Figuring Serving Sizes

mdrhodes80

Hi All,

I make a potato soup that my family loves. I am having a hard time figuring out the servings size.

Here is what I use:
5lb peeled potatoes
64 oz of chicken broth
16 oz of cream cheese
12 tbsp of real bacon bits

I do it in the crock pot, and before (which is why we are so big) didnt really look at portion sizes.

So, with all the above, what would you say this serves?

I thought maybe 8... 1 cup servings.. would that be accurate?

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ChaseAlder

I agree. When I make a soup, I measure the entire batch and then decide how much will be a serving, then divide to figure out how many servings are in it total. That's the number I plug into my recipe.

ldrosophila

Ugh figuring out portion sizes is such a pain. There are so many changes with cooking and it's so messy to measure it out. I really wish there was a recipe system that didnt have you enter the number of servings to calculate. On second though, what if you made the recipe set it for one serving. Then all you would have to do is... No that wouldnt work. Well maybe thats what you could do one serving and just try to do your best guess about what percentage you have and go from there. So if you made a big old pot of soup and you plugged in all the raw ingredients as one serving and you had 8oz from that serving. I dont know there has to be a better way to do it besides manually measuring it out. If anyone has any advice...

Other than that, I just find the closest item on the database I can find add a bit more extra calories to it and call it done.

Sounds like a yummy soup about how many calories for a cup did you get 250?

MinnieInMaine

I have a measuring ladle and also know that our soup bowls hold about 2 cups worth. Between the two, as I serve the soup, I can count up about how many cups total and then input the # of servings into the recipe tool.

DaveHuby

Enter the whole lot as a recipe for 1 .

You now have your batch calorie count.

Divide batch count by 8 to see what you get.

That gives you your probable portion calories.

What I tend to do is pack the whole lot in freezer packs. That way if I produce 20 packs I know each pack contains (total calories in the pot divided by 20)

It really is down to basic mathematics, recording and measuring.


Oh then when you know the portions go onto the recipe and reset the serving number from 1 to the actual portions.

Good luck.

Ps . Using generic ingredients I get the batch to 2600 calories divided by 8 is 325 each. Only you can see if it fits your goals.

mdrhodes80

Ugh figuring out portion sizes is such a pain. There are so many changes with cooking and it's so messy to measure it out. I really wish there was a recipe system that didnt have you enter the number of servings to calculate. On second though, what if you made the recipe set it for one serving. Then all you would have to do is... No that wouldnt work. Well maybe thats what you could do one serving and just try to do your best guess about what percentage you have and go from there. So if you made a big old pot of soup and you plugged in all the raw ingredients as one serving and you had 8oz from that serving. I dont know there has to be a better way to do it besides manually measuring it out. If anyone has any advice...

Other than that, I just find the closest item on the database I can find add a bit more extra calories to it and call it done.

Sounds like a yummy soup about how many calories for a cup did you get 250?

I got 378 calories...

mdrhodes80

THanks for the help, If I would be home I would measure it out, but its my kids dance nite so relying on my husband to bring me dinner. Ill just have him estimate what he thinks it is, or have him measure out mine and estimate whats left.

Kinda started this unprepared, so needign to consume what we have in the house first before I buy all new.

I know I will make healthier choices in the future, but trying to get through this week and not go over board.

DaveHuby

It's a good positive way to start.

I had a month of eating through my freezer basing logging on estimates.

Now I know the exact contents, portions and calories of everything in there.

First few weeks are harder but now it seems natural to weigh, measure and record as I cook.

One small hint, if your recipe says one cup of oil, use a quarter. Instead of tablespoon, use teaspoon.

Look at recipe section on here there are some brilliant ideas on new recipes or lower cal reworkings of old favourites.

Always happy to share ideas.

Enjoy the new ways.

mdrhodes80

just a follow up, my husband did measure it out.. 18 cups it served.. I was way off!

kazb0t

It may be OCD but.. I really do weigh the entire batch after I'm done cooking!

It may come from being a pastry chef that I use a scale all day long, but I don't find it too much of a pain to weigh. I usually make big batches to last me through the week so I'm gonna dump most of it into a food container anyways so after I get total weight, I then play around with the numbers until I reach a satisfactory(for me!) portion size and caloric count.

MissyMouse2323

If I make a pot of something... it's usually only enough for the 4 of us and we usually all eat the same amount... so I'll plug in the whole container or ingredient but in the serving section I'll put .25 for a quarter of that ingredient.

sweetnlow30

It may be OCD but.. I really do weigh the entire batch after I'm done cooking!

I do this too I usually just throw an empty pot on the scale, zero it out and get DH to pour the whole batch into the empty pot. I divide the weight by the number of servings I figure it will serve then I know exactly how much to put into my bowl, by weight. It really is easy to do.

Robin_Bin

just a follow up, my husband did measure it out.. 18 cups it served.. I was way off!

This is why it's good to measure or count occasionally. After you've done it a few times you'll get better at knowing what fits in your crockpot (or other pans or dishes).