Monday, February 9, 2009

Deceptively Delicious?

Like most mothers, I endure a daily battle to get my children to eat healthy. It is no easy feat to get three toddlers to eat their greens and usually I am the one who surrenders, cowering off in frustration.

But, I have decided, I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED!

My first, and only, real plan of attack was to disguise the "good stuff", (i.e. the veges and such) in a way that would be virtually undetectable to my troops. To pull of such a coup I would need some foolproof recipes. So, I borrowed the book Deceptively Delicious from a friend. This book guaranteed I'd be able to hide all sorts of vegetables in my kids' food without them ever knowing.

I decided to try something safe, Mac & Cheese. KRAFT, which I am embarrassed to say, is a staple in our home. The picture in the book even looked like the stuff out of a box. I could feel a victory brewing!

I set out a box of KRAFT on the counter to throw off any suspicion and began to blend puree butternut squash and cheese on the stove top, when the General came in the kitchen to check on lunch.

"Cool! Mac&Cheese, my favorite! Can I stir in the cheese?" asked the General.

"Sure." I said as a peered at my bubbling concoction next to us on the stove.

Then I proceeded to pour the cheesy blend over the noodles.

I could see suspicion in the General's eyes, "Where's the cheese packet?"

Thinking on my toes, "Oh, this is it. I just heated it up so it would keep the noodles nice and warm."

The General started to mix the medley of squash and cheese into the noodles. So far so good, it really did look like the stuff out of the box! The General and his comrades sat down at the table ready to chow. Just as I was getting ready to declare victory, the General started to gag. I mean, he literally started to retch over his bowl.

"Mom, I think the cheese got bad when you heated it up!" The General's eyes were watering at this point from trying to choke down his food. "Next time let me make the Mac&cheese!"

Talk about feeling deflated. Needless to say, I have temporarily forfeited my conquest.