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| The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals | 
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| Author: Missy Chase Lapine
Publisher: Running Press
Category: Book
List Price: $17.95
Buy Used: $3.54
You Save: $14.41 (80%)
New (64) Used (53) Collectible (1) from $3.54
Avg. Customer Rating:  270 reviews
Sales Rank: 4564
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.9 x 7.9 x 0.9
ISBN: 0762430753
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.5622
EAN: 9780762430758
ASIN: 0762430753
Publication Date: April 4, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Great cookbook for EVERYONE! October 19, 2007
45 out of 49 found this review helpful
I bought the Sneaky Chef after purchasing Jessica Seinfeld's book. I wrote a rather long review of Jessica's book, so now it is Missy Lapine's turn. It is hard to compare the two of them, believe it or not, as the two books are laid out and set up differently. One big difference is Missy's book is set up where you see all recipes in order of the purees, so you can look up Orange Puree or Purple Puree and see what you can make. It is also laid out in terms of meals: Breakfast, Lucnh, Dinner, and Snacks. There are more photos in Jessica's book than Missy's if photos are important to you.
WHY ONLY FOURS STARS? For two reasons: The binding of the book is not in a spiral fashion. I have a thing about cookbooks being able to lay flat on the counter. An odd thing, I know, but to me it matters a lot. The other reason is her recipes have cute names like "Maxed out Meatloaf" or "Gotta Lotta Lasagna" - in other words they are not in alphabetical order. Again, some may quibble but I like my lasagana to be listed under the letter "L." Want to make a burrito? Look under the letter "I": Incognito Burrito.
Jessica Seinfeld's book has purees that are one ingredient: Sweet potato, borcolli, etc......in Missy's book the purees are two ingredients. The juices you can add to recipes are one ingredient. My advice: Look at both books, compare and see which one you prefer. I prefer Jessica's book because the recipes are a bit simpler and again, I like the binding on Jessica's book. Both books offer up a lot of nutritional advice for making everyday foods a bit more healthy, namely boxed macaroni and cheese, pizza bagels and Spaghettio's. As I said in my review of Jessica's book, wouldn't it be wonderful if all of us ate five servings of fruits and vegetables a day? Let alone kids? I like adding purees to my own foods to get more fiber in my diet, along with flaxseed for better health.
MAKING THE PUREE: Don't be intimidated, it is not that hard. I used a Vita-Mix as my food processor and a rice cooker to steam the veggies (don't boil them to a pulp, just steam them.) Even if you don't have these items, you can always start with the sweet potato. You can bake it, clean it out and whip up a puree with some water and a fork and there you go. Another thing: some folks have complained about using so many small plastic bags. I used very small serving Gladware containers so you have a single serving to pull out of the freezer. What else happened to me was I used the small plastic baggies, but they were a little wet when I put them in the freezer. Then they froze together. Ooops! I really believe both books have a lot of merit but people are unfairly picking on Jessica because of her personal life. That is not fair to eother cookbook author as it takes away from the real issue: getting all folks (little and big) to eat better, get more minerals and more fiber. As I also said in my other review per lying to our kids....big deal. My kids see the puree, they see me add it and they do not care. I only wish I had done more of this when they were younger so they could have reaped the benefits at even younger age.
 Good food, but... September 24, 2007
42 out of 49 found this review helpful
I was reluctant to purchase a book that "hid" veggies from kids verses utilizing recipes that allow kids to learn to enjoy healthy foods as they are. As one reviewer wrote, are we not doing a disservice to children by pureeing the heck out of wonderfully fresh fruits and veggies for the sole purpose of put them "under cover?" How will kids ever learn to enjoy healthy foods if we don't expose them to whole grains, fruits, and veggies? I stand by this theory.
This book does, however, hold a potentially valuable place in your family cookbook library. If you have a child who is at a "failure to thrive" stage and must get him to eat something, this could be your answer. If you need to prepare snacks or desserts for your kids and her classmates and friends, "The Sneaky Chef" provides some wonderful options. If you occasionally want to serve familiar American comfort foods with the bonus addition of pureed whole foods, all of the recipes in this book work and taste GOOD. Don't, however, use this as a SUBSTITUTE for preparing fresh produce for your children at all or most meals. If they never eat the real thing, how will they learn to appreciate and enjoy healthy foods?
 Just what we needed! September 30, 2007
35 out of 37 found this review helpful
I wanted to serve one meal to everyone in our family and quit playing short order chef. I never have wanted food to become a battleground for my kids. And, I wanted to incorporate more veggies and fiber in to all of our diets. This book has some fantastic ideas on how to alter my cooking to accomplish my goals.
