I have been concerned about my family’s eating habits for a while now, but have felt powerless to effect any change because of some very rigid ideas about what is disgusting and inedible. I’ve done my best with fish and chicken, and done everything but stand on my head to get vegetables in their mouths, but I feel like I have fallen well short of the mark. Strangely, since we’ve moved, along with sleeping better, feeling more secure, feeling like I am getting a handle on daily domestic routines, and feeling empowered to manage my kitchen, I am suddenly optimistic about getting these men to eat things that are good for them.
Today, I bought a couple of cookbooks that had been suggested to me a while back. Emily had told me about The Sneaky Chef, by Missy Chase Lapine, and I had heard about Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious when the Sneaky Chef sued the Master of Jerry Seinfeld’s Domain over similarities between their cooking camouflage. I figured I should have both. I mean, if there’s a food fight on, I want to see why!
I also bought Gourmet Meals in Crappy Little Kitchens. I love my tiny space, and don’t think it is crappy at all, though B might beg to differ. I thought I might give something interesting a try once or twice a month. As far as I know, Jennifer Schaertl isn’t being sued by anyone, and she is a fellow Dallasite, so I am game to try out her recipes.
Tonight, I spent about an hour making four of the purees from the Sneaky Chef book. I liked her purees better than Seinfeld’s, but I like Seinfeld’s recipes more. I’ll be mixing and matching from both of their suggestions, and we’ll see what my family likes. Of course I won’t be posting the recipes–copyright laws and all that–but I will let you know which ones I cook, and how they go over.
All of the purees I made tasted nice to me. There’s a sweet potato/carrot one (orange puree), a broccoli/sweet pea/baby spinach one (green puree), a zucchini/cauliflower one (white puree), and a Great Northern Bean one (white bean puree). I wouldn’t want to eat them by the spoonful, but I think they will add great flavor to cooking. I’m looking forward to trying them out.
I made Thor’s lunch already, and I used half a tablespoon of white bean puree on his usual ham and cheese sandwich. We’ll see if he a) notices, b) rejects it. Tomorrow night we’re having Sneaky Sliders, and I’ll be getting vegetables into B that he wouldn’t normally eat if he was paid to do it.
The Outside Lane 
Not that you need any more cookbooks to clutter your small space, but I’ve had some good experiences with “Cook yourself thin” cook book, which has lots of familiar comfort type foods made more healthfully (um, thats a word)… its not super heavy on the sneaky veg idea, but there definitely is some of it… I havent checked the website in a while, but several recipes were up on the site, since it was tied to a TV program which may or may not still be on air….
Best of luck to ya!
I may get that next! Thanks for the suggestion.
Yes! Thank you for posting your blog on facebook. I MUST get The Sneaky Chef. My youngest son won’t eat anything green and if he even thinks there might be veggies in something he won’t even try it. I was kinda like that when I was a kid but not as bad. My mom would make soup a lot and puree stuff in the broth. It wasn’t the flavor so much as it was the texture I didn’t like so that worked pretty well for me. Good luck on your quest to get your family to eat the good stuff!
I ate anything, so I do not understand this pickiness…lol!
How did the bean puree go down with the little one?
Bean puree on his lunch sandwich went down fine! The green puree was working well until he found a part of a pea that I hadn’t mashed up well enough. I’ll try again!