Deceptively Delicious or Sneaky Chef?

I feel the need to respond as I've decided I'm not a fan of Deceptively Delicious. I picked it up looking for ideas to make meals more healthy when my son was about the same age and actual amounts of food consumed seemed so sparse (not picky so much as just wanting to nibble...I wanted to make every bite count). I've glanced through Sneaky Chef as well. It's funny to me that these 2 books have become so incredibly popular, as the idea putting purreed fruits and vegetables into other dishes is by no means a new concept!
In general, there are some cute ideas in Deceptively Delicious, but I have a few more criticisms:
1) The recipies are just all a bit odd/off-tasting. And not just because they have some wacky purees, they just aren't that tasty. It was frustrating to go through all the effort of making or baking a whole batch something and have it just not taste good.
2) Some of the recipes call for an extremely small amount of puree. In my mind some of these quantities just don't justify the extra effort it takes to prepare them, nor can I imagine you add a ton of nutritional value per serving by their addition.
3) There are A TON of sweets featured in the book. Again, if you have a mind to make brownies from scratch and think to add some pureed spinach, why not. But on the other hand, I was slightly bothered by this focus on sweet treats for kids. Oh, we like our sweets over here, but I do not focus my already limited meal-making time on baking them. And I think that sneaking some veggies in a dessert may give the false impression that its going to make up for a child's lack of action at the table.

So here are some other suggestions.
1) My son's pediatrician at his 2yr. well visit helped me chill out on the eating with the following advice: Kids are just pickier at that age and the quantities they need are actually quite small. Your job is to offer a variety of healthy options - do the best you can, set a good example, and they will come around. Their bodies will know what they need and how much, but you never know when that will be (hopefully its not when you've handed your kid a bag of cheetos in a weak moment, ha!). And then think about consumption over A WEEKS TIME, as in "did my child have enough vegetables THIS WEEK." Also, the table can quickly become a power struggle - don't force anything, don't bribe, etc. It will save you a lot of aggravation. They won't go hungry.
2) Certainly I "coach" my son or make positive suggestions like "let's put your milk on a break for second and have a bite of peas together" etc. but I never fight him on it. Sometimes if a meal is really lacking, I'll offer fruit, yogurt, cheese, or a slice of toast w/peanut butter at the end, just to try to get him to have *something* to stick to his ribs (something easy...I DO NOT "short-order-cook").
2) Think about things your family already likes and how you can enhance, a la Deceptively Delicious. For example, do baked sweet potato fries instead of regular potatoes. Add extra veggies to spaghetti sauce, put flaxseed meal into smoothies, etc. You don't need to buy a special cookbook, just get a little bit more creative with your favorites.
3) I've found some really great kid-friendly ideas and advice for the picky eater in Parents and/or Wondertime Magazines. Each issue always has 4-5 recipies that sound great and are generally much easier than the recipies from Deceptively Delicious.

Good luck!

I have Deceptively Delicious. Like any other cookbook, I like some recipes more than others. There are a handful that I incorpate into the menu somewhat regularly.

After making some the recipes, I started making some of my own. It gave me a point of reference, and now I am able to get a bit more creative and sneak veggies into the "regular" food I prepare.

When we lived in the city, I took my daughter to The Kids Table for a cooking class. She really enjoyed it, and although she refused to eat some items, she did try a few new things. She was 2.5 at the time. If you are in the area, you should check it out. I agree, kids like to help prepare meals, and are more willing to eat meals they had a hand in preparing.

I received both books as gifts (didn't ask for them, it just happened.) I think most of the stuff you can figure out on your own after browsing through the book in the bookstore, or go to the library and copy a couple of the puree recipes. I think they both have some clever ideas. I particularly liked the ideas like the bean puree (I think that was sneaky chef) because I'm always trying to get more protein into the meals.

I read somewhere that the Sneaky Chef is actually the originator of the idea - Deceptively Delicious was a copycat.

I've used recipes from both and liked them both. There is also a kids cooking school in Chicago called A Kids Table that teaches kids and parents how to cook healthy meals. The kids love eating healthy foods when they've been involved in the preparation. Everyone I know that has gone there has had phenomenal results! It's a great way to get some ideas yourself as well!

I loved my Deceptively Delicious Cookbook. Some recipes are better than others but I learned a great deal and apply the purees to my own recipes as well. Also it's great at breaking down the different vitamins/minerals in all the veggies.

hi J L,

I purchased Deceptively Delicious - and like the other poster, liked the idea of getting veggies into my 5 yr olds diet (she is very picky).

It's a lot of work making the purees - and most of the recipes I tried honestly tasted bad. You can taste the vegetables. Some of the fruit ones are good.

That being said, my daughter took a huge interest in helping me make the purees and the recipes - but did not necessarily eat the finished product. She would try a bite here and there but that's it. For the work and the mess it was not worth it to me.

I think you could get the same result by purchasing baby food and mixing it in.

Anyway - the latest thing that is working for us is allowing my daughter to choose the fruits and vegetables she wants at the grocery store and still letting her assist me with planning and preparing the meals - that is the only way she is even a little bit interested in eating at meal time.

For snacks I try to keep fresh fruit that is already washed and chilled and easy to reach in the fridge and veggies already washed and cut up with ranch dip or melted cheese.

Of course she is eating a Hershey Bar right now :-P

good luck!
W.

I have the Sneaky Chef. I have found the wheat germ additions taste and feel strange. I also tried doing the flour mixture blend suggested and it made my baked goods tasted heavy and dry. I added more white flour and it helped. I made some of the super purees and tried with her recipes with litttle success. I found that using jarred carrots or pumpkin to my own recipes seemed to be the best. I do however have friends who really like the book--and I haven't tried everything---so there you go. If it is at the library I'd suggest trying it out first before investing.

I don't know anything about those books, but did just want to say that my now 3 1/2 yr old daughter did the same thing. She'd eat anything and really preferred veggies to all other things as an infant. Once she hit about 2 years 3 months, eating turned into a battle. I just continued to make her eat what we ate for dinner (I'd make her what she wanted, within reason, for lunch as it was healthy) and if she refused/refuses (still an issue at times) she didn't get dessert nor snacks later. If it was something she really didn't want to eat (e.g. broccoli, peas, which were things she used to prefer above all others) she still had to take 3 bites but then could be done. After about a year she's gotten a lot better and more open to foods. We still have the 3 bite rule, but she doesn't battle it as much. I think it just comes with the 2 - 3 year old assertion of independence, as I know lots of her friends have gone through the same thing.