I am so done!!

So I spent hours in the kitchen tonight ... I thought I was better prepared to attempt a couple recipes in The Sneaky Chef cookbook I ended up getting, and I must have spent a good 2 1/2 hours prepping, cooking, baking and cleaning. Ugh! I had some spinach and blueberries in the fridge to make the purple puree for the brownies I made. I boiled the spinach leaves per the books instructions, and then pureed the two together. The brownies called for a flour blend consisting of whole wheat flour, white flour and wheat germ. The flour blend was the easiest part. After several steps and ingredients, the brownies were baked and ready within 50 minutes. I had to cut Maddox off at three! He didn't even taste the spinach and blueberry puree. My hubby and I could though ... they weren't bad, but they definitely didn't taste like Betty Crocker!
The second recipe I put together was for dinner ... crispy chicken tenders, only I used turkey tenders. This too, had a lot of ingredients, including a bread crumb mixture I made from scratch! This recipe used the orange puree, which is carrots and sweet potatoes. It wasn't a huge hit with any of us, but at least we got our protein. The flavor was kinda bland, and needed ketchup. There was one member of our family who loved every bite ... Sadie Girl. Our Husky was pretty thrilled with her dinner tonight!
Needless to say, I am done with the sneaky cooking! I think the concept is a great idea, but I do not have the extra time or energy in my day to make such elaborate and time consuming dishes. The prep and clean up times alone give me headaches!! My boys definitely don't like me spending so much time in the kitchen either. We are simple folk who enjoy the classic meals we are used to.
As for the cookbook I just purchased? I put it on the shelf with the rest of my collection. I will definitely go back to it for more simpler recipes, like dips or snacks, but for now I am back to our family favorite recipes.