Deceptively Delicious, Recipe 4

For tonight's recipe, I tried the Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins.  They are fairly simple to make and, as always, contain a hidden vegetable.  Tonight's vegetable was carrots!

After telling Chuck and Emma that I would make these over the past weekend, and never getting around to it, I finally made them tonight.  Honestly, I probably would have waited until tomorrow, or even another day, but Chuck asked about them.  He really has been a trooper through all of this!

After making homemade pizza for dinner, I decided to whip these little babies up.  But, before I go into detail about them, let me tell you about my pizza!

I subscribe to Everyday Food Magazine, which is a Martha Stewart publication.  They always have really great recipes that are easy!  One of my favorite recipes is their basic pizza dough.  It takes about 10 minutes to mix, and an hour to rise, then voila!  Delicious, and fresh pizza dough!

Anyway, once I got my dough ready, I prepared my sauce.  I cheated on this and used a jar of pizza sauce... But, to redeem myself, I got out some of the carrot puree and mixed in with the jarred sauce.  Remember when I said that tomato sauce hides just about anything!  It really does.

Next, I finished up the pizza with my family's favorite toppings...cheese, cheese, and more cheese... and popped it in the oven.  We enjoyed our pizza and then I got to work on the muffins.

Like I said, the recipe was fairly simple.  I whipped up the batter, topped it of with strawberry preserves and into the oven they went.  Once they were finished, I let them cool for a few minutes and served one to Chuck and Emma.  Chuck had a few bites and I asked what he thought.

 His reply, "It's good.  I taste the cauliflower."

"Really?" I asked.  "There isn't any cauliflower in it."

"Oh, well, what's in it?  I taste that."

I told him there were carrots in it and he said that it tasted like carrots.  I tried a bite and it tasted nothing like carrots.  It actually tasted like my hot peanut butter toast with jelly.

He put his empty plate on the counter and walked away.  I was pretty sure that I would have to consider this recipe a failure.  I put his plate away and continued cleaning the kitchen.  Chuck came back into the kitchen a few minutes later asking for his plate.  I was like, 'the empty one?'  He said yes, and said that he wanted another muffin.

It was at this moment that I realized that this recipe was, in fact, another success!  Yay!  He finished his second muffin and told me that the first one was good, but the second one is better.

I think the key to these is definitely letting them cool off before serving.  Granted, I thought they were good even while warm.  Also, I think that Chuck was really trying to identify the hidden vegetable.  I don't think an unsuspecting consumer would even think that there might be a hidden veggie in these!

One thing I will tell you is that when filling your muffin tin with the batter, use less than you normally would.  I filled the muffin tin like I would with any other batter, and it was too much.  You are supposed to top the uncooked batter with strawberry preserves ,which I did.  But, mine ran out over the edges when the muffins began rising.  They were NOT pretty!

Oh well!  They sure did taste good!

Deceptively Delicious, Recipe 3

I have been asked several times since beginning my journey through this cookbook, "What's the point?"  Why mix in all these vegetables if you can't taste them?  

Well, when it comes to the senses, if seeing is believing, then not tasting is believing.  The idea of this cookbook is to hide vegetables in the foods kids, and adults, love.  And, the beauty of this idea, is that you can give your kids the nutritional benefits of vegetables with out the fuss and fight of getting them to eat their veggies.  They literally have no idea... or at least, they won't with the recipes I have tried so far!

Unfortunately, not every meal I cook incorporates the ideas of this cookbook.  I am working toward this goal, but this is definitely a lifestyle change.  It is a trial and error process, and I don't want my family to starve due to too many of my errors!

Yesterday, I tried my third recipe from the book... Mashed Potatoes with cauliflower.  The book lists a recipe for the potatoes, but I decided not to follow it.  I have my own recipe - I use that term loosely to describe my own cooking.  I don't need to look up and follow a recipe for it.  And, that is what works better for me.  

So, I began my mashed potatoes as always... boil potatoes, drain water, mix in milk, butter, salt and pepper to achieve consistency and taste.  Once I was sure that they were just right, I mixed in 1/2 cup of cauliflower puree... steam cauliflower and puree in food processor until smooth. 

