Former Skeptic, now Deceptively Delicious!

[Anonymous]

Ok, so I was extremely skeptical about the strategy of hiding vegetables and fruit in food. Particularly with the celebrity stamp on one of the cookbooks, sullied by allegations of plagiarism.

My 16 month old put me over the edge, with the pelting of nearly all vegetables onto the floor, no matter how I cooked them--steam, roast, butter, salt, melted cheese...

The cookbook was deeply discounted at Home Goods, and I could not resist.

Yesterday, I put 1/2 cup pureed butternut squash into my turkey meatballs (instead of the egg) and DD scarfed down 6 meatballs.
She would not try the quesadilla I made tonight (with squash, mashed beans, cheese, and sour cream), but I ate it, and it was fantastic.
Finally, I just made breakfast muffins with applesauce and the remaining butternut squash (plus whole oats, skim milk, other goodies) and they are amazing.

The possibilities are endless.

Any other strategies DCUMers have used for sneaking in veggies? (I already grate zucchini and carrot into my marinara sauce...)

[Anonymous]

1 can blk beans (pureed and thinned out a little with some water.)
1 box brownie mix.

Mix together (thin with water as necessary).
Bake per box.
Deelish.

[Anonymous]

But this doesn't teach kids to eat their vegetables.

[Anonymous]

OP, can you share your recipe for breakfast muffins?

[Anonymous]

Is there dilution of nutritional benefits if you change the molecular structure of vegetables by cooking or pureeing it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there dilution of nutritional benefits if you change the molecular structure of vegetables by cooking or pureeing it?

I know cooking somehow depletes vitamins but I've often wondered if the vitamins are leached into the water they're cooked with. (I was raised drinking "pot liquor" -- the water vegetables are cooked in.)

[Anonymous]

i tried the brownies with black beans once. it was completely disgusting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But this doesn't teach kids to eat their vegetables.

No, it doesn't, and I used to have the same attitude. Then I had a kid who would refuse all vegetables (once he realized, as a baby, he ate anything that was pureed). So I bought the cookbook and am going to start trying recipes. I figure at this point, hiding veggies is better than no veggies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there dilution of nutritional benefits if you change the molecular structure of vegetables by cooking or pureeing it?

Cooking it leaches some vitamins out but it doesn't change the molecular structure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But this doesn't teach kids to eat their vegetables.

No, it doesn't, and I used to have the same attitude. Then I had a kid who would refuse all vegetables (once he realized, as a baby, he ate anything that was pureed). So I bought the cookbook and am going to start trying recipes. I figure at this point, hiding veggies is better than no veggies.

The key to this is to BOTH hide the veggies and always offer undisguised veggies with meals.

[Anonymous]

I put one whole sweet potato, pureed, into a batch of waffle batter and make a big batch. My daughter eats them for breakfast every day. I also put pureed something into every pasta sauce I make -- sweet potato, carrots, squash, etc. Use pureed tomato in taco meat instead of water and add 2 tbs of flax seed meal. I bought the cookbook when it was released. The bolognese sauce recipe is great as is the meatloaf recipe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I put one whole sweet potato, pureed, into a batch of waffle batter and make a big batch. My daughter eats them for breakfast every day. I also put pureed something into every pasta sauce I make -- sweet potato, carrots, squash, etc. Use pureed tomato in taco meat instead of water and add 2 tbs of flax seed meal. I bought the cookbook when it was released. The bolognese sauce recipe is great as is the meatloaf recipe.

Do you add the sweet potato in addition to all the other ing.? Or do you cut back on any of the liquids? Do you make a double batch? I make a big batch of pancakes on the weekend with fruit in them to freeze and use during the week, I bet sweet potato would be good with banana pancakes and a little cinnimon

[Anonymous]

try roasting your veggies. my daughter can eat 1/2 a head of cauliflower when prepared this way! i'm not kidding.

get yourself a good half sheet pan, douse your veggies with a good helping of extra virgin olive oil, season with salt & pepper, and roast at 425 until you can smell the caramelization.

[Anonymous]

How do you "disguise" leafy green veggies? Kale, broccoli, chard, etc... those are the hard veggies to get my kids to eat.

[Anonymous]

i saute and then slow braise my leafy green vegetables. so with something like chard, i stem the tough stalks, then julienne the leaves (pile them one on top of another, roll like a cigarette, then slice them thinly), wash and dry thoroughly.
saute some garlic in evoo, then wilt your leaves in a hot pan. add enough chicken broth (or water) to cover your greens by about 2 cm and turn the heat down. continue adding liquid when mixture looks dry, and cook down until the greens are somewhat soft and silky.
i also add a handful of currants or raisins just before the greens are fully braised, let them plump up a bit.

not sure if this is actually "disgusing" anything, but this is a delicious way to cook greens (without compromising their nutrients) and my dd will steal it off my plate (i'm also the cauliflower mom).