Sneaky Veggies solve ADHD?

I'll fully admit: our six year old is a handful. His teacher deserves a very special award after this year, and we should problem prep next year's teacher well.

He's not a bad kid. But he's an excited kid. A curious kid. An energetic, implusive, active, funny, charming, mesmorizing, magnetic, leader of a kid. And did I mention he's smart? First, in a discipine situation he can and will call out your irrationalities and offer a more logical solution. Seriously. You can't flaw his logic at time. And school wise? He's reading third grade books and well beyond his class in all other subject. Execpt for keeping quiet, sitting still, and not keeping his hands to himself.

I'm sure you can imagine where the school is pushing us on this one...ADHD-ville.

I'm not going to say he doesn't have it. I don't know. But I do know that at 6, its really not possible to diagnose him. He doesn't know who he is or how he "fits" into this school. But clearly, there are some issues.

I've been doing a lot of research and I found that magnesium deficiencies can cause these symptoms. I don't know about all of you - but I was scractching my head: what gives us magnesium? As I went down a list of high magnesium foods lightbulbs started going off. The list consisted of nuts. Peanuts. Legumes that are not safe for my allergy boy (things like chick peas and legumes very close to peanuts).

Could his food allergies be hurting his ability to function? It possible. I'm on a mission to get other good veggies into him and to cut artificial colors, dyes, and unneccessary sugars. The best part? My boy is on board. He's so smart, he sees the issue, understands how food affects his body, and is gung-ho. I hope this works.

No matter how smart though, he's six. He hate broccoli, spinach, and other leafy greans that could be helpful. Basically, if its not corn, he's not interested. I've stayed strong over the years to offer other things and not "cave" to his corn - but he still wasn't GETTING those things.  So I've started working with the Deceptively Delicious cookbook by Jessica Seinfield and playing with purees. Our first attempt has gotten rave reviews, and I don't think either kid knows they're getting carrots!

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Applesauce Muffins with Carrot puree - from Deceptively Delicious

TOPPING
2/3 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 firmly packed light or dark brown sugar (I RECOMMEND DARK)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I'd do 1 1/2-2 teaspoons next time)
2 tablesppons soft tub spread, melted

BATTER
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (I'd to 1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons next time)
1 cup unsweetened applesauce (next time, I'll use natural applesauce for a little flavor)
1/2 cup non fat milk
1/2 carrot puree (could use butternut squash puree too)
1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar (I recommend dark)
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 large egg

- Pre heat oven to 400, prepare 12 cup muffin tin with spary or muffin papers.

- combine topping ingredients together and mix well to crumble on top.

- Combine flour, oats, baking poweder, baking soda, and cinammon in a bowl. In another bowl, combine applesauce, milk, puree, sugar, oil, and egg. Combine with the dry ingredients - mix it up, but not too well, its going to be lumpy.

- Divide the batter between the 12 cups (I'd say about 3/4 of the way full)

- Sprinkle with the topping (do it pretty well, you'll want that crunch and flavor).

- Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick is clean when poked in.

- Allow muffins to cool and serve them up!

These are great for breakfast, snacks, or on the go!


Next? Spinach in our son's BELOVED cheesy shell's recipe. Here's hoping!