Saag Paneer--My Favorite Vegetarian Freezer Meal

I wanted to pin the recipe for saag paneer on Pinterest, but couldn't find it online. Here is where I thought it was, and it may have been, but I can't find it there any more.  I've modified it anyway.

In spite of the ...very green...appearance, this has become a favorite at our house (well at least till I OD'd my husband on it). It includes tomatoes, which he usually won't eat. It's vegetarian but very satisfying because of the paneer. And it is very easy to freeze. I quadruple the recipe when I make it (not that much harder) and then freeze most of it. I freeze the paneer separately from the saag, and often freeze some rice too in case I forget to start the rice cooker earlier in the day.

Here is what I do:

Spinach - 1 frozen chopped box
Paneer - 7 oz or 200 g (1/2 to one package from the store, or half what I make)
Oil – 3 tbsp
Onions – 2 med, chopped
Ginger – 1-2″ pc, minced
Garlic – 4 cloves, minced
Water – 1/2 cup
Tomatoes – 2 large or 1, 14oz can diced (pureed)
Garam Masala - 2 tsp
Cumin Powder – 1 tsp
Coriander Powder – 2 tsp
Red Chili Powder – to taste
Salt - to taste
Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp
Heavy Whipping Cream – 8 tbsp or to taste (I use milk or soy milk)

Instructions:
1. Cook frozen Spinach with 1/2 cup Water in a microwave safe dish for 7-8 minutes stirring in between.
2. Heat 2 tbsp Oil in a medium non-stick pan on high heat.
3. Once Oil is hot, add in the minced Onions, stir, cover and let it cook for about five minutes.
4. Add in the Ginger and Garlic and mix. Cook for another 4-5 minutes.
5. Add in the Tomatoes & spinach, cover and cook.
6. Use an immersion blender to blend everything so far to the consistency of your choice--I go for slightly chunky. This conceals the tomatoes from my husband, who usually refuses to eat them.
7. While the Masala is cooking, cube storebought paneer to desired size…1/2″ cubes work well, and fry in a separate pan. If you made it yourself and it is very soft, skip this step as it won't really accomplish anything.
8. Mix and add the Garam Masala, Cumin Powder, Coriander Powder, Salt, Chili Powder & Turmeric Powder.
9. Mix well and cook for 3-5 minutes.
10. Add in the desired amount of Cream and /or Milk. Mix and cook for another few minutes.
11. Add paneer to the spinach mixture
12. Serve with rice and/or naan bread. I love the frozen garlic naan from Trader Joe's.

If you want to make your own paneer, it's not that hard, and it's quite tasty. It's not necessarily cheaper than buying it, but it's kind of fun to do. Here's the link to the recipe I used:

Juno's Baby Dedication

Last Saturday was Juno's baby dedication ceremony. We had it at home, like we did for Clark. We're closer to having a church home this time, but really liked doing it ourselves before. Too, the church we've been attending is Presbyterian, so it would have been a baptism if we'd done it there. We'd put together a service we really liked, and it was nice to be able to use the materials again--I felt guilty at first, but churches use the same service over and over, so decided I should enjoy the re-use. Here's our program:

We all sang All Things Bright and Beautiful

Four Elements Welcoming Ritual (I wrote this, see below)

Community blessings--several people brought kids books and read them as part of the service, and my aunt and uncle sent "Forever Young" which we played on YouTube.

Rachel Aldous's song "A Mother's Prayer"

Parental Vows

Community Vows

We all sang Trees of the Fields

Juno was happy and calm during the ceremony, and with the help of a little snack or two made it through quite well. Clark and his friends mostly played in another room during the service, but he ran in each time we sang, and then asked us to sing again. It was informal and fun, and special to have him be part of the celebration. We loved being able to gather with a small group of friends and family to dedicate Juno to God. I wish we lived closer to all our family, and had more room in our house, but it was really nice to be able to have so much of our community be such an intrinsic part of the ceremony in a way they wouldn't in a more traditional setting.

I'm attaching the text of the Four Elements Ritual and the vows I wrote, below.

