Having had a baby 8 months ago I still have plenty of weight left to lose. I decided to try The Kosher Fresh Diet for a full week.

The Kosher Fresh Diet is owned by “The Fresh Diet”. Everyday between 5PM-7AM a deliveryman drops off an insulated cooler bag packed with ice full of of your food for the day. This includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks. Usually one in the form of a dessert, and one in the form of an hor douevre.

There’s a choice of some unbelievable menus of food. Amazingly, after the meals I wasn’t hungry and was mostly satisfied. It was an amazing luxury as a mom, not having to make myself food for an entire week. Obviously, that’s factored into the cost of the service and makes the cost of food per day significantly higher than if you were preparing it yourself. First, you’d go through an entire list of food and list whatever you don’t like on a “dislike list”. Then, you’d choose your menus for the week, which are catered to your tastes. If you are too busy to go online and choose your menu then the chefs will choose your meals for you. You do need to choose your food 72 hours before it gets delivered. If you have a special dietary need, for example if you’re breast feeding, they will take that into account.

• On Day 1, Tuesday, July 19, my menu included Tri-color bell pepper and Cheddar Cheese Egg Bake with Fresh Pineapple. This was delicious but it didn’t end up coming with fresh pineapple – it came with a sliced pear that tasted frozen, and despite this it was probably my favorite breakfast. It gave me tons of energy and I was really full – even though when I first looked at it I though the portion looked small.

  Lunch consisted of Cajun Seared Tuna salad with Baby corn, Tomato, Baby Lettuce, and Tart Cherry Vinaigrette. This was my least favorite meal. The tuna was super “fishy” tasting, and the vinaigrette just really was not my thing.

  The snack was multi grain crackers with tofu dip which was bland but filling because of the all protein in the tofu.

  Dinner was really good if a bit spicy. Grilled Chicken Breast in Apricot Curry Sauce with Herbed Celery Root Puree and Sauteed Mushroom Medley. The Mushrooms were awesome and my pineapple coconut muffin was amazing, especially considering this is a diet.

• On Day 2, Wednesday July 20, the breakfast was Mandarin Orange Ricotta Cheese Crepes with Strawberries. These were delicious and reminded me of sweet blintzes. The fruit again left something to be desired as it again seemed that it had been frozen.

  Lunch was a Turkey Breast Salad with Avocado, Golden Apples, Baby Lettuce, and Raspberry Vinaigrette. The turkey reminded me of chicken salad. The Avocado wasn’t ripe enough and the apples again tasted defrosted. It wasn’t bad but it was not my favorite.

  Dinner was fabulous. First I had the Hor D’oeurve which was Teriyaki Tender Beef and zucchini Skewer. This came with a sweet and salty asian style sauce. It was delicious. Then for dinner I had Roasted Leg of Lamb with Red Wine and Shallot Reduction with Southwestern Orzo and Sesame Soy Sauteed Baby Bok Choy. This was my favorite dinner. The lamb was tender and juicy, the orzo perfectly cooked and full of flavor, plus I absolutely love Bok Choy. I was very full and really enjoyed my meal.

  Dessert I ended up eating earlier because it was dairy. Cherry Cheese cake. I couldn’t get over the desserts. They were really tasty considering that they were all diet.

• On Day 3, Thursday July 21, the breakfast was Apricot and Cherry Oatmeal with Toasted Almonds. The Apricots were really good. The oatmeal was a little bland and I really wasn’t in to the Cherries.

  Lunch was Grilled Chicken Breast with Baby Arugula, Orange Segments, Mango and Strawberry with Citrus Ginger Dressing. Really tasty and filling and for the first time the fruit actually tasted fresh.

  The Hor D’oeuvre was Grilled Portabella Mushrooms with Yellow Tomatoes, Basil, Fresh Mozzarella, and Balsamic Vinaigrette. It was fresh and filling.

  Dinner was Cod Loin with Port Tarragon Dijon Sauce, Wild rice and Cranberry Pilaf, and Sauteed Kale. The cod was firm and delicious. It was reminiscent of Chilean Sea Bass. The Rice needed more flavor, the Kale was tasty.

  Dessert was Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake which was possibly the best dessert. It was moist and delicious and tasted like real cake.

• On Day 4, Friday July 22, the food was great. Breakfast was Mushroom and Feta cheese quiche, with fresh pear. Again it looked small but was really filling and gave me lots of energy.

  Lunch was Fresh Boccaccini Mozzarella Salad, with roasted Yellow bell pepper, Tomato, Black Bean, Romain Lettuce and red wine vinaigrette The Vinaigrette was actually Raspberry Vinaigrette which I really don’t like. It also had yellow wax beans and no black beans but it was filling and overall tasty.

  Shabbat evening, was interesting. I’m used to eating several courses and challah, but your meal on Shabbat is the same as during the week. They did give me fish as the Hor D’oeuvre so that did make it feel more Shabbat like.

  I started with the Hor D’oeurvre of Grilled Yellow Fin Tuna with Snow Peas and Creamy Wasabi Sauce. This was delicious. As opposed to the other Tuna I had earlier in the week, this was perfectly cooked and not fishy at all. Dinner was Grilled Chicken with Chili Pineapple Sauce and Spanish Rice with Sauteed Baby Bok Choy. It was a little spicy, but yummy and filling.

• On Day 5, Shabbat (Saturday July 23), I had a breakfast of Fresh Fruit Watermelon, Blackberry, Apple, Orange, Red grapes, and Wild Berry Yogurt. Not my favorite breakfast but light and refreshing nonetheless.

