New Kids' Food Blog: A Little Yumminess

Stacie and Simran are both Bay Area moms who recently started a kids' food adventure blog called “A Little Yumminess”. They cover easy recipes (often with an international twist), food-related adventures you can have with your children in the Bay Area, cooking with kids and basically how to have fun with food and your children (vs. think of it as a chore or a challenge).

Stacie is also a talented artist and often shares her food related “doodles” on the blog. You can often find Stacie eating, reading cookbooks, and thinking about her next meal. She also enjoys drawing, painting and growing vegetables in her foggy San Francisco garden. She enjoys the challenges and rewards of eating with a two and a half year old.

Simran is often tinkering around the kitchen and coming up with ethnic recipes that kids will enjoy. You’ll also find Simran and her daughter roaming the streets of San Francisco and the rest of the Bay Area seeking out the ultimate food ‘venture. According to her father, Simran thinks about food 97.3% of the time— it makes you wonder what she fills the rest of her time with.

Do check out A Little Yumminess (alittleyum.wordpress.com) for some fun food related ideas! Here's Simran's recipe for Fake Bake Tandoori Chicken—a wonderful and tasty dish that appeals to adults and children alike. You can also read the recipe as one of Stacie's delightful "doodles".

Fake Bake Tandoori Chicken

I made this chicken for a party and as soon as it came out the children gathered around it and devoured it. Contrary to popular belief the red color in tandoori is not from chillies but from food coloring. You can omit the red food coloring – it does nothing to enhance the taste – just makes it look more like “tandoori”. I call it “fake-bake” because tandoori chicken is typically made in a clay oven (called tandoor) but I make this in a conventional oven. The spices are also “dumbed down” to make the dish more palatable for the little tastebuds and you can add even less if you prefer. This recipe is very kid friendly and an awesome way to introduce ethnic food to kids at home. Great in wraps for school lunches the next day.

Serves 2 adults and 2 kids

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken breasts/thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 3/4 cup yoghurt (full/lowfat)
• 1 tbsp ginger, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• pinch (or more) of red chilli powder (optional)
• pinch of red food coloring (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Marinate chicken in all the ingredients for at least 2 hours or overnight (longer is better)
2. Preheat oven to 350F
3. Bake for 30–35 minutes and if you like it charred you can leave it under the broiler for 5-10 minutes
4. Serve on skewers for fun presentation if you desire (no need to bake on skewers – the skewers just make the chicken little fingers friendly)

Tips: Marinate in a ziplock bag for easy clean-up and line oven tray with foil.