Last spring my sister recommended a book called Jumping off the hormone swing by Lorraine Pintus. I have not read it yet as she told me about it when I was 8 months pregnant and not about to listen to containing my hormone swing. But I understand she has several main points: 1) eating and using natural, unprocessed, chemical free things keep our natural hormones more steady, and 2) our hormone swing is often an indicator of our trust and hope in Jesus (or lack of). Since my post-partum with Titus is over I have been trying to incorporate more of this into my life and someday I will read the book. :)
Getting back on the reality train (post baby), this past fall I was reminded of another book that was recommended to me called Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. I happened to find it for cheap at our church's craft sale. It is a cookbook that sneaks healthy ingredients into basic recipes, geared for moms with picky eaters. She tells you all the nutritional benefits, how to make purees, how to stock your kitchen, and other tidbits. The recipes even include more odd ingredients like - beets. Last year we got a separate freezer which allows me to make and store all these purees.
So what kinds of things do I make? The easiest dish to sneak healthy veggies into is something tomato based (which we eat a lot of), like spaghetti. The tomato is strong so it often covers any "yucky" taste. I often put in half cup of puree carrot and/or sweet potato. Other ideas are greens (peas, green beans, squash). One of the best vegetables you can eat is cauliflower. It sneaks well into potato soup! One of my favorite healthy dishes to make is quiche. I usually put spinach and tomatoes in it, at a minimum. My favorite is adding asparagus. This last time I also put one cup of pureed cauliflower and you can't even tell! The book is loaded with creative recipes that I can't wait to try! My next endeavor is to make chocolate pudding with pureed avocado. Yum! Now, I actually look forward to cooking something healthy!
How about you? What are some creative ways you sneak fruits or veggies into a meal?
Last night I made rice and stir fry veggies (from a frozen bag). I ended up not really wanting them once I cooked them so I didn't finish my serving (something that happens to me a lot when I eat), but Cooper liked it. I doused the veggies while cooking in a lot of teriyaki and soy sauce, which does nothing for the salt content of course but makes them pretty good. I ended up eating more rice than veggies, but it was a valiant effort. We need to make a grocery trip this weekend and I'm hoping to make some good veggie soups with the crockpot you gave me! YAY! And anything with avocado is delicious. I could avocado plain, I think.
ReplyDeleteOh, fun! I love this topic. I struggle with hiding vegetables in food vs. my family just eating them because they are good for them, and do some of both. I don't like most greens (even salad greens), but frequently chop up fresh spinach to put in scrambled eggs, which we eat frequently. It's easy to hide lots of veggies (salsa, cilantro, chopped spinach, corn, etc) in taco salad, since I mix the kids' all up with a bit of sour cream. They can't even tell! Also, since both kids love sweet potatoes, I'll cook a whole one a couple times a week for their lunch. I do a mixture of serving veggies I know they'll eat with having them try new things, usually introduced in something they love, like eggs, mac and cheese, Mexican, and pasta.
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