I apologize if this is a really stupid question, but I wanted to make some rice tonight to go along with some chicken. On the nutrition label it says calories as packaged and then calories as prepared. What is the difference between the two? Is the prepared calories counting the butter that needs to be added?

If I add less butter for a smaller portion, do I add the calories from the butter to the packaged calories or the prepared?

Thanks.

I believe your interpretation is correct. Calories prepared probably also includes the water. The easiest thing would probably be to add up the "calories packaged" for the entire box, add to it the total calories from the butter, and then divide that by the number of servings.

A cup of uncooked rice is very different than a cup of cooked rice.

For example, a cup of cooked rice is approximately 1/3 cup (give or take) of UNCOOKED rice.

It's important to calculate when you want to put in the calories in your tracker.

Your interpretation is correct. If you adjust the ingredients added, add those to the "as packaged" count. Usually things like macaroni and cheese, stuffing mix and pilafs will have the "as packaged" and "as prepared" info.