After making sure the puree was mixed in well, I tried them again.  There was no difference in taste!  They tasted just as good as before the new ingredient was added.  And, the best part is how good cauliflower is for you!  It has lost of vitamin C and other compounds that may help fight cancer!  Isn't that cool?  Read more about the health benefits of cauliflower here.

However, because my husband and I think that mashed potatoes, and just about everything else, must have garlic in them, I added the garlic that I had drizzled with olive oil and roasted.  This last little step really make them fabulous.  And, not only does it enable you to add more of the cauliflower puree because it hides the flavor so well, but it also offers benefits of its own!  

Score two for me!

I have always heard about the good things that garlic can do, but have never really given it much thought.  I just really, really like garlic.  But, this Deceptively Delicious journey has encouraged me to find out more about food... what's good about it, the best way to prepare and present it to my family, etc.  So, if you want to read more about garlic, and how good for you it is, click right here!

Finally, though, I served dinner to my family... roast with carrots, onions, and celery (this is a new thing I added.  It went over great!), and my side of mashed potatoes with cauliflower.  Chuck literally could not tell a difference in the potatoes.  When I told him that I had tried a new recipe with our supper, he thought I was talking about the roast. 

I asked if he could identify the hidden vegetable, and he tasted again, really trying to taste the vegetable.  He wasn't able to identify it.  Even after I told him about the cauliflower, he tried again and couldn't taste it.  

Then, the biggest surprise, he admitted that he really doesn't like cauliflower.  So, this really proved that this recipe can work for even the pickiest eaters!

So, what's next?  I am thinking either peanut butter and jelly muffins with carrot puree or chocolate chip cookies with chickpea puree.  I have the best of intentions to try one of these recipes this weekend.  So, check back to see how it turns out!

Deceptively Delicious, Recipe 2

Another recipe attempted, another success!

Because Emma is completely obsessed with eating "sicles" (pronounced suckles, often confused with her attempt at pronouncing 'circles') - Popsicles - these days, I decided that I should try this recipe sooner rather than later.  Yesterday, we went out to get the molds and the ingredients for our popsicles.

Emma loves to go, and yesterday was no different, but she had no idea what we were going after.  I tried to tell her about making popsicles, but this only led to her wanting one right that second.  That made for a
l-o-n-g outing!  We returned home without too much of a melt down and began prepping our materials.  


Our popsicles consisted of plain yogurt (less sugar than flavored), frozen fruit - we chose strawberries, her favorite - and a small amount of confectioner's sugar.  The recipe claims that it makes 8 popsicles, 100 calories each and less than 1 gram of fat.  However, our molds must have been smaller... we wound up with 10.5 popsicles.  Which means that ours are less than 100 calories and 1 gram of fat!  Wooo Hooo!  


I put them in the freezer and once frozen, I pulled one out for Emma to try.  She wasn't sure about it at first, so I took a bite.  This thing was divine!  I am so impressed with this recipe.  It was simple and yummy!  


Anyway, Emma finally tried a bite and loved it.  She ate at least half of it.  And, she probably would have eaten the whole thing, but her Daddy kept eating it!  I offered him one, but he said he didn't want one... even though he was eating Emma's as fast as she was!  


So, I am proud to say that I am 2 for 2 right now.  Both recipes that I have tried were definite successes!


Oh, and while we are talking food... I must brag just a bit... After flipping through this cookbook, Deceptively Delicious, I became inspired to create a recipe of my own with hidden veggies.  Last night I served my family Manicotti,  and it was fabulous.  


What veggies did I include in it?  Well, I started the sauce like my typical spaghetti sauce.  I sautéed onions, red and green bell peppers, carrots (yep! I dice them and sauté them), and mushrooms,  seasoned with garlic, oregano, basil, parsley, bay leaves, and Pinot Noir (cooking wine causes the alcohol to dissipate, so it's okay for Emma).  Then, once I achieved the flavor I wanted in my sauce, I added 3/4 cup of sweet potato puree.  It enhanced the sweetness of the basil, and added a nice counter to the sharpness that the wine imparts.  


