MEASURING

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br_rdrnr
br_rdrnr Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Do you measure pasta before cooking it or after cooking it 85 g is the allowance

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  • Chrisparadise579
    Chrisparadise579 Posts: 411 Member
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    always before
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    Weight it before
  • jeannettemancini
    jeannettemancini Posts: 58 Member
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    I always hear people say that you should measure food before cooking. But I honestly don't know how people do that. In less you're only cooking for yourself all the time it's impossible. I have a family of five. If I cook pasta I cook a pot of pasta and we all take some. I don't free measure my amounts and cook it on the side just for me. Also even if I am cooking just for me I tend to cook A ton of food over the weekend and then portion it out to eat throughout the week. Again pretty much impossible to do that and not end up weighing it afterwards. Looking for advice.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    jeannettemancini wrote: »
    I always hear people say that you should measure food before cooking. But I honestly don't know how people do that. In less you're only cooking for yourself all the time it's impossible. I have a family of five. If I cook pasta I cook a pot of pasta and we all take some. I don't free measure my amounts and cook it on the side just for me. Also even if I am cooking just for me I tend to cook A ton of food over the weekend and then portion it out to eat throughout the week. Again pretty much impossible to do that and not end up weighing it afterwards. Looking for advice.

    Weigh it when it goes in the pot, weigh it again after cooking and draining, then weigh your portion to figure out what you're taking.

    OP, unless specified, it should be weighed (preferably rather than measured) before cooking.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    edited February 2015
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    For one or two pasta meals for the whole week, make a wild guestimate with the cooked pasta. But if you eat a lot of pasta, you really want to know how many calories are in the pasta you are going to be consuming for that meal/ that week. One option is to weigh your pasta uncooked and cook it separately from whatever the rest of the family eats. Lots of people look at average numbers for the week instead of daily calories so you do not have to be exact to the day.
    Because you are going to be spending more time in the kitchen, get members of the family to do more of the housework than they currently are doing.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    edited February 2015
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    .
  • Kekekylene
    Kekekylene Posts: 112 Member
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    malibu927 wrote: »
    jeannettemancini wrote: »
    I always hear people say that you should measure food before cooking. But I honestly don't know how people do that. In less you're only cooking for yourself all the time it's impossible. I have a family of five. If I cook pasta I cook a pot of pasta and we all take some. I don't free measure my amounts and cook it on the side just for me. Also even if I am cooking just for me I tend to cook A ton of food over the weekend and then portion it out to eat throughout the week. Again pretty much impossible to do that and not end up weighing it afterwards. Looking for advice.

    Weigh it when it goes in the pot, weigh it again after cooking and draining, then weigh your portion to figure out what you're taking.

    OP, unless specified, it should be weighed (preferably rather than measured) before cooking.

    this^^
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Depends on whether calories are raw or cooked
  • br_rdrnr
    br_rdrnr Posts: 3 Member
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    Thank you everyone this helped lot
  • 50452
    50452 Posts: 170 Member
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    I ate spaghetti the other night and weighed it after cooking. I don't think it's optimal, but was cooking for a group. The database here did have a calorie count for the cooked brand I was using.

    I feel that my count was pretty close.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    Most labels are for the condition of the food as packaged. That is, before cooking.

    I'll admit I do not do much complex cooking. But if I'm making pasta, I do it one of two ways. a) I'll boil mine in a separate pot. or b) I'll weigh dry, then weigh again after draining to get the total. Then I'll weigh my portion and know what % of the total goes on my plate.

    The problem with weighing after cooking for something like pasta is it will contain more or less water depending on individual preferences. Water weight can be significant.

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