apparently. Why you ask? Well because I don’t like Jessica Seinfeld’s new book called Deceptively Delicious. I haven’t actually read or even seen a copy of the book but I did see the segment on Oprah, whom of course loved it. Oprah loves purées, of course she does, she has a full time chef who prepares them for her. The blogging world is also alight with this topic and the debates are raging. The Parent Bloggers Network is also hosting a Blog Blast on this very topic today go check it out.
Okay so if you know nothing about this book, it is a cookbook designed to help parents or I should say Moms cause after all we do the majority of the cooking; to get their children to eat vegetables. How is this done? Well you purée the beets, zucchini, squash etcetera and put these purées into brownies, muffins, cakes and other stuff. Sounds good right? But is it really? How on earth did we survive as children? How did our parents get us to eat our vegetables? I have a really hard time believing that in North American culture there are three year olds in middle income families that are suffering from malnourishment. Come on people, please! We are an over nourished society, we eat too much of everything and everything we eat is fortified with all kinds of wonderful things like extra fiber, vitamins, nutrients, etc. We are an obese society and it is in epidemic proportions. My guess and I’m no expert certainly, is that if a child is hungry long enough they will eat what is put in front of them. I know that this is a tough love approach and not overly popular these days but really how is catering to our children’s whims doing them any favours? How is teaching them to eat brownies with broccoli teaching them anything? Why do we spend so much time worrying about what they are not eating, God if we only worried that much about them not getting enough exercise or eating fast food because it’s convenient. My advice? Stop filling them up during the day on sugar and refined carbs just because they demand it and fix three healthy well balanced meals and offer two healthy snacks a day. But hey if you have time to purée then go ahead, it is however, no replacement for the fundamentals of good healthy eating practices that we should be teaching our children right from the start. What is the point of feeding them beet brownies for fifteen years and then trying to educate them on what healthy eating is all about? Yeesh.
Do I really have to go out and buy another book and a food processor, spend hours puréeing food just so I can feel like I’m doing a good job? Like I need more things to do. I try really hard not to leave negative comments on other people’s blogs but I went here and read this "Only In America Can You Get Sent to Hell For Sneaking Veggies in Your Kid's Food" and I said this…
“Okay so maybe this won't be the most popular comment but ... Only in America do parents have to bend over backwards, stand upside down on their heads and purée food to get their children to do what they want. I'm no expert on worldly food cultures but is everyone in the world having a hard time getting their children to eat? So what's next? What are you prepared to do to get your children to go to bed, do their homework, not sneak out the window, not do drugs etc? What's the next bandwagon you are prepared to jump on and how much money is it going to cost to buy the book and all the equipment required to practice the next big thing?
Why does this generation feel like they have to cater to their children and will do anything to get their children to comply? With every new book there is a rush to buy it because it's the next best thing. We are so overly concerned with stuff and rushed and worried about every thing. Anyway that's my rant, have fun with your food processor. Good luck with it and post an update I'd would really like to know if you are still making purée one year from now."
And this was posted in my comment from the blog owner ….
"Editor's Note: I don't purée. And probably never will. In this particular case, I don't think it's so much about complying. It's more about getting kids to eat veggies. It might not be the way to do it for everyone, but my point is that for some people, it's a viable option.
But to basically call parents "wimps" because they can't get their kids to eat their veggies is a bit far fetched. When you've got a doctor breathing down your neck to get your kid to eat more veggies, you'll do what you can to make it happen."
So my comments were not well received and now looking back I can see why, kind of snarky on my part but this book bugs me! The title bothers me and the marketing bothers me, I just don't like what it implies. And it bugs me when Moms get in a snit about this kind of stuff and of course I’m no better I just stepped right into the middle of it as well. One last note, if you have a doctor who is “breathing down your neck” get another one especially if he has bad breath and is not so great looking.
One last, last note and then I’ll shut up, this book is probably a good tool to use in combination with healthy eating practices, I guess if you’ve going to feed your kids brownies then hell why not add the squash.
Feel free to blast me in the comments, I can take it.
12 Comments:
Your comment was fine. I think a lot of people take issue to the pureeing.
Hell. I wouldn't do it.
But I just think that for some people, it's a good option.
The title is misleading and risque' -- great marketing :) She still says feed veggies to your kids on the plate -- just add the veggies where you can in their food as well.
