Struggling with Recipe Analyzer

Hi all,

I know this has been discussed many times before but I'm still struggling with it.
So this is the recipe:

1 11oz. can of mexicorn by Green Giant (3.5 servings x 90 calories)
1 15.5oz can of red kidney beans by Goya (3.5 servings x 90 calories)
1 15 oz. can of low-sodium green peas by (3.5 servings x 50 calories)
1 6 ox. can of albacore tuna (2.5 servings x 120 calories)
4 tbsp. of Italian Dressing (2 servings x 130 calories)

Total: 1395 calories/ 6 servings = 232.5

Recipe Analyzer: 413 calories per serving.

How do I get the recipe analyzer to match the actual numbers?

I've found with the recipe analyzer, it's easiest to put most things in by weight and further tweek it by using specific item numbers instead of allowing the analyzer to try to figure out what you meant.

First, the analyzer doesn't know if you want canned or raw beans. it assumes raw and that's where the extra calories are coming from. Usually best to specify an item number instead. Since Goya isn't in the database, go with the next closest,16029, (Beans, Kidney, All Types, Mature Seeds, Canned).

You would end up entering something like this:

11oz [99971]
15.5oz [16029]
15oz [100001]
6oz [85234]
4tbls [54304]

Now, I couldn't find exact matches for a few things, and that happens quite a bit, so you'll need to find whichever item is in the database that closely matches which may throw off the calorie a little bit. I had a heck of time finding Italian Dressing that was that high calories.

When you first analyze a recipe, click each view link below the nutritional chart to make sure it matches what you want.

Great. Thank you.
I was also shocked by the Italian Dressing, won't be buying that again...but I was trying to use up what I had in the house.

Now I finally know how to put in those numbers I was always confused by that.

Thanks!!!!

Be careful what unit of measure you are using.  Also, make sure the analyzer is picking the correct items from the database by checking each one. I hope the prior tips helped you straighten out your recipe.  If you are still having problems with it, send me a link and I'll look at it for you.

How do you get the number to input it?

When you click on item look at the web address at the end it will have four/five numbers.

Sorry to hyjack the thread but I just tried it and I used the same quantity that was on the time 1 packet [20829] and it comes back with an invalid quantity. So I tried inputting the grams and that didn't work either.. Can you help?

I'm not that advance, hoperfully someone else knows how to fix that. It would be interesting to know. Have you tried using ounces or teaspoons? I believe most packets are about a teaspoon.

locate a similar item in the db and find out what your options are for measurement. If it is oz then use that if it's tsp then use that. A database that only has things in tsps will not know what you mean by "packet". Some foods have different measurement choices so look for a drop down list.

Always check for the warning sign when you do the nutrition analysis and if you suspect the numbers are incorrect, check every item by clicking on the link to see if it is linking correctly. It's easiest to fix that sort of thing before saving it to a recipe, but you can still fix it there as much as you want!