Four Elements Welcome Ritual:

Juno, we're all here today to welcome you to our lives and to our world. People have thought about what makes up the world in a lot of different ways, and one of the enduring ways for many groups of people is to think about the world as being composed of four elements. Today we'd like to welcome you to the world with each of its four elements.

Water—Pick up the goblet of water
Water makes up much of the planet, and most of our bodies. It cleanses and purifies. Jesus was baptized in water to symbolize his death and resurrection, to demonstrate his purity from sin, and to mark the transition from his life as a carpenter to his new ministry and life as the Son of God. In the Bible, the Holy Spirit is described as streams of living water that flow from our lives when we come to Jesus and learn from him. May you, like water, be a person of strong feelings and intuition, of forgiveness, of adaptability and receptivity.
We Welcome you with Water (Let her sip the water)

Earth—Pick up the plant.
Earth is the substance from which the very first person, Adam, was made; like Adam, all humans come from the earth and will return to the earth. Even Jesus was incarnated into a physical, earthly body. May you be humble, knowing you are made from the same matter as everyone else, and may you not fear death, since Christ died but was resurrected so that you might have eternal life. May you respect the earth that grows the food that sustains our physical bodies, and like the earth, may you be nurturing and stable, nourishing and firm, full of patience and strength.
We Welcome you with Earth (cross with dirt)

Fire—Pick up the candle
Fire is a powerful force and tool, both as flame, and as a passionate emotion. God showed Himself to Moses as a burning bush, and led the Israelites through the wilderness as a pillar of fire at night. The Holy Spirit made Her presence known to the disciples as a flame above their heads at Pentecost, equipping them to do Her work. The Holy Spirit is a Christians' counselor and teacher, and brings us joy, hope and peace. May you know when the Holy Spirit is speaking to you and always listen to Her counsel. May you, like fire, have passion, joy, righteous anger, a strong will, and positive energy.
We Welcome you with Fire (cross with fire)

Air-Pick up the feather
Air surrounds us and we use our breath to communicate with each other. God breathed life into Adam, and as Job said, “it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding. May you think, see, and communicate clearly, and have great wisdom.
We welcome you with Air (Cross with feather)


Dedication Vows

Kara: We are here today before God and his people, to declare our desire to dedicate ourselves and our son Clark to the Lord

Chris: We commit to living in gratitude for the blessings God gives us

Kara: We promise to love and respect Clark, caring for him in the all joys and challenges that life brings

Chris: We ask God's help in our promise to teach Clark, by example and by our words, to extend grace to himself and others, and to love the Lord his God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Kara: We dedicate Clark to God, committing ourselves to encourage Clark to seek, know, and love God, and to serve God as he embraces all that life has to offer, becomes who God has made him to be, and brings love and peace to those around him.

Chris: To the group:
We invited you here today because you're important to us, and are part of our community. You are the people we rely on to help and encourage us as we raise Clark. We would like to ask you, if you feel it is appropriate, to be a part of this dedication by responding to the following commitments with “we will.”

Kara: Will you celebrate Clark's birth, and welcome him into the community of God-seekers?

Chris: Will you care for and support his parents, as they help Clark to grow, offering prayer and encouragement that the family may grow in strength and maturity?

Kara: Thank you for your support!

Doing Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Now that I'm a mom, I can do things I would have sworn were impossible--especially for me, and sometimes for anyone.

Many are sleep related---I can apparently:

• Wake up every hour or two to nurse a baby, and still be somewhat functional the next day--every day for months with no breaks
  
• Fall asleep while nursing the baby in bed beside me
• Get up an hour or two earlier than I did pre-kids, every single day, no matter whether the kids wake me up or not (95% of the time they do, of course)...with no sleeping in days.
  

