How to properly measure rice, couscous, lentils, etc

Kari121869

I'm so glad you posted about this?

Does the same apply to popcorn? Weigh it before popping?

What a nice photo, Caryn. I just popped a kernel. :embarassed:

Any friend of Kari's is a friend of mine :-)


AWWW I feel so speeeeeeeeeeecciiall lol

Kari121869

one cup of dry popcorn would fill a room! :laugh:

Best I go and fix my food diary then.... for saturday (I think it was) I put down that I had 5 x cups of popcorn! :bigsmile:

Caryn,
I actually measure my popcorn both ways... if I'm popping it at home I measure the kernals - if it comes already popped (like skinnypop popcorn in a bag) I measure it as it is... popped...
When I measure kernal I use a measuring cup - usually 3/4 cups of kernals is more than enough..

Bry_Fitness70

Measure these foods before cooking.

This isn't practical if you are cooking for more than one - I cook a big pot of pasta for the family, and can't really segregate what my portion will be in advance. From what I understand pasta essentially doubles and rice triples in weight from the water it soaks up during cooking.

joyfylgrl

Alot of times, on things like pasta and rice, the measurement on the box states serving size for both raw and cooked.

This would be why I just go by box on cooked form when cooking for the whole family So much easier!!!!!

SezxyStef

Measure these foods before cooking.

This isn't practical if you are cooking for more than one - I cook a big pot of pasta for the family, and can't really segregate what my portion will be in advance. From what I understand pasta essentially doubles and rice triples in weight from the water it soaks up during cooking.

Partially this...I can't cook for just me...and not my husband and son...nor will I use two pots.

If you can weight raw...if you can't choose the correct entry...

leggup

The nutrition facts listed on all labels refer to uncooked weights.

Example, see the nutrition facts for Jasmine Rice:


Note: You should really weigh these items, especially since they’re calorically dense. A level, sparse, and heaping cup are likely going to vary by a significant number of calories.

As for the popcorn question, most labels look like this:



What I do is pop the bag then pull out and weigh all of the unpopped kernels. So, based on the above label, 39 grams of (unpopped) kernels per serving, 2 servings per bag, which means the front of the bag should say 78 grams of popcorn. The whole bag is 130 cals * 2 = 260 calories. So let's say that 5 grams of popcorn didn't pop (because I pick out the kernels and weigh them). That means I'm going to eat (78 g - 5 g) = 73 g / 78 g = .935 of the whole bag: 241 calories. Usually you have the option of picking "Whole Bag" for serving size in MFP. I usually do portions of the whole bag. Or, since there are 2 servings, you could multiply that number by 2 to get 1.87 servings.

Chevy_Quest

The nutrition facts listed on all labels refer to uncooked weights.

Example, see the nutrition facts for Jasmine Rice:

Note: You should really weigh these items, especially since they’re calorically dense. A level, sparse, and heaping cup are likely going to vary by a significant number of calories.

As for the popcorn question, most labels look like this:

What I do is pop the bag then pull out and weigh all of the unpopped kernels. So, based on the above label, 39 grams of (unpopped) kernels per serving, 2 servings per bag, which means the front of the bag should say 78 grams of popcorn. The whole bag is 130 cals * 2 = 260 calories. So let's say that 5 grams of popcorn didn't pop (because I pick out the kernels and weigh them). That means I'm going to eat (78 g - 5 g) = 73 g / 78 g = .935 of the whole bag: 241 calories. Usually you have the option of picking "Whole Bag" for serving size in MFP. I usually do portions of the whole bag. Or, since there are 2 servings, you could multiply that number by 2 to get 1.87 servings.

^^^This could not have said it any better.!