22 Apr Jessica Seinfeld I am Not! Or am I? Blending Veggies into your Diet

You all know the Jessica Seinfeld book Deceptively Delicious, right? It’s where she suggests “sneaking” fruits and vegetables into children’s diets. I am strongly opposed to this tactic as I feel that kids need to be told the truth and accept the consequences-whatever their parents feel is appropriate. When we “sneak” in fruits and veggies, we are telling our children that they are “bad” foods and that we have to be deceptive (as the title states) in order for our kids to eat them. Would you like be given food thinking it’s one thing only to be told later that you ate a cup of brussel sprouts unknowingly? So yes, I, and a number of my colleagues are against it. However, many are for it and have found success. Feel free to pick your side. I do not judge.

So, yesterday was a hectic day and I was nowhere close to the amount of fruits and veggies I needed for my daily consumption. And honestly, without even asking him, I knew my husband was nowhere close, either.

I knew I was going to make something with ground turkey and had decided on turkey burgers. Fast forward about 10 minutes and there was ground turkey cooking on the stove top, jarred spaghetti sauce in a pot and thawed whole wheat pasta on the counter (That’s right, you can cook and freeze pasta if you’d like). I grabbed 2 big handfuls of broccoli and 2 handfuls of carrots. Put them in a freezer bag with about an inch of water and microwaved them until soft. Popped them in the blender, along with 2 handfuls of spinach and boom! I had several servings of veggies right there! Put the blended mixture into the spaghetti sauce (more veggies!) and stirred well. Served with the turkey meat and the pasta with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

My husband LOVED it and ate every bit. Oh, did I tell you that my husband eats lettuce, green beans and asparagus–that’s it. Those are his top (and only) 3 vegetables that he likes. When I asked him if he wanted to know what he just ate, his response was “something with a lot of fiber in it? ” (He knows me and my love of fiber so well). I told him what was in it and he said “just keep doing this and I’ll eat it”.

How I HATE, HATE, HATE to agree with Jessica Seinfeld, I’m afraid I must with regard to this. It’s good to be proven wrong sometimes. But don’t tell her, okay?