Measuring Chicken

rhetoricians
rhetoricians Posts: 8
in Food and Nutrition
Hello, all! I don't own a food scale yet, so I apologize for the seemingly stupid question!

My boyfriend and I put 10 chicken thighs in a crock pot (skinless) last night with a cut-up onion and a splash of BBQ sauce and let it cook overnight. when we got up this morning, we pulled out the bones and shredded it.

Now I am faced with how to log this in my tracker. I can't just say "1 thigh" because there is no bone, and I can't say "3 oz" or whatever because I have no scale! I was just going to log it as a few slivers of onion, a serving of BBQ sauce and a serving of chicken, but I don't know how much to portion out if I tell MFP I'm eating 4 oz!

Does anyone know what an eyeballed amount (maybe a cup size?) for a serving of shredded chicken might look like?
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Replies

  • Jchambers1130
    Jchambers1130 Posts: 173 Member
    Anything will be way off, I'd say just stick to the normal first size pile.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    serving-size-cheat-sheet.jpg
  • rhetoricians
    rhetoricians Posts: 8
    I was going to just measure out a cup of the shredded chicken and log that as 4 or 5 ounces. Would that maybe be approximately right? Haha.
  • Rage_Phish
    Rage_Phish Posts: 1,507 Member
    Buy a scale, they are cheap
  • rhetoricians
    rhetoricians Posts: 8
    I plan on it! but I need this in the meantime. :)
  • Rawr1978
    Rawr1978 Posts: 245 Member
    honestly, I REALLY recommend going and buying even a cheap scale. mine was $20, but I've seen some $5 that work great. I always thought I could eyeball measure, and I was soooo off.
    however, if that's an expense...maybe log chicken strips?
  • rhetoricians
    rhetoricians Posts: 8
    I've got a scale coming in the mail via Amazon next week. I just need something to figure this out until then.
  • sharonfoustmills
    sharonfoustmills Posts: 519 Member
    It's not going to be exact, so buy a food scale as soon as you can. I got a really good one at target for 30 bucks.

    when i measured 4 ozs of shredded chicken and then transferred it to regular household measuring cups, it fit into the half cup measuring cup and it was full to the top, I did not pack the chicken down or arrange it to fit, just randomly dumped it in there-- mine was breast though, not thigh, and that might make a difference too (i happened to just have some shredded chicken breast on hand that i made for tacos)

    eta: hope your scale arrives soon!
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Buy a scale ASAP.

    In the meantime there should be an entry for shredded cooked chicken that is in cups. That should get you in the ballpark.

    But seriously, buy a scale.
  • themelmac
    themelmac Posts: 59 Member
    I'd be tempted to build a recipe for that via MFP and determine how many servings you think you'll get from the crock pot.

    Use chicken thigh as the ingredient, enter 10, then enter in how much bbq sauce and onions you used. If you think you'll get 6 servings, MFP is going to give you the right calorie amount based on the recipe.

    I don't think you can generally use a cup of shredded chicken because dark meat (like thighs) have more calories and fat than breast meat.
  • Rawr1978
    Rawr1978 Posts: 245 Member
    or that chart may help.
    I tried measuring shake n bake...it was fail even with the scale, cause I ended up with more breading
  • Jchambers1130
    Jchambers1130 Posts: 173 Member
    Very true about the thigh part I forgot about that. It will be higher in calories than breast.
  • britzzie
    britzzie Posts: 338 Member
    When I type "chicken thigh" into the search, an option with a 1 cup measurement is right at the top. And it is MORE than 4oz.
  • Rawr1978
    Rawr1978 Posts: 245 Member
    I've got a scale coming in the mail via Amazon next week. I just need something to figure this out until then.
    lmfao you're going to get deluged with "buy a scale", and all you want is an alternative while you wait.
  • sharonfoustmills
    sharonfoustmills Posts: 519 Member
    serving-size-cheat-sheet.jpg

    Okay, that thing could be way off. I can hold in my hand about 1/3 to 1/4 of what my husband can hold in his hand. He would be eating 4 servings thinking it was one serving by this chart.
  • SailorKnightWing
    SailorKnightWing Posts: 875 Member
    I've got a scale coming in the mail via Amazon next week. I just need something to figure this out until then.
    I'm just going to quote those for everyone saying "buy a scale."
  • rhetoricians
    rhetoricians Posts: 8
    When I type "chicken thigh" into the search, an option with a 1 cup measurement is right at the top. And it is MORE than 4oz.

