I need some quinoa measurement help :)

rbfdac
rbfdac Posts: 1,057 Member
in Food and Nutrition
My to the point question is:

How many grams of cooked quinoa are generally in half a cup?


Here's the rest of it--- I've cooked up some Ancient Harvest white quinoa. Per the box, there are 172 calories for 42g dry quinoa. I originally measured out 176g dry quinoa and cooked with the recommended amount of water. I then divided the cooked quinoa in to four 122 g. portions, which, according to simple calculations (I think!!!), would seem to be 172 calories each.

I went to input my quinoa into MFP and keep seeing 1/2 cup quinoa calories listed at around 170, but then see the grams are closer to 40. I haven't used a measuring cup, but my portion seems a lot larger than 1/2 cup and is definitely over 40 grams.

This is one of those things where I think I've thought way too much about it and confused myself.

Can I get a fresh eye, please?

Replies

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    I betcha the entry is for quinoa dry.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I log my grains at their dry weight -- I don't even worry about measuring the finished version (other than to divide it into equal portions).
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    If you have the dry measurement, use it. Cooked measurements will always be less accurate based on how long you cooked it, how much liquid did it absorb, how much liquid has since evaporated, etc.

    So log 44g of dry quinoa and call it a day :). And don't feel bad, I have a pad of paper next to my food scale on the counter with all my calculations and re-calculating because I confuse myself!
  • rbfdac
    rbfdac Posts: 1,057 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    If you have the dry measurement, use it. Cooked measurements will always be less accurate based on how long you cooked it, how much liquid did it absorb, how much liquid has since evaporated, etc.

    So log 44g of dry quinoa and call it a day :). And don't feel bad, I have a pad of paper next to my food scale on the counter with all my calculations and re-calculating because I confuse myself!


    So using this logic, my 122g should be 170 calories, correct? Because I originally did measure out four 44 g dry portions. I ended up with 488 cooked and then just divided that by 4. Right??? Math was not my forte. ha
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    rbfdac wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    If you have the dry measurement, use it. Cooked measurements will always be less accurate based on how long you cooked it, how much liquid did it absorb, how much liquid has since evaporated, etc.

    So log 44g of dry quinoa and call it a day :). And don't feel bad, I have a pad of paper next to my food scale on the counter with all my calculations and re-calculating because I confuse myself!


    So using this logic, my 122g should be 170 calories, correct? Because I originally did measure out four 44 g dry portions. I ended up with 488 cooked and then just divided that by 4. Right??? Math was not my forte. ha

    Yes, if you divide the cooked portion by 4 and you initially weighed out four portions, you should be fine.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    edited February 2016
    rbfdac wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    If you have the dry measurement, use it. Cooked measurements will always be less accurate based on how long you cooked it, how much liquid did it absorb, how much liquid has since evaporated, etc.

    So log 44g of dry quinoa and call it a day :). And don't feel bad, I have a pad of paper next to my food scale on the counter with all my calculations and re-calculating because I confuse myself!


    So using this logic, my 122g should be 170 calories, correct? Because I originally did measure out four 44 g dry portions. I ended up with 488 cooked and then just divided that by 4. Right??? Math was not my forte. ha

    Honestly, I would ignore your cooked measurement. You measured out 176 g dry, and divided it into 4 servings. So 176/4 = 44g per. So a serving listed on the package is 42g and you had 44g. So you divide 44 by 42 and get 1.05, so you had 1.05 servings. So I would say you had 181 cals (172 x 1.05) per serving.
  • rbfdac
    rbfdac Posts: 1,057 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    rbfdac wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    If you have the dry measurement, use it. Cooked measurements will always be less accurate based on how long you cooked it, how much liquid did it absorb, how much liquid has since evaporated, etc.

    So log 44g of dry quinoa and call it a day :). And don't feel bad, I have a pad of paper next to my food scale on the counter with all my calculations and re-calculating because I confuse myself!


    So using this logic, my 122g should be 170 calories, correct? Because I originally did measure out four 44 g dry portions. I ended up with 488 cooked and then just divided that by 4. Right??? Math was not my forte. ha

    Honestly, I would ignore your cooked measurement. You measured out 176 g dry, and divided it into 4 servings. So 176/4 = 44g per. So a serving listed on the package is 42g and you had 44g. So you divide 44 by 42 and get 1.05, so you had 1.05 servings. So I would say you had 181 cals (172 x 1.05) per serving.

    Okay, this sounds right. I was doubting myself when I saw the grams that others were using (but now I realize they were dry) and then just by looking at my portion, did not seem like 1/4 to 1/2 a cup.

    Thank you!
  • rbfdac
    rbfdac Posts: 1,057 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    rbfdac wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    If you have the dry measurement, use it. Cooked measurements will always be less accurate based on how long you cooked it, how much liquid did it absorb, how much liquid has since evaporated, etc.

    So log 44g of dry quinoa and call it a day :). And don't feel bad, I have a pad of paper next to my food scale on the counter with all my calculations and re-calculating because I confuse myself!


    So using this logic, my 122g should be 170 calories, correct? Because I originally did measure out four 44 g dry portions. I ended up with 488 cooked and then just divided that by 4. Right??? Math was not my forte. ha

    Yes, if you divide the cooked portion by 4 and you initially weighed out four portions, you should be fine.

    Thank you!!
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    rbfdac wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    rbfdac wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    If you have the dry measurement, use it. Cooked measurements will always be less accurate based on how long you cooked it, how much liquid did it absorb, how much liquid has since evaporated, etc.

    So log 44g of dry quinoa and call it a day :). And don't feel bad, I have a pad of paper next to my food scale on the counter with all my calculations and re-calculating because I confuse myself!


    So using this logic, my 122g should be 170 calories, correct? Because I originally did measure out four 44 g dry portions. I ended up with 488 cooked and then just divided that by 4. Right??? Math was not my forte. ha

    Honestly, I would ignore your cooked measurement. You measured out 176 g dry, and divided it into 4 servings. So 176/4 = 44g per. So a serving listed on the package is 42g and you had 44g. So you divide 44 by 42 and get 1.05, so you had 1.05 servings. So I would say you had 181 cals (172 x 1.05) per serving.

    Okay, this sounds right. I was doubting myself when I saw the grams that others were using (but now I realize they were dry) and then just by looking at my portion, did not seem like 1/4 to 1/2 a cup.

    Thank you!

    Yeah, cup measurements can be wonky! My oatmeal says a serving is 1/2 cup or 40g. When I put my measuring cup on the scale and then put in my oatmeal, 40g doesn't fill up the 1/2 cup, not even close! I'm sure cooked it would be even harder to get right.

Categories