  Lunch was Asian Flank Steak on a Whole Wheat Roll with Szechwan Style Slaw and Peanut Sauce. This was really good. It wasn’t the cholent and schnitzel the rest of my family was eating but I didn’t feel deprived either.

  My snack was yummy Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. My favorite.

  For dinner/shalosh seudot I had Crispy Chicken Tenders with Ranch Dip. Then Caramelized Onion Turkey Breast Roulade, with Saffron Parsley Quinoa, and Oven Roasted Roma Tomato. Delicious, totally not diet tasting and of course filling.

• On Day 6, Sunday’s breakfast included a Triple Berry Oatmeal with Toasted Macadamia Nuts. It was just ok – the oatmeal was not my favorite thing.

  Lunch consisted of a Grilled “Shrimp” Caesar Wrap with Romaine lettuce and cucumber on a Sundried Tomato Wrap. It was very tasty but a bit small. I had my dessert which was Wild berry cheesecake this was good but it had a bit of a diet aftertaste.

  I skipped the Hor Doeurvre Cucumber Cups with Herbed Cheese topped with capers because it just wasn’t my thing.

  Dinner was a delicious fish meal. Fillet Of Sole with Lemon Caper Sauce and Butternut Squash Puree and Sauteed Shitake Mushrooms. Loved the Squash and Mushrooms lots of earthy, hearty flavors that was complemented by the light flaky fish.

• Day 7, Monday, my last day. Breakfast was Oatmeal again. Creamy Banana Oatmeal. I’m not a fan of Banana Oatmeal so I skipped that.

  I ate the dessert which was a Blueberry Muffin – delish! It almost tasted like Duncan Hines.

  Lunch was Asian Style Chicken Salad with Baby Bok Choy, Watercress, Alfalfa Sprouts, Water Chestnuts, and Sesame Soy Dressing. This was fresh, tasty, and full of flavor.

  For Dinner I had the Hor D’oeurve of Grilled Turkey Pastrami with Oregano Broccoli Mash and then Citrus marinated Beef Stir Fry with Zucchini Rounds stewed in Fresh Marinara Sauce and Exotic Mushroom Ragout. It was very, very, tasty, and I was sad I was done with my week of food.

My overall experience was that the food was really tasty, and filling. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was considering it was only 1200-1400 calories a day. It is pricey. If you have extra disposable income or only want to do it for a few weeks to lose some weight I think it’s a great program. I lost 5lbs in a week. So it does work (note: this week was the hottest of the year and I also did some extra swimming which I normally don’t). If you really need to lose weight and just don’t know how to prepare tasty, healthy, diet food, or just don’t have the time, then this is the program for you.

The one difference you will see between their website (www.KosherFreshDiet.com) and what you receive is that all the food comes in plastic containers. The images on the site make the meals look fancier than they appear, but despite that, the food definitely used gourmet ingredients.

~Arielle

If you’ve tried the Kosher Fresh Diet, I’d love to hear your comments. Please comment below.

Last week I was fortunate enough to have attended KosherFest 2009. This was my second year in row at the convention, and I learned from my mistakes last year: don’t eat too much or you’ll get majorly nauseous, and only eat meat in the last 3 hours of your day otherwise you’ll miss out on some great dairy food.

While at KosherFest I was discussing the production of our upcoming program: Jewish Travel TV, I was also able to find 3 unique products that are worth mentioning for kosher travelers.

• 1) Luck Chen – a prepackaged bowl of steamed noodles, that just needs water and 2 minutes in the microwave. It requires no refrigeration and comes in 5 flavors: Spicy Kung Pao, Soy Ginger, Sweet & Sour, Sesame Teriyaki, and Spicy Szechwan. What makes this product different from “Tradition’s” noodle soups is that Luck Chen is a noodle meal AND it has Zero MSG, no articial colors or preservatives, and is low in sodium – much healthier than those chemical noodle soups.

  All 5 flavors are Pareve, comes in easy to carry plastic bowls, and are certified by the OU. You can check them out at LuckChen.com.

• 2) La Briute – kosher travel meals that heat themselves. I know this is not a new product. It’s been on the market for a few years, and has endured mixed results, but for the kosher traveler it is worth mentioning.

  I used La Briute meals when traveling to Iceland last year. Iceland has no Jews, thus no kosher food, so these meals came in handy. However, the meals themselves are a mixed bag. One of the meals I had was tasty – not 100% filling, but tasty, the other meal was less so and left me seeking something from a Reykjavik style 7-11.

  The self heating mechanism is definitely unique and comes in handy when you’re without a microwave or hot water, but they do need to improve their flavors. One warning is that when you heat up the meal, smoke does emit from the packaging. Do not be alarmed by this, but use discretion when heating up your La Briute meals, I.e. Not on public transportation.

  People have complained that the meals do not look like the packaging, and for the most part I agree, that it is a bit deceptive.

• 3) HolyCow Kosher – a fun brand that produces a line of kosher beef jerky. The great thing about this product for travelers is that beef jerky doesn’t go bad for a long time. It doesn’t need refrigeration and HolyCow has included a zip lock plastic bag to keep the meat fresh in it’s original packaging.

  The meat is quite good and comes in 4 flavors: Original, Hickory, Sweet & Spicy, and Teriyaki.
  You can read more about HolyCow Kosher and see wheat stores in the USA carry them at: HolyCowKosher.com.

• Both HolyCow Kosher and La Briute products are sold online at Kosher.com. Luck Chen is too new of a product and isn’t sold online yet.

If you have comments to add about Luck Chen, La Briute, or HolyCow Kosher please use the comments sections below. If you know about other “kosher travel” products that you think I should feature here, please comment below so I can look into it.

Take care and happy travels.
~Dani