The thirty-second rule
Ask two questions: will I eat this again? and is it one thing or a combination?
| Tool | What it is | Reusable? | Reach for it when… |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quick Add | Numbers with a name | No | One-off meal where you know the totals |
| Custom Food | One food with a full label | Yes | A product or ingredient the database lacks |
| Saved Meal | A combo, frozen as logged | Yes | The same foods, together, on repeat |
| Recipe | Ingredients → dish → servings | Yes | Something you cook and portion |
The one-off: Quick Add
Restaurant told you the calories? Ballparking a buffet? Quick Add puts the numbers in and moves on. It builds nothing — which is the point. (If you later realize it's a regular, promote it: Save to my foods turns the entry into a real custom food.)
The single food: Custom Food
One item, one label — your brand of yogurt, the local bread, a supplement. Created once with its serving and nutrition, it's searchable forever and behaves like any database food.
The combination: Saved Meal
Your breakfast is three foods at fixed servings? A saved meal replays them in one tap. It's a snapshot — no cooking math, no servings, just "that combo again."
The dish: Recipe
Cooking is where recipes earn it: ingredients in real amounts, divided into servings, so "one serving of lasagna" carries honest math. Recipes can be prepared when the batch varies and exploded when tonight's plate diverged.
Rule of thumb
Numbers once → Quick Add. A food → Custom Food. A combo → Saved Meal. A dish you cook → Recipe. When in doubt between the last two: if it has servings, it's a recipe.