NaBloPoMo: Day OMG.WHEN.IS.THIS.THING.GOING.TO.BE.OVER?

My mom was nice enough to gift me a copy of Deceptively Delicious for Christmas this year.  It came early with my grandparents when they came for dinner last weekend and I've now tried two of the recipes in the book.  And I hate to say this because I was really looking forward to the life changing chasm that would occur in my kitchen after I possessed these recipes, but they kinda suck.  It's one of the many things that sounds great in theory, but doesn't work all that well in practice.

Neither of my kids would eat the chicken nuggets dipped in broccoli-puree batter.  Alex picked all the crust off of them, took two bites, which were green and funky-looking and decided that was more than enough.  He went to bed with a stomach full of peas, which he actually does eat without complaining. Genoa just threw hers on the floor (where the dog sniffed them and then trotted away without touching them.)

Tonight I made the mac 'n cheese with butternut squash and it was gross.  One of my main culinary talents is a kickass cream sauce and that recipe just KILLED it.   Cream cheese?!  I might try it again using my own recipe and then just try adding in some squash, but I kinda doubt it.  If there's a half cup of squash or cauliflower in the entire recipe, I'm a little unconvinced that there's really much of a health benefit after you spread that out amongst all the kid-sized servings.  Especially when I could only get Alex to eat about three bites of it.  (And this is a boy who can eat most of a box of traditional mac 'n cheese himself.)

Then there's the whole hiding aspect of it, which hasn't worked out well at all.  Alex wants to help me in the kitchen, especially when I'm making dinner FOR HIM.  I actually had to tell him an outright lie when I made the mac 'n cheese.  I knew he wouldn't even touch it if I answered him truthfully that yes, that stinky orange stuff was in it.  The fact is that hiding vegetables in food really doesn't teach your children to expand their culinary horizons.  In fact, it's basically the same thing as giving my kids gummy bear vitamins, only a LOT more difficult.  (Genoa begs for them - "CANDY!!!")

Of course, Genoa won't eat vegetables AT ALL, so I may continue to try more of these recipes to get more good stuff into her.  Thank goodness for SnapPea Crisps or that child might never poop again.

Alex has a really big day at school tomorrow.  It's Friday, so that means it's both student store day and sharing day.  But tomorrow is also the last day of the month so it's free dress day and the day of the big Geography Challenge we've been working so hard on.  Alex knows at least nine of the ten North American countries we've been helping him learn.  Damn Jamaica!  He can't seem to get that one to stick in his head.  I'm hoping he'll just remember Belize instead.

Comments

[Tana]

I too just bought the book! I have tried a few of the recipes and have really liked them and tried a few others and not liked them at ALL either!

[jenB]

I have the book and have mostly liked everything. Char isn't into veggies either. Seinfeld does say she hides veggies in the food but always offers them in their original form on the table. Some things worked better than others, but I haven't tried everything. :-) Of course, I too will be eating puree for a while.

[nymom]

When my sister and I saw the book for the first time we had a good laugh. Kids can spot something "off" with their food immediately. I used to stress about getting veggies into my kids. Now, I just give them what they will eat-raw carrots and ranch dip, broccoli with melted velveeta or broccoli from a chinese restaraunt. Fruit for the other vitamins and popcorn for fiber. My new thing is trying to hide omega-3's in their food. It's not working.

[CV]

I had way more success with the Sneaky Chef.

[Kate]

My sense about the book is that is a lot of work for a relatively small nutritional payoff. In my experience, a nice creamy dip will go a long way to getting raw vegetables into kids (and husbands), without any of the extra work (or deception).

[Scissorbill]

I agree with Kate. 2 tablespoons of squash puree in french toast that serves four is hardly worth it.

[Jen]

I thought about getting that book so I could sneak other things into my husband's food. He doesn't eat anything! I did make chili the other day and put squash puree in it. That worked. But I haven't bought the book yet.

[Rhi]

There's a place in Portland, Mother's Bistro and Bar that has a Mac and Cheese of the day that I think once had butternut squash in it and it was YUM.

But, if the dog wouldn't eat the chicken nuggets?

I've wondered about that cookbook - thanks for the heads up! I won't get it for my mommy friends for Christmas.

[Jenna]

I got that book (I mortified myself by buying a celebrity cookbook) and I loved the Mac and Cheese recipe - we used the cauliflower though, and it was awesome. Everyone loved it. Squash is too sweet, but it goes well with things like corn and chicken.

Im on the fence about the book and the whole "sneaking" concept (and I hate things like meatloaf and spaghetti pie - yuck). Sneaking healthy food into fat-filled crap isn't really the point of teaching good eating habits...