How Big Is Your Bowl?

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  • Do you use a gigantic mixing bowl for your salad? Do you have a favorite plate - pretty color, nice shape, just the right size? do you use measuring cups, or something else to portion out your food? Does just the right place-setting make you happier with your meal? Do you think using a smaller plate (ala behaviour modification) helps you to eat less? Do you use different dishes than the rest of the family? Answer as many as you like, or add something!

    Years ago, I bought a green plate made by Homer Laughlin (of "Fiesta" fame) at a thrift shop. My plate has a nice scalloped edge and it is smaller than a regular dinner plate. The medium green color goes well with my food, and my plate makes me happy with my meal. I have a little cobalt blue ramekin that holds exactly 1/4 c. I use this to serve myself nuts or snack mix. I love the color and the snack makes me happier in the blue dish than just using a glass custard cup.

    My DH bought our dogs gigantic stainless salad bowls for their meals. They chewed up all their other dishes. These dishes make the dogs happy.
  • I definitely mix my salad in a mixing bowl and then dump it on my plate before putting a little dressing on it . . . then I smash it over a bit to add my protein serving.

    I also cook my oatmeal (microwave) in a large bowl (to prevent splashes) and then just eat it out of the same bowl.

    My favourite water glasses definitely hold 16 oz.

    Other than that -- no favourite plates or other dishes for me.
  • I do the same thing with my oatmeal. I finally figured out what bowl to use that won't boil over in the microwave. Not a cute bowl, but practical.
  • I am new to calorie counting/portion control (seriously anyways) and I am finding that those little psychological tricks really do work!!! In fact, I'm getting myself some pretty measuring cups when I reach my mini-goal Right now, mine are either stainless steel or white, plastic. Blah....
    I have been using my great grandma's china for pasta, but that's about the only "special" item I have at this point. I use the same dinnerware as my family, just a smaller plate/bowl most of the time. I do have a pink ribbon water bottle that I carry with me ALL the time and find that's much more exciting than the ugly clear bottles you can buy at the grocery store

    Thanks for starting this thread...how fun!!
  • That is a good idea to reward yourself with measuring cups instead of food. I think that is behavior modification, too!
  • Quote: That is a good idea to reward yourself with measuring cups instead of food. I think that is behavior modification, too!
    That is a good idea! When I hit my mini-goal weight I think I will reward myself with a new bento box. And I think I will buy a 1/4 cup ramekin now so I can stop pretending that I can accurately measure 1/4 cup or 1/3 cup with my hand.
  • I use measuring cups, spoons, and my kitchen scale. It just depends on what I'm measuring.

    I don't have any special dishes, but I try to make sure that 1/2 my plate is veggies, 1/4 protein, and 1/4 whole grain. I don't pile my plate up though.
  • I definitely have favorite dishes!

    My normal plates/bowls are the Noritake POP design (look it up - they have optical illusions!) which makes meals extra fun.

    Whenever I exercise at home, I drink water out of the same plastic cup -- it's got my former college logo on it. It's just the right size (16oz) and I like plastic because I can't break it when I'm frantically grabbing it during a workout video.

    I use a tiny spoon (almost normal length, but a smaller "head"... I have 2, no idea what they were/are made for, the family had them long before I was born) when I'm eating pudding, jell-o, or other desserts. Sometimes I use it for yogurt too.
  • I eat my salad out of a mixing bowl. I mix up a big bowl of lettuce and other greens and dressing, portion out a tiny amount for my SO, the add the rest of my veggies (cucumbers, radishes, and one other veggie). It's a huge salad (at least 8 oz total in weight) and I eat one almost every night. It feels so decadent that I'm often embarrassed to tell people how much salad I eat. If my SO isn't having a salad, then I make and eat my salad in a serving bowl, which is slightly nicer than the mixing bowl.

    I cook oatmeal and other hot cereal in a small saucepan on the stove. I used to dump into into a bowl to eat, but then I figured out that doing so was just making an extra bowl for me to wash. Now I just eat my oatmeal right out of the saucepan. I do the same thing with single servings of soup.

    Otherwise, I don't have any special plates. Our plates are horribly boring--my SO inherited them from his Dad. But there's nothing wrong with them, so I can't justify buying new ones.
  • I sometimes use the luncheon plates for dinner. When I do it, everyone gets the smaller plate.

    I have some Corelle serving bowls that are a nice size for salads that are meals. I "plate" the salads into the bowls rather than in a large mixing bowl and then serving it out. One less bowl to wash. And I can customize the salads. I don't want the hot peppers, my daughter doesn't want peppers, my husband wants 2-3 times more lettuce than I do and my daughter wants a third the lettuce I want. (This salad is too large for me. This salad is too small. But this salad is just right. hehe)

    Oh, almost forgot. We have some bowls that are 8 ounces, exactly one cup. It's fairly easy to use them for one cup, 1/2 cup, and 1/4 cup in measuring out a side or snack.
  • Good morning.

    I use a HUGE mixing bowl for salads and other "free" food. I've also got my favorite water glass that easily holds 22 oz. I try to stay away from our regular dinner plates because they're the typical large white plate--so I use the bread plate instead! Apparently I'm a very visual person because I really do eat less when the plate is smaller and looks full.
  • This is a brilliant thread! Because a big salad does not equate with a big brownie. When we folks say a BIG salad ... we mean big.

    On Sunday I took a plastic box 9x6x4 ... at work added a can of salmon, walnuts, sunflower seeds, carrots, tomato, soy cheese and dressing. Mine is the biggest lunch bag at work.
  • Visions of a salad bowl sized brownie just popped into my head. That would be one serving, right?

    My salad container for my lunch is 6x8x2. This container just fits in the bottom of my lunch bag. Then I have smaller containers of the same kind that pile on top of my salad container. The size of my lunch always impresses folks.
  • Quote: Do you use a gigantic mixing bowl for your salad? Do you have a favorite plate - pretty color, nice shape, just the right size? do you use measuring cups, or something else to portion out your food? Do you think using a smaller plate (ala behaviour modification) helps you to eat less? I have a little cobalt blue ramekin that holds exactly 1/4 c. I use this to serve myself nuts or snack mix.
    Sometimes I do use a big mixing bowl for my salad, I hate overfilling a regular dinner bowl because it's hard to mix the dressing. I recently got a Fit & Fresh salad shaker that I like to use because it holds 4 cups of salad and has a compartment for up to 4 Tbls of dressing and when you put the lid on and twist the compartment for dressing, it drops the dressing onto the salad and you can shake the whole thing to distribute your dressing. I don't have a favorite plate, but I like this idea. Sometimes I use a salad plate, but what I will usually do is pile that plate high to make up for a smaller plate! But now that you mention it, I will try it again tonight. I use measuring cups, measuring spoons and a scale to portion out most of my food. If I don't do this I find myself cheating sometimes. I love the idea of using a ramekin for snack mix/nuts. I have a little sushi soy sauce dish that I bet doesn't hold much, I will have to measure some nuts out and see how much it holds. Thanks for the idea!
  • Cool thread!

    We have been collecting jadeite fire king bowls and plates for years. The plates are a cool green color and pretty solid for 1940's dinnerware. They really do help with portion control. The bowls are soooo tiny. I told my hubby that they would never work, because we like big portions. Well, he ignored me - as always - and now we get tiny portions of cereal and soup.

    I make our salads on the dinner plates ... a tiny salad would be a crisis!