And you should post this post for Friday and enter yourself to win that GC to Williams and Sonoma!
I received the book from the publisher. I read through it. Thought hey I could make cupcakes and show the three year olds that veggies can belong in any dish.
I was not "deceitful" about what was in the cupcakes, they tasted FABULOUS and not one survived. Would it be my main source for nutritious meals for my family ... no. So I like having alternatives ... yes.
I agree 100% that kids need to eat their veggies (and not disguised as stars or coated in cheese or dressing). Healthy eating now is the basis for the rest of their lives.
Not all parents seem to understand that though. They purchase foods that would NEVER make it to my house and then say they have to give it to their kids or their kids will not eat. It wigs me out.
I am a cook book addict. When a friend first told me about this book, i was eccstatic! I added it to my wishlist and moved on...
Thankfully, I am also an obsessive researcher and ended up removing it from my list.
My theory was that I refused to take the time to make those puree's... And I refuse to put things like that into silly recipes. The bottom line is, my daughter likes a lot of veggies. Her favorite food is Brussel sprouts and she loves a good salad. Why? Because she saw us truly love these things and so it convinced her to give them an honest try.
I agree... somehow we eat our veggies and we were once kids. For nutrition to come in the form of the foods our kids need to learn self control on, this is bad...
As far as Oprah loving it. Oprah is a sheep with lots of smaller sheep following her. Everyone bows to what oprah says, pretending it is wisdom. Oprah has a writing staff... Oprah has producers, a director and people who book the show for her.
The oprah the world watches at 4 p.m. on weekdays- isn't really oprah.
Ugh....
I'm so with you on this one. What's next? Pureeing their homework?
Oh could we puree their homework? I don't have school aged children but don't even get me started on the whole homework issue! I'm on a roll these days or at the very least a rant anyway.
Chelle, I so admire your balance in life.
i love the pureeing homework comment... FUNNY-FUNNY!
Now this is very interesting. I haven't seen the book myself. And my baby still eats veggies just fine (shh, don't tell him some kids don't like them). It does all seem very American, doesn't it? Making a fortune out of stating the obvious (because I don't have a cupcake recipe at my fingertips but it does seem like something anyone might think of). And we are so big that we think we are the only ones. I'm sure tons of other cultures are laughing at us..
Somehow my comment wasn't published, so let me try again...
I agree that we really are an over nourished society. Maybe we should all eat meat only once in a year, like most of the people I came across in Nepal.
I have no kid, but I do have a husband who doesn't eat Brussel sprouts, and I don't plan to puree for him.
I refuse to puree. I also refuse to deceive my kids into thinking they are not eating vegetables. All they need is to believe that brownies and cupcakes are good for them - when really it is just yours. I do take issue with waitresses and other people who question your kids good choices - "Do you want white bread for the kids?", "Eat up, or I will feed you spinach!" (Which used to be his FAVOURITE veggie - till he found out it was supposed to be gross...
I like your rant. Keep it up. And they totally missed your point!
"this book is probably a good tool to use in combination with healthy eating practices"
I agree with this statement wholeheartedly. I actually agree with most of your post. But I still liked the book! LOL
I don't know, there is just something fun about making spinach/carrot brownies and testing them on my DH. (No chocolate for my son yet.) Really I got the book to make some tasty comfort foods more healthy for the whole family. I already cook healthy, whole foods all the time and my son does eat what we eat. He also does not eat junk food or sugary sweets much to the chagrin of his grandma and grandpa who think I am depriving him.
Here's my post, but you probably won't agree. LOL
http://mamaknj.blogspot.com/2007/10/lay-off-jessica-people.html
Aw, you're not the anti-Christ.
Just try telling people that you think leaf blowers should be outlawed...then you'll see anti-Christ.
For what it's worth, my kids do their homework for kale brownies. Now that's killing two birds with one head of kale.
Amen! Well said!
On my blog, I have been talking about this book, and its rival, The Sneaky Chef. I love that they offer good information about the nutrient content of certain ingredients and that they offer healthier alternatives to many other “typical kid foods.” But I don’t like that they are advocating dishonesty.
Check out the article (http://whatscookingblog.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/is-deceptively-delicious-too-deceptive/) and see some of the discussion about balancing the act of getting our kids to eat well while being honest.
Post a Comment