Does Food Packaging Make You Overeat?

I came across an article today on Psychology Today that was pretty interesting. It’s basically a quick summary of a study done by Adriana Madzharov and Lauren Block in the October, 2010 issue of the Journal of Consumer Psychology.

Here’s a snippet of the article.

Many snack foods show a picture of what the product looks like. A box of chocolate chip cookies will show sample cookies on the front. A bag of pretzels will show pictures of the pretzels. A box of crackers will show the crackers.

The studies in this paper make three main points…

First, the number of items on the front of the package affects people’s judgments of how much food is inside the package…

Second, when given the chance to actually eat, people ate more food from packages with many items pictured on it than from packages with few items pictured on it.

Third, this effect was strongest…

Visit That Package Made Me Overeat to read more.

Your New Cooking Mantra: Bork Bork

Your New Cooking Mantra: Bork Bork

To my readers and fellow cooks who are scared to cook and spice, behold your new cooking mantra: bork bork. There’s a famous Swedish chef who’s not afraid to try anything, and who I love to watch cook. He’s had cameos in numerous films and is well known for his “throw caution into the wind” cooking style. If you don’t know who I’m talking about, take a quick gander at the guy staring back at you in the photo on the left, and meet… actually, he just goes by Swedish Chef.

One thing I enjoy about the Swedish Chef is that he’s over-the-top carefree in the kitchen; in this short article I hope to briefly illustrate why being carefree in the kitchen is not such a bad thing. Bork bork.

For me, being carefree while cooking is fun and relaxing. I often approach cooking with a fun “I’m going to perform an experiment” perspective that is occasionally accompanied by an evil mad scientist laugh, mwahahahaha! This makes cooking fun for me, and as I’ve been told, those who cook with me. The great part about experiments is that it’s strictly that–an experiment, and you can go at your own pace. If you’re unsure about how to experiment, start by following a simple recipe and then make some substitutions or add or leave out an ingredient to see what happens. I guarantee that in time you’ll start to understand how foods work together, and when that happens cooking becomes even more exciting. I find that when I’m carefree while cooking and having fun that I’m more relaxed and feel better about my time, even if my creation only ends up in the round file. One of the perks to always experimenting and being carefree with your stuff is that you end up with a bunch of recipes you can call your own.
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