Category: Jenny Craig

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Portion Controled Carrot Cake!

Laura has been a little bored with some of the Jenny Craig Desserts. Now , that we are on ‘maintenance’ , she wanted to investigate ‘portion size’ of some of her favorite fun snacks.

Laura and Karen make Amarula Carrot Cakes to die for … and they really are nothing but delicious! Obviously, they do not qualify as a ‘diet dessert’… and only marginally in the right proportion!

This did not prevent Laura from being a bit clever and squeezing 22 cup cakes out of her recipe … and believe it or not… one of her cup cakes is very consistent as a dessert item for someone on maintenance… she has promised me that she will produce a label — as she did for the Chicken Tetrazzini — outlining fat, protein, carbohydrate content and the like. Stay tuned!

In the meantime… you can see how thrilled she is to find a REAL dessert that will still help her watch her weight… oh yes, that is Cream Cheese frosting as well!

Roger Freberg

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Chicken Tetrazinni & the woman who inspired it!

aaaah, many things go into Chicken Tetrazinni that make it unique and very special!
Every week we fancy something special on the weekend. This weekend we rediscovered “Chicken Tetrazinni”… and the woman Louisa Tettrazinni for which the dish was named.

I was very surprised at how many recipes exist for what is a rather simple dish of mushrooms, pasta and chicken in a lovely cream sauce. Most of the recipes are ‘short cuts’ of the original… but with a little exploration , it is easy to see how it should be made.

Our  Chicken Tetrazinni  uses the famous trinity of French cooking (onions, celery & carrots), along with the love of the wonderful style of New Orleans and garlic of California.

 We hope you enjoy our Chicken Tetrazinni as much as we did!

Roger Freberg

Did I splash a little Armagnac in the chicken ?  I will never tell!

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Portion Control & Nutritional Labels are Key to Diets

the truth about OUR Chicken Tetrazinni isn't really all that bad!Now, I have sat in enough test kitchens to say that I am not the person to squeeze the last calorie out of a recipe… because, taste & the experience of the food has always been my primary interest.

However, thanks to  this site  which allows you to evaluate your recipe… I find that our do-it-yourself special occasion meals are really not all that bad… if you watch the portions.

So let’s compare our latest dish to the best of the diet foods and see how we do?

Jenny Craig  has a few dishes that weigh in at 8.5oz. Let’s compare our cheesey dish to their Meatloaf. We have a lot more calories (392 vs. 300), more fat (13 g to 7g), the same cholesterol (45 mg). However, we have lower sodium (444 to 460 mg), more dietary fiber(5g to 3 g) and less sugar (5g to 8g) and the same protein (21 g).

So, although our  Chicken Tetrazinni  doesn’t qualify as a ‘diet food’… in fairness — it never really tried to be… we just wanted it to be as delicious as it could be and in the process we discovered… great tasting food is often good for you too!

Enjoy this our Chicken Tetrazinni without guilt! (recipe to follow soon)

Roger Freberg

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Cooking for Busy People & those on Jenny Craig

Chicken Tetrazinni
One of my early memories as a young married couple was the fun we had in preparing a week’s menu of dinner meals on the weekend. We would freeze each meal in a container — or two portions in one (very romantic). Then when needed, we would heat them up (in the oven in the old days) and in 30 minutes, we’d have a wonderful meal!

Today, we are doing the same thing for our weekend ‘events.’ We cook and enjoy our weekend meal then portion control the rest into individual containers. As the week progresses, we can visit the freezer (we have 3) and say,”What do we want tonight? Will it be  Paella? , Seafood gumbo? ,  Bobotie? , Lazagna? ,Chicken Tetrazinni? , Beef Stroganoff? or ?”

As an aside, we are fixing  Chicken Tetrazinni  this weekend in a more original format…. something I hope Luisa would be proud of having her name attached. It will be wonderful.

As they say in the film “Last Holiday”, “…you know how some people feel about pork fat.” However, a little always adds something special.  Jenny Craig  has a cookbook that allows you to ‘doll up’ their basic meals… however adding mushooms and Parmesan to their Chicken meal does not really make it “Chicken Tetrazinni”… although I have found worse recipes out there.

So to answer those who have written and asked, “Why spend so much effort and time for an event meal?”… I simply say that the meal will continue to be enjoyed for weeks to come in smaller portions!

Roger Freberg

Check out the calories in your favorite meal…. how many servings must your casserole be divided to be correctly portioned controled?  CLICK here  to check your favorite recipe!

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Jenny Craig Maintenance!!

I won't show you a 'before' set of pictures... but this was the way we were when we first met as 17 year old!

(don’t forget to VOTE,check bottom link)

Well, the  divine   ‘Dr. Laura’  and I have finally met our weight goals at  Jenny Craig!  We did it!

Probably the most scary thing for ‘former dieting’ people is keeping the weight off. Fortunately for us, Jenny Craig has a simple program of ‘maintenance.’

This involves adding a larger amount of calories per day tailored to your individual needs… just enough calories so that you maintain your weight.

I augment their program with a weekly ‘event’: Wine, dessert, great company and ‘something special’ as a main entree. This weekend is another special:  Bobotie  (yep, I am addicted), South African Wine and  Amarula Carrott Cake!

So, we’re happy with the ‘new’ us… and if you were ‘chubby’ as we once were and want to change… there is hope… read my blogs under the category “Jenny Craig”… and –hopefully– this will inspire you ,too!

Roger Freberg

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