Deceptively Delicious

Those who know me well know that I love sweets and have a PH. D. in Oprah and because of these two facts I am so excited! Oprah recently had Jessica Seinfeld (Jerry Seinfeld) on her show and Jessica came up with healthy recipes to trick her three children into eating their veggies. Jessica’s trick is vegetable purees which she adds to the foods she is preparing. Some examples of her recipes include pizza, donuts, Mac n cheese, pizza, brownies, chocolate cake and cookies. The secret ingredients is where it gets interesting… in her Mac n cheese she adds cauliflower puree and in the brownies she adds carrots and spinach. I know…YUCK… right? But after watching the audience’s positive response and about 20 first and second graders bagging for more I thought I’d give it a chance because Jonathon and I sure could use the vegetables and it would be great for when Payton starts fighting me on eating her greens. Because I had to do a cooking class with the Young Women I thought I’d test two of the recipes out tonight.

Test One Mac n Cheese with Cauliflower Puree
This was a huge success and I don’t think I would ever prepare Mac n cheese again without the puree. I could not tell a difference by looking at the food and could hardly tell a difference in taste except for it tasted better than normal in my opinion. A child would definitely know no different. Payton of course loved it but I have actually not found one food that she will not eat (knock on wood ;).

Test Two: Brownies with Spinach and Carrot Purees
This recipe was a little tricky because the Beehives and I prepared the batter and it was all from scratch (first time for me with brownies) and looked so disgusting with adding chocolate, carrots and spinach together. Also, the recipe calls for a long cooling time (so you would not be able to taste the purees) and we had to eat them warm because of time. The result of this test was 50/50. Some of the girls liked them but others did not. I personally thought they were good and when Jonathon got home he said they tasted like normal brownies to him. I think they would be better if they were made from a Betty Crocker’s box mix instead of making the batter from scratch.
I don’t think a child would know any difference in the brownies and especially if you did not tell them what was in it. The mind can be a powerful persuader. If anyone wants to get the recipe book it is called “Deceptively Delicious” by Jessica Seinfeld.

I had a great time with the girls and cooking this interesting treat. I am looking forward to many more fun nights with the Beehives… they are so awesome and are such a blessing to work with.