Change of menu!

A couple of Christmases ago my mom bought me a cookbook that Jessica Seinfield wrote called Deceitfully Delicious. The basic premise of it all is pureeing fruits and veggies and putting them into meals without kids knowing. I tried it a couple of times before but I didn't really prepare well enough before hand for it to work out right.

So this time I picked out ten recipes all of which I was fairly positive I could get the petites to eat and all of which you add purees of veggies that I would NEVER convince them to eat. Lysander will almost always eat peas and raw carrots, but that's about it on what veggies I don't have to shed blood sweat and tears to get him to eat. Isaac is much less picky about eating, but still, things like spinace and broccoli he won't touch. So here's the breakdown of veggie purees that I picked out to "hide" in food so they could get a more balanced meal:
Butternut Squash
Spinach
Beets
Broccoli
Carrots(only because it's used in conjunction with other veggies)
Cauliflower
Sweet potatoes

I successfully made them all within 24 hours but not without making a ridiculous mess!

Did you notice the teeny food processor I was using? ;) Yeah. Didn't even have a switch. It was button you had to hold. At least now I know if I can do it with something crappy like that, I can do it with anything! :) That last picture is almost my final product. I was still roasting sweet potatoes. I got them all labeled and dated(restaurant habit) and then put into plastic containers because the last thing I want is my fridge to be covered in a bag of veggie puree that's busted.

Since all the purees were ready I decided to go ahead and make the first meal tonight. I chose home made pizza because I thought the boys would definitely eat that. They worked out really well, except I will say that I did not know that foil is not automatically non stick... good tip for anyone else who is pretty much a novice in the kitchen. Two out of the three worked out though ;) As it turns out that was good because one for me and one for the boys to split. The pizzas were made by putting a layer of spinach puree on the pizza crust, a layer of tomatoe sauce over that, and a layer of mozzerella cheese over that and then bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes. It's actually supposed to be made one mini pizza crusts, but Walmart doesn't always carry a variety ;)

I really liked it. The point of this recipe was not to hide the taste of the spinach, but just to hide the green. Isaac, forever my good eater, loved it. He barely touched the crust but he ate every bit of topping includding the spinach. Lysander however, is not easily fooled. He picked all the bread off he could and then ate a bit of cheese but he could see a few green spots and was not having it. In the end I asked him to take a real bite and he did and he ate it but would then no longer eat anymore. So I'll call this first dinner 2/3 a success since Isaac and I enjoyed it. I actually think Grover would have enjoyed it as well. Maybe if he were here and Lysander saw him eating, since daddy carries a touch more weight that mommy does, he would have eaten a bit more.

I'm not sure what I'm going to try tomorrow. I have nine more to try to find at least five that they will both eat. I'm sure that after I make something I'll find some tweaks to make it better for my kids. The pizza will definately need some seasoning. The boys aren't really all about food being bland. They are their parent's children after all. G and I season the hell out of stuff(but we both know how to do it so that it's not over powering). In all honesty, I'm probably only brave enough to try all these new recipes because I'm making them for just me and the petites, as Grover and Fred are chefs I'm a little weary of making things for the first time if they are at dinner.... they probably get a little nervous too!!!!!