It is the same in the nordics as well.

Sadly, only looks smooth. They have rough, sharp scales.

This one, indeed. Never loan an amount of money, you are not wiling to give away, in that situation.

kids done see or taste them

Do not trust this though, if the kids are neurodivergent. If the picky eating is because of sensory issues, they might still notice, so be very careful with the amounts and types of vegetables. If they notice you are trying to trick them into eating something, that might damage their trust very deeply, and that causes all sorts of issues in long term. And they might refuse to eat the type of sauce again (or even all sauces you make), even if it does not have the veggies added.

It does work for baking, but you have to know, what the ingredients actually do in there. You can substitute flours pretty much as you like, but then you have to adjust the liquid content, to match how much the flours used need in comparison. And same with, if you use different fats, or the type of sugar, or something else added in there, etc. So unlike cooking, and just eyeballing whatever in the pot, you need knowledge before you can start playing around with baking, and succeed. But it is very much possible to do.