Veggies

One of the hardest parts of flying solo when the husband's not around is feeding myself.   Going to the market is one of my least favourite new-mom jobs, so I only go when I'm desperate.  Vegetables have been few and far between in the home, lately.  It's hard to prepare a veggie-on-the-side part of a meal -and if I have to do it, let's face it, it won't happen- so I have to sneak vegetables into my food (I know, it's like I'm 4 years old).  I thought I'd share some of my favourite recipes that incorporate vegetables into them.  Meals- or snacks, in the case of #2- that I don't have to feel guilty about eating and taste delicious.

The first on the menu is pumpkin chili.  I have been making this for the past few years and it is fab.  You can use canned pumpkin, or in my case I buy pumpkin (it's actually butternut squash, but that's what the canned pumpkin is anyway) fresh from the market and steam it myself.  At least, that's what I did before I had a baby.  Now I don't know what I'll do, because I just used up the last of the pumpkin puree in my freezer.  I made this for a harvest party we had here a couple of years ago.  I just made a batch this afternoon to deliver to a friend who just had a baby.  Pair it with pumpkin cornbread for extra squashy goodness!

Second is Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread by King Arthur Flour.  It has more veggies (I normally use a zucchini and a carrot) than flour or sugar, so it's a win in my book.  I make them into muffins, and the veggies (I finely grate them) just disappear and all you can see is chocolate.  They taste like Costco chocolate muffins.  I just ate two of them, in fact.

The third recipe, Cheesy Vegetable Chowder is fairly new to me; someone made it for us after Ellis was born.  It's basically ALL vegetables, but they're all masked by the chowder-goodness.  I think it's all the cheese.  I've made it twice while Reuben's been gone and one batch makes 5 or 6 meals for me.  Plus, it's a slow-cooker recipe which I am all about right now.  I made this yesterday, and it was my lunch and dinner.

There you have it!  I just got a copy of Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld, where she does the same thing: sneaking in veggies (pureed).  I'm excited to try it.