Courtesy of twirlit.com

SECRET MISSION (should I choose to accept it!):

• To find new ways to sneak extra vegetables into the diet of my somewhat veg-averse children without them noticing
• Avoid the obvious appeal of a delicious chocolate beetroot cake and instead find a savoury dish that achieves similar success

RECIPE 1: Vegetable Fritters

Method:  I took one of the firm favourites in our household, Corn fritters and decided to give it the sneaky veg treatment.  I whipped up a batch of my Canadian pancakes batter, threw in a generous handful of frozen corn and then grated a large carrot and a large courgette into the mix too. I added a little ground nutmeg and black pepper before cooking and serving with sausages and some sliced cucumber and apple on the side.

Result:  Silence as the food was wolfed down, clean plates appeared and the requests for “just one more pancake please Mummy” came flooding in.  The observant pair had noticed the addition of extra veg, but as M likes his carrots cooked and both thought the courgette was cucumber, there was no complaint about my tinkering with this popular dish.

Mission status:  Success

RECIPE 2: Pasta Sauce

Method:  I took an array of vegetables I knew that neither child would usually eat, blitzed them together in my handy food blender and heated the concoction through in a pan before adding to some M-friendly pasta.  My very home-made and rustic pasta sauce was made from tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, courgette, mushrooms, onion, garlic and the remains of an over-ripe avocado.  This time I added a sprinkle of chilli flakes and a dash of rosemary to deepen the flavour.  Once the pasta was well coated in the sauce, I added some diced chicken and grated a little cheese on top before serving to my suspicious duo.

Result:  G and M again munched their way through a generous serving of the pasta dish and were keen to know when I would cook it again.  I poured the leftover sauce into a Tupperware container and now have it stored in my freezer for the next time this pasta dish needs an outing.

Mission status:  Success

EXTRA MISSION: Pizza

Method:  I bravely took a portion of my pasta sauce, added some safe BBQ sauce as well as some pesto before spreading across our home-made pizza bases. I then topped this with a variety of foods including ham, prawns, pineapple, olives and cheese.

Result:  Another resounding success.  The pizza disappeared within minutes and with no comment about the sneaky veg pizza sauce I’d added.

Mission status:  Success

FINAL MISSION STATUS: COMPLETE

Three brand new savoury dishes, containing enough sneaky veg to keep any mother happy, were successfully created and enjoyed by G and M.