Sneaky People

So my husband's mom always said, 'I don't like sneaky people', to her kids in an attempt to encourage them to be more honest, well maybe just less deceitful. Anyway, we joke about this a lot, because as parents I think it is a major requirement, being sneaky that is.  I have certainly become an expert on covertly inserting or leaving out  ingredients during food preparation in order to increase the nutritional value of the meal.  I would even say this sometimes applies to my husband. It's not always only the kids that need to eat better. And besides I figure if your trusting one person to purchase and prepare all your food, you kind of get what you get. Now I'm not saying my husband doesn't cook, but for the most part I'm the meal planner and prep person.  I enjoy it a lot.  It really is a part of my daily routine and I feel like it is a good way to start winding down at the end of the day.  You can do a lot of thinking, planning, reflection while cutting vegetables, boiling pasta and grilling something yummy outside.

I am nothing if not creative.  You know cutting the sugar in half in all my baking.  Honestly they never realize!!! They like it, the other kids at school like it, people where we both work love it. I also omit the salt from the baking. You'll never miss it, oh and make sure to use unsalted butter too, if you bake with the real thing.  Lasagna is made with some tofu, shredded carrots and zucchini mixed in with the Ricotta.  Yum!, more protein and extra veggies. Ground flax and chia seeds in the muffins.  Let's hear it for Omega 3s! I have totally switched to whole wheat flour and whole wheat pasta. I never heard one peep from the masses. Sometimes I even make brown rice and quinoa pasta.  It always gets eaten! I've recently started using almond milk with the baking it really is nice.

Tonight I was whipping up a batch of banana muffins, low sugar, flax, chia and almond milk included. I only hope they don't notice the accidental dash of red chili flakes that went in instead of cloves. Ooopps!  I tried to scoop them all out, but you never know! I did put in the cloves and a little extra cinnamon, so I think it will be ok.  I mean there are health benefits from the capsicum in the chili flakes, but if their mouths are on fire at 0630 as they eat their breakfast in a zombie like trance it might not go so well.

Good thing I'll be long gone to work before anyone wakes up. :-)