I couldn’t believe my eyes when I glanced at the potato section in a produce display at a food show. They were staring back with multiple eyes. The largest potatoes were the serving size for giants.

Don’t get me wrong. I really like potatoes. I’m just not sure I could polish off a 24-ounce potato in one sitting.

The produce salesman saw me staring and walked over to me.

“Can you believe the size of those potatoes?” he exclaimed. “No one needs to eat that much in one sitting,” he noted, which rather surprised me because it was one of the items he was trying to sell.

“I do a lot of traveling, so I eat out a lot. We’re served hefty portions of everything in restaurants and this is the result,” he said, as he patted his slightly rotund belly.

We visited quite awhile and he handed me the giant spud as I was leaving his booth. I thanked him for providing me with enough food to serve my entire family potato soup or mashed potatoes.

Many people use the terms “servings” and “portions” interchangeably. Technically, servings are different from portions.

A serving is a standard reference amount of food. For example, one cup or 8 ounces of milk is the serving size used by the Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture. Standard serving sizes are used on Nutrition Facts labels and all the nutrition information relates to that serving size.

We obviously can eat or drink more or less than the “official” serving size. Portions are the amounts of food that we actually consume.

For example, the serving size for snack crackers in a box on my computer desk is 16 crackers, with 140 calories. If I became preoccupied writing a nutrition column and mindlessly ate half the box of crackers, I would have consumed a “portion” with about 600 calories.

Therefore, it would be a good plan for me to put my portion in a bowl and put the box out of my reach if I want to manage what I consume.

Managing portion sizes remains a topic of concern among nutrition professionals as people across the globe continue to expand in size. Most people enjoy getting more for their money, so large portions often are viewed as a better deal.

Keep in mind that just 100 extra calories per day for a year can add up to a 10-pound weight gain. For most people, weight is easier to add than to subtract.

The size of the bowls or plates used can affect the portions we eat, too. Experts suggest using smaller bowls and plates. To help eyeball common serving sizes, keep these everyday images in mind:

• 3 ounces of meat is about the size of a deck of cards.
• A medium potato is about the size of a computer mouse.
• A half-cup of cooked pasta or rice is about the size of half a baseball.
• An ounce of cheese is about the size of four dice.
• 1 cup of fruit or a medium-sized fruit is about the size of a baseball.
• 2 tablespoons of peanut butter is the size of a pingpong ball.

Here’s a recipe to warm a cool autumn day. It’s from the USDA’s Recipe Finder at http://recipefinder.nal.usda.gov/. I used the giant potato I received at the food show.

Potato Soup

1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped celery
6 diced potatoes
2 Tbsp. margarine
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 c. nonfat dry milk*
3 c. water
2 Tbsp. flour
Parsley flakes, optional

Peel and chop the onion. Chop the celery. Peel the potatoes and cut them into small cubes. Melt the margarine in a large saucepan on low heat. Add the onion and celery. Cook for a few minutes. Add the potatoes, salt, pepper and 1 1/2 cups water. Cook for 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender. In a small bowl, stir together the dry milk and flour. Add 1 1/2 cups water slowly, stirring as you add it. Add the milk mix to the potatoes. Cook until the soup is heated and slightly thickened. Sprinkle with parsley flakes if desired.

* Substitute 4 cups of low-fat milk for the water and dry milk if desired.

Makes six servings. Each serving has 190 calories, 4 grams (g) of fat, 36 g of carbohydrate, 3 g of fiber and 50 percent of the daily recommendation for vitamin C.

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Source: Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Rich Mattern, (701) 231-6136, richard.mattern@ndsu.nodak.edu

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