pet peeves

Ah crap. I'm gonna have to turn in my membership to the Tyler Florence Sprout food fan club since I read this blog post. His theory on avoiding picky eaters makes it sounds like parents have a choice to introduce their kids to new foods, at least until the age of 3. So I guess his kids never went through the terrible twos?! Lemme tell you Tyler, it's hard to introduce new food when the kid stopped opening his mouth to anything he didn't like at 18-months-old. I hate it when people take all the credit for their kids' eating or sleep habits. Luck has as much to do with it as parental effort.
Oh, and another thing that bugs me. Husbands who borrow their friend's scooter, crash and break both arms. Feeding a grown man Cheerios is nowhere near as endearing as feeding them to a 2-year-old. Yeah, so maybe I'm a little grouchy this week. But, either way, Tyler's theory still bugs me.

whatever works

B.: "Mmmm, banana bread. Yummy."

Me: "No, it's carrot...eh, yeah, banana bread. Yummy."

i am a stealth master

Operation Produce is in effect. Pureed sweet potatoes went into the egg mix for B.'s French toast this morning. Carrot puree in the mac and cheese last night. Except I got busted by a 5-year-old. B. had his first friend over for dinner, our little neighbor. So cute. I don't think he cared but it seemed like a milestone to me. Anyway, she's a mac and cheese fan but wouldn't eat my doctored version, she could totally tell I tampered with the fresh-from-the-box recipe. Luckily B. seemed totally oblivious. Ditto when he saw me dump 3 cups of shredded carrots into a mixing bowl this afternoon and then serve him a slice of cake an hour later. Mommy is the stealth master!

what worked, what didn't

Stepped up my hidden fruit & veggie efforts this week. Spinach brownies from Deceptively Delicious were a win. Oatmeal with a hidden spoonful of applesauce worked too. Green eggs were a big fat fail. Two out of three ain't bad, right? Tho I'm gonna keep refining the brownie recipe because the texture is a little too rubbery for me. As I make this stuff (like last week's carrot cake) I realize I'm not interested in making health food. I just want to make food that's healthy. So I'm all for incorporating good stuff in my recipes but I don't want to cut out all the fat and sugar. I think if B. has brownies, they should be rich and special. Not just a casual snack. And that's my 2 cents.

Spinach Brownies

3 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup apple sauce (the cookbook called for carrot puree but I didn't have any)
1/2 cup spinach puree
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons margarine (I swapped and used butter)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large egg whites
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350. Coat an 8x8 inch baking pan with cooking spray (I used parchment paper instead). Melt the chocolate with the butter over very low heat. In a large bowl combine the melted chocolate & butter with the spinach and apple puree, sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla, whisk until smooth and creamy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the egg whites. Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt with a spoon. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Seinfeld has a great tip, saying not to serve the brownies warm because the spinach flavor disappears once they're cool.