How big is a "serving"

TiredOfBeingRound
TiredOfBeingRound Posts: 41 Member
edited September 24 in Food and Nutrition
I'm planning on making a turkey chili ....but how do I know how much a serving is? one cup? 2 cups? I was going to add everything up and divide it by the number "servings", is that correct? thanks!

Replies

  • sbwood888
    sbwood888 Posts: 953 Member
    I wold probably have to eat 2 cups. Even with a salad, I don't think 1 cup would satisfy me. Maybe your appetite is not as big as mine! :laugh:
  • merrillfoster
    merrillfoster Posts: 855 Member
    It's whatever you want it to be, just make sure you're accurate (don't say it's 4 servings when you're having it in 2)
  • jenroseb
    jenroseb Posts: 6 Member
    I make the Weight Watchers turkey chili all the time and a serving to them is one cup. One cup also only equals one point to them. I probably eat about 2 cups myself!!
  • jimmydeanbakker
    jimmydeanbakker Posts: 333
    I actually think it's one cup.
  • AggieCass09
    AggieCass09 Posts: 1,867 Member
    When I make chili, I put the recipe into the recipe thing on MFP (food > recpie) and then i play with how many servings makes a good calorie portion (10 or 12 is typical) then in the pot, I will divide up the whole pot into even serving amounts (usually 4 containers of 4 servings). So I don't do mine by measuring...its more about diving. I've found that this tends to be more accurate in the calorie department,

    Good luck
  • Genie30
    Genie30 Posts: 316 Member
    You could try running it through the recipe calculator and see what it divides up by sensibly. That way you get an idea of how much a portion should be.
  • jclji4
    jclji4 Posts: 118 Member
    Yes, you are correct. The thing is, you will have to either know how the chili can be divided equally. Can it be divided into 4 equal parts? Can it be divided into 8? That is the problem I come across when I cook. So, generally I estimate, unless it isn't so much that I can measure how much it is.
  • skinnylizzard
    skinnylizzard Posts: 460 Member
    If you're just eating chili and there are a lot of veggies in it, I would say 2 cups. But if you're having it on rice or with a salad I usually go one cup.
  • gangstagirl625
    gangstagirl625 Posts: 187 Member
    i would do that add all the ingredients up and divide by how many servings. although i saw a challenge on the biggest loser and a bowl (styrofoam) of chili (beef) with cheese (1/8c) and onion only had 267 calories hope that helps
  • lindainak
    lindainak Posts: 101
    Hmmmm, turkey white bean chili sounds good. Must cut recipe so I won't be eating it for the next week or freeze; my husband travels for work. And I can add dark green leafy things to that. My dietition wants me to add 2 cups of organic dark greens a day to diet? She must be thinking dry leaves but even so.
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
    I did it backwards when I was entering my meals. I would count how many meals it lasted (actual number of servings) and then change the recipe (first enter an educated guess and then change if was different), but it usually is around 2 cups for me. Then when I make the same meal again it should be the same amount.
  • mistawalka
    mistawalka Posts: 108 Member
    When I make chili, I put the recipe into the recipe thing on MFP (food > recpie) and then i play with how many servings makes a good calorie portion (10 or 12 is typical) then in the pot, I will divide up the whole pot into even serving amounts (usually 4 containers of 4 servings). So I don't do mine by measuring...its more about diving. I've found that this tends to be more accurate in the calorie department,

    Good luck

    I do something similar to this - using 1 kilo of turkey mince as a base - throwing in the rest ot ingredients and dividing into 5 small bowls gave me a nicely sized portion of around 200 calories each. It then gets bagged and frozen for the coming week or two.
  • paniolo5
    paniolo5 Posts: 186 Member
    That's my biggest complaint about a lot of recipes. They tell you how many servings, but not the size of the servings. I use my scale a lot. If the final pot of food is supposed to be 8 servings and it weighs 98 ounces, then a serving size is 12.25 oz. A lot of times, I'm winging it by eyeballing it (looks to be about 2 quart casserole, so 8 servings equates to 1 cup per serving) and it seems to be working.
  • Painten
    Painten Posts: 499 Member
    I count a serving as how many the meal will feed. So i make a pasta bake and i know it can serve 6 so i'll say it's 6 serving and i usually have 2 but enter that i have 2.

    If you enter that a meal is 4 servings and you say you had a serving after having more than a quarter you will be out.
  • gmom81158
    gmom81158 Posts: 64 Member
    If your are following a recipe it should tell you the serving size. How much you eat is up to you based on what you have available calorie wise. If I make "cupboard" surprise I add all the ingredients in a large bowl first and then use a measuring cup to transfer it to the crock or pan-that way I know how many cups are in there and then I enter those cups as "servings" to figure out all my values.
  • raising2ells
    raising2ells Posts: 47 Member
    I usually do the hard/messy way. I just made chili the other night and had a crockpot full. I then took a large bowl and a 1 cup measuring cup and dipped into the extra bowl until the crockpot was empty. Ugh! BUT IT WORKED! I just decided I wanted a serving to be 1 cup and there were 12 cups in my crockpot. I typed the recipe into "My Recipes" on MFP and put servings as 12. I ended up having 2 cups that night, but just put in 2 servings for the amount.

    Did any of that make sense???? I'm tired! :)
  • pyro13g
    pyro13g Posts: 1,127 Member
    Record the calories for the entire batch of chili. Weigh the batch, don't forget to zero the scale to the container you will weigh the entire batch in.. Divide that number by how many calories you want per serving. That gives you number of servings. Calculate weight of batch/Servings. That gives you weight per serving.

    Example:

    Entire batch of chili. 1000grams
    Total calories in that 1000gr 1600
    I want 300 calories per serving
    1600/300 = 5.33 servings
    1000gr/5.33 = 187.6grams in weight for 300 calories.

    Make sure you stir the batch well before you scoop into servings to be weighed.

    You can do the same thing but use volume(cups, liters, etc..)

    Total volume 6 cups
    1600/300 = 5.33 servings
    6Cups(48ounces)/5.33
    = 1.12 cups or 9.00 ounces per serving of 300 calories.
  • tolygal
    tolygal Posts: 602 Member
    I would measure how many cups your receipe makes when complete. Then set your recipe to serve that many. Then you can eat as much you want, just update how many servings of it you ate.

    For example, I just made chile today (beans only - no meat), and it made 20 cups exactly. So, my recipe had 20 servings (one cup each). So if I wanted 2 cups of chile, I'd enter that I ate 2 servings of it. If I wanted 1.5 cups, I'd say I had 1.5 servings of it.
  • TiredOfBeingRound
    TiredOfBeingRound Posts: 41 Member
    Thank you everyone for all your info and advice!!
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