Category: Jenny Craig

Posted on

Sometimes, you just don’t want to know!

Boston Cream Pie Nutritional Label
My bride of 36 years asked me for the recipe for yesterday’s “Boston Cream Pie” that I had a chance to blog about and post.

The first thing she asked,”How many servings do you expect to make from this cake?”

I knew where she was going with this, she intended to make a nutritional analysis and I intended to not fall into her trap!

“Oh,” I said, “about 50 servings or so!” She was not amused. ( it is 12)

Any good Boston Cream Pie is going to be heavy on the calories and Cholesterol… but that – I am afraid to say – is what makes it so good! I am reminded that I am still ‘watching my weight’ and yet I know that I can plan a grand culinary experience on occasion. The key to any diet plan is portion control, let’s face it.

This is what makes “Jenny Craig” work.

So, don’t get scared off of delicious food because of what it is… or you will miss the experience. If you plan for these dietary ‘departures’, you can always work it into the menu … and for me that’s once a week!

Live well!

Roger Freberg

PS. Here’s another link to the Boston Cream Pie!

Posted on

Inescapable Nutritional Facts in Recipe Development

venturing into the jungle of nutritional data
Here I am beginning to venture into the the jungle of nutritional data and investigate the Myth that what tastes good has got to be bad for you.

It has always been a strong ‘belief’ of mine that what you really enjoy is probably really good for you… and the stuff you avoid… well… there are reasons for that too. Recently, facts are starting to support my observations and the real issue  associated with good food is the high quantity we all enjoy….not the taste or quality.
Laura's simply fabulous Stuffed Bell Pepper Recipe!Humans have existed in times of feast and famine with the obvious increasing and decreasing size of their waistline. So, it seems very natural for us to enlarge ourselves in times of plenty in order to ensure we make it trough the lean times. Modern times of plenty have produced the general obesity of our population.  I was once one of those.

What people need today is ‘portion control’… and delicious food. They do not have to be mutually exclusive.

I remember spending time in a test kitchen that had two major parameters for their recipes: cost per serving and time in preparation. Although many things can be made quickly and relatively inexpensively, if you forget about these two issues, you can make something that really impresses …. and since it is portioned controlled, it probably isn’t all that bad unless you are using ridiculously expensive ingredients like Beluga.

Anyway, here is a simple recipe of Laura’s that is roughly a little over 300 calories per serving and simply wonderful! A little rich for Jenny Craig… but ‘Oh Well!’

Laura’s Stuffed Bell Pepper Recipe!

Roger Freberg

BTW, California has had very strange weather this year… from 114 to 46 within weeks… so I put on an old school ‘camo’ coat that the Army doesn’t use any more since they went to a better design… works great.

As for recipes, we are revising some of our recipes with the concept of developing natural portion controls ( for example, a bell pepper is a natural constraint as you can only stuff it with so much). One of my favorites “Bobotie” is irresistible to me… so I am looking at this one especially.

Posted on

Ode to daughters

My daughter Karen Freberg and her evolving life
As readers of my blog know… I have three daughters: Kristin, Karen and Karla. Although I was not either trained or prepared to raise daughters, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Daughters need fathers in ways sons seldom do…. and best of all… they keep in touch.

I was thinking these past weeks while two of my daughters were site seeing in and around Beijing, how much they have changed, grown and off doing many interesting things.

Although the picture above goes from right to left on Karen’s ‘evolution’ from a middle school thrower to a Ph.D. student at the University of Tennessee, it reminds me of the many challenges met in her varied athletic experience. One of the fortunate lessons from her mother was to develop a ‘life after sports’ and this can be easily viewed in watching her strong academic efforts.

Just a note , ladies, you all make me proud to be your daddy.

Roger Freberg

Posted on

Jenny Craig in CHINA!

Karen or Here is Karen… or should I call her by her Chinese name “Kailin”?

‘Kailin’ is posing at the Great Wall with her  Jenny Craig  Breakfast. ‘Kailin’ is a mere shadow of herself from the days she held 4 National Powerlifting Records! Now she wants to continue dropping weight until the size 10’s she has on now are ‘baggy’ and she has to get smaller sizes!

Both she and Kristin ( or ‘Ki-li-si-tan’ in Chinese ) are off Jenny a time or two in order to sample the local cuisine which I here is wonderful.

They thought that the most recognizable picture from China would be with the Great Wall which at it’s closest point — they tell me — is only 50 miles or so from the outskirts of Beijing!

By the way, my daughters don’t pack things as well as I do when it comes to shipping things and I tease them a lot if anything comes to me crunched, dented or as mush. I used to think that my packing superiority was due to the fact that I moved so much as a child ( 5 different second grades for example). However, I now know that this completely inherited… because look what I received in the mail from their aunt ( my wife’s sister):

this was once a clock

It’s hard to imagine that this was once an exquisite marble clock, ;however, with time and a little patience I’ll get it put together… after all, unbelievably, the mechanism still works! Laura has a nice family… just don’t let them touch anything.

Roger Freberg

Here are some pictures from Day 2 in and around Beijing! 

Posted on

Controling Obesity by What We Buy!

Yep, aren't we thin!Probably one of the more interesting articles on controlling obesity through marketing food products that are more in-line with most people’s consumption habits is entitled: “De-Marketing Obesity” from the California Management Review vol. 47 No.4 Summer 2005.  (produced by Brian Wansink and Mike Huckabee)

Marketing Nutrition also by Brian Wansink is “a book that examines the intersection of consumer psychology, nutrition, and business.”

For me the four points that jumped out of the study:

1) 57% of consumers would pay 15% more for packaging ‘that helps them better control what they eat.’ Practically speaking, folks want multi-packs with smaller individual servings, and packaging that is ‘slightly more difficult to open, access and eat from.’

2) Change the Product but not the price. When prices go up on goodies, consumption also goes up … oddly enough

3) Small changes in the recipe will reduce calories without changing the perceived taste.

4) ‘Consider co-promoting healthy options, recipes…’

Many marketers are already utilizing the principles. Jenny Craig is a master at all of these principles. Anyone who has had to wrestle a ‘Jenny Craig’ package KNOWS that this is ‘part of the dining experience!’ The food is very low calorie and low fat, but tastes very close to ‘the high priced spread’ and this makes all the difference! The chocolate cake is delicious!

So…. what are you waiting for?

Roger Freberg