Cleaning Up Your Grocery Report

 2007, Chewin' the News  Comments Off on Cleaning Up Your Grocery Report
Mar 012007
 

by Shelley Miller

 

The best procedure is to use the following method for each ingredient in question:

  1. locate the ingredient in the ‘ingredients’ tab
  2. click on the ‘recipes’ tab in the lower window
  3. look at the measures listed for each of the recipes which use this ingredient

 

Let’s take one example at a time:

“‘Sweet potatoes, canned’. On the grocery list it has ‘total needed 80 ounce’…BUT it has another listing for ‘Sweet potatoes, canned’ with ‘384 teaspoons’ needed and no packing listed. Packaging is ‘Can (40 oz)’, no conversions.”

The listing for ’80 ounces’ needed is correct. That’s just what you want; no solution necessary.

Now for the 384 teaspoons. You probably have two types of measures for this ingredient: one in ounces (a measure of weight), and one in cups (a measure of volume). One cup is going to equal 48 teaspoons. Your cooking day is likely calling for 8 cups of sweet potatoes (whether from one recipe, or multiple recipes), which equals 384 teaspoons.

Solution: add a conversion to the ‘Sweet Potato’ ingredient to turn everything into ounces:

1 cup = 8 ounces Sweet Potatoes

This conversion seems like the program should already know that, but we’re converting volume measure to weight measure, and different ingredients have different conversions. For example, one cup of marshmallows is not equivalent to 8 ounces.

“Potatoes, diced, has ‘216 teaspoons’ needed. Packaging is ‘Bag (5 pound)’; no conversions.”

Follow steps 1, 2, and 3 above (locate ingredient, click ‘recipes’, check measures)

It is very likely that your recipe is calling for ‘cups’ and the software is leaving it in ‘teaspoons’ on the grocery report because it can’t convert from cups to pounds.

Solution: add a conversion to the ‘Potatoes, diced’ ingredient to convert volume measure to weight measure (which is what is listed in the Packaging):

2 cups = 1 pound Potatoes, diced

Note: this conversion is an estimate. Adjust the conversion according to your preference.

“‘Vegetables, cooked’ has two lines: one listing is ‘1 each’ needed, a second listing is ‘144 teaspoons’. Packaging is ‘Bag (1/2 pound / 8 oz)’; no conversions.”

Follow steps 1, 2, and 3 above (locate ingredient, click ‘recipes’, check measures)

The listing ‘1 each’ probably refers to one 8 oz. bag of vegetables.

Solution: change the recipe to specify ‘ 8 ounces’ instead of ‘1 each’.

The listing in teaspoons means that a recipe is calling for a volume measure, like ‘cups’ of vegetables. Solution: add a conversion to the ‘Vegetables, cooked’ ingredient, which converts a volume measure to weight (which is what is listed in the Packaging):

2 cups = 8 ounces Vegetables, cooked

“Milk, has two lines: one listing is ‘1 1/2 quart’ needed, a second listing says ‘1 each’. Packaging is ‘1 gallon’ and ‘1 quart’; no conversions.”

Follow steps 1, 2, and 3 above (locate ingredient, click ‘recipes’, check measures)

The listing for ‘1 1/2 quart’ needed is correct. That’s just what you want; no solution necessary.

The listing ‘1 each’ means one of a certain measure of milk. Check the recipe and then change the measure to something other than ‘each’.

If you have specific questions or examples that aren’t addressed in this article, please click here to email Shelley.

March 2005 Chewin’ the News with Shelley

 2005, Chewin' the News  Comments Off on March 2005 Chewin’ the News with Shelley
Mar 012005
 

Cookin’ at the Keyboard with Shelley

ShelleyThe entire month of January, it seems, was consumed with all the things I abandoned weeks ago, in the midst of the holiday frenzy. I was busy tackling those incomplete projects, such as, the last few Christmas cards, the boxes accumulating in the garage, the next page in the scrapbook album, and my intriguing discussion of ingredient conversions. If that last item doesn’t sound familiar, or intriguing, read the article in the December newsletter; it will bring you up to speed.

