New Foods

For my birthday, Jamie gave me the second cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld titled Double Delicious. The idea is to cook yummy foods but hide vegetables in them so that your kids are getting their nutrients, too. I'm not all about hiding the veggies because I think it's good for Noah to learn (i.e. force himself) to eat vegetables by choice, but it never hurts to add a few he doesn't know about! I have tried three of the recipes so far, and have been surprised by the results. The muffins I made a few weeks ago were called Maple Spice muffins and had carrot, apple, and raisin in them and were sweetened only with maple syrup. To me, they weren't very sweet, but Noah ate them for a few breakfasts (one day with peanut butter on them). I also made mac & cheese with sweet potato puree. Weird, huh? But I really couldn't detect the sweet potato. Last night, I really stepped it up and tried the baked ziti. Here's the recipe, if you're interested! Chris, Noah, Steph and I all ate it and thought it was pretty good; it could use more sauce, in my opinion. Maybe an extra cup or more.

• 14 oz. whole wheat ziti
• 2 c. (or more!) jarred tomato sauce
• 1/2 c. carrot puree
• 1 c. part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 c. cauliflower puree
• 2 egg whites
• 1 c. shredded part-skim mozzarella
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 t. pepper
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F. Cook the pasta a few minutes less than the pkg instructions indicate and set aside.
2. Pour the tomato sauce in a medium bowl. Add the carrot puree and mix until well combined.
3. In another small bowl, combine the ricotta, cauliflower puree, egg whites, 1/2 c. mozzarella, garlic, and pepper.
4. Spread 1/2 the tomato combo onto the bottom of a glass pan or casserole dish. Then add a layer with 1/2 the pasta. Spoon the ricotta mixture on top and cover with the rest of the pasta, topping it off with the remaining sauce. Then sprinkle with the Parmesan and remaining mozzarella. Bake for about 30 min., until the cheese starts to brown and filling is hot.

 Noah ate lots of pasta (unless they were the hard pieces from the edges) and had no idea he was getting all that cauliflower and carrot... hee hee! Here are a few pics of the final results:

Baked ziti... nothing suspicious about it at all!

Noah tries a bite

Yum, yum! Forget the fork, and no stand-off tonight!

And finally, Noah has a quick message for GGB and Grandpa Dick: