Hiding veggies in dishes I make

[threeangels]

HAHAHA I know, me too. I admit, I’m not a fan of cooked veggies. I marvel at adding spinach to brownie mix…ok…so, does it seem…what’s the word…like stringy or anything? Can you see any green?

I like adding baby food squash and carrots to mac and cheese how genius is that???!!!

I just go through the spinach and make sure it’s in tiny pieces, chop it a little while it’s still kind of frozen, so it’s not stringy. And there’s no green, thankfully. But I will say that I think it’s easier to taste ingredients when you know they’re in there. Maybe I wouldn’t notice the spinach if I didn’t know about it.

Since we’re all anonymous here, I’ll admit that I could EASILY eat a half pan of brownies in one day by myself, so this way I know I’m getting a quarter of a box of spinach too. Terrible, terrible.

 

[mamacita]

HAHAHA I know, me too. I admit, I’m not a fan of cooked veggies. I marvel at adding spinach to brownie mix…ok…so, does it seem…what’s the word…like stringy or anything? Can you see any green?

I like adding baby food squash and carrots to mac and cheese how genius is that???!!!

I haven’t tried adding the spinach frozen to brownie mix. I did it w/ pureed fresh spinach and made the brownies homemade not from a box. I would rather do the box kind though, much easier. Maybe I will try doing the box brownie mix and add the pureed spinach to it.

I’d be interested to know if it is stringy or not if you do use frozen spinach?? Do you not add oil or eggs to the mix then?

 

[threeangels]

I haven’t tried adding the spinach frozen to brownie mix. I did it w/ pureed fresh spinach and made the brownies homemade not from a box. I would rather do the box kind though, much easier. Maybe I will try doing the box brownie mix and add the pureed spinach to it.

I’d be interested to know if it is stringy or not if you do use frozen spinach?? Do you not add oil or eggs to the mix then?

I do still add oil and eggs – just follow the box’s instructions and then add the spinach.
I’ve never tried fresh spinach, and I don’t puree the frozen just because I don’t want to have to wash the food processer bowl. Seems like it would take a LOT of fresh spinach to equal the same amount of frozen.

 

[Lil_M]

Well, I plan on doing this ‘hide the vegetables’ for my fiance. His main diet is melted cheese (only), fried white meat chicken strips, pepperoni pizze, pasta, melted cheese, melted cheese enchiladas, pasta, pasta, and melted cheese, oh and bread bread bread and bread, extra crispy bacon and scrambled eggs.

He’s skinny like a toothpick.

You and I are marrying the SAME MAN!

I have been hiding fruit and vegetables for him for about 3 years. I’ve had way more success than his mother, she gave up when he was about 6.

 

[aurora77]

I’ve found another way to get DH to eat veggies. I was lazy last week and cooked up Progresso minestrone soup and added some Italian meatballs to it. DH ate a lot–veggies, beans, and all! Now, if I’d made the soup from scratch, he’d have had a little bit to be polite, but with store bought soup, he ate quite a bit. I guess it made the veggies less real, somehow. Lol. I think I’ll be doing that again!

So, V8 Fusion tastes like fruit juice? Does it have any tomato juice in it? My mom’s always telling me I should drink tomato juice since it’s so good for us, but I just can’t stand the stuff. I’ll have to try the V8 Fusion.

 

[mamacita]

I’ve found another way to get DH to eat veggies. I was lazy last week and cooked up Progresso minestrone soup and added some Italian meatballs to it. DH ate a lot–veggies, beans, and all! Now, if I’d made the soup from scratch, he’d have had a little bit to be polite, but with store bought soup, he ate quite a bit. I guess it made the veggies less real, somehow. Lol. I think I’ll be doing that again!

So, V8 Fusion tastes like fruit juice? Does it have any tomato juice in it? My mom’s always telling me I should drink tomato juice since it’s so good for us, but I just can’t stand the stuff. I’ll have to try the V8 Fusion.

I don’t have any V8 Fusion on hand so I don’t know if it has tomato juice in it or not but it does taste really good!

 

[aurora77]

I just did a search–it has sweet potato, yellow tomato, and squash in it! How wild. I’ll stop and get some tomorrow. There’s also a light version, without so much sugar.

 

[eli1118]

Yes, I have this book. I love it. I have a 20 month old son and wanted to cook healthy things for him to eat.
He loves the chicken nuggets with broccoli puree. He also likes the abc soup with sweet potatoe puree.
I haven’t made everything but I am working on it.
My husband and I love the nuggets too.

 

[mamacita]

Yes, I have this book. I love it. I have a 20 month old son and wanted to cook healthy things for him to eat.
He loves the chicken nuggets with broccoli puree. He also likes the abc soup with sweet potatoe puree.
I haven’t made everything but I am working on it.
My husband and I love the nuggets too.

WOW, that’s so good to know that the nuggets are tasty! My sis in law made them and said that they didn’t turn out right. Maybe she didn’t follow the recipe completely. Is there a trick to getting them just right??

 

[threeangels]

I just did a search–it has sweet potato, yellow tomato, and squash in it! How wild. I’ll stop and get some tomorrow. There’s also a light version, without so much sugar.

Just make sure to avoid the V8 Splash – make sure you get Fusion. Splash has high fructose corn syrup added, if I remember correctly. Let us know what you think of the Fusion!

 

[eli1118]

Mamacita,
All I can say is that I don’t chop up the strips into smaller chunks I just leave the strips as they are/ or come. I also only leave the nuggets on the stove for about 6 to 7 mins on each side. The broccolli puree and the egg need to be mixed really well together. They really come out yummy and tender.
It’s fairly easy, if I can do it anyone can.
Hope this helps.

 

[whatevergirl]

Thank you for your additional replies–I need to read through them…I look forward to learning more from you all here.

Here’s something I wanted to share…the other night, I was watching Get Fresh with Sara Snow, who is the ultra organic woman, I tell ya, and she had a cook on her show (she went to her restaurant) and this woman made a completely organic chocolate cake…not using baking soda (as it has aluminium traces in it ) and tofu completely food processed with powdered baking chocolate, as the frosting! My dd said it looked yum, and told me to make it this weekend–and not to tell dh and my son. ha! So, I’ll have to report back how it goes. I love tofu, and it’s very good for you–as frosting??? Hmmm…we’ll have to see!!!

 

[eli1118]

Do you watch Sara Snow on food network? If yes, what time?
I have never heard of her.

 

[Norseman82]

Would a male voice help here?

I used to be one of those boys who hated his veggies. But now, I eat them (well, more than I used to anyway). I learned that it is all in the way that you prepare it. As someone posted, the right texture helps.

For one thing, I don’t boil vegetables; I steam them. Boiling only boils the flavor out of them and makes them taste soggy and bland; steaming them does not - it retains the crispness. Broccoli is a prime example; spinach is another (I never liked spinach until I had it uncooked in a chicken salad at a friend’s son’s baptism party last year; now, I mix it in with my lettuce). My rice / vegetable steamer was probably one of the best kitchen investments I ever made.

Additionally, as far as tomatoes go, I was taught that the “pulp”, seeds, and skin have no real nutritional value, so I remove them before cutting them up to make sauce.

Additionally, for other vegetables, I will use the blender to liquify them before putting them into my tomato sauce.