"The Sneaky Chef"

"The Sneaky Chef" is a New York Times bestselling cookbook by Missy Chase Lapine.  However, it is more than just a cookbook because it is full of ideas for making your children's food healthier ranging from what foods it is important to buy organic to staples to buy.  She has "Make-ahead recipes" giving you clever ideas how to hide healthy foods in regular dishes that your children won't even suspect are there and will eat eagerly.  She concludes with breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack recipes as well as beverages.

Since I have no children at home and my youngest grandchild is 11 and pretty set in his eating ways, why did I check this book out of my local library?  In August of 2018 my beloved husband of 57 years was diagnosed with a malignant esophageal tumor and the medical community has told us that there is nothing they can offer other than palliative care.  We are fighters and refuse to accept that finality.  We began eating plant-based over a year ago but I was looking for ways to sneak healthier veggies into our meals without being too obvious about it.  My husband has no problems with eating and loves both vegetables and fruits but he is not eating as much as I'd like so he can maintain the healthy weight he reached just before his diagnosis.  We certainly don't want him losing any more weight at this time.

He love ice cream but dairy is a big no-no to our way of eating and I'm just beginning to figure out how to make "N'ice" cream with frozen bananas which was just made easier yesterday with the discovery that Sprouts (new to our area and close to our home) carries frozen bananas!

"The Sneaky Chef" has milk shake recipes in which frozen bananas can be incorporated and there are other recipes using frozen bananas to make ice cream so I'm looking forward to making my hubby healthy "ice cream" treats he can enjoy that don't include dairy.

As plant-based eaters, we do not eat meat, dairy, eggs, cheese, or added oils so I will be adapting recipes in "The Sneaky Chef" to replace oils when I saute with vegetable broth or water.  In baking oils can be replaced with applesauce or prune puree,  etc.  I replace milk in recipes with non-dairy milks and replace eggs with "flax" eggs.  I'll omit cheeses or use purchased plant-based cheeses.  Wish me luck - my  first experiment making "ice cream" with bananas will be tonight!  pazt