Deceptively Delicious

It's a constant challenge for me to encourage my kids to eat healthy. They can be picky little eaters sometimes, because let's be honest, they're kids! However, I am fortunate that they are still so young because they haven't become accustomed to certain tastes, like regular Peanut Butter, so they will happily eat Natural Peanut Butter, which has half the sugar and sodium, but more protein than regular. And as long as I AM EATING the healthful food as well, for the most part, they join me. The tricky thing is to make sure I am eating enough of the good stuff so that they can follow my example. Here's where Deceptively Delicious comes into play. Jerry Seinfield's wife, Jessica, has put together this awesome cookbook where you add pureed fruits and vegetables to foods your family already likes. Our family's favorite recipe is the Banana Bread with pureed cauliflower. Sometimes I add butternut squash instead. Yum! And you can't even taste the vegetable. The best thing about it is that it simply gets you thinking, so that you can start adding pureed fruits and veggies to some of your favorite recipes. You don't even need to tell your husband and kids. Just see if they taste a difference. I took my sister's Spaghetti Pie recipe and tweaked it. So now I use whole wheat spaghetti noodles, pureed squash added to ground turkey and pasta sauce (the red pasta sauce covers up the orange color of the squash, so it appears normal). It's so tasty! I'll take a quick picture and share the recipe soon. Even though there's squash in the main meal, I still serve salad and cooked carrots on the side, so I make sure we get enough of what we need. But if Emily or Jon barely touch their carrots, I can feel confident knowing they got SOME vegetable from the meal.

Several mornings a week, I prepare what I like to call "Fruit Smoothie Treats" for breakfast. Because the word "treats" is in the name, my kids are anxious to have one. I have always loved the taste of Fruit Smoothies, but I would often be hungry again two hours later, so I started adding protein mix (EAS brand from Costco) to the Smoothie, to keep me feeling satisfied all morning long. So here's my recipe...

Fruit Smoothie Treat

2 cups fresh or frozen fruit of any kind

1 cup spinach and/or carrot

1/2 cup milk

3 scoops vanilla protein mix

1/8 cup splenda or 1/4 cup sugar

10-15 ice cubes

If you are using frozen fruit, it helps to thaw it a little first. Blend the fruit, spinach/carrot, and milk together in a blender. Add protein mix and the sweetener. Blend well. Finally, add the ice cubes and blend until smooth. Makes 5-6 cups. Enjoy!

Was that easy or what?