Doting Deception

Last year I got Jessica Seinfeld’s book, Deceptively Delicious, ever since then I have been really into making vegetable purees. Along the same lines as Dana’s tip below, I like to add them to pretty much anything. It is actually simple to do. Whenever you are cooking a vegetable, just cook some extra, throw it in a blender, and freeze in ½ cup or ¼ cup proportions. I have a freezer full of small zip lock baggies, you simple thaw one, snip the corner of your bag and add to anything.

John is somewhat wary of my purees, but when he ate these pancakes, he said they were the best he had ever had! He was not suspicious at all. He is usually worse than the kids :) I serve them with cauliflower scrambled eggs and turkey bacon for a filling, yet nutritious, breakfast; a great start to the day!

You’ll have to excuse the silly picture, but the kids really get excited about fun-shaped pancakes. One pancake has about 160 calories, not too bad.

Here is a play off Grandma Jeans Buttermilk Pancake Recipe:

Sweet Potato Pancakes

1 cup flour

½ cup whole-wheat flour

½ cup wheat germ

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup corn meal

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups buttermilk

½ cup milk

½ cup melted butter

½ cup sweet potato puree

2 eggs, separated

Mix all dry ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, milk, butter, sweet potato, and egg yolks. Add the buttermilk mixture to the large bowl of dry ingredients, mixing lightly until just incorporated. The batter will be lumpy. In a small bowl beat the egg whites until foamy. Fold the egg whites into the batter. Cook on a hot skillet until lightly browned, about 1-2 minutes on each side.

***This is a big batch of pancakes. I usually put the leftover batter in a large zip-lock bag and store in the refrigerator. The next morning you can snip the corner of the bag and have fun piping pancake designs...I have finally mastered the snake pancake, a big hit at our house! :)

Cauliflower Scrambled Eggs

2 large eggs

4 large egg whites

1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream

1/2 cup cauliflower puree

2 tablespoons grated parmesan

Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together the eggs, cauliflower puree, sour cream, parmesan, and salt and pepper. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray, and heat over medium-low. When the pan is hot, add 1 teaspoon olive oil, then the egg mixture. Reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring frequently until the eggs are scrambled – firm but nice and moist.

When I make this for my under-weight little boys, I use whole eggs, substitute heavy cream instead of sour cream, and cook with butter. Higher in calories, but still nutritious. They scarf them down and don't even notice the cauliflower.

A GOOD TIP!

Ok, Carly, you mentioned tips and here's one that I love! Are you trying to get more vege's and grains into your family's diet? I took a class from a woman who was battling MS and realized that she was not fully keeping the word of wisdom. So she instituted more vege's and grains into her cooking. You can check her out at...www.AselinM.blogspot.com She is free of MS now and is really an inspiration!

I used all my pretty red vege's for a salad that I will post later, but just take any vege's in your fridge and chop them up at the beginning of the week and make a large bowl of grains as well. I like to use millet and quinoa (they seem to blend into almost anything). And add them to every thing you make....i.e enchiladas, sloppy joes, scrambled eggs, pasta dishes, eat it on a sandwich, add to any salad, etc, etc. With ground beef or turkey recipes, you can use half of the meat and substitute quinoa, it works like a charm and my kids don't even know...

Just so you know, red quinoa will be the same color as beef, and white quinoa must be rinsed before using or it can have a bitter taste. Have fun!!