# "Deceptively Delicious", "Sneaky Chef", etc?



## Fuamami (Mar 16, 2005)

Does anyone own any of these cookbooks? If so, what's your opinion of them? Are the recipes any good?

I looked through _Deceptively Delicious_ at a Mom's Club event today, and it looked pretty easy. But I browsed "Sneaky Chef" on Amazon, and it looked like stuff I never make. I don't make separate "kid's" meals for my kids, so do these cookbooks have regular food too? Or is it all chicken nuggets and pigs in a blanket? And could I just do it on my own?

TIA!


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## Sarahbunny (Jun 13, 2006)

I hope somone answers, especially about Deceptively Delicious. I came to this forum this morning to ask if anyone had tried it? Great minds think alike!


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## melissel (Jun 30, 2004)

I've been trying to get a copy at my library, so I'm







:


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## PapayaMom (Sep 6, 2004)

I have deceptively delicious and like it. There are things that you can do to make the meals better like subbing ww flour for white and things like that but mostly I bought if because my husband is a terrible and picky eater









He happily ate the Aloha breaded chicken which had sweet potato puree and pineapple puree along with ww bread crumb and flax meal breading.

My daughter eats really well as it is but could always use a few more bites of veggies.

We made the chocolate chip cookies with chick peas, those are great. And the sweet potato pancakes which I thought were blah but she liked them a lot.

All in all I think it's a pretty good book, but we haven't explored many of the recipes.

I am going to make the brownies this afternoon those have spinach and carrots. I think the trick is that it doesn't make brownies healthy, just a little better for you.


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## Starr (Mar 16, 2005)

I read you are supose to make sure thebrownies are 100% cool before eating, otherwise all you taste is spinach.


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## ack26 (Jan 19, 2007)

I was just looking at this book at the bookstore. Barnes & Noble has them on display this week. Man, those displays work !! What great advertising.








Thanks for posting a review. I may request that our library purchase the book.


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## flminivanmama (Nov 21, 2001)

i want to check it out. I already do this a lot - squash in the mac & cheese, zucchini in the brownies, a bazillion veggies (whatever's in the house) in my spagetti sauce, spinach in the smoothies....

so I'd love *more* ideas


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## VikingKvinna (Dec 31, 2003)

Jessica Seinfeld was on Oprah the other day (I swear, I didn't actually watch it!







just heard about it) and if you go to her website, there are recipes and videos of J.S. making some of the recipes.

Yesterday I made the mac-n-cheese w/cauliflower (and for the piece de resistance, used her trick of leaving the box -- in my case, Annie's -- out on the counter for realism







) and 4 yo DS gobbled it, as did 20-month DD. Tonight I'm trying the chicken nuggets; you add pureed broccoli to the egg batter. There area also w.w. crumbs (which I do anyway) and flax seed in the coating.

I'm with Andrea; I do a lot of these things already (esp. spinach in the smoothies/popsicles) but these seem to be ideas I wouldn't think of on my own. I have done sweet potato pancakes (and other veggies, leftover squash, etc.).


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## ack26 (Jan 19, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *VikingKvinna* 
Jessica Seinfeld was on Oprah the other day (I swear, I didn't actually watch it!







just heard about it) and if you go to her website, there are recipes and videos of J.S. making some of the recipes.

I enjoyed looking at the recipes at the oprah site. Did you look at the messageboards? LOTS of negative comments on the brownies.
I still want to get the book from the library, though.


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## jenkuh (Mar 31, 2006)

I've tried quite a few from the sneaky chef and was impressed. The cookie recipe was amazing - my family kills them off in a day! I've got people begging for the recipe! I've tried the mac and cheese and a few others as well and my DD loves them - but some of them I could really taste what was supposed to be hidden. However, I liked the idea of it so much that I tried to ignore it







. I was curious about the deceptive chef as well.


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## Eben'sMama (Jun 29, 2006)

I don't have this problem with my DS and hope I never do, but I already knew a lot of these "tricks," as I'm sure lots of other mamas do. I should have written the cookbook, but without the Seinfeld factor, I doubt it would be as big a hit.


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## PapayaMom (Sep 6, 2004)

ok so the brownies are delicious, I did try a little bit while still hot and maybe it just wasn't a spinach-y bite but I didn't notice. I did use dark cocoa though and that is stronger than regular cocoa. But they are yummy brownies, the choco chip cookies were good.

I made the turkey chili last night and that needed a lot of spicing up. I find many of her meals are blander and do need some doctoring but they are a good starting point.


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## lotus.blossom (Mar 1, 2005)

Is there really any nutritional benefit after you steam, puree, and recook the veggies in a new meal? Thats my question. My 15m/o loves his veggies now but I'm just







: for the future if he decides he doesn't like them anymore


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## Fuamami (Mar 16, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *PapayaMom* 
ok so the brownies are delicious, I did try a little bit while still hot and maybe it just wasn't a spinach-y bite but I didn't notice. I did use dark cocoa though and that is stronger than regular cocoa. But they are yummy brownies, the choco chip cookies were good.

