Now i know and i have been told several times by trained professionals that a child will not starve themselves to death and for the most part i keep that in mind at dinner time, but after hearing countless people say "she's so tiny" and "did she eat, i have snacks" or my favorite "that’s such a tiny bite you should give her more", i start to lose my head. Doubt starts to creep in and i get panicked, oh my gosh am i starving my kid?? i forget that she takes small bites or else she gags and stops eating for the day, or that she is a normal weight and a bit tall for her age, or that she did eat a pretty good lunch, i forget that i am her mom and i know her.
Back to point, the granola bars. Obviously i cant type up the recipe and post it b/c i would have to get permission and blah blah blah, but i can tell you my experience and the end result! It's a pretty basic granola recipe for the most part oats, flour, cinnamon, sugar but then comes the super sneaky part, SPINACH! You steam up spinach and then puree it! After smelling the smell of steamed spinach upon opening the microwave door i was gonna call it quits right then and there. Me and the maid where both gagging, it's a really awful smell! No way w/ a smell like that it wasn't gonna be tasted by safiya the super picky eater. I can’t stress how terrible it smells. I persisted to the next step of pureeing, at this point i had stinky super green dirty baby diaper looking goo, and my maid laughed at me and left the kitchen. Once all the steaming and pureeing is done along w/ the gagging and nagging feeling that you’re wasting your time, you’re supposed to mix the gross goo w/ blueberry preserves. I didn't have blue berry so i used a red jam i had on hand and added some blue gel food coloring. If the puréed spinach wasn't gross enough on its own imagine chunks of red jam floating around in it. Then you dump it on the granola base and cover it up w/ some more granola and bake. The book tells you to wait till it's completely cool before eating it and so we did... despite being one of the grossest things i have ever made the finished product was deceptively delicious! No one any the wiser except me and the maid ;) they did ask why it was a very electric aquamarine color though, tip don't add food coloring.
Perhaps the funniest thing is safiya the super picky eater still won't touch the granola bars or the choco chip cookies w/ chick peas, but i have sneaked some carrots into her spaghetti and cauliflower into her eggs!
