Group Discussions

Anyone read Deceptively Delicious?

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  It's that Jessica Seinfeld bestseller - she sneaks pureed veggies into all her kids' foods. Anyway, I was just flipping through a copy in Target tonight and I have to say, it looks like a really fab book. Not fab enough for me to buy a copy at $17, but fab enough for me to borrow the ideas and try 'em out. Specifically, I really liked: 1. stirring pureed spinach into eggs, 2. grilled cheese sandwiches with pureed orange veggies added - carrots or whatever, 4. dips made by combining reduced fat mayo with pureed veggies (bell peppers etc) plus additional flavorings.
  
  Has anyone else read the book? Tried the recipes? I guess they could work for a busy working mom if you puree and freeze your veggies in batches ahead of time...right?

  Flag as inappropriate Posted by Diane on 12th February 2008
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  I've read the other one, "Sneaky Chef." I got it from the library and tried a few purees. They're still sitting in the fridge getting freezer burn. I did like Sneaky Chef's chocolate chip cookie recipe. It has white bean puree, oat flour, and almond flour to give some extra protein and temper the sugar rush. But it also calls for lots of chips, real butter and eggs so it's not a diet cookie. No one is going to mistake this for a classic chocolate chip cookie, but as a cookie snack, it's pretty good.
  
  Most food experts frown on the whole sneaking veggies into food thing. I think that if the whole family skips veggies, and if you're up front about the whole thing, then maybe this is a start. But there's not enough here to give a day's worth of fruits and veggies, in some cases not even a full serving, so you'll still need veggies on the table. I also think this would be great for a kid with picky eating that comes out of sensory integration difficulties or other issues. Otherwise, you're really better off cooking vegetables in a way you enjoy, eat them enthusiastically in front of your kids, and supplement with a multi until they outgrow it.
  
  If you want to give the purees a try, use a muffin tin to freeze them in. Mine is exactly 1/4 cup.

  Flag as inappropriate Posted by Jenns on 12th February 2008
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  I've done Deceptively Delicious as I have a VERY stubborn 3 1/2 year old, and I am amazed what I've been able to sneak in. It is great, if you have the time or the inclination to cook and puree batches of food ahead of time.

  Flag as inappropriate Posted by jesikaj on 13th February 2008
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  Hmm, that is a good point, Jenns. Some of the recipes have, like, 1/4 cup of a vegetable mixed in, which is not much. But I guess it all counts!

  Flag as inappropriate Posted by Diane on 13th February 2008
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  My husband actually wrote a counterpoint to that book for last week's Food section in The Boston Globe...
  
  http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/food/articles/2008 /01/30/kids_lets_eat/
  
  We may just have strange kids, though. My 3-year-old adores broccoli -- adores it, as in will ask for it instead of cookies in her lunch box. My 15-month old will ask to get down after he's finished all of his sweet potatoes or carrots and then meander around the table demanding that his siblings give him theirs. And my big kids are salad fiends and actually request brussel sprouts (I roast them with salt and pepper and bacon... so they're probably not healthy by the time they hit the table, but they sure do taste good).
  
  I do think that, if you're sneaking cauliflower into the mac n cheese, you're not teaching your kids how to enjoy cauliflower, you're just teaching them to eat mac n cheese. But still... whatever works, works. If my kids didn't already eat vegetables, I'd be hell bent to get them to ingest them however I could!

  Flag as inappropriate Posted by Lylah M. Alphonse on 13th February 2008
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  My jaw dropped reading this, Lylah. And thanks for the link to your husband's piece. I just read it and it's sound advice. I have to say, I have been experimenting with my toddler and I have discovered just this week that the make-it-a-game thing does work. If she has a spoon in her hand and "helps" feed herself, she is happy to eat whatever I give her. That encouraged me a lot.
  
  By the way, re. the salt, pepper, bacon: I think it's a good thing to season veggies properly. It seems to me that that's a big reason why kids hate veggies - because they're often not well cooked or well seasoned. Which is all to say: you and your husband are obviously wonderful cooks!!

  Flag as inappropriate Posted by Diane on 14th February 2008
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  Thanks, Diane! You know, one of the best and easiest veggie seasonings to keep around is Old Bay. It tastes good on pretty much anything -- and it's healthier than covering everything in melted butter...

  Flag as inappropriate Posted by Lylah M. Alphonse on 14th February 2008
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  Old Bay, I'll have to remember that.
  
  I love the book "From Asparagus to Zucchini" for vegetable recipes. It's by the Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition and is full of great recipes. It's organized by vegetable in alphabetical order so you can look up whatever you've got.
  
  I used to need 3 spoons to feed Pidge. One for the food and one for each hand. At each spoonful she'd drop one spoon and reach for the new one. Then I'd fill the dropped spoon.

  Flag as inappropriate Posted by Jenns on 15th February 2008
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  Agree with Lylah-
  
  My SIL got the book because my nephew is a terrible eater- only eats dinosaur chicken nuggets and fruit.
  
  she made brownies with some veggiepuree from the book, and her son loved them- then she realized that it wasn't helping things to let him eat 3 brownies a day just to sneak in a little veg.....

  Flag as inappropriate Posted by MsMD310 on 16th February 2008
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  My 2 year old son was really good about eating up until a week ago or so. Now he is in a picky stage . . . he only wants raisins and carrot sticks and peanuts. Could be worse. He used to just scarf down the veggies, though, but he prefers almost everything raw, so it is a huge struggle to get him to eat cooked anything! The baby will eat anything and everything you put near his mouth, so he gets all veggies at the moment.
  
  I haven´t read any of the books that you guys are talking about, but I do make up my own recipes, like using squash puree in breakfast coffee cake. My 2 year old has intestinal problems, due to surgery, so he needs a super high fiber diet and can´t have much in the way of sweets, so offering him oatmeal squash muffins and things like that works really well when he wants something with carbs.
  
  Other ideas to try for picky eaters:
  
  Yogurt and fruit puree spread on bread (you can drain the yogurt in cheesecloth to make a spread)
  
  Banana/cocoa/honey popsicles (my son went through a frozen stage, if it was frozen, he´d eat it)
  
  Super pasta sauce (just add broccoli and carrot puree to regular pasta sauce)
  
  Molassas (my mom used to use it to sweeten our oatmeal or other cereal . . . lots of iron)

  Flag as inappropriate Posted by Genesis on 19th February 2008