I don't want to be critical ever of anyone else's work, especially work that I haven't actually read myself. Today I shall leave that up to someone else.
Jerry Seinfeld's wife wrote a cookbook to assist moms and dads everywhere to deceive their picky-eaters into eating pureed vegetables.
This was recommended to a parent recently as a great way to get some veggies in their child's diet. (If you're reading this, my sweet, well meaning friend, please don't be offended by the stance I'm taking here) I decided to check out the book on http://www.betterworldbooks.com/ and I got a good gander at the reviews posted there. The reviews are not favorable. Gee, I wonder why...
Let's pretend it's your mom who is souping up some squash or eggplant and attempting to put it in your sacred mac 'n cheese... some things you just don't f with, right? What if you eat your mashed potatoes and they seem a little 'off' and you can't figure out why. You say to Mom, "Why do my taters taste so weird?" and she's like, "I dunno, maybe there's a tater blight out of Idaho." Has your mother just lied to you? Isn't this the very thing we parents attempt to teach our children not to do? LIE TO US???? Mrs.Seinfeld, I am APPALLED! Another thought put forth in one review is this: is the taste tradeoff worth what miniscule amount of nutrition are added by essentially adding baby food to the dish? I'm pretty sure, most people, children included, know when something just taste gross. If you go mixing some pureed frijoles into the apple pie, I'm sure your kid isn't stupid enough not to figure out something just isn't right.
And here's a quote from Kate as reviewed on BWB:
I guess my biggest question is, are this lady's cooking tactics really of nutritional value? She (probably) can't hurt the kids with her soupy concoctions, but isn't it true that once you boil the heck out of vegetables and liquefy them, the vitamins and other good stuff go completely down the... well... toilet?
Speaking of which, maybe the sneaking-in-the-vegetables thing is purely for roughage (sp) purposes. So why puree them? Doesn't that defeat the purpose? My alternative title would be, "How to Give Your Kids Diarrhea".
Well said, Kate, well said.I'd like to suggest an alternative cookbook. It's called The Pioneer Woman Cooks.
Yes, I am a little partial to Ree Drummond and her antics on the ranch as I've been reading her blog for sometime. The fact is, she's downright honest in her portrayal of food. Yes, these recipes are delicious, they feed a crowd of hungry cowboys and children, and YES, there are lots of calories... and butter. I give her props for showing us how to cook and being up front about how awesome food can be. If I had a choice of which cookbook to order, it would be this one due to its wider appeal to my personal tastebuds and it's obvious lack of shame.
One more thought, which I shared with the above mentioned parent: My own family therapist, whom I love dearly for all her ability to listen and objectify, said to me one day, "Why do you worry so much about what your kids are eating? Like every sensible family doctor from the old school will tell you, they'll eat when they're hungry. If they don't like what you've cooked for them, take heart in the fact that both my boys grew up pretty much eating yogurt and they never starved to death." Okay then, I can find a happy medium in there somewhere I think. I like the idea of the 'no thank you' bite and off to the fridge for some yogurt and really, how bad can nightly bologne be? My personal practice is to always keep fruit in my house. If I've chosen to cook veggies that my children won't eat, it's bananas, strawberries and apples with that slab of bologne. What kid won't eat fruit? Together with Fred Flinstone and cups of milk, I'd say my girls are just as healthy as Seinfeld's kids... and I've managed to do it honestly.
NOTE: I use Flax instead of wheat germ....
ReplyDeletewww.sneakychef.com
SNEAKY CHEF BRAINY BROWNIES:
Makes about 30 kid-sized brownies
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Purple Puree (see Make-Ahead Recipe below)*
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Flour Blend (equal parts whole wheat, wheat germ, and
white flour)
1/4 cup rolled oats, ground in a food processor
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Butter or non-stick cooking spray
Optional extra boost: 1 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Butter or spray only the bottom, not the sides, of a 13-by- 9-inch or 9-inch square
baking pan.
Melt the butter and chocolate chips together in a double boiler or metal bowl over
simmering water (or in a microwave, checking every 15 seconds). Remove from heat
and allow mixture to cool a bit. Meanwhile, in another bowl, stir together the eggs,
vanilla, sugar, and Purple Puree. Combine this purple egg mixture with the cooled
chocolate mixture.
In a mixing bowl, stir together Flour Blend, cocoa powder, oats, and salt. Add this
to the chocolate mixture and blend thoroughly. Mix in the chopped walnuts, if using,
then pour the entire mixture into the baking pan.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely
in pan before cutting the brownies and use a plastic or butter knife. Dust with
powdered sugar, if desired.
*Purple Puree
3 cups raw baby spinach leaves (1 cup frozen chopped spinach, or frozen chopped
collard greens)
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (no syrup or sugar added)
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 tablespoons water
If using raw spinach, thoroughly wash it, even if the package says "prewashed."
Bring spinach or collards and water to boil in a medium pot. Turn heat to low and
allow to simmer for 10 minutes. If using frozen blueberries, quickly rinse them
under cold water to thaw a little, and then drain.
Fill the bowl of your food processor with the blueberries and cooked spinach, (or
collards) along with the lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of water, and puree on high
until as smooth as possible. Stop occasionally to push top contents to bottom. If
necessary, use a second tablespoon of water to make a fairly smooth puree.
This amount of spinach and blueberries makes only about 1 cup of puree. Double the
recipe if you want to store another cup of the puree. It will store in the refrigerator
up to 2 days, or you can freeze 1/4 cup portions in sealed plastic bags or small
plastic containers.
Okay, anonymous, whomever you really are. Thanks for the recipe. I've never tried flax seed but I do like to add wheat germ to my morning smoothie. Here's my smoothie: a banana, several strawberries, ice cream, wheat germ, whey protein, soy milk. I love these things and all their fattening glory!
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