7 types of rest & sundried tomato basil paneer

aspiring to be well-rested

Homemade paneer recipe below as well as instructions for when to add herbs/spices if you’d like to make the sundried tomato basil version!

Also heyyyyyyyyyyyy (said timidly). Kinda cute of us to be on again off again, no?? No you’re right, that’s not funny at all. But I do hope you’ll take me back, and if not, that’s okay I understand and I hope you’ve enjoyed your stay with me.

With fall officially here, we naturally seem to ease into rest mode. Not full winter hibernation yet, but still a gentler pace to reset. I recently learned about the 7 types of rest by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, who talks about how paying attention to the kinds of rest we’re running low on can help us feel more consistently restored. We all love talking about how important rest is, but most of the time we’re pretty garbage at it. Too often, we wait until we’re already burnt out before turning to restorative practices. I started listing down my weekly habits and mapping them into these buckets to be more mindful of my rest deficits. Seeing how others structure their rest routines has been really helpful for me, so I’m sharing what’s been currently working in case it helps inspire your own seasonal reset too.

Physical Rest:

• Sleeping 8-9 hours of course

• Balancing movement (e.g., a slow leisurely stroll after an intense workout)

• Regular massages!!!!!!!!!

Mental Rest:

• Journal dumping

• Deep breathing exercises before bed

• Chess (but if it gets competitive and stressful, delete the app for a bit 😭)

Sensory Rest:

• Sitting with hot tea in the evenings, with the big light off of course

• Eliminating music on walks every now and then

• Coloring books - might be a bit more “active”, but I find the sensory feeling of marker-to-paper and the mindless action of it all to be the most relaxing (the books and markers I use)

Creative Rest:

• Consuming content (I know we always hear “create more than you consume”, but observing without needing to create is more than okay)

• Experiencing art, music, performances

• The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity – highly recommend

Emotional Rest:

• Therapy

• Journal dumping, again

• Crying

Social Rest:

• Balancing social/alone time, not saying yes to every social event

• More easy hangouts - “I’m in your neighborhood wanna go for a quick walk”

Spiritual Rest:

• Meditation

• Reciting mantras or using any type of vocal vibrations

• Going to a place of worship - if you’re not religious this can be any place where you feel like you’re a part of something bigger than yourself

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[RECIPE] Homemade Sundried Tomato Basil Paneer

Ingredients:

• 1/2 gallon of Milk (full fat will give you the best yield but you can use a lower fat too, just make sure its not ultra-pasteurized / UHT)

• 2 tbsps of vinegar (or the juice from half a lemon)

• Salt to taste

• If making flavored: handful of sundried tomatoes and basil roughly chopped

Instructions:

• In a heavy bottomed pot, heat your milk with the gas on medium-high. Frequently stir the bottom so the milk doesn’t stick and burn

• Once the milk is simmering, turn off the heat and add in vinegar (or your acid of choice) one tablespoon at a time and stir in between

• Once you see your curds separated from the greenish whey water, carefully drain the curds with a cheesecloth on top of a sieve sitting in a large bowl (you can save the whey water and use in cooking as you would regular water)

• Optional: If you want the most neutral flavored paneer and especially if you used lemon juice, you can rinse out the acid by pouring a couple cups of lukewarm water on top and letting it drain

• Using the cheesecloth, make a tight ball of cheese and squeeze out any remaining water (doesn’t have to be bone dry)

• Optional but recommended: Tie a knot and let it hang for 10-20 minutes letting any excess water drip out

• If making flavored paneer: Add a couple big pinches of salt and your chopped sundried tomatoes and basil and mix well (taste and add more salt if needed)

• If keeping your paneer crumbled, you can now store it in the fridge in an airtight container. If making firm paneer, you can now shape it into a block either with your hands or using a container (Tip: leave it wrapped in the cheesecloth to make for easy removal of the paneer)

• Place a heavy object on top to set the paneer before cutting for as long as you can (ideally a 3-4 hours). I’ve also found that placing it in the fridge overnight helps solidify it even more if you need it to be more firm for your dish