Friday, May 29, 2009

What My Kids are Eating That They Don't Know They're Eating


Avocado hidden within smoothie.

Usually, I make a smoothie with a banana, strawberries, raw honey, raw egg yolk, melted coconut oil, orange juice, yogurt or kefir and a teaspoon of vanilla. The kids love it and I'm able to freeze the purposefully made left overs in plastic popsicle forms. The kids are having a breakfast popsicle right now!

This last time, I slipped in a half an avocado too. Unlike the time I ambitiously put kale in and made sure it was properly liquefied so you couldn't see a speck of green, they have not noticed the additional ingredient. They are happily eating their popsicles without any realization that they are also getting the good stuff from a half avocado that Mom sneakily mixed in.

I am a huge proponent for honesty with children. That sounds ridiculous, but I know lots of parents that aren't. They'd much rather take the easier road of lying, shading, and omission with their kids. Obviously, communication must be age appropriate and children are not our confessors--we don't need to tell them everything. That's a burden for them and unnecessary. But, being passive aggressive, instead of clear and straight forward does them a huge disservice, I think. I don't lie to my kids. When they are upset that the DVD they hoped to watch is not here, I tell them that I put it out into the mail--my bad. When they ask for something, I tell them "no" if the answer is no. Not "maybe", I don't equivocate (unless the answer is maybe, and I'm still thinking about it). I afford my kids the same kind of decency and respect I have for adults. Although, if adults were running around chasing each other with Star Wars light sabers when we were trying to get ready and out the door to go to their tap class, I might raise my voice at them too...

Must I tell my kids every ingredient I use when I cook?! Do I have to share when I put in an extra grinding of pepper or use lemon instead of vinegar in a recipe? I think it's fine to sneak in extra nutrition in ways that don't effect taste. If they don't taste it, it's not affecting their popsicle joy. Who is harmed in this transaction?

I don't do this often because my son's palate is too sensitive. That's a really bad thing these days. It would have been a handy skill to have and he would have avoided poisoning as a cave man, but zucchini is not poison, all grimaces to the contrary.

Query: Can broccoli ever make its way into a cookie? Recipe anyone?

3 comments:

Sue said...

Have you read/seen/heard of "Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food" by Jessica Seinfeld? My boy is waaay too picky to eat most of the stuff in there (he doesn't eat casseroles or soups or anything veggie-like or even fruit smoothies). But I was able to make the "spinach brownies" and he enjoyed them (I think there might be carrots, too)! It was the first (and last) time he ate spinach (or carrots)! I also made the chocolate chip cookies with garbanzo beans with great results (my husband even liked those). Now that we homeschool, I have no time cook deceptively delicious treats without him witnessing, which totally ruins the effect.

Laura said...

I have heard of that book, but haven't really investigated it.

I think spinach brownies would work here.

Is this the book where she has a system of several purees of veggies that go into her recipes?

I know there's another book about sneaky nutritious cooking too.

Shez said...

I found this recipe for you

Blueberry-Broccoli Sorbet
G. Lete

Serves: 1
Preparation Time: 1 minute

Ingredients:
1 cup frozen blueberries
2 cups frozen broccoli florets
1/4 cup chopped raw cashews (optional)
Instructions:
Blend berries and broccoli in a Vita-Mix, taking time to push ingredients into blades. Mix until smooth and the consistency of sorbet. Sprinkle with cashews.


A review gave it 5 stars out of a possible five with the comment that she added dates for sweetness and it apparently was delicious.

I have recipes for cakes that contain beets and I make a killer chocolate mousse with avocado and cashew nuts.

I give my kids a smoothie each morning that contains 8oz of spinach. I also add a cup each of blueberries and cherries and a pack of acai berries. It's deep purple and very yummy. Oh, I also add in some flax seeds for the omegas.

I also have a brownie recipe that contains no flour but does contain black beans.

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