i am a pureeing fool

I couldn't get enough of Jessica Seinfeld's book Deceptively Delicious. After being an excellent vegetable eater as a baby M has completely turned against them as a toddler. Anything orange or green earns the screech i don't LIKE orange food. i don't LIKE green food. Truth be told, it's a pain in the rear. So when Parentbloggers offered the chance to review a cookbook where the vegetables are smuggled in I figured I had nothing to lose.

I love this book. I've pureed cauliflower and made banana bread, pureed carrots and made meatloaf. I pureed acorn squash (a feat in and of itself) and put it in buttered noodles. M has eaten everything and I sit smugly by for once, victorious over the toddler food war.

The book is not only full of recipes, but also tips and techniques. I am pretty sure I won't become the pureeing warrior that Jessica is, but I now have another tool at my disposal and know I'll return to this book over and over. It's just that easy to use and the food tastes really good. You'd never know all those veggies were in there and it feels better simply eating it, not only because there was more intentionality and effort in the preparation but also because it's a healthier way to treat your family.

Getting this book and having the space and luxury to actually use it brought up some other issues for me too, ones that I am addressing over at my main blog today so if you found me some other way stop over there before you go.

safe travels

I've never done a good job at preparing for the worst. Since M came along I've gotten better, we now have water and some food stored in the garage in case of an earthquake. We baby proofed the house. But I've never taken measures to ensure safety while on the road aside from the car seat. We don't keep extra food or water or blankets in our car. And shame on us.

Sequoia Survival helped me change that recently by allowing me to review their travel kit through Parentbloggers. The kit is small, so compact it will barely be noticeable in the trunk. But the point is, it's in there.

The kit is packed with all sorts of important items. ready to eat meals for two for an entire day, water, a decent first aid kit, rope, gloves, matches, paper, a mini-blade, emergency blankets, lightsticks, a hand crank cell phone charger and even a deck of cards. It's got what you need to spend the night, maybe two nights stranded in your car.

I will never forget the Kim family's struggle last winter. I will never forget their agonizing story of survival, a wrong turn on a day trip turned into tragedy. We've gone off the beaten path ourselves and never were we adequately prepared for the what ifs.

Nothing can truly keep us safe and that is probably one of the most important realizations we'll ever have as human beings. But we can do our part to be smart about it, to be prepared in the case of emergency, so that our mistakes can be minimized as much as possible.

I feel better knowing it's in my trunk. I'll feel better knowing I have this one small measure for M and for my family. I won't allow myself to live in fear, but I will continue to be smarter about the choices I make and calculate the risks. The Sequoia Survival Kit is one of the measures we'll include from now on in our travels, that little red safety pack nestled in my trunk.

I hope I never need to use it, but I am happy knowing it's there.