Preschool

Mother of three Lisa Loeppky is pretty sneaky — at least when it comes to food. You never quite know what ingredient might be lurking in one of her ordinary-looking meals.

Take that serving of white rice, for example. “I purée cauliflower and add it to the rice at the end of the cooking time,” Loeppky says. “Then I season it with pepper, and nobody notices.”

Or maybe you’d like some spaghetti? “I take a jar of sauce and add puréed carrots, peppers and onions,” she says. And were you wondering why the spaghetti was being served by candlelight? Just another of Loeppky’s little tricks: “My kids are suspicious of anything that looks different,” she explains, “so if I’m serving whole wheat pasta, for example, we eat by candlelight and they don’t even notice.”

“Why be sneaky?” asks Missy Chase Lepine, author of The Sneaky Chef (you’ve probably heard of Jessica Seinfeld’s book based on the same idea). “The answer’s easy: It means healthier kids and peace at the table. You can have a harmonious family meal, without fighting and bribing kids to eat their vegetables, and feel relaxed because the pressure’s off — you know they’re getting the nutrition they need.” The basis of her book: 13 purées (most made with vegetables and fruits) that can be secretly added to recipes to boost nutrition without affecting taste or texture.

Originally published in Today's Parent, February 2007