Deceptively Delicious?

I came across this cookbook and thought it sounded like a great plan. Basically, you puree' fruits and vegetables and add them to your food before cooking. The idea is that your children will get the fruits and vegetables they need without the whining/begging/pleading that goes along with "eat your green vegetables."  The trick comes when they don't realize the veggies are in the food. Yea, right. My first clue should have been when I realized the author's children are 6, 4 and 2 -- plenty young enough to be molded to eat these types of food and develop a taste for them early on.  Since mine are 16, 13 and 11, I probably waited a little too long, but hey, the cookbook only came out last year!  

My mistake was in starting with a dessert.  Brownies.  They are made with wonderful ingredients -- chocolate, cocoa powder, brown sugar, etc.  Oh, yea, and 1/2 cup each of carrot and spinach purees'.  I thought I was busted when Rebecca asked to lick the bowl.  Looking down, horrified, at the tiny pieces of spinach on the spoon, I said, "Uh, um...uh, this has raw egg in it. Not good for you!" and promptly dumped it in the sink.  

The brownies were beautiful. I cut them into perfectly shaped pieces and dusted them lightly with powdered sugar. Then, I arranged them on a nice cut glass plate.  Everyone couldn't wait to bite into them after dinner. Katherine was the first vict....uh, I mean, the first one to taste them.  Well, the jig was up after the first taster. She immediately wanted to know what was wrong with the brownies. They were weird.  

Here's Abigail trying to figure out what was in the brownies that made them taste so strange.  She tried to be polite by taking a few tiny bites, but hers ended up in the garbage. (Yes, I found it Abigail...where you tried to hide it under the Doritoes bag.)

Rebecca came in later. "Oooo....powdered sugar!" (my sweet-tooth kid) One tiny nibble was all it took for her to run screaming down the street. "What's wrong with these?  They're nasty!"

Jeff was the most gracious.  He managed to eat two -- topped with Cookies and Cream ice cream, but hey, at least he tried.  I thought they were ok. Really, they weren't that bad. And, each one had 3 grams of fiber. So, that's a plus, right? How many other brownie recipes can make that claim?

I am unwavering in my plan to get my family eating more vegetables. Besides, I did not stand in the kitchen for 3 hours roasting/steaming/slicing/chopping/blending to throw it all away! So, when they least expect it, there may be some butternut squash in their casserole.  And, hopefully it will be deceptively delicious.