Happy, well, everything!! This is a festive month no matter what you are celebrating.  The Saini household is a global one, so we like exploring all the different traditions people around the world celebrate this month. Admittedly, it’s usually a hard time of year for me personally.  Since losing my mom 11 years ago, nothing about the holiday season has been the same for me.  Some days I find myself stuck in a beautiful muck of memories, where my heart can’t figure out whether to cry or smile.

One thing I have noticed this year, is that my little ones bring the meaning of JOY into this season.  Truly.  At 5 and almost 3, they are two little sparkly lights running around:

They get excited over lights.  Over decorations. Over anything sparkly.  Gingerbread houses. And most of all, the experimental baked goods that are coming out of mommy’s kitchen.

I say experimental, because I find baking to be a glorious, scientific, mess.  And anyone that knows me knows I’m the only Indian girl around that can’t do math or science (there’s a reason I majored in English and went to law school people!).

But you know what? This is no time to be frightened. It’s a time to be bold, try new things, EAT DIVERSE! My goal is always to be open-minded in trying new things, because I want to foster that spirit in my own children.

You can do a lot of things with your little ones this season, to broaden their minds AND their palates.  Have you tried another culture’s holiday traditions?  Food is a wonderful way to teach culture and tradition of another country.  How about a Finnish-style sugar cookie, full of warming cardamom? Or simple gingerbread (google your favorite one) cookies or cake? Baking spices are fabulous ways to introduce new tastes to your little one. Cinnamon, clove, cardamom, ground ginger, nutmeg. All “baby-friendly” and festive. 

Me personally? I saw a New York Times recipe for iced sugar cookies from Dorie Greenspan’s new cookie book (she’s now my new cookie hero).  I’m my daughter’s room mom this year and for her holiday party I thought I’d do a cookie decorating party with her class. Me? Bake cookies? I was brave and just tried the recipe out this weekend. OH MY GOSH! IT WORKED! I can’t tell you how inspirational it was to just bake something and feel confident.  My kids were psyched, I was psyched (and then my husband came home and ate half the plate). 🙂

You know what else? It reminded me of my mom. Maybe it was Dorie herself, or the fact that I was being a brave chef (my mom tried everything, she had no fear of cooking and had golden hands in the kitchen).  Or the fact that I was teaching my kids how to just try things. Cooking and baking = DOING.  And DOING is a way to handle everything from missing a loved one, to helping others, to learning new things.  I love that there is a whole world of people out there to learn from and look up to.

Sending you lots of love this holiday season from my entire family to yours. Look for Around the World in 80 Purees: Easy Recipes for Global Baby Food, at your favorite bookstore. xo

Hello Everyone!

What happens when your toddler finds your spice tin: a beautiful mess

So the post today is about making a tasty, well-seasoned chicken dish for your little one, but since I can’t photograph the results (reason being, the dish was consumed too fast by a 4-year-old and a ravenous 2-year-old last night for dinner. One bowl, two forks, on the couch, with me refereeing the saucy madness! Seriously, don’t let your kids eat this on the couch! Also, photographing chicken tikka masala is really hard and I just plain gave up). Anyway, I am posting instead, a picture of what happens when your entire spice tin comes in contact with previously mentioned 2-year-old. #spicemessmaddness

Good times, folks. 🙂

Seriously speaking, we had a sort of chicken breakthrough last night! Kirina, my 4-year-old, declared herself sort of meat-free a few months back.  Not sure why, not sure how, but she claims she doesn’t like chicken or meat and turns her nose up at any of it.  I think this has to do with the fact that she’s eating some pretty bland stuff at pre-school and it’s not really her favorite.  But dinner last night? She ate like a mad hungry wolf! So did Ela and my hubby too (not that there was much left after the little ones went at it).

I was psyched (who isn’t screaming happy when their family inhales something you just cooked for them? best feeling in the world!) to see them all eat with such zest.  Best part? It was EASY.  Which is key these days, between two small children, and a book to promote (did I mentione Around the World in 80 Purees: Easy Recipes for Global Baby Food is coming out in AUGUST?!! Shameless plug alert, folks!!) I have to think of easy-to-prep meals that are still full of flavor and comforting.

Here’s what I did: (super loosely written!)

Ingredients:

Meat and Veg: 1 package boneless chicken thighs, 1 diced onion, 5 chopped Roma tomatoes, 2-4 minced garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

Spices: 1 teaspoon turmeric, 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin and coriander powder. Salt to taste. Chili powder to taste.

Liquids: Chicken broth, half and half, water

Method:

1. Sauce: Sautee onions in 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium heat until translucent and there’s a little browning on the edges. Add a good pinch of salt while sauteeing. Add garlic and ginger and sautee for 3-4 minutes until aromatic. Add tomatoes and cook until they break down, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. Add spices and cook an additional few minutes until aromatic. Puree with a stick blender. Add some broth if you need a bit of liquid.
2. Chicken: You can marinate the thighs in a little yogurt with salt and turmeric if you have the time (even 30 minutes is good).  If not, no problem! Cut the thighs into small chunks, sear in a frying pan, and then add it to the sauce.  Or just dump in the pieces if you are super rushed. It’s ok! Add about 1 cup of broth or water.
3. Simmer, covered, on medium-low heat until chicken is cooked through. It took about 15-20 last night, but I seared the chicken first, so it cooked faster in the sauce.
4. Add a few splashes of half and half to give it some creaminess. Warm through.

That’s it! The beauty of this dish is that it cooks itself, and particularly well if you have a Dutch oven that can cook the dish slowly. Better still, if you let the dish sit overnight the flavors will meld together.

