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We recently talked about all the controversy surrounding the release of Deceptively Delicious, the cookbook that advocates hiding vegetables in kid-friendly food. When I asked for Parenthackers’ first-hand tales, JT wrote this gem of a sum-up:

My guess is, if you are reading this blog, you have probably already heard about this book, if not the hoopla surrounding possible plagarism. Just in case you haven’t, here are the pertinent details:

1. Jessica Seinfeld (wife of Jerry) wrote this book called “Deceptively Delicious” about hiding veggies and other healthy ingredients in your family’s meals.

2. She worked with doctors, dietitians and a chef before being published, and they are credited and in some cases, quoted.

3. The book contains her “how did I get here” piece, support from her experts, and lots of “here’s what you need” and “how to’s” in addition to her kid-friendly recipes.

Now, the allegations:

1. She stole the idea from any one of a number of people, from your grandmother to Missy Chase Lapine, author of “The Sneaky Chef: Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals.”

2. She’s a dilletante who just wants more money.

3. Making brownies with vegetables only teaches kids to eat more junk food, and therefore this is a horrible way to encourage your family’s health.

This book was brought to my attention by my hyper-healthy mom, who was watching Oprah while running on the treadmill at her health club when Jessica Seinfeld came on. My mom, who is not exactly gullible, was extremely excited and called me right after she saw this. And then she ran to the bookstore and bought it for me.

I am willing to try anything to get my boys to eat veggies. Benjamin is 22 months old and will actually eat a little of almost anything. Danny, 5, used to be willing to eat veggies… until he saw that big brother Jacob, 7, gags to the point of vomiting at the bare sight of a broccoli floret. I have not been forcing my kids to eat vegetables, but have found any way possible to get them to eat healthier. Jake will sometimes drink V8, so I keep that on hand. I also stock up on kid-friendly baby carrots and any fruit they’re interested in eating. I try to get them to eat fresh and steamed veggies regularly, but inevitably I get mad when there is gagging, whining and face-making at the table I’ve worked so hard to lay with a nice meal. When Juicy Juice came out with Harvest Surprise, I was thrilled — I didn’t use to allow them to drink fruit juice at home, but now they drink a glass of “grape-carrot juice” daily and at least they’re getting something in.

So with two picky eaters (which I assume will become three once the baby catches on that “veggies are yucky”), I was interested in this book. The most important thing my mom told me she saw on the Oprah show was a doctor (maybe Dr. Mehmet Oz?) who said there is a real reason why kids hate vegetables — in primitive times when people scrounged for food, any food that tasted bitter was likely to be poisonous, while sweet foods were safe. Add that evolutionary tidbit to the fact that kids have more taste buds than adults do, and it goes to show that babies are born with an orientation to sweet things. Didn’t many of us have to develop a taste for vegetables? (It probably didn’t help that I was raised eating mostly canned stuff — anyone ever eat boiled, canned asparagus? Blech!)

Now, on to the book. My mom gave it to me on a Saturday, and I read the whole thing that night. It was like an hourlong “Duh!” moment — I could have been doing this all along! The story that Seinfeld tells is how she was making mac & cheese for her two eldest kids while pureeing butternut squash for the baby… and she noticed how the squash was basically the same color as the mac & cheese. So she added some squash to the mac & cheese, and the kids didn’t notice! Aha! A concept was born in her household.

Seinfeld recommends a few things: pureeing vegetables to add to familiar foods, adding things like ground flaxseed to various foods, and always serving “regular” vegetables at meals so that kids still see people eating them. The thing that I really liked about this was that Seinfeld is open about having similar problems to me — her kids are picky eaters! She hates having fights about food! She worries about her kids’ health! And she’s creative, but the recipes are simple.

It wasn’t until the next weekend that I was able to stock up on recommended items and spend time making my purees. Seinfeld gives a long list of foods and how to cook and puree them; the results, she recommends freezing in small portions in plastic bags. I spent several hours one Saturday night, roasting sweet potatoes, beets and squash, sauteeing chicken, and steaming carrots, broccoli, and zucchini. It was tiring and a little messy, but I do have a very small kitchen so that doesn’t help. When I was done, I had lots of little bags filled with all colors of vegetables. All of the bags from a particular vegetable went into its own freezer-weight Ziploc, marked with the vegetable name, date, and portion amount (1/2 cup in each little bag) and into the freezer.

Sunday was my first test. I picked a recipe to make and foisted it on my kids (Rice Balls, made with brown rice, pureed chicken, cheese and vegetables). Danny helped me make the balls, and I served them up piping hot and crunchy from the saute pan. Danny loved them. Jake thought they were okay, and my husband thought they were very tasty. Now, I have to add a caveat — in trying to be uber-healthy, I overcompensated and used only organic whole-wheat bread crumbs to coat the rice balls. Unaccustomed to whole wheat in its “real” form, Jacob was not impressed. I don’t blame him — the food itself was tasty, but those organic wheat bread crumbs were pretty bitter. If I’d used regular or Italian bread crumbs, I think he’d love these. So the end result was mixed, but I learned two lessons: don’t change too much at once, and try to serve a familiar item along with a new one.

Two days later, I made the “Tortilla Cigars” (pureed chicken, carrots, cheese, rolled into tortillas and baked), served with a chicken-seasoned rice my kids already love. Jacob watched me making this, and asked what was in it. “Do you really want to know?” I asked. He thought about this for a second, and replied “No, I don’t think so.” I was skeptical myself on this one, but after some nervous moments, I got thumbs up from the kids! Whoo! These baked up crunchy and tasty, and seemed like total junk food. But I knew better!

Later in the week, I delved into the Egg & Cheese Souffles and the Apple Muffins from the breakfast menu. The boys liked the idea of the souffles in their individual ramekins, but eggs-averse Jacob blanched at actually eating it. Danny loved it until he saw Jacob gagging; then he decided it was a no-go. My husband really liked it, though (as did I), so I’m going to hang on to this recipe so I can make him a nice romantic breakfast 20 years from now when we don’t have kids in the house. The apple muffins were just fine; filled with carrot puree and old-fashioned oats and topped with an oatmeal streusel, they were very good (especially toasted and topped with a little low-fat butter or margarine).

Later, in discussing the souffle episode with my mother, I posited that maybe I could add a touch of sugar and some cocoa and make it a healthier chocolate souffle… and I think that’s the whole point of this book. Food doesn’t have to be divided into “healthy” and “junky;” it’s possible to tinker with your favorites so that even the pickiest eaters end up eating things that are good for them.

Now, you may have kids who wake up and demand whole-wheat bruschetta with diced tomatoes and spinach. But this frazzled and frustrated mom is very happy to say that while every recipe might not be a winner for everyone, Jessica Seinfeld has given me a gift — carte blanche to deceive my picky kids into eating healthier things. I may be deceiving my kids, but they’re eating better (as am I), and that’s just delicious to me.

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