Veggies Tonight Without A Fight

As the oldest of seven children, the only thing I remember about dinner time was you better not be late to the table and no dessert unless you cleaned your plate. This, of course, led to a few options if you didn't like what mom was cooking, but it also meant you went to bed hungry as there was no getting around the rules.

As a young mother, I made sure that my children ate only organic, homemade foods. They never had box mac and cheese (apologies to Kraft) and canned food meant what I had grown in the garden and canned myself. I even made my own bread, complete with grinding the wheat. Yes, this little Red Hen, made it all. Baby food was pureed freshly cooked in my kitchen.
Yet, my children had a few picky moments. Today, rather than play the blame game of "starving children" or bribes of dessert or nagging about empty calories, prepare to take on Veggies Tonight Without A Fight with the Sneaky Chef, Missy Chase Lapine. Her latest book Simple Strategies For Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids Favorite Meals, a New York Times Bestseller, has inspired healthy eating habits in the most picky of eaters.

The book not only makes nutrition easy to slip between the muffins and cupcakes, but it makes it easy to prepare. This win win combination could be the turning point for a nation of fast food junkies, overweight children and food allergies. The secret? Making simple purees from foods packed with vitamins and high in antioxidants. As simple as making a milk shake, the purees become a tasty base for sauces and batters, hiding the good stuff from the picky eater and putting it where it can benefit growing bodies.

My favorite is Mac and Cheese Muffins. Easy to stick in a lunch box or after school snack, these muffins have it all.

Ingredients

4 large eggs
1 cup orange puree (see below)
2 cups low fat shredded cheese
2 cups cooked macaroni
salt and pepper to taste
Make puree - I yam or sweet potato, peeled and roughly chopped. 3 medium carrots peeled and chunked. 2 - 3 tablespoons of water. Put in a medium pot covering potato and carrots with cold water and boil for 20 minutes, until tender. Drain and put in food processor with the 2 Tablespoons of water. Keep on high until the puree is smooth.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin pan with paper liners and spray lightly.

Whisk eggs and orange puree. Mix in 3/4 cup of the cheese and divide batter among the muffin cups. Top each muffin with a tablespoon of cheese. Bake for 20 - 22 minutes until golden brown and bubbly on top. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Missy has a variety of innovative cooking ideas in her Sneaky Cookbooks, even one entitled How to Cheat On Your Man (In the Kitchen). This book, again on the New York Times Bestseller List, offers ways to hide healthy foods in hearty meals. Featured on the Today Show, Missy has found the way to a cooking and healthy lifestyle change - through our stomachs! Grow it, cook it, eat it yourself and you won't have to worry about food recalls. Remember - you are what you eat! That's what a wise Grandma would do.

Nothing Easy About It

As I was drinking my coffee early this morning, my granddaughter called. "Can you come over and bake something with me in my Easy Bake oven?" she wanted to know. Couldn't think of a good reason why not, since I was the one who gave it to her for Christmas.

She and I love to bake cookies, so it seemed like the perfect gift. I have fond memories of my Easy Bake oven as a child. I was so proud of the little cakes and cookies that I forced upon my poor father. He always ate them graciously and my mother to this day has me bake the birthday cakes in the family. 

There is a long story about the 100 watt light bulb that the manufacturers did not include in this toy oven. But to keep a long story short, we assembled the oven and after 30 minutes of tearing the house apart to find the little baking pans she had lost, we set about to bake a chocolate cake. 

The batter was dry and crumbly. Not at all like a batter. We added a little more water until the consistency seemed right. We struggled a bit with the long u-shaped handle to slip the cake pan inside the oven. Patiently, we set the timer and played a game while we waited the seven long minutes prescribed on the box.

Ding! Time's up and in great anticipation of what was about to slide out of the oven, we had camera in hand. To our disappointment, the result of the morning's labor was nothing more than a wad of goo. "Is this right?" my granddaughter asked. Even her limited culinary expertise knew this was not even close to right.

We popped it in the oven again and after another seven minutes, we had a slightly more formed wad of goo. We decided to call it goo cake and opened the frosting mix and sprinkles to add something festive to our new concoction. The watery frosting melded with the goo and the sprinkles added a bit of sparkle to the extraordinary and barely palatable fiasco.

I am tempted to call the Easy Bake people and ask them what happened. I remember this toy as being truly easy and it actually baked. Now I am beginning to wonder if my gracious father thought my treats were just a step up from my early mud pie faze.