How to measure items like Croutons?

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Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    I love croutons. I can eat them right out of the bag. With peanut butter, even better. I just did that to the tune of 700 calories worth the other day.

    I weigh them. Doesn't deter my ravenous intake, unfortunately.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    A saltine is 12-15 calories, and not soaked in butter and fried - so 35 calories for 1 very large Texas crouton is not an unreasonable guess.

    My best guess to get a somewhat decent estimate, since they don't list a serving size weight, would be to divide the total weight of the package by the estimated number of servings.
  • Good_Morning_Glory
    Good_Morning_Glory Posts: 226 Member
    I weigh them.
  • ktekc
    ktekc Posts: 879 Member
    My texas toast croutons says serving size 7g. i have regular ones too it also says 2 tablespoons (7 grams).
  • iiswansongii
    iiswansongii Posts: 1 Member
    Thank you! All these years later and I too had this question today and found this thread! 6 croutons it is!
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    edited December 2018
    damn the old thread got me
  • lalalacroix
    lalalacroix Posts: 834 Member
    I hate when I read over half a post before realizing it's a zombie thread.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited December 2018
    Lucas_Chanelle wrote: »
    2 tablespoons is equal to 1 ounce on the scale. So just weigh the croutons. It's definitely more than 2! More like 10 depending on size of the crouton! Everyone loves croutons! Enjoy them!

    That conversion will only work for aqueous liquids given waters density is close to 1 gram per mL. It will not work for croutons at all. A crouton is going to be considerably less dense than water so your method would way overestimate how many croutons are in a serving likely by several times.

    If you use 1 ounce as being 2 tablespoons for non-liquids you might want to check your numbers again.
  • FaydraSearle
    FaydraSearle Posts: 3 Member
    I saw on a Texas Toast message board somewhere, they said 2 of their croutons is a serving, so Im guilty of no less than 3 servings every salad. CoraGregorys bag measurements were accurate. I've learned that it doesn't matter if it tells us its zero calories, companies determine these calories and nutrients with something called a bomb calorimeter - So to figure out this croutons caloric content - they placed this crouton in a container- surrounded it by water - and heat up the water until the food burns away, how quickly the food disintegrates is apparently how quickly our bodies would digest it - which is absolutely nutty to me, and of course I'm giving you the very light explanation, I am not an expert, lol.. Anyway, from what I know.. If it's crap food, we should be eating as little as possible. lolol.. So Guestimate on the HIGH END. I like texas toasts cause you can take six of them and easily make 12..
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    zombie thread!
  • MissyS1414
    MissyS1414 Posts: 1 Member
    I actually contacted Texas Toast and got the answer!!!! Large croutons are 2 grams per crouton and small croutons are 0.5 grams per crouton. Next to the serving size on all our croutons is the weight in grams for one serving of croutons, 7 grams. Depending on the size of croutons being used you can have 4 croutons if you are using all large size, or 14 of the smaller-sized croutons in a serving.
  • azalea4175
    azalea4175 Posts: 290 Member
    i struggle with eating out and trying to track my food. I do try to order things like grilled chicken or fish with no sauce, but hard to determine the size or weight of these items. I usually guess what I think it is and multiply by 1.5 for a 'safety margin' but not sure that is the right or effective way. Anyone have any tips?? my hubby likes to eat out once a week or so, and sometimes we travel.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,304 Member
    Eating out will always be a guestimate.
  • wilson10102018
    wilson10102018 Posts: 1,306 Member
    edited July 2021
    There is a big difference in croutons. No one would ever buy a bag of the kind of croutons one would get in a nice French restaurant. I've seen a pound of butter disappear on a griddle into only enough croutons to make six Caesar salads. Translate 500 calories per salad.
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    edited July 2021
    Dang. No more croutons for me. :/
    Eh that's okay, didn't need 'em anyways. :)
  • age_is_just_a_number
    age_is_just_a_number Posts: 631 Member
    Weigh them.
    Alternatively, When I make estimates, I try to estimate on the high side. So 1 = 1 serving.

    Here’s another option: once your croutons are gone (I don’t like wasting food), then done buy/make them again and instead sprinkle pumpkins seeds, sunflower seed, hemp or your favourite nuts/seeds onto your salad. Higher calories, but IMO more flavour and nutritional value.

    Good luck
  • truGAINS
    truGAINS Posts: 656 Member
    Will a few croutons really throw off your calories?
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    truGAINS wrote: »
    Will a few croutons really throw off your calories?

    Depends on what you mean by a few, and whether being lackadaisical about logging croutons is part of a larger pattern. How many times a day is someone shrugging off "a few X"?

    A half ounce/14 g. of croutons will likely be 50 to 60 calories.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    PennStateChick wrote: »
    Can you weigh them?

    Exactly.^

    The gram weight of 2 tablespoons is also listed on the package. This is a prime example of something that should be weighed.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    truGAINS wrote: »
    Will a few croutons really throw off your calories?

    If it's just a few croutons and you have the wiggle room for 50-100 extra calories per day, no. But if you get in the habit of not logging anything for which "a few" won't make a difference, then you often wind up with a significant amount of unlogged calories and then you're wondering why your weight isn't behaving as expected.
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    truGAINS wrote: »
    Will a few croutons really throw off your calories?

    It depends. If you used a whole bag you'd be adding 600 calories, whether it's over the course of 1 day, 3 or 7, would make a difference in speed of weight loss. Myself, I don't worry much about it but haven't been logging closely like I used to. :(
  • sketchdog
    sketchdog Posts: 1 Member
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    4 Full Circle Caesar croutons = 7g = 2tbsp
    Indeed whoever thought TBSP was a good idea to portion croutons by should be diced up and tossed in a salad!
  • DFW_Tom
    DFW_Tom Posts: 220 Member
    deannalfisher wrote: »
    zombie thread!

    lol, This is the epitome of a Zombie thread. Guess an important subject like portion size of croutons will always keep coming back. My count has it at 8 resurrections so far:

    February 2013 (thread started)
    January 2014
    January 2015
    May 2016
    December 2017
    December 2018
    February 2020
    July 2021
    September 2023

    I don't even eat croutons, but a morbid sense of curiosity forced me to open this thread to see how it is possible a subject like croutons was able to elicit 53 (now 54) replies. I still don't know - just happy to do my part in keeping it rolling.

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