German American and order is in my blood.

How about aiming to eat fewer packaged foods?.....  Basic foods.  An ounce of Brand X dried pasta twists is going to be as near as dammit to Brand Y dried pasta twists, for example.   And a carrot is a carrot is a carrot....

If you tend towards obsessive, check out 'clean eating' and divert your attention that way.  It's a healthier way to eat and it's easier to keep track of the calories.

Trust me Jane I eat plenty fresh food and use the CC database for that.  But sometimes you just gotta go the packaged route.  I have neither the time nor the money to spend living completely clean.  One thing I recently noticed was that the Wegmans brand of yellow mustard has 25mg more sodium per tsp than French's brand.  "Close enough," say you? Well I like to be honest with my sodium because it is often a little over the recommended daily amount.  I'm not worried so much about calories as the nutrients.

It's not THAT important and I might be really obsessed or I might not...I think what I really want is the option.  I have free will and I want to use it.

I have the same problem, but I don't think it is just a matter of whether or not you eat clean or use packaged foods.  Plenty of whole foods are not in the CC database (rambutan, kombu, mangosteen, water spinach, mirabelles, longan) or are entered in such a way that they can't be used in recipes (basically, any item that can't be added in custom units). 

Put simply, CC database doesn't have all of the foods that people around the world eat, healthy or not.  Of course no one could expect a single database to have that capacity anyway, hence the ability to input our own custom foods.  That we might want to use these custom foods in recipes is just common sense.  I think this would be a great feature to add to CC, even if not everyone feels that they need it.

Original Post by coreyander:

I have the same problem, but I don't think it is just a matter of whether or not you eat clean or use packaged foods.  Plenty of whole foods are not in the CC database (rambutan, kombu, mangosteen, water spinach, mirabelles, longan) or are entered in such a way that they can't be used in recipes (basically, any item that can't be added in custom units). 

Put simply, CC database doesn't have all of the foods that people around the world eat, healthy or not.  Of course no one could expect a single database to have that capacity anyway, hence the ability to input our own custom foods.  That we might want to use these custom foods in recipes is just common sense.  I think this would be a great feature to add to CC, even if not everyone feels that they need it.

Thank you.  I feel that this goes beyond the calorie count.  Nutrients differ and "close enough" may work for some people, but not for others.  There should be an option.