I can also:

• Bounce on a Pilate's ball while holding the baby and the toddler, and also a) sing b) use the computer mouse or c) eat dinner
• Accidentally go to the store in my crocs and not care about it (too much)
• Walk around the house while nursing a baby in order to answer the phone or help the toddler
• Not flip out and yell "The same damn thing I was doing last time you asked, what do you think?" when answering "what are you doing mommy?" the 10th time in two minutes.
• Love two kids more than I love myself, and put their needs ahead of my own basically all the time
• Enjoy not working outside the home
• Look forward to having just a half hour without the kids so that I can do dinner prep or sweep the floor
• Think "oh it's just pee" (or spit up, or snot) and move on without another thought.
• Discovered that I can parent without spanking, and still have a pleasant and reasonably well behaved child most of the time, all without having torn my own hair out (so far).
• Found that every single thing I try to do takes 3-10 times as long, and still, as a generally impatient person, love my life
  

And then the (even) less pleasant surprises...I have:

• Found that being a parent means I now have things to worry about 100% of the time
• Found that being a mom means I now have things to feel guilty about 100% of the time
  
• Bought my toddler a leash because I really can't keep him with me and hold the baby and check books out at the library
• Seriously considered cutting off my toddler's crusts, which I swore I'd never do, because not only does he not eat them, but he's starting to leave about half his sandwich uneaten because it's attached to them...
• Found out that there's not much I can do to keep my son from sleeping on the floor, now that he's out of the crib, other than to pick him up after he's deeply asleep and put him back in bed.
• Wash my hair 2-3 times a week instead of every day

I feel like I have an entirely different life now than I did pre-kids. And it's mostly pretty amazing and wonderful. It's so weird to think how little I'd have known about myself and about love if I'd never had kids....and I'm so grateful I did...

Successful recipe adaptation: Bean & Barley Soup

I've been craving beans, but find canned stuff very salty, so jumped on the mix bag I saw at Trader Joe's. I didn't like any of bean & barley soup recipes I saw online, mostly because they all call for tomato products, and because the spices didn't sound that exciting. So I tried this instead, loosely based on the bag recipe:

Bean & Barley Soup

• 1 bag (2 cups?) of Trader Joe's 17 Bean and Barley Soup Mix
• 1 cup of chopped sweet bell peppers, I used the frozen bag of tri-color peppers from Trader Joe's
• (cost effective and so easy!)
• 2 chopped onions
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 2-3 chopped carrots
• 3 red potatoes (mine were precooked,so they just kind of mushed in, but chopped raw would do fine)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbl. Olive Oil.
• 3 T mushroom base (bullion alternative--it's a jar of seasoned mushroom concentrate and I highly recommend it as a substitute for chicken broth which I'd been spending a fortune on)
• 8 cups water
• Handful of fresh rosemary & basil, chopped

Soak Bean & Barley combination overnight.

In a heavy bottom pan saute in oil for 5-10 minutes: onion, celery, carrot, potatoes and peppers.
Add garlic. Then add water & base, or use broth. Add beans & barley. Add spices when
desired---I did it at the beginning and it turned out fine, but some people would probably prefer to wait till the end at least for fresh.

Simmer covered about 1 hour or till beans are at desired doneness.

This turned out way better than I expected. Very yummy. Even my toddler ate a few bites. I had too much for just me though (beans aren't my husband's thing). Beans get very mushy when frozen and I'm not great at thawing stuff anyway, so I gave some away and it was enjoyed.

Clark is a Boy!

He just doesn't seem like a baby any more. He continually amazes us.

About Me, Long

I guess this is too long for the About Me box, so it will have to be my first blog. My son was born in October '08 and from the time I was pregnant I've been using my brain more than ever to figure out how to be the best parent I can. Along the way I've had more opportunity and motivation to consider how to be a better resident of Earth, in spiritual, cultural and environmental senses. I've discovered that a gentle, attachment parenting philosophy is the best fit for me, my husband, and my son. And we're embracing some crunchy practices as they help our budget, aid our health, and fit into how we want to treat the world. Our lives have been filled with love and grace, and though my weaknesses get in the way of reflecting that as much as I want, that love both motivates and restricts my crunchiness, as the case may be. So I'm crunchylite, not (mostly) out of weakness, but as a lifestyle choice that values moderation, and in all things, Love.