One of my awesome sisters, Melissa, (who is 'coordinator of preventive cardiology' at the U of U hospital), bought me this amazing cookbook for Christmas in 2007. Jessica Seinfield is the author and she gives ideas on how to basically hide vegetables and fruits in your recipes. I was super excited to use it, but 2 days after that Christmas was the day we found out Matthew had died, so needless to say, the project of learning new healthy recipes went on the back burner for me. Until... a couple of days ago! I pulled it out again and started reading. The more I read, the more I got excited about trying the recipes out and cooking more healthy food for my family. I didn't have a lot of the vegetable purees the cookbook called for, but I did find the recipe for this chicken that calls for a pineapple puree:
Please believe that these looked better than this picture! I remembered that I had some frozen sauce for my Mandarin Chicken in the freezer. This is a sauce that I finally figured out I am the only one who likes it! (Just ask Shauna, I made the chicken for her family once and her girls didn't like it, either!) So, I whipped up this chicken, marinated in pineapple, tomato, and peppers and covered in coconut and whole wheat bread crumbs. Everyone, even Tommy, loved it! (For those of you that do not know Tommy, he is my toughest critic and a very picky eater.) Putting it on a skewer made it extra fun.
I was very encouraged, so the next morning I made these muffins:
I admit, these wouldn't win at the 4-H fair event- not a great muffin top! I need to work on the mixing. BUT, they have pureed carrots, banana, peanut butter, and whole wheat flour (freshly ground) in them! Super healthy and very filling! These were a 'no' for Rebecca, but I scored a winner again for Tommy! Again, I have to prove that these were good- here's Tommy enjoying his muffin:
I think having more vegetables wet his appetite for even more- at lunchtime, he actually grabbed a celery stick and ATE IT! I tried to get a picture for proof, and I think you can see a little bit of the green stuff by his mouth... it's true- he ate a celery stick!
So, after that I was hooked. I went to the grocery store and bought cauliflower, broccoli, squashes, spinach, sweet potatoes, and beans, brought them home and commenced steaming and pureeing them! Essentially, making baby food. I've had fun since then sneaking these items into scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese! Anyhow, I just wanted to recommend the book, some of you probably already have one. So far the recipes are really outstanding and very kid (and husband) friendly! The extra veggies and beans and fruits in the recipes make everything moist and delicious! One more thing I took a picture of are these: chocolate chip cookies (with a whole can of chick peas in them!)... my family actually liked these better than the regulars we make! Happy cooking out there!
4 comments:
Ahhh! I'm so excited for you. Tommy is eating?! I'm so glad you like the cookbook. I love it because it's stuff that you would make anyway, so why not add a few extra veggies. There is something very satisfying about serving food loaded with pureed veggies. We love those bean cookies too and the mac and cheese is yummy. For anyone that doesn't have the cookbook you can google the name of the cookbook and people have posted a lot of her recipes online. Glad you're having fun cooking and eating :)
I have seen a segment on some talk show before where she demonstrated her recipes. It sounds like a good idea...but all the pureeing is kind of overwhelming! The chicken sounds great, but I think I would have a hard time putting peas in cookies!
I remember seeing her on a talk show a couple of years ago and thought I wanted to try it. It's good to know that "normal" people will eat it. I may have to get that book. Thanks! P.S. I don't remember the chicken. All we remember of your cooking is the yummy stuff!!!! We miss dinner group with you!
I specifically like the mac and cheese.... now that is delicious!
Post a Comment