9/25/08

Avocado chocolate fondue

I know you are wishing you were here to try it! I borrowed a cookbook from a friend called "deceptively delicious". Written by Jerry Seinfelds wife, the idea of the book is tricking your kids into eating healthy by adding pureed vegies to all kinds of foods. I've tried quite a few of the recipes so far.

What has driven me to start making banana bread with pureed cauliflower? ( no joke, I tried it today it was good)

Before Silas was born I was proud of the fact that my two kids were super eaters....I may even have crossed the line into smugness. My first two kids will eat just about anything including foods that most kids don't like. Spinach, peppers, tomatoes, black and green olives, edamame, hummus etc. Romans favorite food is oysters from the can. Their typical snack would consist of trail mix made with whole raw walnuts, almonds , sunflower seeds and dried fruit. That all changed with Silas . He would act like I was trying to poison him when trying to feed him babyfood. Even at a year old he would spit out yogurt if it contained a piece of fruit. He prefers his food in liquid form. All this wouldn't have been so bad if he had been an average weight but by 12 months his height was 90th percentile and his weight had fallen off the bottom of the chart....he had been holding out at the 3rd percentile for several months before. I remember the public health nurse looking at me like I had been starving my child and referring me to see the nutritionist and dietition....gasp...me?


To complicate matters he also has sever food allergies (nuts and eggs) so between the foods he can't eat and the ones he won't there are very few options. Right now his diet consists of cheese (mozzarella not cheddar) apple sauce and yogurt. I now spike his yogurt and apple sauce with pureed carrot...so far he hasn't noticed. I have to be careful because if he detects a vegi its an instant eject.
Food deception isn't all that new in my home though. Our staple cookies have been "lentil chocolate chippers". I actually got the recipe from a nutritionist a few years ago. It is made with non-hydrogenated marg., wholewheat/ white flour, oats, choc chips, wheat germ and pureed red lentils. Sounds weird but they are surprisingly yummy and you would never know they had lentils in them. It makes a good lunch box snack with all that added nutrition and protein. Silas loves them....if he eats nothing but a couple cookies in a day at least I know they have some nutritional value.
So tonight I made the kids chocolate fondue for desert(contains pureed carrot and avocado...shhhh...) and they had a blast dipping their fruit into it. As you can see Silas scarfed it.
Other than the food aversion Silas is actually my most cheerful, good natured and sensitive child. I'm enjoying him so much! He's my super hugger....full body hug complete with back pat. When Aili or Roman are upset he gets very concerned and runs to hug them. It is still such a novelty to have a toddler that actually follows me while shopping and looks at me for approval before trying something new. Reprimanding him is also a breeze , just changing my tone of voice causes him to dissolve into a puddle of remorse. Again such a novelty after 2 intensely strong willed children. I had heard these pleasant, compliant children existed...and had even seen a couple of them (sitting quietly next to their parents in church while mine take turns on time out in the car, or doing gymnastics in the pew)...but I never dared to hope I would have one. Now its my turn to look like the "good parent" If Silas had been my first child I would have become smug in my ability to parent my compliant child and would have shook my head and rolled my eyes at the poor mom desperately trying to pull her two year old off the top of the shopping cart rows....totally happened and it actually involved a bag boy getting punched...another story for another day. Now I realize that kids are kind of like shopping carts, sometimes you get one that rolls along nicely and steers with one hand and sometimes you get one that squeaks and sticks and is determined to veer off to the side leaving you sweating and tense by the time you get to the checkout :)
Pop over for brussel sprout icecream tomorrow and turnip pie on Saturday......totally kidding :) Posted by Picasa

2 comments:

Jobina said...

Ha! You sound like me! Riker was such a good sleeper, eater, he'd go to anyone, he was scheduled...such a dream baby! I was smug, I'll admit it. Then along came Trinity. She's picky, she wakes up all the time, she screamed and everyone for most of her first year...not a dream baby! They all have their quirks!

Grandpa Steve said...

Now I have an excuse to keep on rolling as we pass this FUNNY FOOD home .......
from a guy who likes lots of foods but thinks zuchini and rhubarb are a sawte of soil nutrients.

Congratulation on taking your kids well being and nutrition to heart and action