Yummy veggies in the French Toast!

I got a book out of the library called The Sneaky Chef.

I found out about it because Jessica Seinfeld (Jerry's wife) was on Oprah discussing her own book, Deceptively Delicious. The concept is that she gets her kids to eat vegetables by pureeing them and adding them to anything from brownies to meatloaf.

I did a little research and found out that Missy Lapine (of The Sneaky Chef) did this first, and apparently better, so I decided to give her book a try.

Last night I made franks (yes, nitrate-free) and beans, with a little ketchup and pureed sweet potatoes and carrots stirred in. [Being "The Lazy Chef" as usual, I used jars of baby food instead of peeling, boiling, and using a food processor.]

It took about three minutes to put together and another four minutes to microwave it. So, basically, instant dinner. Rachael said it was really good. Interestingly, Rebecca asked me to take the hot dogs out, but she liked the beans. And Baby Ben ate it up too.

This morning was even better; I made "Fortified French Toast," also with sweet potatoes and carrots in the batter. It was really good. Rebecca said she "loved it," and asked to have it again later as an afternoon snack, and again with dinner. (I think she had a total of six pieces of it today.) Benjamin had a piece and then sort of sang, "More ... more ..." I liked it too, and it was not difficult to make (since I cheated and used baby food.) I will definitely have to make that one again. Maybe I'll double the recipe next time so it lasts longer.

The next things I plan to try are: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with the sweet potatoes and carrots spread on the bread; cocoa pancakes; and a few cookies that sound really good.

I may have to break down and actually buy this book.

Oh, and you're probably all wondering if I told the kids about the secret ingredients. No, I didn't.