Do any of you make purees out of vegetables? If so, how do you 'sneak' them into your recipes/cooking? How and what do you substitute them for in a recipe? Please share your ideas and recipes here! Thanks!
When I make meatloaf I always use oats instead of crackers, and I add pureed or grated carrots and zucchini.
Soup is also a terrific and easy way to sneak in veggies that kids don't like! Just puree or dice up those veggies and throw them in!
I finely mince all sorts of hard veggies (broccoli, carrots, etc) and add them to pizza sauce or pasta sauce. I try to add them into dishes after the dish has cooked, so the veggies are raw. My boys still don't know that the "special seasoning" in my pasta sauce is broccoli. I use my Food Chopper and turn it into broccoli powder. Another thing that works well is dip. I make a "scrap dip" that my boys love to dip chips or crackers in. It's got cream cheese, dill seasoning, and whatever veggies I've got on hand. Again, I go to town on them with the food chopper. My 3yo, who is the pickiest of the boys, will just eat the dip with a spoon. Even when I put radishes in it.
That is how it is here. Ds won't eat any sauce on his noodles, so it won't matter what I can sneak in anyway. :roll: The only vegetable he will eat with any regularity is broccoli. So we eat A LOT of broccoli!
All of my kids are veggie eaters.. but then so are hubby and I.. there is nothing we love better than a salad, or a sandwhich with lots of lettuce and tomato. The only veggie we have trouble with is onions.. and as long as I cut them super small when I cook with them they will eat them without too many complaints.
I am the freak of my family...My whole family loves vegetables and we always had a huge garden growing up, and I am the only one that doesn't love them. I will eat them, I am just not crazy about most of them. Except spinach--I LOVE spinach. Dh will eat just about anything. Maybe someday he will grow into his new taste buds. In the meantime, I'm glad I like broccoli! :lol:
My kids are pretty good veggie eaters, I'm just trying to find ways to sneak in the veggies they don't like. Hubby and I love veggies and will eat just about any of them. I don't like eggplant or turnips. Maybe I should puree some and 'sneak' them in for ME! LOL. (think I'd figure it out?!?! )
I don't know how to do it. But I saw it on Oparh this morning. They were talking about a cook book with this in mind. so maybe you could look on Oparhs web site! Heres the web site http://www2.oprah.com/index.jhtml
The SNeaky Chef, I bet is the book! It is a GREAT book, though a little out of reach for me. She talks about using spinach in brownies, cauli in mac n chz. I like to throw some carrots in when I make smoothies. Carrots, pureed, hide well in spags sauce or pizza sauce. I also make kicking mashed taters & add some puered cauli to them (the kickin part is some garlic, parmesan, things to cover the taste). I have a picky eater, one that will DEVOUR anything green, and one that used to be picky, but has learned better, LOL
My DH is soooooo weird when it comes to food. I have to use onion powder!! If I ever try to sneak a vegetable or fiber in, he get's a stomach ache because his system is just not used to processing this stuff. Once, I was so proud after trying two new recipes for dinner, and it had teeny tiny minced onions in it, and he angrily accused me of deliberately sabotaging dinner! I was nearly in tears!
