Foods you were OVERestimating calories for before you used a food scale?
Replies
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youngcaseyr wrote: »Canned beans typically say 3.5 servings per can, but after measuring I have found that it is almost always nearly exactly two servings. I can eat more beans but that also means I have to BUY more beans. Worth it.
However, 1 dry cup of flour is typically more than the weight in grams as it is listed on the package.
I have been cooking beans from dried for years , at first for economic reasons and then for taste and control of salt content.2 -
youngcaseyr wrote: »Canned beans typically say 3.5 servings per can, but after measuring I have found that it is almost always nearly exactly two servings. I can eat more beans but that also means I have to BUY more beans. Worth it.
However, 1 dry cup of flour is typically more than the weight in grams as it is listed on the package.
I have been cooking beans from dried for years , at first for economic reasons and then for taste and control of salt content.
It also gets around the problem with weighing canned beans drained when the labelled calories include the liquid in the weight. The drained beans can have almost double the calories by weight compared to the label. OTOH, weighing dried is fine if you make one serving at a time, but typically you will be making many more and often already mixed with other ingredients while cooking. One of the things I like about frozen peas, beans and corn is that you can weigh them accurately and make a serving at a time. that's important at my house as I am about the only one, other than one of my kids who is away at college, who eats beans (other than green beans) and peas somewhat regularly.0 -
CarvedTones wrote: »youngcaseyr wrote: »Canned beans typically say 3.5 servings per can, but after measuring I have found that it is almost always nearly exactly two servings. I can eat more beans but that also means I have to BUY more beans. Worth it.
However, 1 dry cup of flour is typically more than the weight in grams as it is listed on the package.
I have been cooking beans from dried for years , at first for economic reasons and then for taste and control of salt content.
It also gets around the problem with weighing canned beans drained when the labelled calories include the liquid in the weight. The drained beans can have almost double the calories by weight compared to the label. OTOH, weighing dried is fine if you make one serving at a time, but typically you will be making many more and often already mixed with other ingredients while cooking. One of the things I like about frozen peas, beans and corn is that you can weigh them accurately and make a serving at a time. that's important at my house as I am about the only one, other than one of my kids who is away at college, who eats beans (other than green beans) and peas somewhat regularly.
When I use canned beans, I'll drain them and then weigh them, and use a USDA cooked entry. Not perfect, but it seems to have worked so far. I don't typically see frozen beans (other than green beans) around here at all, I wish I could find them!0 -
Also peanut butter by about 1/3rd. Cashews/other nuts (probably trying to be too cautious like some have mentioned). Mayonnaise and other condiments and spray creams etc
Even when I was weighing using a spring scale I was way over estimating them.
Strangely the things I was underestimating are things that don’t really matter like spinach so I feel a bit spoiled using my new digital scale and getting to eat more of all of the yummy things.
But weighing cheese makes me sad ☹️2 -
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youngcaseyr wrote: »Canned beans typically say 3.5 servings per can, but after measuring I have found that it is almost always nearly exactly two servings. I can eat more beans but that also means I have to BUY more beans. Worth it.
However, 1 dry cup of flour is typically more than the weight in grams as it is listed on the package.
I have been cooking beans from dried for years , at first for economic reasons and then for taste and control of salt content.
Ditto. It takes a little bit of preplanning -- like, I can't decide that afternoon that I want to make chili for dinner that night -- but it's worth the effort, and really doesn't take all that much work. Beans soak overnight, then get cooked before I make the meal. Even kidney beans only take an hour to cook, and Great Northern are closer to 30 minutes or so...1 -
I can't believe all the people who were OVERestimating peanut butter! The pitiful sight of a properly weighed serving would make angels cry
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Pasta! My weighed out serving is less than I would eat before I tried to control portions but more than what I would try to guesstimate with a stupid measuring cup after I started counting calories.1
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youngcaseyr wrote: »Canned beans typically say 3.5 servings per can, but after measuring I have found that it is almost always nearly exactly two servings. I can eat more beans but that also means I have to BUY more beans. Worth it.
However, 1 dry cup of flour is typically more than the weight in grams as it is listed on the package.
Whatttt the bean thing is ridiculous! Does the serving/weight include the water?0 -
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The main things were veggies and meats. I actually could consumer more of those than I had been estimating pre-food-scale.
Other things, like pasta and avocado, were very sad revelations and went the opposite direction....1 -
youngcaseyr wrote: »However, 1 dry cup of flour is typically more than the weight in grams as it is listed on the package.
Do you think if you sifted the flour it would be closer to the weight listed? It gets kind of packed when it's in the container!1 -
LOL this was after weighing. I just types tbsp instead of grams cause I didn't have the jaw in front of me and I can't remember how many grams in a serving0 -
happytree923 wrote: »youngcaseyr wrote: »Canned beans typically say 3.5 servings per can, but after measuring I have found that it is almost always nearly exactly two servings. I can eat more beans but that also means I have to BUY more beans. Worth it.
However, 1 dry cup of flour is typically more than the weight in grams as it is listed on the package.
Whatttt the bean thing is ridiculous! Does the serving/weight include the water?
Yes, it does. The labels are calories for the product as packaged unless specified otherwise. If you pour off the water, weigh the beans and use the weight from the can for a serving you will log a lot fewer calories than it actually is.0 -
steak and ribs. I have a thing about fat (texture) so I tend to leave a lot of meat behind while avoiding fat/bones. I would just go by my initial measurement of the whole thing.
Now I go back and weight a second time after i'm done eating. What I ate is the difference between the two measurements. Saves me a lot of calories!
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Bread for me. Slices can be way underestimated. Then some are overestimated.0
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CarvedTones wrote: »youngcaseyr wrote: »Canned beans typically say 3.5 servings per can, but after measuring I have found that it is almost always nearly exactly two servings. I can eat more beans but that also means I have to BUY more beans. Worth it.
However, 1 dry cup of flour is typically more than the weight in grams as it is listed on the package.
I have been cooking beans from dried for years , at first for economic reasons and then for taste and control of salt content.
It also gets around the problem with weighing canned beans drained when the labelled calories include the liquid in the weight. The drained beans can have almost double the calories by weight compared to the label. OTOH, weighing dried is fine if you make one serving at a time, but typically you will be making many more and often already mixed with other ingredients while cooking. One of the things I like about frozen peas, beans and corn is that you can weigh them accurately and make a serving at a time. that's important at my house as I am about the only one, other than one of my kids who is away at college, who eats beans (other than green beans) and peas somewhat regularly.
My black beans state drained.2 -
collectingblues wrote: »youngcaseyr wrote: »Canned beans typically say 3.5 servings per can, but after measuring I have found that it is almost always nearly exactly two servings. I can eat more beans but that also means I have to BUY more beans. Worth it.
However, 1 dry cup of flour is typically more than the weight in grams as it is listed on the package.
I have been cooking beans from dried for years , at first for economic reasons and then for taste and control of salt content.
Ditto. It takes a little bit of preplanning -- like, I can't decide that afternoon that I want to make chili for dinner that night -- but it's worth the effort, and really doesn't take all that much work. Beans soak overnight, then get cooked before I make the meal. Even kidney beans only take an hour to cook, and Great Northern are closer to 30 minutes or so...
Pressure cooker works wonders! Just make sure the valve works right and does not get clogged.0 -
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