I made macaroni and cheese last night and watched both my boys (2 and 3) devour sweet potatoes and carrots without a complaint. This stuff works. I cooked more carrots and sweet potatoes that I needed for the puree, and served some of the chunks on our plates. I enjoyed the cooked carrots, and my kids didn't throw the chunks of veggies off their plate onto the floor. One of them actually licked the carrot in curiousity. I'll continue to serve sneaky nutrition AND undisguised versions on the plate. Eventually, my kids will eat the undisguised versions.
What works for me is to plan on preparing ONE puree a day, preferably when it is quiet. I freeze the puree in ice cubes by the tablespoon, and then can add them as needed to recipes. I can rotate thru the purees and not feel overwhelmed. And if I skip a day or two, I have frozen reserves to fall back on. That also lets me make the purees using on-sale produce.
Ok concept, poor exectution! September 28, 2007
32 out of 51 found this review helpful
I have not made any of the recipes in the book and I am certainly NOT opposed to sneaking healthy things into foods, but I do have one HUGE problem with her "purees". The fact that she boils all of the nutrients out of the vegetables is pretty much defeating the purpose. Cooking spinach for 10 minutes takes most of the good stuff out and boiling carrots and sweet potatoes for 20 minutes--forget about it! I am not a nutritionist, but if this author is--shame on her!
Mixed thoughts but overall favorable October 10, 2007
32 out of 33 found this review helpful
Let me first say I like this book and I am glad I purchased it. I echo other reviewers who question the idea of hiding foods instead of teaching your children to enjoy them. However, this is certainly a way to sneak some in while you are attempting the teaching.
My kids are not THAT picky, but they are children after all so of course they would prefer nothing but cookies for the rest of their lives.
I have made all the purees so far and have tried many of the recipes. I have also used the concept in my own recipes with great success.
Like other reviewers, I am also wondering how much nutrition is left in the food once you boil it down to nothing. In some cases, I have added the water I boiled the veggies in to recipes in other ways. Don't know if that helps anything, but it made me feel better about it.
Now for my disappointment about the book...the recipes don't have nutritional values listed. yes, there is a list of nutrients provided by the sneaked in foods, but no real nutrional value - ie calories, fat, fiber, etc. My next project will be to calculate nutritional value based on my old recipes versus adding the new recipes. I am not certain how much I am actually changing the value - in other words, am I doing a fair amount of work for little improvement? The sneaked in foods seem to be in such small amount sometimes I am just not sure that there is a real value in it. I guess something is better than nothing, but since my kids already eat fairly well, I am not convinced that it is worth all my extra effort.
I should say for the record that I have 4 children -infant, 2,4 and 13. The overall concept is not THAT much work, but I decided to go gung ho and made every puree over a couple of days - many tiny containers in my freezer now with 1/4 cup dollops of purees. Also, I have a managerial job where I work 50-60 hours weekly away from home. I cook meals ahead of time and leave them for stay-at-home husband to put in the oven. He is NOT in on the sneaking (just for fun). I have included my 13 year old in the plan b/c she is a very healthy and adventurous eater -so this is our little joke on the rest of the family. As I mentioned before, I have been able to incorporate the concepts into my own recipes and have had no problems so far. I usually cook large quantities in advance - ie 4 gallons of chili or meat sauce - then separate and freeze for quicker meals later. The purees figure quite well into that plan because I can whip up a batch and add the entire amount to my stock pot instead of measuring out these tiny amounts for later. AND I have not had any problems with my frozen dinners. I can tell no difference from before I began adding the purees.
My last concern about the book is that (much like me in this post) she spends almost the first half of the book going on and on about how great it is before ever starting to tell me what to do. Also, the recipes are certainly not difficult or gourmet quality, but they do require a little bit of cooking knowledge. Sometimes they act like I haven't a clue about the kitchen "makes about 1 cup of puree...double the recipe if you want more" (gee, never would have thought of that). Other times they can be a bit ambigous "makes 8 large muffins...scale quantities for smaller muffins" - well "large" turned out to mean the normal size muffins, not the larger muffins I had hoped (not a big deal, you just have to figure out what they mean).
Overall, useful book...gave me several ideas I had not thought of before. I have been able to use the recipes in the book as well as incorporate the concepts into my recipes. After several weeks and many recipes, we have had great success...no flops, and no one has suspected a thing.
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