Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious

Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious cookbook is WONDERFUL. My friend Christy pointed it out to me & my sister-in-law Bethany at the same time. We’ve had lots of fun batch cooking parties with these recipes because the kids actually EAT the stuff! There are certainly some recipes that my kids like more than others, but I think that comes down to your family’s preferences.

To start with I was too cheap to buy it so I checked it out from the library. But I didn’t want to give it back, so I started accumulating my typical mound of library fees. I decided to return it before the fines got any higher and buy it. I don’t regret the purchase at all. I’ve had it over a year and we still haven’t run out of recipes to try yet. I focus mainly on the baking recipes (breakfast/deserts) because I’m one of those fortunate parents who can get their kids to eat broccoli and carrots for dinner.

Don’t hate me too much, I’ve had to be a total weirdo since my kids started eating solids. I think my father is still upset that I wouldn’t let him give his grandkids candy when they were little! I’ve found that even with my kids having a good diet that I don’t feel like they’re getting enough nutrients. Thanks to soil depletion the veggies don’t pack as much of a punch as they should. Unless I manage to buy locally the nutrients deplete even further in the week it takes to get from a farm to my house. And although we eat as much raw food as possible… let’s be honest most of it still gets cooked, reducing the nutrients even further!

This cookbook has been such a wonderful concept. I still try to feed my family lots of fruits and veggies in their original form because let’s face it everyone needs to eat their fruits and veggies!

But now I can take things like pancakes, muffins, and breads and supercharge them. Let’s face it, if I weren’t hiding veggie purées in these items they’re all just flours, fats, and sugars! I feel so much better watching my kids eat a chocolate chip muffin when I know it’s full of pumpkin!

Our favorite recipes from Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious are:

• Applesauce Muffins (hides butternut squash)
• Banana Bread (hides cauliflower- which my husband refuses to eat in any other form!)
• Pancakes (hides sweet potatoes)
• Choc. Chip cupcakes (hides pumpkin & yellow squash. I omit the squash and double the
• pumpkin. I’ve also never added the frosting and the kids don’t miss it!
• Blueberry Oatmeal Bars (Hides spinach… make sure to let them cool first!)
• Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (hides banana & zucchini. My kids loathe raisins… so I use choc. Chips)

All of these recipes freeze great too.  You can batch cook them and have for months! I use cheap sandwich baggies to individually wrap muffins, cookies, slices of bread, etc. Then I throw those in a big gallon size (which I can reuse a million times). Then the night before I toss them in the fridge or on the counter to thaw. These make really cheap and healthy “convenience foods” for kid and spouse lunches! Anyone else have any good ideas to get more nutrients into our daily diets? I’m all ears!