Deceptively Delicious

           So for the last couple of days I have been cooking & baking like a mad women. For some people this may not sound like a good time but I have to admit I thoroughly have enjoyed myself...I must be a chef at heart because I just LOVE to cook & bake! This particular cooking frenzy was inspired from watching Jessica Seinfeld on Oprah a little while ago promoting her cookbooks.  She uses vegetable purees in her cooking to "deceive" her children (and husband) into eating healthy wholesome foods. Anyhow I found one of her cookbooks titled "Deceptively Delicious" at my brothers and thought I would have some fun.  I enjoy cooking for my brother because he really appreciates healthy food and always compliments my cooking/baking. Also I like to spoil him a bit when I come to visit because he is such a good brother. I also thought it would be fun to see if I could “deceive” his kids into eating some healthy foods.  Anyways Jessica Seinfeld's system is really easy and all the recipes I tried are so good and nutritious.

This is the cookbook...Ethan was my helper!
His favorite part about our cooking frenzy was jumping in his jolly jumper while he intently watched me!

            Here’s what I did…I started my cooking fest by making up a bunch of purees (carrot, summer squash, sweet potato, cauliflower, red pepper & apple). ...super easy, I just steamed or baked the vegetables (don't boil as you lose a lot of nutrients in the water)...then I pureed them with a blender.  I made up extra puree to be used for future cooking and divided them up into 1/2 cup portions in zip lock bags. I labeled them and placed them in the freezer...easy as pie.

            So my cooking & baking spree yielded lean beef lasagna (with sweet potato & cauliflower puree) , lean beef chili (with red pepper & carrot puree…you could also puree the beans if your kids have a problem eating beans), chicken stew ( with cauliflower and sweet potato puree), home-style mac & cheese (with butternut squash puree), lean beef burgers (with cauliflower & carrot puree), chicken salad (with cauliflower and squash puree), banana bread (with butternut squash & cauliflower puree) and apple sauce muffins (with carrot puree).
            I went to IKEA and got some freezable containers and packaged all the dinner food away in appropriate adult and kid meal portions in the freezer.  I love doing this because it saves time and money when you don't feel like cooking or don't have the time to cook. This is how one side of my brother’s deep freezer looks now…



I labeled and dated the meals...

I packaged the burgers and mac & cheese in zip lock bags...I pre cooked the burgers...so much easier.

For thawing I find it easiest to take out the container in the morning and let it thaw on the counter...or for quick thawing I fill the sink with hot water and put container or bag in to thaw...You can always use the microwave but over time it will ruin the containers and I am always scared that the plastic will melt into the food.

HAPPY COOKING!

Love,  Aleccia