Thursday, November 29, 2007

getting those veggies in

My sister-in-law sent me a book a few weeks back called Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld (yes, wife of Jerry Seinfeld).

Here is some background as to our home food wars.

Jessica gives meal and dessert recipes using pureed veggies and fruits to give children the nutritive value of these foods without letting the kids know there is anything amiss. While she gives detailed directions on how to steam and puree fresh veggies, I have found that it is easy to substitute a jar of baby food, such as carrots or sweet potatoes without all the mess and waste involved in doing it all from scratch.

So far I have made pasta sauce with cauliflower, spinach, and carrots, brownies with spinach, chocolate cupcakes with spinach, and pancakes with beets. Even I couldn't tell the difference in most of the foods and like pulling a fast one on the children. I have spooned jar after jar of veggies in their mouths, only for them to turn up their noses once they hit the age of 2. Using these recipes and supplementing boxed mixes of cake and brownies I can give them some of the vitamins and antioxidants they need to grow strong bodies and brains.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i think hiding veggies ma not be the best for long term. ny expert, donna fish, made a great comment on her blog www.donnafish.com

kat said...

I looked at Mrs. Fish's web site and found that she is typical of today's parenting "experts": she has no children.

If you read a bit about our home food wars then you will realize that I have fought this battle many times, but my children are as stubborn as they come. Maggie went 5 days without eating more than a entire mouthful of food. Putting veggies on the plate isn't going to result in any of it going in their mouths. This book helps get the nutrients in and that is what is important.