Vegan Saag with Tofu

As someone who spent years cooking and eating Indian food on an almost daily basis (while living in ashram), there was a long time that I would not go near a pack of curry powder. I always enjoyed Indian food, but lets just say I needed a break. These days, I enjoy cooking Indian again, and always look forward to eating out at our favorite Indian restaurant. Saag has always been one of my favorites. This recipe easy and quick, it can easily be made up in the time it takes to make a pot of basmati rice. We had it along with the veggie masala burgers from Trader Joe's (love those!), and some apple chutney from last fall. I used frozen spinach for this, but fresh would only make it better, and is in season now!

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp chopped ginger
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 lb frozen chopped spinach, or a large bunch of chopped fresh greens
1/2 cup cashews (ideally soaked, but it will work either way) to make cashew cream
1 block of tofu, diced
salt, pepper to taste

Heat a small amount of oil, and saute onion until translucent. Add garlic, ginger, and all the spices, and saute for a minute more. Add the spinach, and 1/2 cup water, cover, and simmer until spinach is cooked. Meanwhile make the cream. Add 1 cup of water to the cashews, and blend for several minutes, until smooth and creamy. (You only need half of this, but it is difficult to make a smaller amount. Just save the rest for another use.) Add half of the cashew cream, tofu, salt and pepper, and simmer a few minutes more to let the tofu soak up the flavors.

This Boy

Rasika is getting to be so big. He has been learning so much lately. His reading is getting better, and he also attempts to write. It doesn't always come out right, but he's not afraid of trying.

(God moron = godmorgon = good morning in Swedish)

He can eat an ice cream cone without making a huge mess. Sometimes. Clean his room. Well, sort of. The other day he was counting: "twenty-eight, twenty-nine, twenty-ten." I corrected him. He continued: "thirty-eight, thirty-nine, thirty-t..." He caught himself, and asked me what was next. Continued, and figured fifty out all on his own. Somehow that made me a little sad. Here he is riding his bike all on his own.

Happy 65 to my Dad!

Here he is talking to my four year old today. (I stole the photo from my sister's Instagram.) I hate not being able to be there for birthdays and such. Can't wait to get to see him in August!

Evening Walk in Providence

Last night we had plans to go out to a "Shakespeare in the Park" performance downtown. Too bad the play was cancelled due to threat of thunder storms. Fortunately this is Providence, where nothing is far away, and the park is only about 5 minutes away from home. Since there were no thunderstorms and we were already downtown, we ended up going for a nice little walk along the water instead of just going home, and it turned out to be a really nice night out. We will have to try to catch the Shakespeare play another night instead.

Summer's First Swim

Or at least a quick dip. (It was COLD!)

The ten year old finished her math for the school year yesterday morning, and to celebrate we packed a lunch and spent the rest of the day at the beach! It was the first hot day of the year, and though it doesn't show in the photo, the beach was packed. Ours seemed to be the only school-aged kids though, so next time I think we'll coordinate with some of their homeschool friends.

Memorial Day Hike

 There's this little trail around a lake where we like to go for hikes. Just the right length for the kids, and you rarely meet another person out there. It is such a peaceful place. 

The four year old found a caterpillar.

I found a bunch of these wild pink Lady Slipper orchids.

Perfect day for a nap in the grass.

And the daisies are in full bloom.

Zzzzz

Well, the blog ended up taking a long winter's nap. As our school year activities are coming very close to the end here, I thought I will try to spend some time here again. I kind of miss it...

We have had such a fun, busy year, our first year here in RI. And when I say busy, I mean it in a good way. One of the many reasons we choose to homeschool is to be able to live our life at a slower pace, hopefully with less stress involved for the kids. But yes, with three kids home full-time, still quite busy. :)

Today is memorial day, and a beautiful day here. We are going out for a hike in the woods, so I will stop now. Maybe I"ll be back with some photos later. For now, here is one of me and the kids from Mother's day, a couple of weeks ago.