Format : Kindle Book Author : Jessica Seinfeld Edition : 1 Spi Number of Pages : 208 Release Date : 2007-10-05 Publisher : HarperCollins e-books

Book Description

It has become common knowledge that childhood obesity rates are increasing every year. But the rates continue to rise. And between busy work schedules and the inconvenient truth that kids simply refuse to eat vegetables and other healthy foods, how can average parents ensure their kids are getting the proper nutrition and avoiding bad eating habits?

As a mother of three, Jessica Seinfeld can speak for all parents who struggle to feed their kids right and deal nightly with dinnertime fiascos. As she wages a personal war against sugars, packaged foods, and other nutritional saboteurs, she offers appetizing alternatives for parents who find themselves succumbing to the fastest and easiest (and least healthy) choices available to them. Her modus operandi? Her book is filled with traditional recipes that kids love, except they’re stealthily packed with veggies hidden in them so kids don’t even know! With the help of a nutritionist and a professional chef, Seinfeld has developed a month’s worth of meals for kids of all ages that includes, for example, pureed cauliflower in mac and cheese, and kale in spaghetti and meatballs. She also provides revealing and humorous personal anecdotes, tear-out shopping guides to help parents zoom through the supermarket, and tips on how to deal with the kid that “must have” the latest sugar bomb cereal.

But this book also contains much more than recipes and tips. By solving problems on a practical level for parents, Seinfeld addresses the big picture issues that surround childhood obesity and its long-term (and ruinous) effects on the body. With the help of a prominent nutritionist, her book provides parents with an arsenal of information related to kids’ nutrition so parents understand why it’s important to throw in a little avocado puree into their quesadillas. She discusses the critical importance of portion size, and the specific elements kids simply must have (as opposed to adults) in order to flourish now and in the future: protein, calcium, vitamins, and Omega 3 and 6 fats.

Jessica Seinfeld’s book is practical, easy-to-read, and a godsend for any parent that wants their kids to be healthy for a long time to come.

Bob Greene, author of The Best Life Diet:
“I found the techniques for adding vegetables to meals extremely creative and the recipes fantastic! Deceptively Delicious is a must have for your healthy kitchen.”

Questions for Jessica Seinfeld

Amazon.com: My seven-year-old inspects the food on his plate like a hawk (if there was a hawk that only ate bagels and macaroni). Anything with the least bit of color goes untouched. What’s a mom or dad to do?

Seinfeld: Two of my three children were exactly the same way. The vegetables, which I worked hard to prepare, not only went untouched, they were often insulted (”Eeewww…!”). And the harder I pushed them to eat good food, the harder they pushed back. We were literally ruining each other’s meals.

That conflict was the inspiration for the book. I realized I wasn’t going to win the power struggle, so I decided to join them on their turf. I started with the foods they would eat (chicken nuggets, tacos, macaroni and cheese) and I added a pureed vegetable of the same color. So if your child only eats macaroni and cheese (or noodles and butter), you should add cauliflower or yellow squash puree, which utterly disappears. Everyone wins: they get the nutrition they need and you get the satisfaction of doing a better job as a parent.

Amazon.com: That same picky second-grader will often try something new one time and declare he likes it, but the next time we serve it, he seems to have lost his spirit of adventure and won’t eat it again. Any advice?

Seinfeld: First and foremost, remember that not every meal you prepare for a child will be a success. Kids at this age are naturally testing preferences, pushing boundaries, and changing their minds. That’s part of their development and those are urges not worth battling. As I learned the hard way, the more pressure you apply, the more kids will “hate” certain foods. And, while it would be nice if kids had a “spirit of adventure” when it comes to food, I’ve found it’s best to eliminate adventure and stick to the basics–foods they already love, laden with added nutrition they don’t know is there. Finally, be consistent, firm and patient. I have a rule in my house: you don’t have to eat what’s on the plate, but what’s on the plate is all that’s being served. Eventually, they come around.

Amazon.com: Are your kids interested in cooking yet? Are there ways to introduce healthy eating habits with the child helping in the kitchen?

Seinfeld: My children are interested in baking because they love any excuse to be around sweets. But I make sure whatever we bake has pureed veggies in it and is actually low in refined sugar. So my children actually think baking cakes, brownies, and cookies with sweet potatoes, carrots, or beets is the proper way to cook.

Amazon.com: What are your kids’ favorite recipes in the book?

Seinfeld: Every recipe in this book is a favorite. I’ve tried out countless creations on my kids, and if they didn’t love them (which happened frequently!), they didn’t make it into the book. But, if pressed, I will say they are crazy about the tacos, the chicken nuggets, the brownies, the pancakes, and my birthday cakes. [See her recipe for delicious brownies made with carrot and spinach.]

Amazon.com: I have to ask it, since I know many readers will: do these recipes require a squad of personal chefs to prepare, or can a busy mom or dad without seven years of Seinfeld residuals put them together by themselves?

Seinfeld: I’m a busy mom with three kids, a job, and a husband who travels constantly, but I’m uncompromising when it comes to my kids’ health and nutrition. Leaving that to someone else is out of the question. My parents had three kids and both worked too, and we always managed to eat healthy meals as a family. That’s the standard I’ve always wanted to meet. So when I started creating recipes from my pureed veggie experiments, I had three criteria: my kids had to love the food, the preparation had to be quick, and the process had to be simple. Believe me, if I can do these recipes quickly and easily, ANYONE can.

