Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The Great Chili Experiment

So after yesterday's comments and post, I had an idea. I just happened to have some chili simmering in the slow cooker. I also had a can of beets that had been gracing my pantry shelves for way too long.

Exhibit A: Plain Ole' Kroger Canned Beets:


Exhibit B: Said Beets After Being Pureed (Can Anyone Say, "Magenta?")


Exhibit C: Chili Pre-Puree


Exhibit D: Chili Post-Puree and a Good Stir (Not Much Difference, N'est Pas?)


Result: The unsuspecting Sweet Pea and my husband ate it up! I have to admit, in something as flavorful as chili, there was virtually no taste difference. But it was fun to experiment.

The only thing is, I wonder if I would stick with this puree business consistently. I had a major revelation doing this...it is just like making baby food for the younger Sweet Pea...which while I enjoy doing this when I have time, I am not too sad about beginning finger food and leaving the puree stage behind me.

We will see...

2 comments:

Slacker Mama said...

I thought about that, too. I'm lucky to get dinner on the table most weeknights...the additional work of pureeing might send me over the edge.

The other thing is...is there really that much nutritional benefit to adding a puree into a meal when you consider serving size? I mean, a can of beets in that big old pot of chili has to work out to 1/10th of a beet per serving.

Deep in the Heart said...

Agree with SM and who likes cleaning up blenders full of pureed beats? That stuff stains like nothing else! Luckily my kiddos eat their fair share of veggies so I'm not too eager to try this, but I forwarded it to my sister who is on the verge of desperate. Tess won't consistently eat anything -she's even give up spaghetti and lasagna which you can sneak a ton of things in. I'll let you know if she tries it, but since she's working full time and only gets to the store once a month or so, I'm guessing the extra step will be too much for her too.