The veggie and fruit purees are much easier to make then i thought. I was nervous about all the work, but things are explained well on how to make them.
Also i like that you can switch out whatever purees you want to use in most of her recipes.
So far what we've made has been good. The muffins have been the biggest hit. And I add flax seed meal to mine.
I would not however use these recipes as the only source of fruits and veggies for my family. I just liked the idea of adding more healthy stuff to foods we already eat.

Love this book! My girls (6, 5 & 3) are not naturally drawn to eating veggies, but they love helping me bake these foods. I don't like that she tries to fake out her kids with the macaroni box on the counter. I have been very up front with my kids about putting yummy healthy food in and they are being VERY honest about what recipes work for our house. There are some recipes that taste too far off the yummy recipes that I already have, but my girls actually asked for the cakes in this cookbook for their birthday parties (1 with pumpkin and 1 with avocado)! I call that success. I have taken her recipes one step further and made most of the other ingredients organic but she's still on the right track with putting veggies on their plates and veggies in their tummies. The puree process is a little long but so worth it if you can do it all at once and freeze it for the week. The pictures were enticing. I just wish there were more recipes!

This book is fantastic - I absolutely love it. Mrs. Seinfeld is pure genius!

The idea behind this book is great, although not entirely original, but the recipes are NOT great. Let me just say that I have been cooking meals for my family since I was around 13 years old so I know how to prepare simple and complicated meals at home and I also bake. My feedback on the recipes:

Banana Bread- Collapsed in the middle, was gummy throughout and tasted like vegetable puree. No one in our house wanted to eat it.

Quesadillas- Never crisped up because the recipe calls for too much puree. They were total mush inside and I couldn't even serve them. We had sandwiches that night!

Chicken nuggets- You can TOTALLY see and taste the spinach puree. They look nothing like the picture. And as another reviewer commented, there isn't enough oil in the pan to cook the chicken properly and the first batch I made was really burned.

Sloppy joes- Another case of too much puree called for in the recipe. They were rather bland and very wet and mushy. The liquid never really absorbed just made it very pasty.

Last night making the sloppy joes was my last go at getting something to turn out from this book. It's been very frustrating scraping dishes full of food made from expensive, organic groceries into my garbage can. I am left wondering if Jessica ever really road tested these recipes, or wasn't able to translate what she was doing that was so "delicious" in her kitchen into workable recipes. Too bad, I really was hoping it would work out!

From: www.BasilAndSpice.com

When my son was a toddler, he ate everything, even wood! I was constantly alert for anything other than food entering his mouth. As I prepared meals in the kitchen, he would sit in his highchair and taste-test my culinary creations. Time passed and David entered school. Peer pressure regarding dietary habits hit back at my efforts to feed my family healthy meals, and I was forced to resort to creative cooking--hiding the vegetables, fruits, and whole grains in common everyday dishes.

Recently, I reviewed Deceptively Delicious, by Jessica Seinfeld, wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld. The author has been plagued with the same complaints all mothers have--"One won't eat! The other is picky! They say it's disgusting!" Dinner hour, an unpleasant way to wrap up the day, is one of the largest obstacles mothers face. Rather than resorting to takeout Chinese or chicken nuggets from the freezer, Jessica has become an expert at hiding vegetables and fruits in family favorites, making dining with the children a happier healthier experience.

Using the basic steamer or pot with a steamer basket and a food processor or blender, the author roasts or steams each vegetable, purées them separately, then stores the vegetable blends in freezer bags. Fruits do not need to be cooked, just blended. As she needs them, Jessica thaws and adds the purée to each recipe.

A wonderful example are her Pita Pizzas--we've all made these, but Jessica's are slightly different. Under the tomato sauce lies a surreptitious nutritious addition--spinach (puréed of course). It is hidden with the help of mozzarella.

Jessica Seinfeld's recipes are ready in about 30 minutes or less. However, one would need to set some time aside to steam and blend the vegetables in advance, storing them in the freezer for future use. Organization she says, is the key. The recipes are all nutritionally checked by Joy Bauer.

Moms of America, if you want to feed your children healthier meals which they'll readily devour, I suggest you take a look at Deceptively Delicious. It's a winner! No wonder it's a bestseller.

A BestSeller Review

5 Stars