FLAVOR.  That’s the whole reason that I think this dish was a hit. Seasoned, saucy and tender. And easy enough for two little ones to attack with a fork and bread (to mop up the sauce).

I think the dish also worked because we ate it together. On the couch.  Cuddled up, one child on either side of me. In front of MSNBC (hey, I need my political news!). My sweet hubby brought warmed bowls over when the little ones asked for more.  It wasn’t a traditional meal at the table, no. But it created enough of a happy and warm tradition for us and filled some hungry tummies with a well-seasoned meal.

Whether it is this recipe or something similar, try it! Feed your family flavor.

From my little ones’ highchairs to your little one’s, bon appetit!

Hello Everyone!! Happy Spring!!

I hope you all have been very well.  I’ve been over the moon, nutty excited about the fact that in a few short months I will officially be a first-time AUTHOR! Like a real one.  With a book. With  my name on it. Which I wrote. (Can you tell I can hardly believe it myself?)

These past few months have been a whirlwind of learning, cooking, photo shoots and just pure excitement. As anyone that has written a manuscript knows, the completion of and creation of a book is like having a baby.  For the past few years I’ve been obsessed with the topic of how to feed our babies and children better.  I have madly researched recipes, talking to parents from around the world about what they feed their children.  Studied taste bud development and the science of how we learn to eat and accept flavor. I’ve steamed, boiled, baked and pureed every ingredient from fish to fruit to pork to pumpkin.  And I’ve played with all sorts of spices from around the world, cooking up meals to try out on my 4 and 2-year-old. It’s been a cooking and writing adventure and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.

All this obsessive passion led to a book deal with Quirk Books (I love them!! and my agent for finding them!) last year.  It’s been a wonderful and happy experience and I’ve had a chance to witness the inner-workings of how text goes from manuscript to pretty book.  Also how photographers can make baby food purees look like glamorous little bowls of goodness (go Christine Han!).

My whole life I have wanted to find a career I was passionate about.  It certainly wasn’t the law, where I first started out. After having children, I was at home, not quite knowing what my path would be in life.  But my little Kirina, God love her. Her intense dislike of bland food led me on this mission and passion to make seasoned and yummy meals for children. She’s led me to a whole new chapter (literally) in my life.

I feel very, very blessed to have such a wonderful team producing this book. Around the World in 80 Purees: Easy Recipes for Global Baby Food will be published by Quirk Books in August of this year! If you are curious to see the cover pages, check out my author site (omg I have an author site!) at Quirk.  You can also pre-order on Amazon, just click here!!

I look forward to a little more writing and posting as I navigate my way through the rest of this process.  In the meantime, don’t forget to spice it up!! Add a pinch of something flavorful the next meal you make for your little one.

From my little one’s high chairs to your little one’s, bon appetit!

Hello!!! Happy 2016! (I’m about a month late). 😉

It’s not always about the PBJ (though PBJ is indeed yummy)

I’ve been very busy writing a book! (Hence the lack of blogging the past few months). Around the World in 80 Purees will be published by Quirk Books this year! More on this soon, I promise.

In the meantime, I have a story to share, one that involves taking risk. Well, ok, not that much risk, but for a little one’s taste buds, it might be! And that’s ok. Trying new things, including different foods and flavors, should be on everyone’s 2016 agenda.

I stumbled upon this resolution last month, as I was enjoying a night out with some mom friends. We all have children under the age of five so it is always a treat to get dressed up and have someone else do the cooking for a change (it’s also a treat not having food smeared all over your blouse, as is usually the case at home!)

We were sitting at a lovely Asian fusion restaurant, where aromas of ginger, coconut and lemongrass wafted out of the kitchen. As we were munching on fish rolls and edamame, one of the moms commented on how her little one would never eat what we were eating. That it was too “different” for him and “he’d never try it.” Another mom mentioned that her child would be “scared” of the coconut curry she had ordered.

I was kind of blown away.

Ok, I was really blown away!

For one, my friends were all eating plates of highly seasoned foods (the whole group loves the bold flavors found in Thai-style curries and Japanese soups and starters) as they were saying this. How could you love something so much and simultaneously find it scary? And two, I was surprised at the assumption that a child would instantly dislike a meal or an ingredient simply because it was seasoned differently than what you might be typically eating at home.

How do you know if you (or a child) will like it if you don’t try it?

Both of my little girls happily nibble on dishes like Pad Thai, curried lentils or cumin scented potatoes. But it wasn’t always this way! It took a few tries for their taste buds to acclimate to a new dish, but after that it became part of their normal repertoire. Science backs this up: it is a well-known fact that introducing a variety of flavors, ingredients, seasonings and spices from an early age results in more adventurous and less picky eating as the child grows older.

Though I know my little ones won’t love everything they eat (my younger daughter dislikes carrots while my older one finds little joy in BBQ chicken), I don’t ever want to deprive them of the opportunity to try something new. Little ones have tastes all of their own and it’s our job as parents to nurture their tiny taste buds by exposing them to variety.

Don’t be intimidated by introducing your child to spice or world cuisine. Start with baby steps. If you’re eating out, offer your little one a bite of what you are eating. Ramen noodles, Pad Thai and other similar noodle dishes are and fun and kid-friendly options. Indian restaurant? Mix some curry with rice and offer that. Everything from a bite of seasoned fish to a piece of garlic bread can help broaden your child’s palette. As with all new foods, it might take a few tries to get your little one to enjoy it…so don’t give up just because they protest or spit it out on the first try. A small taste now can turn into a great love later.

It’s a New Year! Be bold and fearless when it comes to teaching your child how to eat well and eat diverse.

From Ela and Kirina’s table to your little one’s, bon appetit!