DAY 27 - LAST DAY

Sorry - this is a long one.
Hi Everyone. Well- Home-school is in full swing again, and the summer has flown by. Today will be my LAST post. I have done 27 days worth of experiments, and about 30 recipes. Being that I do not enjoy cooking all that much, I have still learned a ton! I have learned which gadgets are helpful, and which are not. I have learned certain shortcuts, where to get produce for really cheap, and most of all - I have learned to change recipes. Some were to taste, or just because I didn't have a certain ingredient. Most of my recipes I decided to try were because I happened to have most of the ingredients on hand. Sometimes, the ones I changed turned out great. Some of them - not so much. I guess that is what the discovery is all about.

After my last post, I dried garbanzo beans, and ground them up hoping to make bread with them as the flour. But I guess they weren’t dried enough, because they went rancid before I used them. So I just made white bread with Cauliflower again. Mmmm. Rave reviews for all who tried it. Also, I whipped up a little more garbanzo bean paste, and tried just a tiny bit again mixed with PB, on a sandwich w/ honey for Bailey... He didn’t go for it.

Last week, we bought a tube of pre-made Nestle Toolhouse cookie dough. We get this occasionally so we can make about 6 at a time in the toaster oven.  SO I made some, and gave Bailey one. He took one eagerly, and said “Wait – what’s in this?” I was pleased to say, “Nothing- it’s straight from the package!”

I have also ruined myself (in a good way) by not being able to make Mac & Cheese w/out adding pureed Butternut squash to it. The Cheesiness totally covers up the squash flavor! Also, I will never again eat spaghetti sauce straight from the jar, without adding a ton of veggies to it. My kids love this! And always ask for extra sauce. Add this to garlic bread, and it is a huge treat!

The other day, Bailey was looking through pictures again, and pointed to the Boboli pizza with my “special sauce” (carrots added to spaghetti sauce), and said – I wish we could have that again!

Today – I made Reese some pink Pancakes. Bailey doesn’t like pancakes, and was happy with a PB and honey sandwich (no garbanzo beans). I offered him some pancakes anyway, and he politely said “No, thank-you”. So I left it at that.

The pancakes turned out great! They were light and fluffy, and they really were Pink! The hidden ingredients are Beets and Apples. Now- If you ask me, Beets taste like DIRT! I would NEVER have tried this otherwise. But the recipe called for ½ of what I pureed, so I saved the rest to make these again. Also the apples weren’t pureed, they were just grated. Do you know how hard it is to grate an apple?? Let me just tell you, it’s hard! You’d think because an apple is so crisp and crunchy, it would be easy. But the juice squeezes out, and it gets mushy and slippery all at the same time. So needless to say, I wasn’t looking forward to trying these, but the apples softened, and the beet taste just disappeared. These were super yummy with butter & Maple syrup. For Reese’s, I used some letter cookie cutters and made them say REESE. She was super excited – and I was willing to go through a little more effort, since this is my last post. It turned out really cute! For her reaction – she wasn’t feeling good this morning. She ate the R and said it was good. Maybe she’ll try the rest later. If not, I’m sure we can find someone to finish them… J See the pictures below!

Some things I made in this “mission” were big flat flops. Some things certain people liked, and others hated (amazingly enough, Bailey wasn’t ALWAYS the hater). But I am glad I did this experiment, because I learned A LOT! Now that I am done,  I encourage you to try to add things to your recipes that you never thought to. Pureed veggies can be amazing, when they just blend in. Who ever thought that Brownies would be so tasty when there are carrots and spinach baked into them?? You never know how sneaky you can be when your kids (or others) aren’t watching… DECEPTION IS DELICIOUS! I know because I DISCOVERED IT FOR MYSELF!!!

