Easy Back To School Recipes By Missy Chase Lapine

Easy Back 2 School Recipes

Two recent studies concluded that "adding hidden pureed vegetables to entrees an reduce the number of calories the meals pack without sacrificing texture or taste." In these studies kids and adults consumed nearly twice as many fruits and vegetables while cutting calories more than ten percent.

The Speedy Sneaky Chef offers over 85 new, faster, healthy recipes, with added fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, that are lower-calorie, highter in nutrients, and can be whipped up in minutes. The Speedy Sneaky Chef is the busy parent's answer to the healthy food challenge. Lapine's techniques have been tested on dozens of kids and adults and nobody detects the hiden healthy ingredients.

Missy Chase Lapine is the creator of the Sneaky Chef series of books, including New York Times bestseller The Sneaky Chef: Quick, Healthy Fixes for Your Family's Favorite Packaged Foods.

Make Ahead: White Puree

You will use the orange puree in some of the listed recipes. (This recipe makes 2 cups of puree)

Ingredients:

2 cups cauliflower florets, 2 small to medium zucchini (peeled and coarsely chopped), 1 to 2 tbs water (if necessary)

Directions:

To prepare White Puree on the sovetop, pour about 2 inches of water into a pot with a tight fitting lid. Put a vegetable steamer baket into the pot, add the cauliflower, and steam for about 10 minutes, until very tender. Drain.

Meanwhile, place the raw peeled zucchini in your food processor and pulse a few times. Next add the cooked cauliflower and 1 tbs of water to the food processor and puree on high until smooth. Stop occassionally to push the contents to the bottom. if necessary, use another tablespoon of water to make a smooth puree, but the less water, the better.

*This can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Make Ahead: Orange Puree

You will use the orange puree in some of the listed recipes. (This recipe makes 2 cups of puree)

Ingredients:

1 medium sweet potato or yam(peeled and coarsely chopped), 2 medium to large carrots (peeled and sliced into thick chunks), 2 to 3 tbs water

Directions:

Place the carrots and sweet potatoes in a medium sized pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 20 minutes, until carrots are tender. Careful-if the carrots aren't tender enough, they may leave telltale little nuggets of vegetables in recipes, which will reveal their presence to your kids.

Drain the carrots and sweet potatoes and put them in the food processor with 2 tbs of water. Puree on high until smooth-no pieces of vegetables showing. Stop occassionally to push the contents to the bottom. If necessary, use another tablespoon of water to smooth out the puree, but the less water, the better.

*This can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Tropical Twisted Breakfast Ice Cream Cones

Ingredients:

1/2 cup frozen mango (no added syrup or sugar), 1/2 cup frozen strawberries (no added syrup or sugar), 1 banana (peeled and chopped / frozen or fresh), 1/2 cup low-fat milk, 1 to 2 tablespoons honey or sugar, 4 wafer ice-cream cones

Directions:

Fill bowl of food processor with frozen fruit and pulse several times to start the puree. Add banana, milk, and sugar and puree on high until smooth, stopping if needed to scrape down the sides of the bowl and push contents to the bottom. Icecream will be soft - fill cones to just below the top, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze to further harden (or fill cones and serve immediately).

*Makes 2 servings

Deep Dish Tortellini Alfredo

Ingredients:

1 16 oz har (about 2 cups) of store bought Alfredo sauce (ideally reduced fat), 1 cup White Puree (Make Ahead), 1/2 cup liquid egg white or 4 egg whites, 20 oz refrigerated cheese tortellini (ideally whole grain; such as Buitoni) / For Topping: 1/4 cup bread crumbs (ideally whole grain), 2 tbs ground flaxseed or wheat germ, 2 tbs grated Parmesan cheese, Cooking Spray Oil

Directions:

Toss Alfredo sauce, puree, and egg whites in a 2-quart baking dish. Add totellini and toss to coat. Add topping ingredients to a zip-top plastic bag, seal, shake and sprinkle topping mixture evenly over top of casserole. Generously spray with cooking oil and bake for 40 minutes.

*Makes 6 servings

No Boil Baked Ziti

Ingredients:

12 oz (about 4 cups) dry uncooked ziti pasta, 3 cups vegetable juice (reduced-sodium such as V8), 1 cup store bought marinara sauce, 1/2 cup White Puree (Make Ahead) or baby food sweet potato or carrot puree, 1/2 cup park-skim ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 2 1/2 cups reduced fat mozzarella divided

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a 13-by-9-inch glass baking dish with oil. In the baking dish, combine all of the ingredients except 1 1/2 cupts of mozzarella (save that for the top of the casserole). Mix well. top with remaining 1 1/2cups of mozarella cheese, sprinkling evenly over the top.

Cover the casserole tightly with foil (use nonstick foil or spray regular aluminum foil with oil so it doesn't stick to the cheese) and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover. Bake another 10 minutes or until the top is slightly browned.

*Makes 8 servings

Banana Pops

Ingredients:

4 graham cracker sheets, 2 tbs wheat germ, 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter, 1/4 cup Orange Puree (Make Ahead), 4 large bananas (peeled and halved horizontally), 8 ice cream sticks or craft sticks.

Directions:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Place graham crackers and wheat germ in a plastic bag and using a rolling pin or your hands, gently crush crackers into coarse crumbs. Pour onto a plate and set aside.

On another plate, combine peanut butter and puree. Insert an ice cream stick into the cut end of each banana half. Dip banana halves into the peanut butter mixture until evenly coated, then roll in the graham crumb mixture. Place each banana on the prapred baking sheet and freeze for at least 30 minutes, then transfer to an airtight container or individual plastic zip-top bags.

*Makes 8 pops