Category: Jenny Craig

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Farmer’s Market, South African Wine & Mexican Lasagna

A Special Mexican Lasagna
A Special Mexican Lasagna

Laura has done a wonderful job on keeping herself trim and fit. However, every once in a while her weight falls too far and emergency steps need to be taken. It is what the Polynesians call “going thin.”

However, there is a cure! We call it  ‘La Hermosa Laura’s Mexican Lasagna.’

After a week on  Jenny Craig, we like to have a special Saturday Lunch to enjoy, celebrate and plan for the week ahead. However, before preparing lunch, we make the 2 mile walk to Farmer’s Market in San Luis Obispo to buy tomatoes, pistachios, onions and …. artichokes! Laura took this picture of me at our favorite local coffee shop, the Nautical Bean.

Now... this is an Artichoke!
Now… this is an Artichoke!

This will be Sunday’s lunch served with Garlic Butter!

Bon Appetit!

Roger Freberg

PS. Congrats to SC’s great Men’s Basketball team for winning the Pac 10! … and congrats to Tennessee in their win today.

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rice pudding perfection

How you prepare your ingredients makes all the difference!
How you prepare your ingredients makes all the difference!

Some folks love recipes that brag that they have only 5 ingredients and take only 30 minutes to bring their masterpiece to your table, maybe that’s why they prefer to dine at places with arches… no imagination. There is another way … by studying the history of the dish and how it plays all over the world.

Even in a historically simple food like ‘rice pudding’, one can find a world full of variation. Rice pudding is made all over the world – for hundreds of years – and in some very interesting ways. Milk and rice dishes can be traced back to the far east, but we in the west owe something to the ancient Romans who actually made it with goat’s milk! In more recent times, the Scandinavians have a fun Christmas dish where one whole almond is hidden and the finder is assured of good luck or marriage in the following year, or so they say.

Most commonly, rice pudding is flavored with Cinnamon and often with raisins, but there are also many other wonderful additions and possibilities. Rice Pudding has been prepared as either a main meal or sweetened as a dessert. Some like to prepare it on the stove top and others in the oven. The best recipes contain eggs and lots of them as would a custard!

My recipe uses saffron on the rice, a variety of spices, many eggs, wine and brandies, fruit and nuts, and baked in an oven.

I’ll post the recipe soon,

Roger Freberg

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cherry turnovers with amarula glaze

Cherry Turnovers accented with 7 spices and covered in a South African Amarula Glaze
Cherry Turnovers accented with 7 spices and covered in a South African Amarula Glaze

I don’t know why I made them. Maybe, I was trying to corrupt the gals at Jenny Craig Tomorrow? Or maybe it has been a while since I have had something sweet that I made them just to look at? riiiight!

Let’s just say the devil made me do it.

Roger Freberg

PS the small turnovers are under 200 calories and the large is… well… more. The calories in this sort of dessert is really in the pastry.

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Body by Jenny Craig

bodies and spirits transformed by Jenny Craig

If every man knew what I know, they would have far few troubles with the women in their lives.

Nothing makes a woman happier than to find herself in a new ‘envelope.’ That’s what the plastic surgeons call it: making a new envelope… however, using Jenny Craig to carve away the fat and tone the body is far less painful and much less expensive.

Today, Laura got a hold of their ‘beginning’ picture at Jenny Craig! whew! In my fair and balanced way, I have shown two ‘after’ pictures. Karen has continued to lose weight and I think has dropped twenty since this picture has been taken! Both of these ladies sport size 4’s nowadays! Who would have thought that losing weight would have brought them so much pleasure?

As for me… nah, Jenny Craig did nothing for me, I have always been my college weight… ahem… at least that is the way I want to remember it!

Congratulations, ladies!

Roger/dad

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Cooking with Eggplant

the humble eggplant

My wife of 36 years has very few faults — and I mean that sincerely — but those she has surround what she considers ‘acceptable’ cuisine. There are two items that we tend to think of as vegetables ( Eggplant is actually a berry) that she has always found objectionable: Okra and Eggplant. I would normally enjoy dishes made with these ingredients only when I traveled on the road.  However, the challenges with many ‘vegetables’ is always in the preparation, usually needing to reduce their moisture so that they don’t make a fine dish… watery. So, I would argue that it is the preparation and not the eggplant that is the issue.

With a little encouragement from Laura’s aunt Jeanne, Laura is ready to try something … new. Most of the recipes you will find on the internet do not address the issue of ‘wateriness’ as they tend to view quickness in preparation as more important than the final product. Sorry, that’s just the way I see it.

I am deep frying slices of seasoned and battered eggplant that has first had some moisture reduction therapy (details to follow when I post the recipe) that I will layer in a casserole with various cheeses and our own Marinara Sauce… along with a few surprises… so far it all smells delicious!

Stay tuned!

Roger Freberg

Although the Arabs like to take credit for many things, including bringing the eggplant to europe in the middle ages, the eggplant originated in Asia where it has been cooked before time began; China and India are the top producers today.

Yes, you can make the recipe  Jenny Craig compliant  and portion controlled. I plan to include a nutritional panel and a portion size suggestion.