Help with determining calories in spaghetti

bwinkel1987
bwinkel1987 Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello! I'm new to posting but just had a quick question. I made spaghetti tonight (94% lean ground beef with roasted garlic ragu spaghetti sauce and creamette spaghetti noodles) I just searched for spaghetti with meat sauce and measured out my portions to accommodate what I had left in calories for the day. Well I used my digital food scale and 2 plates were 24 oz which equates to 3 cups and only 468 calories. Does this seem right? I just felt like I had such a hearty portion tonight that I will make spaghetti more often if this seems correct. Should I be measuring with an actual measuring cup? Any input/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Replies

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,261 Member
    Is that 468 calories for 3 cups or for 1 of the 2 portions you measured out. If it's for 3 cups i would think that's very low, but it does sound logical for 1 serving.
  • bwinkel1987
    bwinkel1987 Posts: 5 Member
    It was for 3 cups. I also used one of the higher count calories when searching it. It does seem low and now in kicking myself for eating that much
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    You will need to enter it in as a recipe.
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,069 Member
    Sounds a bit on the low side to me. If I have spaghetti, it comes in at around 900 cals for a small side plate (granted 200 of that was garlic bread). Think I had some last Wednesday if you want to nosy back the diary and see if it's similar.

    If your calorie count is right, I want your recipe :)
  • bwinkel1987
    bwinkel1987 Posts: 5 Member
    Ok so just next time separately add up each individual ingredient? Should I measure the noodles cooked or dry?
  • meeper123
    meeper123 Posts: 3,347 Member
    You will need to enter it in as a recipe.

    this I use the phone app for it so I can just scan everything then separate out the portions. It works really well that way. Best way to separate it out accurately is to measure everything on a scale then divide the number by how many servings you want there to be.
  • treefrogkate
    treefrogkate Posts: 13 Member
    You can't convert weight to volume like that. A cup is 8 FLUID ounces, not ounces in weight.

    http://www.foodista.com/question/FFFGDX35/how-many-cups-is-24-oz-of-pasta#
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,069 Member
    Ok so just next time separately add up each individual ingredient? Should I measure the noodles cooked or dry?

    Yes. Once you've done that, save it as a meal (quick tools) for next time.

    ETA: dry
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,261 Member
    Ok so just next time separately add up each individual ingredient? Should I measure the noodles cooked or dry?
    2 oz dry is a serving and is approx 1 cup cooked and is about 200-225 calories. I suspect that the meat could make up the other half cup for your 1 serving. Depending on other ingredients, oil, fat content of beef and the calories in a prepackaged tomato sauce that you could be in and around 400 calories, or 800 for the total 3 cups, probably a touch less.
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
    24 oz of spaghetti... is enormous. o.O

    That's like 1600 calories worth of spaghetti.
  • jigsaw_me
    jigsaw_me Posts: 616 Member
    Check the nutrition label on the packet for whether to measure spaghetti cooked or dry - normally it's dry.

    But yes, if you have the iPhone app, simple use the barcode scanner as you cook to record the ingredients (you'll need to check the serving size on everything when you do this though).
  • bwinkel1987
    bwinkel1987 Posts: 5 Member
    Thank you for your help everyone. I definitely ate a lot more than 468 calories in spaghetti tonight(was figuring I did) lol I will use your advice for next time.
  • jensiegel39
    jensiegel39 Posts: 163 Member
    I'm not sure about how you measured, but I wanted to recommend a particular type of pasta. It's the Dreamfield's brand (comes in a black box and they have all the varieties of pasta - linguine, spaghetti, angel hair, etc...). It's low carb (like 5 g of carbs per serving) but tastes normal (not like the whole wheat stuff, which I can't stand). I don't recall the calories, but they're pretty low too. I had other people try it who aren't dieting and they thought it was great too. I'm so glad I found out about this because I'm not a huge pasta lover, but I like it once in awhile and since I'm watching the carbs the most, it's perfect if I want it as a side or even a main dish.

    I would also add in everything separately and divide by the portion size. I have done that with recipes. I made a casserole, and I had 1/6 for each meal (six meals and I was sick of it, but I digress), so I entered it in once (1/6 of each ingredient) and then each time I had it, I just checked all those items again. I haven't tried the recipe builder yet, but I guess that would be even easier.

    Don't feel bad. You didn't know. You're learning - as we all are! Much luck to you!
  • bwinkel1987
    bwinkel1987 Posts: 5 Member
    Thanks so much jensiegel39 live and learn. I'm glad I posted. Got a lot of great feedback!
  • eylia
    eylia Posts: 200 Member
    There is a recipe function on this website you can use, (click food tab, and you'll see 'recipes' up the top). You'll need to weigh out each ingredient in their natural form (raw meat, veg, dry pasta) and enter them into the recipe individually. You can than divide the recipe up into servings by weight of the finished product.
  • brown46545
    brown46545 Posts: 81 Member
    Like someone else said, when you weigh pasta it should be uncooked.

    I enter my own recipes a lot. It's very easy. Then after you have added all the ingredients, make sure you put the number of servings too.

    Good luck!
  • darkguardian419
    darkguardian419 Posts: 1,302 Member
    too many, you need to eat clean and orga...ahh I can't even finish it.


    If you make it fairly often, set it up as a recipe in your diary.

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