A couple of years ago I caught Jessica Seinfeld on Oprah promoting her book, Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food. The book offers recipes that include pureed that can’t be detected by kids. It seems too easy, but hallelujah it works! My kids have eaten cauliflower, butternut squash and spinach…without knowing it. My kids are 15 and 12 and given a choice, eat only from three basic food groups: pizza, chicken nuggets, and macs and cheese. When I force veggies on them, I can only get them to eat a few baby carrots or yellow squash…maybe. (Hannah loves squash casserole which is basically yellow squash smothered in cream and cheese!)

Since getting the book, I made chocolate granola bars with spinach (its the blueberry bars in the book, but I used chocolate), added squash to macs and cheese, and tonight included cauliflower and sweet potato in homemade chicken and rice soup. And they ate it and liked it! Better yet, I didn’t have to bug them about eating their veggies.

I do include regular veggies as a side and make them eat them. But I don’t have to worry about the one bite they take because I know they are getting other veggies covertly.

The planning and having ready-made puree is a hassle. I don’t like planning or hassles. My solution has been to use baby food. Its already pureed and ready to ad. Plus the small (level 1) size jars are just the right amount for most meals.

Another good book is The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals by Missy Chase Lapine that uses the same hide-the-veggies strategy. She offers some great recipes and few more puree ideas.

Tags: deceptively delicious, sneaky chef

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