measuring veggies

[Atomicblonde]

if you are going to cook a veggie, do you measure the one cup before you cook it, or after it's been cooked?

and if you are going to chop say 2 stalks of celery, do you count it as 2 stalks, or 1 cup?

[cleochatra]

I also count as Mama does-- on a scale or by the stalk! And if I'm stuck using a measuring cup, I pack as loosely as is possible! I'd rather figure under than over.

[not2late]

For Induction, the book says to measure the veggies that shrink from cooking before you cook them.

For your two celery stalks, I would either chop them and measure OR weigh them and look up the cup equivalent on the USDA Nutrient Database. The USDA site is what I use for "odd sized" vegetables. The only thing you have to be aware of is that you need weight has to be in grams. Also each veggie has its own weight. Weight and cup measures are not the same thing. So 8 ounces of green beans does NOT equal 1 cup (8 fluid ounces) of green beans.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/


If you look up celery raw, in the database, you'll see that one "small stalk" weighs 17 grams, one "medium" stalk weighs 40 grams, and one "large" stalk weighs 62 grams (roughly 2 ounces).

By the way, weighing foods is what professional chefs do. The exception is that they don't weigh liquids, such as water, cream, etc. They use fluid ounces for that, which is essentially the "cup" measures.

[Elsie150]

I use a digital scale. Or for those odd sized veggies I have been known to use a measuring cup with say 1/2 cup of water in it then put the vegies in it until it reaches the amount I needed. But I only do this if fitday doesn't give me the option of a weight measurement.