Carb Counting Quiz
Now that you read my post on Carb Counting 101, let's test your carb counting skills. You will see that the answers are estimates because its very hard to be exact when counting carbs. Let's play!
Pasta with chicken sausage and sauteed broccoli
Answer: about 60 grams of carbs
Why? The pasta is about 1.5 cups cooked. Remember to always measure or eye ball pasta when cooked. The broccoli is not enough to be counted and the chicken sausage is about 1 gram per link. This makes the estimated total about 60 grams of carbs.
Grilled cheese on white bread
Answer: about 32 grams
Why? The grilled cheese is made with 2 slices of white bread. Each slice is about 15 grams of carbs. 1 slice of American cheese is about 1 gram, so 2 slices is 2 grams of carbs. The butter used to cook the grilled cheese does not have carbs.
2 pieces of grilled salmon
Answer: 0 grams of carbs
Why? Salmon has 0 carbs. It has protein and fat. The lemon does not add carbs and neither does the salt and pepper. If this salmon was glazed, that would increase the amount of carbs.
BBQ dinner (BBQ chicken, risotto and grilled brussel sprouts)
Answer: about 40 grams of carbs
Why? The grilled chicken leg has some BBQ sauce on it. The 1/2 cup of risotta has about 20 grams of carbs and brussels have 8 grams per cup. Totaled up this meal has about 40 grams of carbs.
2 breakfast taco with grapes
Answer: about 65 grams of carbs
Why? Each taco is made with 1 wheat tortilla which is 16 grams of carb. Each taco has about 1/4 cup of black beans. 1/2 cup of beans is 20 grams. The eggs and sour cream do not need to be counted. The salsa does not have much. The grapes total about 10 grams of carbs (1 gram per grape)
Tempura shrimp with teriyaki sauce and asparagus
Answer: about 35 grams of carbs
The tempura shrimp is breaded which is why it has carbs. Each piece is about 7 grams of carbs with a total of 5 pieces. The teriyaki sauce is about 2 tbsp which is roughly 10 grams of carbs. The asparagus is not really enough to account for.
Lobster roll
Answer: about 25 grams per roll
Why? The only thing that really needs to be counted is the roll. The lobster, mayo and tiny bit of celery does not add up to much.
Pork fried rice and dumplings
Answer: about 155 grams of carbs
Why? The pork fried rice is about 2 cups, each cup is about 55 grams of carbs. Each dumpling is about 7 grams of carbs. As you can see, this is a high carb meal for sure!
Chicken tikka masala
Answer: about 80 grams of carbs
Why? The rice is about 1 cup which is 45 grams. The 1/2 piece of naan is about 15 grams and the cup of chicken tikka is about 20 grams.
Big a#$ burger
Answer: about 52 grams of carbs
Why? The burger has 1.5 rolls which is about 45 grams. It also has about 2 tbsp of thousand island dressing which is close to 5 grams of carbs. There are also 2 pieces of cheese to account for.
Bagel from a local shop
Answer: about 50 grams of carbs
Why? It's all bread and it's as big as your face :) Thankfully the cream cheese won't add too many more carbs to the total.
Let's look at some snacks and sweeter items
Soft pretzel (Philly's favorite food)
Answer: about 90 grams of carbs
Why? See bagel why above
French toast with syrup and whipped cream
Answer: about 80 grams
Why? Each slice of bread is about 15 grams. This portion of french toast has 2 slices of bread. Each tbsp of maple syrup has about 13 grams of carbs, estimating about 3 tbsp. The whipped cream adds about another 10 grams.
Cupcake with frosting
Answer: about 50 grams of carbs
Why? The cupcake base is about 20 grams of carbs. Each tbsp of frosting is about 15 grams of carb. This cupcake has a pretty good portion of icing that looks to be about 2 tbsp. For reference, 1 tbsp is about the size of 1 dice.
Strawberry shortcake
Answer: about 45 grams
Why? The portion of cake (about a 2 inch slice) is about 20 grams of carbs. The strawberries are about 1 cup with sugar for an estimated total of about 15 grams of carbs. Lastly the whipped cream adds about another 10 grams.
Last one for the quiz! My favorite to count......cereal!
Answer: about 80 grams of carbs
Why? Most cereals are very high in carbs (unless keto or low carb). This cereal pictured is Puffins. 1 cup of Puffins has 34 grams per cup. This bowl is about 2 cups of cereal. The milk, although skim, has 12 grams per cup. As you can see, cereal packs A TON of carbs!
I hope you have found this to be helpful! The more you practice, the better you will be at carb counting. Remember when things are not labeled, you can use Calorie King, Alexa, Siri or Google.