Amazon.com: How are the reading skills of Sascha, your oldest child and pickiest eater? Have you blown your cover by publishing your secrets?

Seinfeld: My daughter is almost seven and she not only can read, she’s fully aware that her mother cooks with vegetables all the time. Two years ago, she was a picky four-year-old who thought she hated vegetables. But once she was converted and started seeing those purees going into the desserts she loves, she started to ignore the fact that they were going into the rest of her foods as well. Now it’s the only kind of cooking she knows. So, to anyone with young children–start cooking Deceptively Delicious food when they are young! It’s much easier than trying to change habits later on.

Product Description

It has become common knowledge that childhood obesity rates are increasing every year. But the rates continue to rise. And between busy work schedules and the inconvenient truth that kids simply refuse to eat vegetables and other healthy foods, how can average parents ensure their kids are getting the proper nutrition and avoiding bad eating habits?

As a mother of three, Jessica Seinfeld can speak for all parents who struggle to feed their kids right and deal nightly with dinnertime fiascos. As she wages a personal war against sugars, packaged foods, and other nutritional saboteurs, she offers appetizing alternatives for parents who find themselves succumbing to the fastest and easiest (and least healthy) choices available to them. Her modus operandi? Her book is filled with traditional recipes that kids love, except they’re stealthily packed with veggies hidden in them so kids don’t even know! With the help of a nutritionist and a professional chef, Seinfeld has developed a month’s worth of meals for kids of all ages that includes, for example, pureed cauliflower in mac and cheese, and kale in spaghetti and meatballs. She also provides revealing and humorous personal anecdotes, tear-out shopping guides to help parents zoom through the supermarket, and tips on how to deal with the kid that “must have” the latest sugar bomb cereal.

But this book also contains much more than recipes and tips. By solving problems on a practical level for parents, Seinfeld addresses the big picture issues that surround childhood obesity and its long-term (and ruinous) effects on the body. With the help of a prominent nutritionist, her book provides parents with an arsenal of information related to kids’ nutrition so parents understand why it’s important to throw in a little avocado puree into their quesadillas. She discusses the critical importance of portion size, and the specific elements kids simply must have (as opposed to adults) in order to flourish now and in the future: protein, calcium, vitamins, and Omega 3 and 6 fats.

Customer reviews

Jessica is on to something by .. Danielle Matthies (San Diego, CA USA)
I am a nanny and this book has helped me get more veggies into the kids I care for. Thank you

we all love it by .. Tamzin Mulder (australia)
i Love this book. I can’t believe that any one would not. it has inspired me to cook for the kids again and my hubby loves all the recepies.

I have even adapted them to be egg and nut free , as we have a kid with these allergies , and the recepies still work !!!!!

now my 3 kids under 4 help with the cooking and see the purees go in and don’t freak out!!! My non eating vegatable and fruit daughter now eats honey carrots as a side dish and caulifower cheese!!!, we call it hair, as we make a face of veg and use it as the hair. she NEVER would have tried this if she didn’t see me put it in her cake one day!!!!!

Some people have commented that the recepies are not healthy , those not so healthy ones are for treats and are still healthier than the normal ones anyway!! goodness me guys, use your brains.

I borrowed it from a friend and ended up buying one for myself because I love it soooooo much.

Thankyou Jessica, you have made our meal times healthy and fun!!!!

An Excellent Cookbook! by .. Jess’ mom (Tennessee)
This is an excellent cookbook and I’m so glad that I bought it for my daughter. I know that children can be picky eaters and I wanted her children to eat tasty AND nutritious food.

I compared this cookbook with a very similar cookbook at my local grocery store. There was no comparison. The layout of this cookbook is easy to follow. It’s filled with healthy and delicious recipes with many tips and hints. It even has tips on how she organizes, labels and stores her healthy “additives” in her freezer. Her ideas are great and many are ideas I never thought of.

Another great thing about this cookbook is the fact that the book stays open to the page you open it to, not leaving you scrambling to find the page you were just at - unlike the other cookbook I examined.

I’m so glad I saw the Oprah program that introduced me to this very helpful book and my daughter is delighted with it. It would make a great gift for anyone with children.

The techniques are even better than the recipes by .. Food Pal (Washington DC)
I read through this book when it first came out, as I have been trying to trick my kids to eat healthy for a while. Like most kids, they are picky eaters, so I can’t follow the recipes exactly, but the techniques are great. I have pureed some of the veggies as soups before, but once I read the book, I expanded to doing it everywhere, in milk shakes, frozen desserts, soups, stews, sauces. My extra trick is start with little amounts and then adjust up everytime you make it, they will be more like to get used to the taste gradually. If you would believe it, I did that with Greens Powder (for Adults of course), adding it to fruit milk shakes. I added a little at a time and blended in lots of frozen blueberries and bananas to cover the green color and taste.

My kids are elementary school age, and if you have ones that age, your challenge would extend beyond eating healthy at home. It is eating healthy on the road, at school, and at restaurants. That’s why I have been augmenting eating healthy at home with shopping for healthy products off-the-shelf. You can find many of my findings on Foodacity’s web site. Please don’t to contribute your own favorites as well for others to benefit from and enjoy.

Some good recipes, some not so good. by .. skybrysmommy ()
I tried about six recipes in here, but only liked one of them. The other ones I tried were not very tasty to me and my kids, but my husband thought they were okay.

Tags : deceptively delicious