You planted and harvested your organic garden and the produce is waiting to be dried, frozen or canned to fill your pantry. Using organically-grown raw or minimally-processed foods gives you greater control over what goes into your body, but it can be challenging to meet nutritional requirements with guesswork. Match per-portion nutritional data with the amounts of each ingredient in your recipes to help you create meals that meet all your dietary needs.
Step 1
Measure the amount of each ingredient used in your recipe with measuring cups and spoons or a produce scale. Record the amounts if you do not already have a written recipe.
Step 2
Select a nutrition data site such as the USDA National Nutrient Database or the Nutrient Facts Recipe Builder.
Step 3
Type the name of each ingredient into the search box at either site listed or at your preferred nutrition data site.
Step 4
Select the closest match to the exact ingredient from the initial search results. For example, if you type "chicken" into the search box, the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference search results page displays a list that begins with "Babyfood, dinner, apples and chicken, strained," and ends with "T.G.I. FRIDAY'S, chicken fingers, from kids' menu." The second screen on Nutrient Facts begins with "back," and ends with "wing."
Step 5
Select "Chicken, roasting, light meat, meat only, cooked, roasted," to get to the next screen if you used the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference website. Select "breast" at the Nutrition Facts site, followed by "meat only" on the next screen, followed by "cooked" and "roasted" on the next two screens.
Step 6
Select an amount for your ingredient. For example, if you are using the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, you can choose 100 grams, 1 cup or 1 unit.
Step 7
Write down the amounts of each vitamin, mineral, amino acid or other nutrients on the back of your recipe card. Repeat Steps 1 through 7 for each ingredient in your recipe, adding the amounts of each nutrient. For example, if your recipe uses 1 cup of roasted white meat chicken, the back of your recipe card would begin with 18mg calcium, 304mg phosphorus, 14.657mg niacin, and 7 IU vitamin D, among other nutrients.
Step 8
Add another 18mg calcium, 43mg phosphorus, 1.069mg niacin and no additional vitamin D, plus 22.9mg vitamin C if your next ingredient is 1 cup raw chopped tomatoes. Add all the nutrient amounts together to get a total. For example, your recipe so far contains 36mg calcium, 347mg phosphorus, 15.726mg niacin and 7IU vitamin D.
Step 9
Examine the nutrient totals, looking for missing or insufficient amounts of each. Add ingredients that will balance these deficits. For example, since 1 cup cooked, roasted white meat chicken and 1 cup raw tomatoes has no folic acid, which is essential for red blood cell production and helps prevent osteoporosis, irritability and fatigue, the George Mateljan Foundation World's Healthiest Foods website suggests including romaine lettuce, spinach, asparagus, turnip greens, mustard greens, calf's liver, parsley, collard greens, broccoli, cauliflower, beets or lentils in the recipe or as a side dish.
Step 10
Compare the total amounts of each nutrient in your recipe to the USDA recommended daily values, which are based on a 2000-calorie diet, according to the United States Food and Drug Administration article, "How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label."
Tips and Warnings
- Increase amounts of each ingredient or add other ingredients if your recipe does not supply at least one-third of the USDA recommended daily values of each essential nutrient.
- While increasing portion sizes may increase nutrient amounts, it also increases calories, fats and sugars, which can lead to obesity, diabetes and heart disease, among other unhealthy effects. It is better to add a lower-calorie ingredient with a higher nutrient content instead.
Things You'll Need
- Nutrition data charts
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Produce scale
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