Ever wonder how Rachael Ray or Bobby Flay are able to add ingredients on the fly and still have their dishes turn out perfect? One of the tricks of the trade is learning to size up food portions not by using some abstract measuring system but by comparing them to everyday items like your thumb, a Ping-Pong ball, or a deck of cards. Here’s how to BAM! in some seasoning—and even size up portions at restaurants and parties for better portion control—like a pro. (Remember you eat the stuff on the left.)
Eating In
Ingredient Portion Same Size As…
1 teaspoon butter, sugar, salt… tip of thumb (to first joint)
½ cup pasta, rice, veggies cupped handful
1 ounce mozzarella Ping-Pong ball
3 ounces meat or fish deck of cards
1 tablespoon mayo ½ golf ball
2 tablespoons peanut butter entire golf ball
medium baked potato computer mouse
1 cup broth, water, milk… baseball
1 ounce almonds Altoids tin
½ cup cooked broccoli lightbulb
¼ cup raisins large egg
Eating Out
Food Portion Same Size As…
1 ounce cubed cheese 4 dice
1 bread serving yo-yo
1 tablespoon salad dressing entire thumb
8 ounces lasagna 2 hockey pucks
1 ounce sausage shotgun shell
½ cup mashed potatoes ½ apple
1 serving deli meat or cheese single DVD
1 pancake serving single CD
1 cup cereal rolled-up pair of athletic socks
medium fruit fist
½ cup ice cream tennis ball
Invent Your Own
Now that you have a rough idea of some equivalencies, feel free to customize your cooking and eating with your own props. For instance, if you have no idea how big two hockey pucks are, substitute something you’re more familiar with—like, say, two bars of beauty soap. Or, to remind yourself a little more firmly to control your appetite when eating out, think of that serving size of deli meat or cheese not just as any old DVD but as the movie Super-Size Me. Have fun!
Decadent (yet smart!) desserts
