So my daughter eats very few things. At first I had trouble with this concept because I consider myself to be a good eater, I generally eat lots of vegetables with some fruits sprinkled in now and then. I have tried many things to get her to eat and am heart broken when she says, "No way" to my newest creation. A friend recommended the book, "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld (I heard she is getting sued for this book because she stole the idea from someplace else . . .but anyway. . .) and the concept of the book is to hide vegetables inside of other toddler friendly foods. Long book introduction made short = get some fresh vegies, puree them, use/freeze them in recipes provided in the book.
This is a great idea in theory - but in practice - very time consuming!! On my first attempt I decided to bring in the heavy artillery (MY Mom) and have her help me "quickly" puree the vegetables. . .after 6 hours we were able to produce pureed zucchini, yellow squash, spinach, peas, avocado, acorn squash, butternut squash, cauliflower, sweet potato, rutabaga, and beets. We stored them in ziplock baggies with about 1 cup of the puree in each bag. Then put into the freezer to be used at a later date. . .
6 months later - I was ready to start using them -
Recipes that I have tried:
- butternut squash/cauliflower macaroni and cheese (failure the first time - success the second)
- spinach brownies, zucchini brownies, pea brownies
- acorn squash spaghetti sauce, avocado spaghetti sauce, rutabaga spaghetti sauce
- yellow squash quesadillas (with LOTS OF CHEESE)
My favorite so far is the zucchini in the pudding - easy to do. . .put zucchini in a bowl add jello pudding, stir vigorously, return to jello container (and hope kid is none the wiser)!!
In addition to tricking Cora into eating vegetables. . . you can also see Luke enjoys the veggies in baby food format (just add mixed grain cereal) and you feed two kids with one baggie (about 1/2 cup each).
AND PRESTO. . . my stubborn kids eat healthy food - it isn't perfect or ideal - but it works for now and makes me feel better. I still put vegetables on her plate and ask that she try it, until that special day comes that she enjoys the foods at least I know she is getting all the vitamins and minerals she needs!!
5 comments:
Do you think this puree thing would work for Brady??
I am so glad you posted this! Have you seen the Beaba Babycook? Check it out at Williams Sonoma and let me know if you think it would work well or if you have a better way!
Yes, it does work for adults. . . they may say it tastes "different" but if you don't agree and hide your efforts - most people just assume it is them.
The Beaba Babycook - LOOKS AMAZING!!! I want one!! LOL
I am going to do some research on this - see if any Mommies I know have this and what they think of it!! I will get back to you!
Erin O - I asked about the Beaba Babycook on a mommy website I belong to - no one had used it. . .but I did get comments about using a regular food processor because it is bigger or using a cheaper smaller one.
I always made a few months worth of baby food at a time and I felt it was easier to cook 2 things in a double steamer at once (or a double batch of the same food) and then blend and pour them into ice cube trays for freezing.
I think the Beaba looks fun and easy with it being an all in one item. So you have to think about if you want to do it a lot at once or some each day. Hope this helps!
Well, I figured doing large batches would be right up my alley, but the idea of steaming and pureeing whatever veggie we were eating that night was appealing as well. I may have to try it and see. Keep the ideas coming!