So my friend Melissa recommended this book to me while we were shopping at Costco - I had never heard of it because I avoid all things Oprah, but after a quick flip-through it looked so good I had to buy it. The idea is to put pureed vegetables into familiar recipes, making your kids' favorite foods more nutritious. Lately I've really been trying to get the whole family to eat healthy but I've been focusing on buying organic and limiting processed foods, which means there are fewer and fewer snacks and meals at our house that Carson and the boys actually want to eat. My friend Jodee said she tried some of the recipes and liked them, so today I planned out my grocery shopping according to the book and started making the purees. Tonight I made homemade macaroni and cheese with butternut squash puree and it was super good! It looked like regular orange mac and cheese even though I used white cheddar (no artificial colors!) and the kids loved it. Maybe after trying some more recipes I'll post a list of my favorites.
We enjoyed Thanksgiving at my parents' house last week and I beat Carson at Boggle for the first time. My Grandma always makes the gravy and my mom was excited to show off her new countertops:
Carson was working on our family video last week and the boys saw a part where they had made a rocketship out of an upside-down wheelbarrow and some other yard equipment in the backyard. They wanted to run outside and do it again, even though it was freezing! So we bundled them up and here it is:
Caeden was super excited to be playing outside with his big brothers!
7 comments:
YUM!!! darn..i was already REALLY hungry (and trying to ignore it) but seeing your blog makes it even worse! that book sounds awesome. love to get some good recipies from you. cutest pic of caeden ever.
I avoid all things Oprah too but that cookbook looks great! I would love to hear what your (and your kids) favorites are!
I had heard about her book and another called the Sneaky Chef (pretty much the same idea - it came out first and isn't by Jerry Seinfeld's wife so it has gotten less publicity)> I like the idea. Zeke wasn't eating his veggies, so I took Alexander's baby food I made and put some int Zeke's pasta sauce because he will ALWAYS eat pizza and spaghetti. I'm also interested what goes over well - especially with the adults.
We love the spaghetti and meatballs, chicken nuggets, and even the meatloaf (and I am not a meatloaf girl). I love how simple the recipes are and they use normal ingredients. I have yet to try any of the desserts except the yogurt pops (ymmy) but I hear they are great too! Just don't forget to include the real veggies on their plate too! Oh, and she says you can mix the butternut squash into a regular box of macaroni, we tried it and Madison didn't really like it- and she eats pretty much anything. But, we use Annie's macaroni which is all natural so maybe it would work in the bright orange KRAFT kind. Anyway, let me know which ones are your favs. so we can try those too!
Sounds like another Enrichment activity in the making Marisa! You'll have to share how things go! If I could get Mitchell to eat veggies other than carrot sticks, it would be wonderful! I'm jealous that your kids eat mac & cheese! Mitchell hasn't ever like that! Seriously, you'll have to share your successes/failures with this book!
On www.deceptivelydelicious.com the author has an interesting disclaimer where she defends the authenticity of her recipes and says she didn't know about any of the 3 similar recent books before hers was published. Anyway... I think it's still a good idea, the publicity may be unfair but I can't complain because it probably wouldn't have hit my radar if it wasn't such a popular item. My kids eat most vegetables but I love the idea of packing every meal full of nutrition - here's what we've tried so far:
meatloaf (great)
mashed potatoes with cauliflower (pretty good)
sweet potato french toast (good)
sweet potato and pumpkin doughnuts (like a more healthy sweet bread)
green eggs (okay)
quesadillas (good but different)
All of them were good enough to make again and I love the feeling that we're eating so healthy!
P.S. my only problem with the book so far is that she recommends using margarine spread, which, even when trans-fat-free, still contains artificial flavors and preservatives. I prefer plain butter because the ingredients are simply: cream and salt.
I feel so special--I was mentioned in your talk and in your blog! I just started using the cookbook as well. So far I like it--good idea and tasts great. I am glad you like it--we'll have to compare some time. In fact--we need to get together, its been awhile!
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