Can I really have ALL of that salad dressing?

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Breepa123
Breepa123 Posts: 66 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'll admit I have been eyeballing portions for a while now, which is probably why I am back on MFP after regaining almost all the weight I lost before. Anyway, this week I finally started weighing all of my food on a digital food scale. Last night I put my plate on top of the scale and zeroed it out, added 85 grams of salad greens, then zeroed it out again to add dressing. The bottle of salad dressing said the serving size was 2 tablespoons, or 30 grams. So I just poured it onto the plate until the scale read 30 grams. It was a HUGE amount of dressing! Dont' get me wrong, I love salad dressing and was thrilled that I could have that much because I have been estimating 2 tablespoons to be much, much less than the amount I had last night. But in the cold light of day today, I'm worried that maybe I did it wrong. Does a digital food scale accurately measure something liquidy like salad dressing? Or is it most accurate with solid food? Should I just break out the measuring spoons for dressing from now on? Sorry for asking the dumbest questions ever, but I've read so much on these forums about people eating more than they think they are and if I am falling into that category by using the food scale incorrectly, I'd rather find out now!
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Replies

  • nytrifisoul
    nytrifisoul Posts: 500 Member
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    Must been a small salad because when i weigh out dressing one serving barely coats the lettuce.
  • Anelda
    Anelda Posts: 99 Member
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    If the serving size on the bottle reads 30g and not 30 mL, then you are fine, you did it right. :)
  • ellybeann
    ellybeann Posts: 122 Member
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    Id put 2tbsp on the scale and see if they match up, and if not Id use the lesser of the 2
  • MayaSPapaya
    MayaSPapaya Posts: 735 Member
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    Must been a small salad because when i weigh out dressing one serving barely coats the lettuce.

    This. I've gotten used to the serving size, so I now see it as a fine amount, but never have I thought, "Wow I get to eat ALL of this??". I probably started out by thinking, that's it?
    I measure condiments with measuring spoons (I have one that is a size of two tablespoons so I use that), but your scale was probably right. I think you were just severely underestimating how much you could have.
  • Breepa123
    Breepa123 Posts: 66 Member
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    Must been a small salad because when i weigh out dressing one serving barely coats the lettuce.

    This. I've gotten used to the serving size, so I now see it as a fine amount, but never have I thought, "Wow I get to eat ALL of this??". I probably started out by thinking, that's it?
    I measure condiments with measuring spoons (I have one that is a size of two tablespoons so I use that), but your scale was probably right. I think you were just severely underestimating how much you could have.


    I guess I was definitely underestimating! I used to put a tiny dollop on the side of the plate and dip my fork in it before each bite. I'll be eating a lot more salad now that I know I can have more dressing (I LOVE salad dressing)!

    Thanks all! :happy:
  • sloth3toes
    sloth3toes Posts: 2,212 Member
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    If the serving size on the bottle reads 30g and not 30 mL, then you are fine, you did it right. :)

    A quick Google indicates that 30ml = 2 Tbsp. Sure it's not 30ml on the bottle?
  • Breepa123
    Breepa123 Posts: 66 Member
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    If the serving size on the bottle reads 30g and not 30 mL, then you are fine, you did it right. :)

    A quick Google indicates that 30ml = 2 Tbsp. Sure it's not 30ml on the bottle?

    Good point. I could have sworn the bottle said "2 tbsp (30g)" for the serving size. I'm going to double check that when I get home and maybe whip out the measuring spoons as well.
  • mheebner
    mheebner Posts: 285 Member
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    I just looked at my bottle of Western dressing, which may be the highest calorie dressing ever in the history of salad dressings, and it is indeed 2 Tbsp = 30 mL
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    Yeah I agree, typically I need half a serving even for a big salad!
  • Sobus76
    Sobus76 Posts: 242 Member
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    The Hidden Valley Ranch Light dressing i use says 30g or 2 tbsp, and you're right it is a lot more then i expected when i use the scale to weigh it.
  • nytrifisoul
    nytrifisoul Posts: 500 Member
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    Either im putting way too much lettuce and veggies on my salad plate then all of you, or im using some real heavy dressing.
  • Breepa123
    Breepa123 Posts: 66 Member
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    I use Ken's Light Thousand Island, and I just remembered I have a bottle here at work too, so I ran to the fridge to check. It definitely says the serving size is 2 tbsp (30g) and does not have a mL measurement.

    I did find a conversion chart online that says 2 tablespoons is equivalent to 28.3 grams for dry measurements and 30 mL for liquid measurements.

    I'm just going going to use measuring spoons and see how it comes out. I had always heard that a food scale is more accurate than measuring cups, but I suppose to could depend on the type of thing you are measuring. :ohwell:
  • Breepa123
    Breepa123 Posts: 66 Member
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    Either im putting way too much lettuce and veggies on my salad plate then all of you, or im using some real heavy dressing.

    Shoot, I'm using dinner plates for these salads. :smile:
  • applepie161987
    applepie161987 Posts: 29
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    This is why I weigh everything! I love using the scale, I find its the most accurate. Do it for chips also.
  • Amitysk
    Amitysk Posts: 705 Member
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    The Hidden Valley Ranch Light dressing i use says 30g or 2 tbsp, and you're right it is a lot more then i expected when i use the scale to weigh it.

    I'm afraid it's probably a typo on the bottle. I can't imagine grams for salad dressing would be correct. According to the Hidden Valley website it's 30mL or 2 TBSP.
  • mheebner
    mheebner Posts: 285 Member
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    well I'll be damned....my Western bottle has mL, but we have a bottle of Ranch and a Chipotle dressing and BOTH are in grams, 30 g to be precise
  • roxylola
    roxylola Posts: 540 Member
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    For liquid ml and g is the same thing - I do a lot of baking so I can be pretty ocd about measurements when weighing but the 2 are fine to swap about
  • ksuh999
    ksuh999 Posts: 543 Member
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    Most full-fat salad dressings are mostly oil. Most oils have a specific gravity of .90, vinegar's is 1, buttermilk is around 1.06, so you can do the calculations from there if you're really anal. Point being 30ml = 30grams is friggin' close enough.
  • Breepa123
    Breepa123 Posts: 66 Member
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    For liquid ml and g is the same thing - I do a lot of baking so I can be pretty ocd about measurements when weighing but the 2 are fine to swap about

    Oh yay, that is fantastic!!!! Thanks!

    *edit: and thanks ksuh! I'm not much anal as unsure about how units of measurement correspond with each other, so I wasn't sure if the difference between the ml and grams was significant. Now I know.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    For liquid ml and g is the same thing

    Exactly. And this is why the metric system is so much more awesome. But it's actually for water isn't it? Is salad dressing heavier or lighter than water?

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