Need help determining calories

  • The last few days I've gone to Cafe Metro to get a salad for lunch. Hopefully someone out there is familiar with them. There is a salad bar where you choose what you want, but the guys there make it for you. Even if I ask for a *little* of something, they just throw in whatever. So here's what I got today:

    "Regular" size spinach - about 2 cups, I think
    Tangerine slices, apples - "handful" of each
    Walnuts and feta cheese - again, a "handful" of each, or even less
    Balsamic vinegar - my guess is that it couldn't be more than 2 tablespoons

    Has anyone ever gone to Cafe Metro or somewhere similar? Maybe someone else has a better of estimate of how much stuff they actually put in. I hate not knowing exactly how much I'm eating but I haven't had time to pack lunches this week.
  • The measurements of "handful" would depend on the size of the hand. The difference could be pretty big, especially with the nuts.

    The spinach is about 20 calories.
    The dressing I use and it should be 60 calories.
  • Hum..I am not familiar with the restaurant but I can maybe give you a ballpark guess. As Jigglefree mentioned, it really depends on the size of a "handful. Would you say half a cup or a quarter cup each?
    I use feta and balsamic vinegar every day. They are two of my favorites.

    Balsamic: If it was just the vinegar with no oil then it is 15 calories per Tbsp. If it is an oil dressing, then it would be 30-40 cals per Tbsp.

    Jigglefree mentioned the spinach

    Feta: Regular feta is 90 calories per 30 grams which is a little less than 1/4 cup crumbled. light feta is 60-70 calories per 30 grams. A small handful will probably be about a serving and a half or 135 calories where a medium handful could be close to 180. Cheeses can add up fast!

    walnuts: 1/4 cup or a small handful is about 170 - 190 calories.

    Tangerines are about 28 calories each

    A medium apple is about 45 calories.

    You can take it from there and decide the amounts that were added to your salad
    I hope that is helpful