A few months back, the book Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld was featured on Oprah. I usually don't watch Oprah but this particular day I was home at that time. My interest was sparked because of my obsession with Nutrition. The basis of this book in her words is to 'Get you kids eating good food.' Or in my words 'get your husband and yourself eating better food than you are eating.' How you might ask? After much trial-and-error — and many mealtime battles — she discovered a foolproof system: delicious and easy-to-make stealth recipes that sneak in pureed veggies so kids (an husbands) will never suspect the foods they love are actually good for them. 
Ever since Jace was born, my nutrition has gone down hill along with my exercise routine. Jace probably eats better and more nutritionally balanced than any baby on this planet, but it is the last thing on my mind to cook nutritional meals for myself and J. Until now! Tonight our ward is having a Ladies Night featured around this book. I am in charge of making Brownies (with Carrot and Spinach). Now that Jace is eating pretty much anything we eat, I am determined to modify our current habits so that we can all stay healthy and strong. Here are some things I have learned so far:
1. If I am serious about adding pureed vegetables into my recipes, I need to purchase a food processor. This morning I have been pureeing spinach and carrots in my blender and it took way too much time for my liking. Lets see how everything tastes tonight before I make this decision though.
2. A lot of spinach and carrots in their natural form, don't allot to much in the pureed form.
3. Pureeing is messy (especially with a blender).
4. Brownie batter is still tasty even with added carrots and spinach puree.
Here is a picture of a 1/2 cup portion of spinach puree to take and swap with another vegetable at the party tonight.
The finished product. Apparently the recipe says that you can still taste the spinach if the brownies are warm, but if completely cooled, it magically disappears.
3 comments:
Wow-you're such a good Mom. I try to make sure my kids eat well and eat a well balanced diet, but I'm probably not near as good at it as you are. I like for my kids to actually know what they are eating though-I think it helps them develop a better understanding of what they should be eating and they also aquire a taste for vegetables and healthy stuff. Anyway. . . that's just my 2 cents.
I am on the same page as you. I definitely think they need to eat vegetables with their meals and ours for that matter, but the reason I like this book is to use recipes that we can get even more nutrition added to our meals. As for brownies, we all need desserts sometimes and why not add vegetables to them to make them somewhat healthy.
So, how did you like the brownies.. We (Jared and I) liked them a lot, Gretel no so much, but I don't think it's because of the spinach and carrot, I don't think she likes brownies in general. I have the same book and I've liked most of the recipes. The pureeing part is what takes time but other than I really like the fact that we are eating something good for us. Let me know if you try more recipes and which ones you like better.
Post a Comment