Crouching Sauces - Hidden Veggies

You're probably wondering why I've opted to post a picture of the Cleveland Browns vs. children who won't eat vegetables. Well...these "are" the children that I feed daily, who don't want to eat vegetables. They're just really rich, really large children!

People automatically assume that because an athlete uses his/her body to perform a job, they would only want to put the best foods in it. Not true. A major part of my job as a personal chef to these guys is "Cabinet Boot Camping". That is where I wait until said athlete is not home and I go in and take away all of the white sugar, candy, soda, Doritos, Little Debbie snacks, more candy and all things negative and replace them with comparable healthy snacks. The guys get very upset when I do this and often replace the contraban. As long as they want to buy it, I'll take it away!

* Robaire Smith - former Cleveland Browns - hates cooked broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots and peas. He loves pineapple Faygo (located by the case under his bed), Oreos double stuffed, anything with "candy" on it and Doritos!!

* Shaun Rogers - New Orleans Saints - loves doughnuts, chicken fried steak, soda, cookies, candy and chips. When both he and Robaire were on the Browns, we called them "Team Snack Attack"!

Kids (and athletes) usually don't want to eat vegetables because they're green, look weird or they've had them prepared in a way that they didn't like and are unwilling to try them again. My solution to that is to put vegetables in everything!! Here are a few ideas:

Spaghetti sauce - steam carrots, broccoli, squash, onions, etc until they are extremely soft, combine with your regular spaghetti sauce and run it through your food processor until smooth.

Tacos/lasagna/chili/spaghetti - substitute Morningstar veggie crumbles for the "meat" content of these dishes. They taste exactly the same as ground beef but are 100% vegetable product. Im so sure you'll get away with this that if your kids WONT eat it, I'll refund your money for the crumbles!!! (its in writing so try it)

Sauces - steam and puree and combination of vegetables and add agave nectar, truvia or raw sugar to it. Natural sweetners that will deter your sugar junkie long enough to feed them something nutritious.

Meatloaf - More pureed veggies in the mix! Makes the meatloaf super moist as well. If your kids aren't too fond of meatloaf, try making mini versions with a teriyaki or bbq sauce (with veggie puree mixed in) toppings. Meatballs work as wel... alone or in subs with ooey gooey cheese!

Try these ideas and let me know if they work for you! Happy Mealtime!!!