The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals

Comment: One of the best purchases that I've made...I have used several receipes... a couple of times my granddaughter caught me and I had to be creative with my answers...*smile* the receipes that I have made so far have been winners...trust me...I sneak something in almost everything now...they enjoy it so but please don't tell my family that they are eating vegetables even in their mac & cheese...lol...

Comment: We love love love these books. My husband and son hate vegetables to the point where they just don't eat them. I was desperate, worrying about my son not getting adequate nutrition. My preschooler loves spinach brownies and the mac and cheese with zucchini and cauliflower. He came in while making the purees and gagged at the sight of the "yucky stuff" being cooked...quite the drama king. Needless to say, half an hour later he was gobbling down the "yucky stuff" masked in his favorite foods. Every mom of a picky, stubborn eater needs this book! The whole family can get extra nutrition and lower fat content by adding flavor the sneaky chef way!

Comment: I really like this book for the ideas it gave me to sneak vegetables into my children's diets. I love it that I can give them treats, they think I'm a cool mom, and I can be happy they ate a couple servings of veggies. We're all winners.

I have, however, felt that I really needed to adapt this book to my family's needs. She recommends too many processed, low fat or fat free foods. Fat is an essential nutrient, especially for young children whose minds are still developing. Don't starve your baby's brain just to get vegetables in her system! Plus, low fat diets tend to skimp on nutrients kids need to grow and develop. [...]

I also wonder about why she's chosen to not recommend reduced sugar or sugar free products? Why low fat ice cream but not 'no sugar added' ice cream? Rob them of nutrients, but feed them all the sugar you can? I'm not saying feed your kids artificial sweeteners, I'm saying she should recommend keeping sugar to a minimum! (I fear she's fallen prey to the Splenda-is-Evil scam; here's a refutation on that- [...]) One serving of Breyer's Fat Free Creamy Vanilla has 13 grams of sugar! The same flavor in their Smooth and Dreamy No Sugar Added line has only 4 grams of sugar. Giving your kid a huge amount of sugar for their snack means you're going to have to deal with the sugar crash and ensuing tantrums that go along. I prefer to avoid that.

My kids don't care for most of the recipes, but this book has taught me how to make the pastes, so I can sneak vegetables into the foods that I know they will eat. Doesn't get any better than that!

Comment: Just because something has fruit or vegetables in it doesn't make it a healthy meal! Add cheese to some vegetables, or let the little ones dip them in a light ranch dressing. Buy No-sugar added fruit and vegi juice. My youngest son will eat vegetables in soups & stews. If I want to eat brownies, cookies and cake then I will eat the one w/o the healthy stuff thanks!!! and that goes with mac n cheese... why would I want to change the way I eat my yummy cheesy mac... If I'm going to eat those type of bad for you things then I might as well eat the yummy version!!! Puree this!!!

Comment: I bought this book and deceptively delicious. So far this book is proving to be much better! Have tried the mashed potatoes, meatloaf and cocoa chocolate chip pancakes. All turned out really good! You cannot even taste all the healthy ingredients in the recipes!