You Ask, I Answer: Deceptively Delicious

Did you catch Jessica Seinfeld on Oprah talking about her new book? What do you think?

-- Denise Wyler
(location withheld)

I did not watch the episode where Jessica Seinfeld (yes, Jerry's wife) pitched her new book, Deceptively Delicious, in which she shares her recipes for many classic unhealthy foods (i.e.: especially kid favorites like mac and cheese, brownies) with a "healthy twist".

Said twist? Adding pureed vegetables. Oh, woopee... start throwing confetti, everybody!

I managed to see a few nauseauting clips in which Oprah made it seem like Jessica was a culinary goddess for "coming up" with this concept.

For some odd reason, many celebrities are bowing down to Jessica Seinfeld for doing nothing more than adding a handful of beets to chocolate cake.

Kelly Ripa referred to Jessica as a "genius." Well, considering the source that doesn't mean much of anything.

Interestingly, there is a serious plagiarism scandal surrounding this book, which you can read about here if you are interested.

I don't really see what the big hoopla is. For instance, Jessica's carrot-spinach brownie recipe includes a mere cup of pureed vegetables for a batch of 12 brownies.

In other words, a child would need to eat SIX of these brownies to get a mere half cup (just one serving!) of vegetables.

In the process, they would be getting a boatload of sugar and no other nutrients to speak of. I'm supposed to be wowed by this? Well, I'm not.

I'm actually pretty ticked off that, apparently, all you need is a well-known last name to get a multimillion dollar, multi-book deal.

What credentials, exactly, does Mrs. Seinfeld have to start doling out ANY nutrition advice? None.

Funny how this "hide pureed veggies in brownies" idea is found in books released before Deceptively Delicious, yet was completely ignored by the mass media until Mrs. Seinfeld came along.

The blueberry oatmeal bars are described as "full of spinach".

Really? The recipe -- which yields 12 bars -- only calls for a half cup of pureed spinach. Your little one will need to eat all 12 bars to get just one serving of vegetables.

Marion Nestle recently commented about this same subject on her blog -- I completely agree with every word.

This book sends out the completely wrong message on nutritious eating for children. Why should we be sneaking healthy food into kids' meals? Is a carrot really THAT terrible? Give me a break.

I was also very disappointed to find out that well-known dietitian Joy Bauer approved all these recipes.