Cooked vs. Raw Kale/Spinach

dragonflydi

Quick question ... last night I had 2 cups kale and 2 cups spinach. When I tracked them with my food, I realized that I had them both listed as 'chopped raw' ... when I really had them steamed.

2 Cups of kale raw is listed at 67 calories. I went into correct it to 2 cups of steamed kale, and it came up at 100 calories for the same 2 cups.

Is this because it's assuming I ate 2 cups after it steaming, which, since kale/spinach condense so much when you steam it, would have been more in volume? I took 2 cups of raw kale and 2 cups of raw spinach and steamed them together. So do I track based on the raw starting measurement ... or use the measurement for steamed and reduce the measurement by a lot to adjust for how much it condenses??? Which would be more accurate??

ShellyMacchi

for sure... they shrink alot once cooked.. i tend to measure all my ingredients 'raw' whenever possible as when cooking one serving it is easier to track. (for me)

but the 'cooked' database options are handy too for when you are not the one preparing the food and can only measure the already cooked portions.

time2runnn

I cook 2c fresh spinach with my eggs in the morning. And as you know it cooks down quite a bit...guessing down to 1/2 a cup! I always list it in my journal in the raw/fresh state since that's when I measure

wewon

2 cups of raw leafy green veggies > that same volume cooked due to wilting.

Also, keep in mind that the databases are counting on members to confirm their accuracy on nutritional information.

dragonflydi

2 cups of raw leafy green veggies > that same volume cooked due to wilting.

Also, keep in mind that the databases are counting on members to confirm their accuracy on nutritional information.

So maybe it's the information being put into the system? Otherwise, 2 cup of raw and 2 cup of wilted should have the same number of calories ... right? It lists raw at 67 and steamed at 100. That's why I thought maybe it was telling me to steam it first and then measure out 2 cups of steamed and that was why the calorie count went up a little.

Measuring after wilting would mean I was eating more than I would be if I was to measure out 2 cups first and then steam it ... ending up with maybe 2/3 cup when done ...

I also found that I feel much fuller when I eat those particular veggies raw in a salad than I do steamed/wilted. I had just seen so many great recipes, I wanted to try it. Still tasted great, but I was not as satisfied after eating them steamed as I am when they are piled high on my plate as a salad