cooked vs raw

marinemom1977

Do I measure before or after I cook? 2 cups of collards raw are less than I cup cooked.

HeidiCooksSupper

You can do either but make sure to use the appropriate listing in the database.

malibu927

Generally raw

RodaRose

Weigh raw. Get a scale if you do not have one.

jessicapk

My general rule of thumb is to weigh any kind of food in it's original, most raw state. If it's fresh, weigh it raw. If it's frozen, weigh it frozen. If it requires cooking, weight it beforehand. Most labels are for the product as packaged, not prepared since there are so many variables in cooking.

If you are preparing for more than one person, weigh the initial product and determine how many servings there are. When you get done, weigh it again and divide by the number of servings so you can match up to your original calorie count. I generally am cooking just for myself since I eat different things than the BF but it helps with pasta or rice when you may cook several servings at one time. Works great for recipes, too.

marinemom1977

Thanks so much. That's how I've been doing it. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't cheating myself. Ha!