First off, ten points to anyone who can tell me where that phrase/song is from. (And maybe some other goodies thrown in).
When Zoë was a baby I made all of her baby food from scratch. She ate everything that I put in front of her. Every vegetable under the sun. As I made her food each week, I quietly congratulated myself on my excellent parenting. Clearly all of those other parents with picky eaters were not as diligent as me.
However, once she started finger foods the vegetables went out the window. I have tried for years to get Zoë to eat vegetables. We are starting to have a bit of success. She will eat three or four peas/carrots/corn with dinner, but seriously, that is not enough nutrition to balance out the hot dogs she eats. Ugh. I think about her eating habits every single day. At every single meal. I want her to grow up eating a well balanced and nutritious diet and that is just not happening right now.
Enter Deceptively Delicious. My mom called to tell me that Jessica Seinfeld was on Oprah and talking about her new book on making toddler-friendly and healthy foods. It was sold out at Barnes and Noble so I ordered it through Amazon.com. (I hear that is a problem most people are having. The book has been flying off the shelf since the Oprah show). I figured I would give it a whirl. Here are my experiences thus far.
1. Scrambled Eggs w/ Cauliflower Puree. First of all the recipe calls for six eggs! (Two eggs and four egg whites). That is supposed to be a serving for two. It's more like a large serving for three. Of course, I am not an egg person so I think any amount of egg is too much. Anyhoo, I thought this would be one meal that I could breeze pass Zoë. Not so much. The child has eaten scrambled eggs every morning for breakfast for two years. (Not kidding). She didn't like the eggs. Get this. She said they were too fluffy. Yep, she likes hers cooked like an egg patty with a dash of garlic salt and some spinach flakes thrown in, then cut into square pieces. The fluffy eggs got a big N-O. However, the past two days I have tried mixing in a spoonful of cauliflower puree with one egg and had pretty good success. It takes a bit of coaxing but she has eaten them.
2. Chicken Nuggets w/ Broccoli Puree. Two thumbs up from the parents. Yum! From Zoë, not so much. Again, she did eat them, but she sat at the table for a good twenty minutes and only finished off her four small nuggets after hearing that she would get brownie for dessert. Kel and I thought they were awesome. There are some tricks though. You need to cut your chicken in thin pieces. The thick pieces will burn on the outside before the center is cooked through. (The first small batch went in the garbage). Cook the nuggets on medium heat instead of medium-high.
3. Macaroni and Cheese w/ Butternut Squash Puree. I mixed a spoonful of the squash puree into Zoë's macaroni and cheese the other night (leftovers from Red Robin) and she seemed none the wiser. She ate it up like a pro. Sweet!
4. Don't stick mixing spoons in a running blender...even if the blender is a bit jammed. It will catch and cause scalding hot broccoli (or what ever vegetable you happen to be pureeing) to explode all over: a) yourself, b) the counter top, c) the kitchen cabinets, d) the ceiling, and e) the coffee maker. A big "no duh." I know. But the dumb thing was jammed.
All in all I would say I am pretty pleased with the book. I am going to try out some of the dessert type items this week: brownies, cookies, pancakes. I will let you know how it goes.