I made the turkey chili last night and that needed a lot of spicing up. I find many of her meals are blander and do need some doctoring but they are a good starting point.

Awesome! I made spinach brownies once before, my dh hated them. There were lots of jokes bandied around about the good old days and green brownies, though!

So the consensus seems to be that even if you already add veggies, this cookbook could give you some good ideas? Anyone have both "Sneaky Chef" and "Deceptively Delicious", and have a preference?

lotus.blossom, I agree that you lose some of the nutritional benefit, but I think if you were still serving veggies like you always did (raw, steamed, etc.) AND supplementing your other dishes with veggies, that'd be okay, right?


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## jiva (May 25, 2006)

Well, I bought Sneaky Chef last June and love it. I'm lucky that my 2 1/2 year old eats veggies and beans and such pretty well. Dh is actually a harder sell. But I like the ideas for those last-minute throw-together meals that could use a little nutrtional boost. So today I bought Deceptively Delicious. Really like it too. To me Sneaky Chef seems a little easier, but it could be 'cause I've had more time with it. BUT, Deceptively Delicious has quite a few more recipes, although I haven't tried any yet. There are only a few repeats, so I'm glad to have both. Also DD uses some veggies that SC doesn't, like beets.







Hope this helps make the choice. If I had neither and was deciding, I'd probably get DD since it has more in it...but like I said, I'm reeeaaally glad to have both!

jiva


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## PapayaVagina (May 11, 2002)

Wanted to sub. I noticed on Amazon that someone mentioned comparing recipes from the 2 books and thought SC tasted better than DD. Hmmm...there was a lot of talk too about that it still encourages junk food eating so just for the record...I'm getting this for me and my DH to make us feel better about the garbage we eat


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## destinybound (Apr 20, 2004)

I did see that Oprah and did find it funny that my kids were munching on carrots the whole time?







I have a feeling a lot of "us" do many of these sneaky things. In fact, that would be a great thread...sneaky foods we are already making i.e. flax oil in the smoothie...


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## amcal (Jan 13, 2003)

I'd rather just teach my child to eat healthy. I think veggies can be VERY tasty if prepared the right way.

My kids eat spinach if I saute it with butter and garlic.

The LOVE roasted broccoli, cauliflower, zuccini etc... because roasting brings out the natural sweetness.

They even love brussel sprouts when I pan roast them with a little butter and oil, garlic, salt and a sprinkling of chopped nuts tossed in at the end. Again, pain frying carmelizes then and makes them super sweet.

They will eat red, yellow and orange peppers straight up because they are sweet and crunchy etc....

I just don't get the need to make "treat foods" the way for my kids to get their veggies. I'd rather save the treat foods and just make healthy foods my kids will enjoy.


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## avendesora (Sep 23, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *amcal* 
I'd rather just teach my child to eat healthy. I think veggies can be VERY tasty if prepared the right way.

My kids eat spinach if I saute it with butter and garlic.

The LOVE roasted broccoli, cauliflower, zuccini etc... because roasting brings out the natural sweetness.

They even love brussel sprouts when I pan roast them with a little butter and oil, garlic, salt and a sprinkling of chopped nuts tossed in at the end. Again, pain frying carmelizes then and makes them super sweet.

They will eat red, yellow and orange peppers straight up because they are sweet and crunchy etc....

I just don't get the need to make "treat foods" the way for my kids to get their veggies. I'd rather save the treat foods and just make healthy foods my kids will enjoy.

I absolutely agree. I've been fortunate enough to be nutrition-conscious from the beginning, and my kids don't know what brownies are yet. I have no problem salting their veggies because kids need some salt and we really don't eat pretzels or crackers, etc.

However, I think that 'sneaky' cookbooks have their place. Many SADists don't know how to cook veggies in a way that their kids will like. Their kids' palates have been ruined by school cafeterias and birthday parties. Once you've gone down that road, it's very hard to turn back. 'Sneaky' foods are better than no veggies at all.

Aven


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## jiva (May 25, 2006)

I do agree that kids should learn to like veggies as they are. My son is actually quite agreeable...he loves raw carrots and any kind of bean (which is handy since we don't eat meat). Plus he'll eat spinach (loves the quiche!), flax muffins, wheat germ in his oatmeal, and he'll even eat cauliflower in this one casserole I make, just to name a few, with no fuss. Having these books makes me realize just how lucky I am. Ds carried around a bag of prunes yesterday and ate half a dozen or so (he's 2 1/2) because he loooves fruit. One of his favorite snacks is nuts. Any kind, raw (my fave) or roasted (dh's fave). But, I do like the idea of adding even more veggies to dishes since in order to get dh to eat beans and stuff, I often have to use a fair amount of cheese or tomato sauces...which is a great place to add stuff they don't eat as well. I just want to know that they're getting enough antioxidants and I think this is a nice way to supplement their very decent diets. But that's my 2 cents. We're not really into the packaged stuff here...I love to bake and cope with cooking







'cause it's important to me to know what we're putting in our bodies. That's all.

