Veggie Tales

I was extremely excited recently to discover a copy of the kids' cookbook, Deceptively Delicious, at our local Christmas Tree Shop. You've probably heard of it, Jessica Seinfeld wrote it and it shows you how to hide veggie purees in everyday kid food. I had been eyeballing this book for a long time, because I am the parent of possibly the pickiest eater of all time. Seamus, my sweet little man, has the capacity to turn mealtime into a battlefield. He will eat the following items without gagging and throwing up on the table:

1. Goldfish crackers

2. Yogurt

3. Grapes

4. Bananas

5. Grilled cheese

6. Mac & cheese (very occasionally)

7. Applesauce

8. Peanut butter and jelly

(Here we are out to dinner at our favorite Japanese Hibachi. Seamus is dining, very elegantly with chopsticks, on cut up purple grapes.)

So you can see we have a problem. We beg. We plead. We bribe him with M&Ms. (we know, it's bad, we're already hiding from the Parent Police.) If we can persuade him to take a bite of a non-listed item, he truly will make himself gag and vomit. Then he'll say, "Uh oh, I spit." Spit? Kid, if this was only spit we were dealing with, Mommy's head would probably not be spinning around. Seriously, like I need to deal with that during the chaos of dinnertime??

All of his doctors could really care less. He's healthy, he'll grow out of it, they say. But it's still a huge pain in the neck. My hubby and I love food, he loves to cook (notice I said "he"), and we are always trying new things. We want our kids to be the same way. Grace will eat just about anything, Seamus is usually happy just eating air.

So I bought this cookbook, read through it and became very inspired. I hit up my awesome grocery store (no kids, so they let me back inside) and stocked up on gorgeous carrots, butternut squash, cauliflower, sweet potatoes and zucchini. I broke out my mini food processor and spent the afternoon pureeing away, freezing my veggies in mini-muffin pans and carefully labeling them and storing them away.

I tried it out that evening with regular Kraft mac & cheese. No, I didn't make the homemade mac & cheese from the actual cookbook...baby steps, people. I'm working up to that. I mixed some butternut squash puree into the mac just before serving it to the kids. Same color, no texture difference. I sat down at the table and held my breath as I watched them dig in. They each took a bite and...nothing.

Nothing! They didn't notice a thing! Hallelujah, my son was not only eating real food, but he was eating a vegetable. I was literally snickering with glee behind my hands.

When he finished his typical 5 - 7 bites of his meal, I praised him for eating so well and said to him, "Seamus, you know what? You just ate a butternut squash!"

To which he replied, "Whaz a budda-nut skash?" Oh, the satisfaction.

So I wanted to share with you a recipe from this book, hopefully Jessica Seinfeld won't mind. And if I'm breaking some kind of copyright law, oh well, I guess they'll get me when the Parent Police haul me in.

Peanut Butter and Banana Muffins

1 c packed light brown sugar

1/2 c peanut butter

1/2 c carrot or cauliflower puree (I used cauliflower)

1/2 c banana puree

1 large egg white

1 c whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Mix 1/2 c brown sugar with peanut butter, banana puree, veg puree, and egg white. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add dry mixture to the peanut butter mixture and stir to combine. Add remaining 1/2 c brown sugar and stir once or twice.

Divide batter among 12 muffin cups and bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean.

These are soooo yummy, especially if you love peanut butter like I do! Enjoy!