Deceptively Delicious: Sneaky Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Foods

This book is fab. I cook for twins who are 19 months old so I adapt the receipes to suit them. I think the recipes are very yummy, and my kids think so too. The aloha Kebabs are delicious - i cook extra for myself always. The children's favorite is the Avecado spread on their bread.
The meals take on average about 40 minutes in total including the prep, which isn't that long in my opinion and they are all so easy.
I know the slogan is to decpetively put vegetables in each meal, which I do as per the recipe, but I always put a seperate vegetable on the side of their meal so they learn to accept and eat them. My twins love their vegetables and enjoy eating these meals.
This book is a life saver. They are getting a variety of healty meals and I'm kept sane from the headache of finding great recipes for them!

Deceptively Disappointing (3/3 people found this helpful)

I saw this in the bookshop and loved the cover and layout so much I had to buy it. It was shrink wrapped and I was in a rush so didn't have time to see inside first. Which was a mistake. Apart from the recipes not tasting very nice and taking a long time to make, I feel there are a number of things wrong with this book. It aims to increase your child's vegetable intake by 'enhancing' ordinary recipes with vegetable purees. The author bemoans the fact that America has no culture of eating vegetables, unlike, say, the Mediterranean diet. Well I don't think hiding vegetable mush in beef burgers, macaroni or even brownies is going to contribute much to creating a vegetable-eating culture. If your children don't know they're eating them, they are never going to get over this "fussy eater" attitude of refusing to try vegetables. Plus, by the time the vegetables been boiled, pureed, frozen (so you have a stock of ready-to-use purees in the freezer) then defrosted and recooked as part of the dish you're making, how many nutrients will be left in them? And is putting a few tablespoons full of pumpkin puree in a cake that serves eight really going to make much of a difference?
I also thought the recipes themselves were very bland and uninspiring - certainly not dishes that you'd want to share with your children, and since they take a fair bit of preparation, making a separate meal for the adults too calls for an awful lot of cooking. Examples include chicken nuggets (dipped in veggie puree), macaroni cheese with pureed cauliflower, hiding mashed cauliflower in mashed potatoes, and mixing mushed up sweet potato with cheese in toasted sandwiches.
My own son was hideously fussy - for a year he resisted eating any fruit and veg, even fruit juice. I turned things around by making really tasty food that contains vegetables, which he was aware he was eating, such as risotto, paella, noodles, soups, etc, and although he probably still wouldn't eat a pile of steamed veg on the side of a plate, he's more than happy to eat vegetables incorporated into a dish that has enough taste and texture for adults to find appealing too. If you're looking for a good family cookbook with child appeal that will improve your vegetable intake and widen your palates, then try Tana Ramsay's Family Kitchen instead.

Brilliant layout for a cookbook!! (0/0 people found this helpful)

Agree with other reviewers the layout of this book should be adopted by all cookbook publishers - recipes were very good again some that were definate crowd pleasers and some that only got lukewarm reception but all tried and eaten - I have 3 boys of my own and mind several other children so food and meal times are always a challenge - this is a novel way of getting kids to eat things that would normally be unmentionable in their presence!!! Enjoyed the book and as I also mind babies already had puree's to hand so didn't find it a huge amount of work! The Banana bread is definatly worth a try for adults and kids alike!!

I also loved that they used realistic photos so what you produce at home resembles the book (sometimes!!).

Puree is the way of the future! (0/0 people found this helpful)

It's a great little cook book, and all the recipies are easy to follow. I have been brought round to eating spinach AND beetroot, which for over 30 years I have managed to avoid with great success. Pink Pancakes (beetroot) have transformed even my eating habits!

It's got me in the kitchen cooking completely home made food, rather than taking the easy option of a lot of pre-packed food. I'm hooked on the recipies. Even though you look at the quantities and think "I really shouldn't put in so much", go with the book, and you'll be pleasantly surprised every time!

Somewhat overhyped but still a good source of ideas (9/9 people found this helpful)

I liked the cute '50s style illustrations and the spiral binding is brilliant - every recipe book should have this! I was also pleasantly surprised by the absence of photographs of Ms Seinfeld and her photogenic family and instead the focus on the food.

I was somewhat disappointed in the recipes offered. There is no desire to stretch my kids in terms of what they will happily eat - the focus is purely on how to integrate more vegetables into their diet. Reading some of the quotes from other Mums within the book, my overriding impression was that my kids eat pretty well (not something that I would normally have said). I guess if you are a mum whose kids won't touch vegetables in any form and that is something that you are stressed about, this book is right for you.

What worked for us: Both Macaroni Cheese version 1 and the burgers were simple and liked by my kids.
What didn't: The Spag pie was horrible. My chicken nuggets were a failure - the coating just wouldn't stick. The quesadillas were eaten grudgingly and I won't be repeating them.

I should add that given the extra work that it took to prepare these recipes, I felt more put out when they didn't go down well than I usually would.

Overall the main thing I've taken from this book is the idea that you can sneak pureed vegetables into the foods that your kids eat. In terms of specific recipes that I will be referring to again and again, there wasn't a lot here for me. A better source of family recipes is "Whining and Dining" by Emma Waverman and Eshun Mott, available from Amazon Canada - my kids loved their carrot recipe!

Deceptively Delicious: Sneaky Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Foods

Jessica Seinfeld

Reader Reviews:

highly recommended (0/0 people found this helpful)

Deceptively Disappointing (3/3 people found this helpful)

Brilliant layout for a cookbook!! (0/0 people found this helpful)

Puree is the way of the future! (0/0 people found this helpful)

Somewhat overhyped but still a good source of ideas (9/9 people found this helpful)

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