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“reverse engineering” Jenny Craig!

hmmmm.... lookie lookie what I found!

I have lost almost 90 lbs and my family is jokingly ( I think) referring to me as “MAN-orexic” as though being 236 lbs is like being one of those ‘stick models with poofy lips!”  True, my size 32 jeans is hell and gone from my old 46’s… but I think that is a GOOD thing, don’t you?  Thank you, Jenny Craig.

However, this now presents a ‘problem’ as I enter apon unknown territory into what dieters refer to as ‘maintenance.’ Jenny has a plan for this… and for $39 a year, it’s a bargain. Regretfully, part of the program is ‘cooking on your own.’

In truth, we always do a certain amount of preparing already… ‘super sizing’ the salads and dinner time veggies helps curb my big appetite. However, I have become quite fond of their ‘complete start cereal’ ….and wondered… how I would get along without it?

So, I put my ‘marketing hat’ back on and ‘theorized’ that Jenny wasn’t probably baking up her stuff …but having other folks prepare to her specifications. I thought, what better way to come up with your own ‘proprietary’ cereal than to take a few assorted packages of other folks stuff and mix it up as your own.  Clever, girl ….. Anyway, that’s my theory.

I then took the bag of Jenny Craig ‘Complete Start’ cereal and separated it into what seemed to be it’s component ingredients …. and I found: an ‘all bran’ , a ‘flake’, a ‘puffed wheat’ and a crunchy nugget that — to me — tasted of almonds.  So, I began to look for the components in other cereals in order to reproduce a reasonable ‘facsimile’.

It’s tough to match Jenny’s low fat and high fiber combination… but I think I got breakfast down… but the other meals? Sheeeeesh…. I think I’ll be on Jenny for a while down the road… which is all fine by me… I love the ‘individually frosted’ chocolate cakes!

Roger Freberg

Have you called Jenny, Yet?

 

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Ostrich “Biltong” ( jerky) in America!

Support the Troups... Buy Jerkey!

South African ‘Biltong’ is grand! However, this ol boy has enjoyed what we call “Jerky” since he was a mere sprout.

I had the opportunity to try some J.C. Rivers “Ostrich” Jerkey… teriyaki style… and frankly, I wanted to eat it all myself! Not only is this stuff good… but they discount shipments to military personnel… and my daughter told me they lived on this stuff when they were running convoys to and from Bagdad.

Here’s a link to their site!

Love that Ostrich!

Roger Freberg

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a South African Braii… in California?

Our trial balloon for the South African Braii!

Have you ever started a series of new recipes? Have you wondered whether they would be a hit… or a colossal flop? Well, the sure fire way to see if something new works is to do a small trial run… we did… fantastic!

Karen had returned home from her internship in South Africa with Total Media and has just ‘graduated” with her Masters in Public Relations from one of my alma maters… the University of Southern California! With all these excuses to celebrate, we couldn’t resist… besides, if the menu flops it is better to have small, manageable group mad at you than a large crowd looking for a rope!

The anticipation was deafening!

Karen wrote up the Braii …. and I am sure she’ll  have a post to follow! Now, we can work up to the big event!

 

Roger Freberg

PS… the wine of South Africa was exquisite… and yes, there was much Pinotage!

 

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Finding South African Wine… the hard way!

Clairvaux... small, interesting and mine!Now, I don’t often get to do this when I am talking about wine… but it is fun to find a wine that few people know about… or have even tried.

However, there is a wine from Clairvaux that has an interesting history in the area of Robertson, South Africa.

My daughter Karen enjoyed her time working on her internship in Cape Town… and I casually asked her to keep an eye out for some interesting wines. Little did she know that her entire trip would be spent investigating certain aspects of my chosen avocation.

I tried not to abuse her good nature…too much. Poor, Karen.

Karen looked into some of the smaller… what we might call ’boutique’ wineries as well as the main stays… but in her travels and friendships, she found something very interesting… something very special.

It is always amusing how someone will pass up a 1955 Château La Tour to study in depth a new winery that they have never laid eyes on.

Clairvaux is just one of those occasions. While one of my ‘friends’ began studiously studying my latest acquisition… I nicely took it from his hands and said… oh, I think there is something more interesting for you to see over here. Of course, I now had him hooked. I shrugged and said that I didn’t think it was easily available in this country (partly true)… so I suggested he look at something else…. a common Margaux , perhaps.

There began the saga… the legend of Clairvaux.

Clairvaux can be found ni the Robertson area of South Africa

Clairvaux can be found in the Robertson Area of South Africa… and if you get in the area… it is one place on my list to visit.

I’ve talked enough… you can’t get it easily anyway… Buah-ha-ha! ( I so wanted to say that)

Roger Freberg

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Laura’s Amarula Carrot Cake!

Laura's Wonderful Carrot Cake!

Something special happens when you get a bunch of ‘foodies’ together… recipes and ideas just come out and an event gets planned!

Laura  and  Karen  put their heads together and found a wonderful recipe for Carrot Cake utilizing two ingredients that were surprising: apricot and  Amarula!  Their recipe also contains pineapple but Laura has added that for thirty years, so no surprise. What was interesting was how the apricot and the Amarula added something very special.

Here’s  Laura’s adaptation of her own recipe  and as Laura is fond of saying, “Bake it for someone you love!”

Roger Freberg

Now all we need is the Ostruducken!