    Does it matter that it's shredded and not diced? I can't tell if "meat only" implies no skin, either!
  • mrmagee3
    mrmagee3 Posts: 518 Member
    I've never been able to get the little *kitten* to stand still long enough to wrap the tape measure around them. Best of luck, OP.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    Why did the chicken cross the road?
  • FattieBabs
    FattieBabs Posts: 542 Member
    Hi I am having chicken thighs tonight. Found one entry on MFP that said 3 thighs = 146 cals. so going with that!
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    serving-size-cheat-sheet.jpg

    Okay, that thing could be way off. I can hold in my hand about 1/3 to 1/4 of what my husband can hold in his hand. He would be eating 4 servings thinking it was one serving by this chart.

    The one for meat had nothing to do with hands.... yeah.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    ...he was running from the lady with the measuring tape. images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTIyR3JCDY1Ck-gvSgEYvzvMycFEIrqXvEhqp3600zz0IqcZK3B1w
  • britzzie
    britzzie Posts: 338 Member
    When I type "chicken thigh" into the search, an option with a 1 cup measurement is right at the top. And it is MORE than 4oz.

    Does it matter that it's shredded and not diced? I can't tell if "meat only" implies no skin, either!

    Well...the grilled, no skin entry says 120g is 140 calories, whereas the Chicken Thigh - Grilled W/ Bbq W/out Skin, No Bones says 120g 351, so I bet that one includes skin? Just a guess.

    ETA: But the grilled one probably includes bone in the weight, so I don't freakin know.

    You should probably just by a food scale......

    Sorry....couldn't resist! :laugh:
  • mforsis
    mforsis Posts: 41
    portion size web site gives visuals - chicken breast 3 oz looks about the size of a deck of cards

    http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-portion-size-plate
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    Hi I am having chicken thighs tonight. Found one entry on MFP that said 3 thighs = 146 cals. so going with that!

    :noway: chicken thighs, even with no skin, are about a hundred calories each.

    You can lie to your log, but your body won't be fooled. :ohwell:
  • sharonfoustmills
    sharonfoustmills Posts: 519 Member
    ...he was running from the lady with the measuring tape. images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTIyR3JCDY1Ck-gvSgEYvzvMycFEIrqXvEhqp3600zz0IqcZK3B1w

    that is just wrong, in the funniest way possible
  • slim4health56
    slim4health56 Posts: 439 Member
    414 calories in one thigh with skin. 236 calories each without skin.

    There are 4140 calories in your pot of chicken (414 x 10 thighs = 4140 with skin) OR 2360 calories (236 x 10 if without skin). Without a scale, you're screwed ($6.00 at Walmart), but if you want an approximation, divide your cooked chicken into 10 equal portions and you'll know how many calories you have...again...approximately.



    Nutrition Facts

    Chicken, thigh

    Amount Per 1 thigh with skin (189 g)

    Calories 414

    % Daily Value*

    Total fat 31 g 47%
    Saturated fat 8 g 40%
    Polyunsaturated fat 7 g
    Monounsaturated fat 13 g
    Trans fat 0.2 g
    Cholesterol 185 mg 61%
    Sodium 146 mg 6%
    Potassium 387 mg 11%
    Total Carbohydrate 0.5 g 0%
    Dietary fiber 0 g 0%
    Sugar 0 g
    Protein 31 g 62%

    Vitamin A 2% Vitamin C 0%
    Calcium 1% Iron 7%
    Vitamin B-6 30% Vitamin B-12 20%
    Magnesium 9%

    *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
  • UrbanLotus
    UrbanLotus Posts: 1,163 Member
    1 cup = 8 oz, not 4 or 5. But the best option (before you get a scale) would be to look up the calories in thigh meat (I'm sure there are options for the meat, no bone), figure that out for 10 thighs, add in however much BBQ sauce and onions you used, then divide that by however much you are eating (ie - 1/4 the entire recipe or whatever)
  • kimmymayhall
    kimmymayhall Posts: 419 Member
    It's good that you have a scale coming, it's really the best way to do all this.
    Did your package of chicken thighs have a weight posted on it? Use that or estimate from the database (use the MFP entry or one at the higher end of the calorie counts) to make a recipe in the recipe builder. Portion out servings of about the size you want to eat, like a 1 cup measure. Count how many servings you can measure out with that cup. Maybe it's 8 or 10 or 15 - that's how many servings you put into the recipe builder. Use the same cup to dish out portions or keep them in individual serving sizes.
  • slim4health56
    slim4health56 Posts: 439 Member
    [/quote]

    :noway: chicken thighs, even with no skin, are about a hundred calories each.

    You can lie to your log, but your body won't be fooled. :ohwell:
    [/quote]

    I only wish they were 100 calories! You might want to check your numbers.

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