Day 26: Peanut Butter & Honey Sandwich

So - here I am again. We start homeschooling on Monday, so I didn't realized how fast summer has gone. A majority of this summer has been spent nursing the sick family back to health. Once someone is better, someone else has come down with something. Technically, Summer is not really over until Mid-September, right? So I have a few weeks to go.
To ease back into it, I decided to do something easy - definitely NOT from the book. I think I am pretty much trying new things, and more trying to add things to stuff he WILL eat. Not a HUGE majority, but still more than when we started. It still surprises me that Green (Spinach) Eggs were a hit. Today, I cooked & Pureed some Garbanzo beans. I figured Beans were a good choice  (Vegetable, Protein, Carb all in one). I pureed it best I could into a Paste, when mixed with Water. I offered Bailey a PBH sandwich, which he gladly accepted. I just didn't tell him I had mixed the PB with Garbanzo Beans Paste. I tasted it myself first. Luckily, PB has a strong taste to mask other flavors. I just tasted like Thick PB. You couldn't taste the beans at all. But Bailey is not always about taste, he is also sensitive to texture. However, I served it to it, and I left the room. I didn't watch him, expecting a reaction, I didn't tell him it was any different from any other PBH sandwich I had ever given him. I just gave it to him, and left. He never said anything, until he was about 3/4 done. Then, he didn't say it was gross, didn't say anything except - for "I can't eat anymore". I didn't ask why - I just took it and threw the rest away. It could be that he was just FULL, not that it was gross/too thick. That is a lot of protein right there. I will definitely be trying this again, maybe just not so thick.
Sorry no picture today.

COMING UP:
I am in the process of drying Garbanzo beans, and I will be grinding them up in a coffee bean grinder to make some flour. Then I will make some bread with it. I am anxious to see how it turns out. We'll see. Stay tuned!

it's been a while...

Sorry to all of my readers... it's been a while. A few weeks actually. We've had a few rough weeks here at home, and on top of that we have ALL been sick, and still are in fact. A lot of people we know have been sick. I think it's just that time of year.
I have not quit... I've just been trying to decide what to do next. To be honest, I don't want to make some of the things in the book, because well to be blunt - they look kind of gross. I mean - there are certain things you can hide veggies in - and there are certain things you cannot! I might have to tweak things a little. Let's be honest with ourselves - kids are not stupid! I will try, but now Bailey knows that I hide veggies in things. Being that he didn't freak out gave me a LITTLE confidence, but we will see. Stay tuned - I am back in business as soon as everyone is healthy again! Hopefully by next week. Thanks for your patience!

Day 25: Buttered Noodles & Aloha Chicken Kabobs

Is it bad that my children cry when I make them food? Is it worse that I laugh at them for crying??
...I think I laugh to keep from crying myself.
Today I made buttered noodles - by far the easiest thing in the book to date. Is just like what it sounds. Buttered noodles, with a little milk, Parmesan cheese, and salt - oh yeah -and Yellow Squash puree. I made it with Tri-colored Rotini to give it a little color. Reese refused to try this, and Bailey chose to try some green pieces, and promptly gagged/threw them up. Okay- it didn't help that he was watching Zaboomafoo, and there was a creature eating little green worms... oh well. To be honest, I thought it was a little bland too!
I also Made Aloha Chicken Kabobs. These have shredded coconut, pureed Pineapple, and Pureed sweet potato. So you'd think these were sweet - but they weren't really. Unfortunately, I didn't have any raw chicken, so I had to used pre-cooked chicken. It didn't stay too well on the skewers, and it turned out a little dryer than I would have liked. And I didn't have any egg, so the coating didn't stick as well either. The recipe directions said to fry them, but learned from the chicken nuggets that baking works much better - so I baked them in the toaster oven so the house wouldn't heat up too bad. Bailey had a hard time trying the chicken, and Reese tried 1 bite. We agreed she could have pineapple instead, but cried when the pineapple touched the chicken bread crumbs. I had to wipe them off. Seriously?? Oh well - on to the the next thing...

DAY 24: Brownies, Banana Bread & Chocolate/Peanut Butter Dip

I'm baaaaaaack! I had a birthday, went out of town, and got really sick - one promptly after another! So- now, that I am healthy- I am back, and in the kitchen once again.
Let me fill you in on the taste test in Pasadena. I made Brownies, Banana Bread & Chocolate/Peanut Butter Dip. I made plenty of food the week before, and packaged it up all pretty. Then my daughter decided to get sick... so- I froze all the food - luckily, it saved well. I just had to get some new apples for the Choc/PB dip. I also brought the white bread from the night before, and the Chocolate Chip Cookies.
The game we played was: Guess the vegetable that is hidden in it?
Brownies: Spinach & CarrotsBanana Bread: Bananas & CauliflowerChoc/PB dip: CarrotsWhite Bread: CauliflowerChoc Chip Cookies: Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans)I must have had 25-30 people try everything, and they were thoroughly amazed! It was fantastic - Talk about my ego being boosted! People asking for the recipes, people asking if I was gonna start a bakery? To my surprise, the one that got the most comments was the Banana Bread. I was a little hesitant to let people try that one because I'm not sure if it cooked all the way, it was really soft, then it got kinda mashed in the freezing process, but wow- did it get good reviews. Many people came back for seconds (and thirds) on that one. Just affirms my diagnosis:  My kids ARE crazy.

