Early success

Well, I've been so thrilled with how well the "new approach" to nutrition is going in our home. I have spent several days the past two weeks organizing (and purging) the pantry and organizing the kitchen cabinets (adding all the new ingredients) while Anna napped or after both kids went to bed. And it feels GOOD to be making these changes.

Twice now Ian has helped me make Sprinkles Blueberry Muffins (as Ian is calling them) with a Quick Fix recipe I created based on the Sneaky Chef concept. I simply used a package of Martha White blueberry muffin mix, the 1/2 cup milk it calls for, and about 1/4 cup of fresh blueberry puree - mixed and baked per package directions. Ian loved mixing in the "sprinkles" as he called the puree into the batter and scooped them into the liners. He never even asked what made the sprinkles and he saw me making the puree from fresh blueberries - ha! So the true test came when the kids tried the warm muffins. SUCCESS! Ian quickly said, "These are the best muffins I've ever had," and proceeded to eat 3 full size muffins the first batch and 4 muffins from the second batch (on different days of course). We are lucky if he eats one normally. Anna ate 2 and 3 whole muffins. I was so pleased they liked them. And I loved them, too. The real blueberries added a good punch of flavor that was lacking otherwise. And the puree created "sprinkles" throughout the muffin and a fun pale blue color to the muffin itself.

Another new recipe that I was not at all confident the kids would even try, let alone like, was chocolate chip cookies from scratch complete with old fashioned oats, unbleached flower, egg whites, mini chocolate chips, and the sneaky ingredient of Garbanzo beans (aka. chickpeas). Yes, adding beans to cookies does sound odd but pureed and mixed in, you don't even know they are there nor do you taste them. Next time I will puree the oats in addition to the chickpeas before mixing with the blender, too, to create a smoother textured cookie - more like store-bought than "granola" or "lumpy" looking. Even though this was a new texture/appearance for cookies, the kids ate multiple cookies as soon as they cooled and have asked for more nearly every day. I actually have a stash of these in my purse for on-the-go healthy snacks. And I don't mind them choosing these for snacks because they are much healthier than other options.

And for lunches I have tried adding about 1/4 cup pureed butternut squash to their boxed mac n' cheese along with a slice of Kraft cheese (broken into bits and mixed in) and it was a hit, too. You can't taste the squash much at all (at least the kids haven't noticed) and the slice of cheese helps retain the bright orange/yellow color they are used to.

So the new approach continues and I'm thrilled with the results so far. And I have to remember to take more pictures of my creations to post. Words aren't as yummy without pictures included. ;)