The Sneaky Chef: How to Cheat on Your Man (In the Kitchen)
By Missy Chase Lapine
Reviewed by Erin Kirkland

Dispelling the myth that men eat everything, Missy Chase Lapine expands her repertoire of food science in “Sneaky Chef: How to Cheat on Your Man (In the Kitchen). Proving that children aren’t the only ones who forego healthy meals, Lapine speaks to women with partners who won’t eat beyond their comfort zone. Wasting no time in reaching the heart of the matter, so to speak, Lapine hits below expanding waistlines with blunt honesty; Chapter 1 is titled “Eat, Drink-and Live to Tell About it”. Ouch.

Before jumping headlong into a book of recipes appealling to the male palate, Lapine offers some insight into the Food = Fuel psyche of our beloved better halves. Most men, according to Lapine, like to eat familiar, tasty dishes they have eaten a thousand times before. Trouble is, that “meat and potatoes” mentality offers few opportunities for adding the recommended numbers of fruits and veggies into the man-diet. Add that to the decline in exercise nationwide, and Lapine rests her case, offering statistics for the increase in heart disease, Type 2 Diabetes, and other afflictions directly related to the above.

So, what’s a good wife/girlfriend to do? Jump on in to Sneaky Chef’s plethora of recipes and strategies created by Missy Lapine and her army of assistants and feed your man using secret stashes of pureed goop. Delve a little deeper and a treasure trove of appetizers, main dishes, sides, desserts and even drinks are at the reader’s fingertips. Special note: I was not completely convinced of the goop (or the book’s) value, so I put recipes to a test with a Nutritionist friend as we co-hosted a dinner using Secret Chef recipes on our unsuspecting families. I am a lazy cook, so the thought of pre-creating secret ingredients seemed daunting. However, results were impressive.

Serving up Mighty Mashed Potatoes, BBQ Maximun Meatloaf, and Feel-Good Fruit Crisp took a bit of preparation, given that the White and Purple purees needed to be made, but the whopping nutritional value of each made up for time spent. Who’d have thunk that a mixture of spinach and blueberries would give meatloaf a depth never before experienced. Did the crew eat it? A hearty “Yum” accompanied the whole dinner, save for a child who wouldn’t eat meatloaf and can spot Sneaky Techniques a mile away.

Our main gripe was the lack of cross-referencing between the purees and recipes; Lapine listed the recipes used for each puree but neglected to provide page numbers, making for constant flipping back and forth trying to find the appropriate concoction. The book is a big one, chock full of information, almost too full. Tips, stories, and tons of ideas for feeding the family are within pages that might benefit from a slightly leaner version.

But as with her first Sneaky Chef success, “How to Cheat on Your Man” generally delivers. The recipes are solid and tasty, and heck, who couldn’t benefit from some added nutrients to old favorites? I now have a bunch of baggies containing frozen green, white, and purple stuff that no doubt will come in handy for future cooking pursuits, and I am proud of myself for doing so. I say if your man won’t eat much beyond barbeque and fast-food, go for it. It can only help, and might give some perspective to overall nutrition in your house.

Erin Kirkland is a freelance writer from Anchorage, Alaska, with one picky eater among a family of four. She considers herself fortunate.

Reviewed by Kristin Benson

If you are a new mom, like me, and find yourself skimming the table of contents of Sloan Barnett’s new book, Green Goes with Everything, you wouldn’t casually move on to the introduction. You wouldn’t even start with chapter one. You’d promptly turn to chapter five. Page 106. You, too, would make a beeline for the baby chapter.

As in all of her chapters, Clean Baby begins with “the plain green truth,” where Barnett uses semi-alarmist statements to remind us why so many moms are “going green”: toxins and harmful chemicals are everywhere! Most of these statements do reference studies that are cited in notes at the end of the book, which is good for a research nerd like me. And, she is pretty thorough in her fight to track down any and all toxic chemicals that may be lurking in our homes (a thoroughness that betrays her background as a consumer reporter). She balances out the how-can-I-afford-to-ensure-that-only-organic-materials-ever-touch-my-child’s-skin anxiety (and, some would say, elitism) with some good, old-fashioned homemade cleaning solutions in the Safe Clean chapter. Finally, just when you think you’ll be committed for obsessing about detoxifying the world in one fell swoop, she offers “Five Green-Hot Tips” at the end of each chapter, a short list of the easiest and most important areas to clean up your act.

But, be warned, dear reader: Ms. Barnett is a shameless promoter of a line of cleaning products for which her husband sits on the board of directors. To her credit, she offers this information readily and references an independent study that ranks these products quite well. As someone who’s been called “testimonial girl” in the past, I understand being in love with a good product and wanting to share it with others. Still, I was disappointed that, unlike the chapters about personal products and baby products, where a short list of available eco-friendly options is offered, the chapter on household cleaners comes with two suggestions: buy her recommended line or make your own.

Shameless promotion aside, Green Goes with Everything is a handy reference guide for moms and dads who are sick of compiling internet research on the best ways to keep our homes, families, and the planet healthy. It is well written, well organized, and – here’s the important part – convincing. It does have the capacity to make your head spin, unleash any latent OCD tendencies, and resent those who could actually afford to implement all of the author’s suggestions. But, you just might find yourself making some lifestyle changes nonetheless …

I must now go unpack my baby’s new organic mattress and, then, prepare the only dinner I can now afford because of said mattress: ramen noodles.

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