For those of you who are interested in my findings...I have tried several recipes from the cookbook "Deceptively Delicious" on my children and we have some real hits. First of all I tried the brownies. My kids loved them. The recipe took an entire bag of baby spinach for an 8x8 pan of brownies and 2.5 medium size carrots. I laughed to myself every time I offered the kids a brownie as a snack...especially, Alec who has not eaten a vegetable since baby food. Jason and I both did not think they were as good as the "real" thing, but we ate them anyway (133 calories each...Derek). I think next time I will use milk chocolate instead of semi-sweet to lesson the richness and NOT pack the flour so they are a little lighter.
I have also pureed butternut squash and sweet potatoes...easy to do in the little chopper mom gave us for Christmas a few years back, but the carrots and spinach need a blender (or food processor if YOU have one...I don't...yet). We have had the french toast, using carrot and pumpkin (separate, of course...page 49). I made several batches and froze them for quick, before school breakfasts. No-one complained and everyone ate...hmmmm! This morning we had pancakes with sweet potatoes...Alec is just finishing his second helping (pg 57). My favorite, so far has been the tortilla "cigars" on page 144. YUMMY!!! Even Paige loved them and did not complain or negotiate bites, imagine that!!!! I did alter the recipe some, I used the carrots, but not the squash, only because my kids will eat shredded zucchini. So I shredded an entire zucchini into 6 rolled tortillas. I also did not use burrito size tortillas...too many calories. Any way, as you can tell I am very excited about this and look forward to trying the scrambled eggs on Saturday morning, the grilled cheese, and tacos in the coming week. I'll let you know. If you have tried anything that you like, let me know. Thanks!
4 comments:
Thanks for the recommendations! I was tickled to receive this book from Nori,too, because I watched the same episode of Oprah that Nori saw (featuring Jessica Seinfeld and this book)and I went up to my computer that very day and almost ordered copies for all of us-- good thing I didn't!
I tried my own variation, inspired by the book, of pureed bananas (which were overripe and would have otherwise been thrown out) in the regular box recipe of Krusteaz waffles-- yummy! My boys could taste the banana, but didn't mind-- none of them care for the texture of bananas lately.
I tried Macaroni and Cheese 1 from the book, which I thought was a little too rich tasting, but definitely not bad, but Reid and Luke would have nothing to do with it-- maybe you shouldn't call it Macaroni and Cheese-- if your kids are like mine, there is no substitute for the boxed stuff-- maybe "cheesy pasta" would have gone over better. Ethan at least tried it, but didn't like it.
I did discover, however, while making this recipe, that Reid and I love steamed cauliflower, so I guess it was a success anyway!
The cool thing is that you really cannot taste the veggies in the brownies, french toast or the pancakes. The taste is different from the "normal" but really good. I can see how banana would be obvious, and I am with your boys about the mac and cheese thing...great idea to change the name of the meal. Hey mom, if you are reading this, can I send you some recipies to have you add to the book? I have found some other good ones, but I need a way to organize them.
There are a lot of things in the cookbook that need updating, so send away!!(all of you) We all need some new ideas, especially for healthy food.
I think one of the main things about Seinfields book is that you have to keep it a secret from your kids until they're convinced they like it. I've never seen a kid that would agree to spinach in their brownies if they knew.
FYI...had chicken nuggets today using sweet potatoes...really good!
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