So..how small do you make your portions? (bbq, freeze, breakfast)

[gentlearts]

Hubby and I just had a typical dinner. Two boneless porkchops, two potatoes and a bunch of asparagus.
Still, too much food!
We have long ago been splitting a steak, but tonight, I'm wondering ...should I just make one potato and one pork Chop with a bunch of veggies? Are we weird, or what?

I guess my question is..how much do you make?

[charlygal]

I cook in bulk and eat throughout the week. I've lost a lot of weight so I try to stick to a daily calorie allowance. Depending on how I allocate the calories, I could eat your entire dinner minus one potato. The chops are protein and the asparagus is free calories.

[CrowGirl]

I divide my meals into the recommended portions before serving rather than allowing folks to just serve themselves. If anyone is really hungry I tell them they can dig in afte their first serving but they rarely do. People tend to eat what is in front of them so we make the servings <500 calories to start with but allow people to go back for more if after giving themselves enough time to process what they have eaten they are still hungry.

[Dirt Grinder]

Originally Posted by CrowGirl

I divide my meals into the recommended portions before serving rather than allowing folks to just serve themselves...

I cook BBQ for dozens, and I allow people to get what they want. I figure they all had parents to raise them, so they don't need me determining what's best for them.

For ourselves, we generally eat one chop each, or a chicken thigh each. The steaks we buy are four ounce filets, and we do love our fresh veggies.

[karen_in_nh_2012]

Originally Posted by gentlearts

Hubby and I just had a typical dinner. Two boneless porkchops, two potatoes and a bunch of asparagus.
Still, too much food!
We have long ago been splitting a steak, but tonight, I'm wondering ...should I just make one potato and one pork Chop with a bunch of veggies? Are we weird, or what?

I guess my question is..how much do you make?

One boneless pork chop, one potato, and asparagus would make a great dinner, and would be enough for me (as long as there was, say, a brownie for dessert ... JK!).

If it were a BONE-IN pork chop, I might want another half or so, since there is much less meat on those.

But your dinner sounds fine (and tasty)!

(As for steak ... I tend NOT to split those, as I don't have them very often and they are a special treat! So I typically overindulge, often going back for seconds, I must admit. )

[TabulaRasa]

I make lots at once, because I tend to cook in bulk, deliberately making enough for leftovers, other recipes, and to freeze, as appropriate.

Of that, I do small portion sizes of meat and and massive portions of produce.

[elnina]

Originally Posted by gentlearts

Hubby and I just had a typical dinner. Two boneless porkchops, two potatoes and a bunch of asparagus.
Still, too much food!
We have long ago been splitting a steak, but tonight, I'm wondering ...should I just make one potato and one pork Chop with a bunch of veggies? Are we weird, or what?

I guess my question is..how much do you make?

Whatever fits comfortable on 8" plate (the NORMAL size of the 50's-80's), not heaped!
I only use this size for lunch/dinner. I actually throw away all plates bigger than that

Depends on your hubby calorie needs. Big guy doing some physical work needs more food than a slim guy sitting on the sofa all day

[saibot]

There are five of us (two adults, three teens). Our dinners usually have no more than one pound of meat among us, and often less. We eat lots of vegetables and salads, not much pasta, bread or potatoes. However, my teens are known to come back into the kitchen later in the evening and devour the leftovers, or make themselves a sandwich or bowl of cereal. They're all skinny and this seems normal for their age, so it doesn't concern me.

Originally Posted by elnina

Whatever fits comfortable on 8" plate (the NORMAL size of the 50's-80's), not heaped!

I was only around for the 70s and 80s, but I know 8" diameter dinner plates were not the norm at that time. Even back then, those were salad plates. I'm not saying that plates haven't gotten bigger over the years, but googling tells me that the standard dinner plate was 9-10" in the 60s and 10-11" in the 80s, and that's my recollection as well.

Sorry for nitpicking. I think your principle is a good one. An 8" plate of food would not be enough for dinner for my husband (a mechanic) or me, but for sedentary people, it's probably fine. Encouraging smaller portions is generally a good thing.

[SharoninFW]

Originally Posted by gentlearts

Hubby and I just had a typical dinner. Two boneless porkchops, two potatoes and a bunch of asparagus.
Still, too much food!
We have long ago been splitting a steak, but tonight, I'm wondering ...should I just make one potato and one pork Chop with a bunch of veggies? Are we weird, or what?

I guess my question is..how much do you make?

Two words - Salad Plate. 1 small pork chop, 1/2 a baked potato, and a decent amount of vegies. If it doesn't fit on the plate, then its too much If you look at what they give you in a restaurant, you quickly realize that it is usually enough for two dinners or two people. 1/2 that plate is about the size of a salad plate. You may find that you don't usually finish that whole baked potato anyway!

[Gerania]

I don't think there is an ideal portion. We're all more hungry on some days and at some meals than others. In your example, I would have made just one potato.

I like leftovers, and will usually cook more than I'm going to eat at one meal. It's often lunch the next day. A leftover potato might be hash browns with breakfast and asparagus served cold with vinaigrette at a different meal.