The weirdest question of the night: What’s in the apples? Ummm… Apples. Not a trick, folks – these are ACTUAL apples!
Bailey was helping me tell people what was hidden in it. So now- he knows it is vegetables I am hiding in these things. He wasn't even grossed out when I confessed it was "Spinach" that colored his green eggs. He is okay with this. So now- AFTER he tries the food, he will be told what vegetable is in it.
The only bad review I got in Pasadena, was from my own mom, who didn't like the white bread. She said it just tasted a little weird. That's okay - maybe my kids get their taste buds from her. Also, a guy that was visiting from Arkansas tried everything, but said NOT to tell him what was in it. He DID NOT want to know. I asked him a few days later if he wanted to know (now that it was out of his system), and he said - No, you NEVER have to tell me. Okay... whatever...


Brownies



Banana Bread



Chocolate/Peanut Butter Dip

 






DAY 23: White Bread

Today - the fun begins... I decided to make something not from the book, and add my own secret ingredient. I made white bread. Because Bailey loves, peanut butter & honey sandwiches, I though this might be a good idea. The recipe made 2 loaves, and I added a total of a 1/2 cup of cauliflower in them (1/4 cup cauliflower in each loaf). Since this recipe was not in the book, I had to be careful (trial/error) - I didn't want to push it. Maybe in the future, I can add more cauliflower. I have never made bread from scratch before, but I have bought the frozen bridgeford bread loaves. Bailey liked that bread with butter. To my pleasant surprise, this turned out beautifully. At first, when it was warm, it was kind of crumbly and soft, so it didn't make good slices. But it was still good with Butter. Bailey ate a piece with no complaining, but didn't want anymore. When it cooled a little more (and I changed knives), it cut better slices, so I sliced him a half of a piece & added butter and cinnamon/sugar, and made him eat it. He did so with no complaining. If I am brave enough tomorrow, and I can make nice slices, I will make him eat a PB/Honey sandwich with it. Even if he doesn't like this, I'd say today was alright! I have 2 loaves of homemade bread!!! YUM!

DAY 22: Chocolate Chip Cookies (without the oats)

I decided to give it another go with the Chocolate Chip Cookies. I also decided to leave out the oats this time. Unfortunately, before I made them, Bailey begged me to tell him the special ingredient. So I assured him, there were no oats this time, but there is something called "Chickpeas" (Garbanzo Beans). He said he would try 1 bite. He did, and said he could taste the special ingredient. I'm thinking, it was the oats AND garbanzo beans he was tasting last time. Maybe I just didn't grind them up enough. I will have to make them pastier next time. Bailey really love the toll house recipe I make, so he'd like me to make them again sometime. I should add the chickpea paste to that without telling him.  That's when the real fun begins... when I am beginning to hide things in normal food I make, that I know he will eat. I actually loved the way the cookies turned out tonight. I am not a fan of oats myself.
Another special ingredient: If you read Brian's Facebook status tonight, you would know that Reese spit in the batter bowl. She was tasting the beaters, and decided she didn' like it. When I had my back turned, she spit it back in (I think I she realized she shouldn't have done it right as she was doing it, but it was too late). When I caught her, her response was "Sorry - I don't like Chippies" (chickpeas). Don't worry, I got it out quickly, and didn't bake that part.
After Bailey rejected the cookie, I didn't make him finish it. But I did offer him a brownie (with Spinach & carrots). He took a good sized nibble, and wasn't impressed. He doesn't like bready things. No muffins, cakes, etc. He only likes white bread, rolls and donuts. So I wasn't surprised he didn't really like the brownie. Oh well, it was worth a shot... I am trying to think of a way to make my own white. His favorite staple food is peanut Butter & Honey Sandwiches. Hmmm... I will have to get creative on this one. Cauliflower is white... this just might work.