Software for nutritional analysis?

[LindaHentzen]

I'm looking for a software package that will take a recipe and give me the nutritional breakdown (like you find after a recipe in the magazine.) Any comments about MasterCook?

This is for home use - I've seen some packages for dieticians/professional use with are WAY beyond what I need and can manage. A number of "cookbook" packages have nutritional breakdown features, but I'd like to know if they are reliable and easy to use.

I had found a shareware package, but the results are questionable - a BH&G recipe that is supposed to only have 192 cal. per serving comes back at 306 cal.

While features like printing a cookbook are nice, things like create a shopping list aren't high priorities.
Any info would be appreciated!

[julia]

I highly recommend Mastercook. It works wonderfully and if it doesn't have an ingredient listed and you have the info, you can enter it into the database. I swear by it. My version also has 2 CL cookbooks on it, along with Graham Kerr's, Swiftly Seasoned and they are wonderful.

[Jen]

Has anyone else noticed strange fibre values with Mastercook? I'm on WW, so the fibre values are especially important (although not so much now, with the new program). Some recipes seem to give really high fibre values. An example - I entered a lentil curry into the program that has 1 cup dried green lentils, 2 cups butternut squash, and 1 large potato (for 6 servings). Other ingredients are low-fibre. It comes out to almost 16 g of fibre per serving, which seems awfully high to me! I did choose the correct type of lentil from the drop-down list.

Also, does anyone have any tips for figuring out the "real" amount of meat in a recipe? For example, if a recipe calls for 2 lbs of lamb leg, but then you chop it into bits and discard the fat, then cook it, the final amount won't be anywhere near 2 lbs - but Mastercook doesn't seem to take that into account, which results in really high values. Any tips for this?

Thanks in advance - I got a new Slow Cooker cookbook for Christmas with no nutritional info, and I've been busy entering the recipes I'd like to try into Mastercook to get the analysis!

Jen