December’s discussion focused on conversions as related to weight and volume measures of ingredients. Conversions are also important when it comes to ingredients that aren’t easily purchased at the grocery store. Many of my recipes call for crumbled bacon or cooked and chopped chicken, neither of which I can buy off the shelf. I would prefer that the grocery report would tell me how many pounds of bacon or chicken to buy, instead of how many cups. These conversions take two steps to complete. Let’s start with the bacon.

Locate “Bacon” in the ingredient list.

 

Under the Packaging tab enter “Pound Package”.

 

Locate “Bacon, crumbled” in the ingredient list.

 

Under the Conversion tab, enter the following:

 

From Amount 

From Measure

To Amount

To Measure  

To Ingredient

2

Cup

 1

Pound

Bacon

16

Slices

 1

Pound

Bacon

1

Pound

 1

Pound

Bacon

These entries tell the software that if the recipe calls for 1 cup of crumbled bacon, add ½ pound of bacon to my grocery list. If the recipe calls for 8 slices of crumbled bacon, I want to see ½ pound of bacon on my grocery list. If the recipe calls for 1 pound of crumbled bacon, put 1 pound of bacon on my grocery list. No matter how the ingredient appears on my recipe, the software will do all the calculating, and tell me how many pounds of bacon to buy.

 


When it comes to cooked and chopped chicken, I prefer to buy chicken breasts.

Here are the entries to make for the conversion:

Locate “Chicken Breasts” in the ingredient list.

Under the Packaging tab enter “Pound Package”.

Locate “Chicken, cooked and chopped” in the ingredient list.

Under the Conversion tab, enter the following:

 

From Amount 

From Measure

To Amount

To Measure  

To Ingredient

2

Cup

1.5

Pound

Chicken Breast

1

Pound

1

Pound

Chicken Breast

 

If a recipe calls for 2 cups of cooked, chopped chicken, then the grocery report will tell me to buy 1½  pounds of chicken breasts. Otherwise, a pound of cooked chicken will equal a pound of raw chicken.

 


Locate “Onion” in the ingredient list.

 

Under the Packaging tab enter “Each”.

 

Locate “Onion, chopped” in the ingredient list.

 

Under the Conversion tab, enter the following:

 

From Amount 

From Measure

To Amount

To Measure  

To Ingredient

1

Cup

1

Each

Onion

1

Each

1

Each

Onion

 

You can adjust the conversions based on the size of onions that you usually buy. Larger onions might yield more than a cup of chopped onion, while smaller onions might yield less.

 


When it comes to shredded cheese, I prefer to buy the cheese and shred it myself. If you buy cheese already shredded, the following conversion is not necessary.

Locate “Cheddar Cheese” in the ingredient list.

Under the Packaging tab enter as many varieties of packaging as desired,

e.g. “Pound Package”, “2 Pound Package”, “5 Pound Package

Locate “Cheddar Cheese, shredded” in the ingredient list.

Under the Conversion tab, enter the following:

From Amount 

From Measure

To Amount

To Measure  

To Ingredient

1

Cup

4

Ounce

Cheddar Cheese

1

Pound

1

Pound

Cheddar Cheese

 

Again, you can adjust the conversion based on your preference (e.g. 1 cup of shredded cheese = 3 oz. cheese).

Whenever I find something on my grocery list that makes me stop and think about how much of that ingredient I need to purchase, I take the time to add a conversion. A little bit of “brain work” at the computer saves me the frustration of “guessing” at the grocery store.

Well, I think that’s all I can say about ingredient conversions. It must be time to fix the hem that’s coming out of my black skirt.

If you haven’t tried our Advantage Cooking software, click here for a 30 day free trial or to order your own copy.