The Sneaky Chef To The Rescue

I have mentioned more than once that I am at war with my children. Which war you ask? Well, there are more than a few battles going on daily, ones that most every mom has with their kids I'm quite sure.

Getting them to pick up their underwear off the floor. Getting them to put their clothes in the .... gasp ... laundry basket and getting them to put water ... wait for it ... in the dirty dishes in the sink. Sound familiar to you? Yeah. I thought so.

But the particular war I am referring to this time is my war with their eating. I hate all of the processed junky foods. And I hate how manufacturers make things enticing to kids by mislableing products.

"Fruit loops have fruit in them mom. Gaaaaaaawwwwwwdddddd." Sound familiar? Yeah. I thought so. While I'm at it, why does apple sauce and apple juice need high fructose corn syrup in it? Seriously. Isn't it sweet enough?

Therefore, I am a label reader. And if my kids are with me at the grocery store (on those rare days that I am stupid enough to take them with me grocery shopping that is), I make them read the lables too. If the first three ingredients is HFCS, they will say "oh man...she's not going to let us get it."

That's right, boys. I'm mean.

I have already switched them to whole wheat pasta and whole wheat bread. Real whole wheat bread. The bread where the first ingredient is unbleached unbromated whole wheat flour flour not "enriched wheat flour." I have broken them down and they have finally accepted organic peanut butter. Well, Shane still protests every now and then but it does no good. I usually only use whole wheat flour in baking and cooking. So much so that I forget what regular flour looks like.

You get the picture.

A few months ago, I was contacted by the Sneaky Chef author a while back about a blog entry that I did. Her most recent book (The Sneaky Chef To The Rescue) came out and they pritned an exert from my blog in their newest book.



I just love her books. Sure there are great recipes but it's more of a philosophy really. Once you understand her reasoning, it's easy to put her way of cooking into your everyday life and recipes. The best part is that your kids are eating healthy and there are no more battles.

By this stage of the game, I am very honest with my kids about how I cook. They have accepted it (for the most part anyway). They even help me cook and seem to be more willing to eat the foods since they've helped create them. I understand the sneaky part (it's how I started out) but I feel that it's important to teach them how to cook healthy so they understand that you can cook healthy and make it taste good too.

So, if you're fighting the eating battle with your kids, get her book and try some of the recipes. I think that you'll enjoy the battle-free dinner zone. I sure do.