jiva


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## desertpenguin (Apr 15, 2005)

uh, well, for those of us here who were raised on a SAD with very little veggies period, and are still struggling with getting more fresh veggies into their diet and their children's diet...what about us? ha. i got pregnant young and didn't really start making much of an effort to eat healthy until my son was born and turned out to have a lot of food intolerances because of my crappy diet. i think i want to get these books for christmas. my ds and dh are carb addicts and extremely picky eaters. the only raw veggie i've been able to get my son to eat so far is carrots, and then he will only chew them up and spit them back out. i made a gf pizza with fresh peppers of different colors and mild green chile and black olives and ds wouldn't eat it without picking off most of the veggies first. sigh.







anyways, i would have to agree with a pp that these kinds of books must have their place, at least for those of us who are trying to eat healthier and trying to teach their families to eat healthier.


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## Ammaarah (May 21, 2005)

I agree that it's best for kids to eat veggies in a more natural state, but many toddlers are exceptionally fickle about food in general. I don't think there's anything wrong with nutritionally boosting any junkier foods we give our kids either. Well, with the exception of brownies. Spinach brownies sound downright unholy to me.


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## heket (Nov 18, 2003)

Re: how much nutrition comes from doing these kinds of recipes?

Well, I was reading this yesterday:

Quote:

When the recipe was analyzed using NutriCalc 2.0 it appears that each brownie yields 156 calories, 57% of which came from carbohydrates, 9% from protein, and 34% from fat. This is lower in fat and calories than a traditional brownie, but higher in both than most methods of preparing carrots or spinach.
From http://jezebel.com/gossip/food-fight...ous-310839.php
(Just to note, the author hated the brownies.)

I have picky eaters and would like to use this as a way to get them to eat more veggies. But I also wondered what they would be getting from the altered states of the veggies. I don't know about the system used to find out this info, but I thought it was interesting. All the same, I'll flip through the books at the library because I'm curious.


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## luvmy2girls (Dec 23, 2006)

I think it's fair to say that not all kids (or DHs!) are the same. Say you've always prepared relatively healthy meals and snacks, and one of your LOs will eat most veggies and the other won't... well, it's either personality or a stage/age thing. In that case, why not take the help of these books! Also, DD says that this isn't meant to *replace* veggies on their plate. She still makes a side dish of veg and puts it next to the entree to encourage trying & liking them. It's meant to boost some of the nutritional value. In my house, most of our meals are healthy, but who doesn't like to have baked crispy chicken tenders once a week or so...and if I can make them this way and my family loves them the same, it's a win-win! Just my 2 cents!!


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## Sydnee (May 1, 2004)

I would really like to get this book, as I already do the sneaky of veggies in our dishes, but some new recipes would be nice.







And I always serve fresh carrots/broccoli/cauliflower and sugar snap peas with every meal. I don't care if they don't eat it all, but at least they are getting introduced to it.


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## Agnes (Sep 5, 2007)

I have the Sneaky Chef & I love it. I took it out of the library first, and decided it was well worth buying. The recipes are good, and there's a broad range. I loved that she includes freezer information!!


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## Mihelinka (Nov 2, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *melissel* 







I've been trying to get a copy at my library, so I'm







:

I'm in position 38 to get a copy of that book







:

Maybe i'll see it next year


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## LianneM (May 26, 2004)

I'm a chocoholic and these brownies do not suck!







I am shocked, I thought they would be nasty, but they are actually really good and rich. The texture is a little "flexible" but it isn't bad. I used Dutch process cocoa from Frontier, so maybe that is the difference? I also used fresh spinach - I wonder if people tried pureeing frozen and if that changed it?

I agree with serving veggies and making them taste good. DS has always been great about trying new things, eating veggies, etc. Until lately. He's 2.5 and hardly eats ANYTHING. So if I can get some veggies into him I'll do it


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## Fuamami (Mar 16, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *amcal* 
I'd rather just teach my child to eat healthy. I think veggies can be VERY tasty if prepared the right way.

My kids eat spinach if I saute it with butter and garlic.

The LOVE roasted broccoli, cauliflower, zuccini etc... because roasting brings out the natural sweetness.

They even love brussel sprouts when I pan roast them with a little butter and oil, garlic, salt and a sprinkling of chopped nuts tossed in at the end. Again, pain frying carmelizes then and makes them super sweet.

They will eat red, yellow and orange peppers straight up because they are sweet and crunchy etc....

I just don't get the need to make "treat foods" the way for my kids to get their veggies. I'd rather save the treat foods and just make healthy foods my kids will enjoy.

Well, my kids eat lots of veggies too. And like them. In fact, broccoli, in all forms, is one of my dd's favorite foods.

But maybe it's just the American drive for "more, more, more!" that's making me think it's great to nutritionally improve every food you can!


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## BonMaman (Sep 25, 2005)

We've tried the chocolate chip muffin (with prune puree) and cookie (with chickpeas) recipes from Deceptively Delicious.







There are several that look like they just might work (fingers crossed) for getting my 28mo older lad to eat *something* -- he barely eats anything, and that which he does eat is pretty much limited to grains & dairy.


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