Featured Review: The Sneaky Chef -A Cookbook for Picky Eaters
I’d heard about The Sneaky Chef: A Cookbook for Picky Eaters by Missy Chase Lapine. When the offer to review it came along, I jumped at it. My son Ben, who at the time of this review was almost 23 months, has been a getting very picky. All he ever wants is mac & cheese, oatmeal or yogurt. Sometimes all in one meal!! I use the organic or at least all natural wheat pasta mac and cheese (the Back to Nature brand is one of his favorites, although its not organic). But I still feel guilty about making that for him. He’s wizened up to my tricks of trying to hide broccoli or chicken in it and has forsaken his favorite veggie, zucchini lately.
The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine, is a a welcome addition to our house. Missy uses several types of purees to "sneak into food". There is the White Puree (cauliflower and zucchini), Green Puree (spinach, broccoli, and peas), Orange Puree (sweet potato and carrot), White Bean Puree (any kind of white bean) and finally the Purple Puree (spinach and blueberries).
I liked that she doesn’t expect you to cook everything from scratch. As a busy mom, the packages of mac & cheese and other foods often come out when I don’t have time. The first puree I tested was the white bean puree. Open a can of white beans, add some water to a food processor or blender (which is what I used), make it the consistency of peanut butter (smooth, not wet and you don’t want to see any pieces of bean) and you’re done! Then I added it to my packaged mac and cheese, after I cooked the macaroni and made the cheese sauce. Ben and even I, lapped it up. I could tell that the white beans were there (because I love them), but my child had no clue and loved it. She also has a list of substitutions for the purees (Missy recommends baby food such as Beechnut’s sweet potatoes and carrot purees to make her orange puree).
I also made the "Hi Fi Fish Sticks"- high fiber fish sticks, using the white puree (cauliflower and zucchini), egg, "her better breadcrumbs" – which were ground up wheat bread and wheat germ and were so easy to make. I didn’t have whole wheat flour, so I substituted whole grain pancake mix. I took the tilapia, dipped it in the pancake mix, dipped it into the egg and white puree mixed together and then dipped it into the breadcrumbs. Then I grilled it with some olive oil (but you could have baked it too). Dear readers, this was such a HUGE hit in my household. Hubby and baby feasted. I also made the "magic meatballs" – with the green puree, but since Ben won’t touch turkey meatballs or tomato sauce anyway, my husband ended up eating it. My friend Melissa has made the brownies – with the purple puree for her daughter’s school and everyone loved them. The French toast with the orange puree also came out wonderfully (but using Challah bread may taste a little better than the wheat bread I used). The chicken fingers came out delicious too. I just made them smaller and called them "Nuggets" so Ben would eat them.
My only complaint with the book was that I wanted to see MORE RECIPES. There are many, with categories of breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and treats, but I wanted more! Hopefully a companion book will be in the works!! I appreciated that there was a list of foods that you should buy organic (like peaches and strawberries- that have too many pesticides on it), to foods that you don’t need to go organic for (like sweet corn).
As much as I wish I didn’t have to sneak things into my child’s food, I have to make sure he gets his nutrition. I will keep offering the veggies and fruits in the open, but at least I know he is getting his requirements in the mean time. If your toddler or child is giving you a war at every meal, this book is for you. I think it’s worth your time! I kind of killed my blender making these purees, so I think its time I get a proper food processor!!
Celeb fans of this book include Chef Daniel Boulud, Jami Gertz, Denise Richards, Joel McHale from E!’s The Soup, and Miley Cyrus’ mom, Leticia Cyrus.
Want to invite the Sneaky Chef to your abode? Click here to buy it.
- Posted on Sep 18, 07 at 8:33PM
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- 3 Comments
September 18th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
I don’t understand kids not eating veggies. My daughter, now 26, ate dinner with her grandparents and me every night, and we always ate salads as well as fresh and frozen veggies. As soon as she was eating regular food, she ate them with us. Maybe because she saw us eating them … maybe because there were no other kids at the table (although she ate lunch at day care five days a week) … all I know is, Olivia always happily ate veggies (and still does). The only thing she ever refused was sweet potatoes — her papa offered her a spoonful at her second Thanksgiving, and she visibly recoiled!
September 19th, 2007 at 8:35 am
My toddler loves veggies but I figure that you can’t have too many. Plus I anticipate her getting to the picky stage and I want to be ready. I just bought this book and the new one from Jessica Seinfeld. I can hardly wait to get them and try it out. More veggies for the whole family– how can you go wrong?
September 19th, 2007 at 8:49 am
Madam Pince- Feel lucky, very, very lucky.
All kids really are different. My kids don’t even like all the same veggies (of the ones they’ll actually eat). I don’t cook differently for them and they see my husband and myself eating salad and veggies. I’m hoping they’ll grow to like more in the future but If I can add something to our food, why not. I know some of it has to do with texture. Both boys love raw carrots but won’t touch a cooked one. My oldest loves fresh broccoli steamed just a bit but does not like if it’s over cooked. He’ll eat it but not without complaint. It doesn’t apply just to veggies though which is why I think it’s a texture thing and that hopefully it will pass as they get older.