Then I stuffed the Manicotti shells with a mixture of ricotta, mozzarella, freshly grated Parmesan, and freshly grated Romano cheeses. I placed the stuffed shells in a baking dish and smothered them with the sauce.  Finally, I baked and served with more freshly grated cheese.


I must admit, I was quite surprised with how well this dish turned out.  Chuck even went back for seconds!  And, that isn't something he does often... especially when I serve pasta.  


One thing that I have learned through my own attempts and failures, as well as this cookbook, is that tomato sauce is an excellent cover for many vegetables.  Most kids love 'spaghetti' sauce, and you can easily incorporate extra veggies without them even suspecting!  


I am anxious to try some of the recipes that I am most skeptical about.  I plan to try at least three next week!


Stay tuned!

Deceptively Delicious

So, I am one of those Moms that everyone hates.  You know the ones... always dressed perfectly,  hair and make-up is always flawless, has the perfect child, who sleeps perfectly through the night, and eats three perfectly square meals every single day; her perfect child is a genius, and has NEVER stomped her feet in protest.  Yep, that's me...

In my DREAMS!!!

Okay, I admit, I am far from that kind of Mom (and Emma isn't always that perfect child (gasp!)).  But aren't we all in some way?  In reality, there are days that I am lucky to shower much less plan three perfectly square meals a day.  But I try.  I really, really do.

I try to make a conscious effort to serve my family healthy foods, but it is hard.  I have exhausted my efforts to serve vegetables, grains, and other healthy foods in a way that my family will eat.  Emma will eat fruit, if she won't eat anything else.  This is great, except that fruit is easy.  It is ready to eat; just cut up and serve.  And, when life gets hectic, easy usually wins.

I have a harder time with veggies.  Emma doesn't eat them.  She used to... when she was eating the baby food I made her.  At that point she would eat anything! But, again, life got hectic and I got behind on steaming, pureeing and getting them ready to serve.  Since she didn't have teeth until well after her first birthday, I couldn't give her raw veggies.  Like many Moms, I opted for easy more times than not.  Which, now, is problematic.

Because of easy, I have developed a guilty conscious.  I feel terrible that there are days when she consumes nothing more than Teddy Grahams and milk. But, what can I do?  You try to convince her otherwise!

I have been searching for recipes that include more veggies in ways that would be more appealing for her, and for me.  And, I found it.  I found a way to please everyone.  I found a cookbook full of recipes that are easy and have lots of veggies.  But I wouldn't buy it; I wouldn't even give it a second glance on the shelf.

And, though the cookbook has been out there a while, I have been skeptical.  I have doubted.  I have tried to convince myself that I wouldn't have to resort 'hiding' vegetables in other foods.

Last night, however, I gave in.  Threw in the towel.  Waved the white flag.  I went out and bought the dang cookbook.  Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld.  And, tonight, I gave my first recipe a go.  Emma and I bought the groceries and I whipped it up.

I served my family tacos, deceptively delicious tacos!  When we sat down to dinner, there were seven, yes SEVEN, different veggie options!  These options included tomato, avocado, corn, red bell pepper, banana pepper, lettuce, and sweet potato.

What? Sweet potatoes and tacos!?!? You read it right.  The recipe for the taco meat included sweet potatoes.  And, it WAS delicious, Deceptively Delicious.  So, according to the recipe, you cook your ground beef, chicken, turkey, etc. as usual.  After browning it, you add crushed tomatoes, taco seasoning and sweet potatoes... pureed.  Let it simmer, then serve as usual.  The other veggies are just an assortment of toppings.

This recipe definitely has my curiosity peaked.  If I can add sweet potatoes to tacos and it still taste great... maybe even a little better than normal, then, what else can I do?  I am so excited to dive into this cookbook and find more great recipes.  I did glance over one recipe for peanut butter and jelly muffins.  They sound delicious!  And, they have a little bit of carrot puree in them.  Therefore, they have health benefits too!

So, join me on my Deceptively Delicious journey! I promise to give you my honest opinion on how each recipe turns out, as well as the opinion of any others that taste these creations.

Finally I may have found a way to serve the foods my family and I love without feeling the least bit guilty!!!