Today I Made Ghee...

Quote for the Day:

"Your health will never be found at the bottom of a box or bag."

~author unknown

As many of my friends, family, and long-time readers know, I suffer from a LOT of inflammation, ie, osteoarthritis, hip tendonitis, bursitis, as well as several other diet-caused disorders.  Being overweight is just one of the symptoms of my poor diet.

So on January 15th, I started on a health project.  I decided to do a dietary "cleanse".  

No, no, no...not the kind of "cleanse" that requires lots of high colonics!  This is an "elimination" diet...which still sounds bad, I guess.  In reality, you remove all dietary "offenders" that can cause inflammation in the body.  Then after your body...and gut...have a chance to heal, you slowly start re-introducing foods to see which ones cause a negative reaction in your body.  Or...you can just stay on the diet, which is pretty much just a "paleo" diet.  

Basically, the diet is REAL FOOD!!!  NO sugar or sweeteners of any kind, NO dairy, NO legumes, NO grains, NO alcohol, NO soy, NO carrageenan, MSG or sulfites, and NO trying to re-create baked goods,  junk foods, or treats* with “approved” ingredients.

Since you don't used processed foods, I've spent a lot of time prepping and cooking meals.  I joked with Andy that I've cooked more in the last couple of days than I have in the last 10 years....and that's not too much of an exaggeration, either!  

I have such a sweet tooth, it isn't even funny.  But I've learned to drink my coffee with just unsweetened coconut milk...and sometimes a dash of nutmeg!  Who knew? 

With the "no dairy" rule, there is one exception...you can use "ghee"...which is butter with the milk solids cooked out.  But have you priced "ghee"???   OMGhee!!!  That is certainly cost-prohibitive!!!

So today, I made it myself using this online tutorial!  Now let me just tell you this...before a few days ago I didn't even KNOW what ghee was...but today I made some!!!  (BTW, it's pronounced with a hard "g"...as in "gravy"...not a soft "g" like in the word "gee-whiz".) 

Here is my finished product from one pound of butter...

It turned out pretty clear, even though I can't get that to show up in pictures.  It was still warm in these pictures, but will harden at room temperature and can be stored at room temp...which is a plus since my fridge is currently overrun with fresh veggies, eggs, and leftovers right now!

This is exciting to me, because now I will have "butter" to cook with and to use on veggies!

Loretta

Took a Little Trip...

Quote for the Day:

All my friends know the low rider
The low rider is a little higher

Low rider drives a little slower
Low rider is a real goer

Low rider knows every street, yeah
Low rider is the one to meet, yeah

Low rider don't use no gas now
Low rider don't drive too fast

Take a little trip, take a little trip
Take a little trip and see
Take a little trip, take a little trip
Take a little trip with me

~lyrics, "Low Rider"

I had a long string of days off from work starting on December 31, so Andy and I decided to go to Tennessee to ring in the New Year and spend some time with Erin, Dale, Sera and Clark.  We haven't seen them since we were there in June when Clark was first born.  Boy, has he grown!  

Sera is so sweet with him and tries to keep him entertained with his toys.

For some reason, he didn't like Grandpa when he had his New York Yankees hat on and would screw up his face and cry at the sight.   

True story! 

As soon as Andy would remove his hat and coat, Clark would be all smiles and go right to him!  We actually weren't sure if it was the hat or the bulky black coat that Clark didn't like because if Andy had one on, he had the other one on, too.  One time Andy hung his coat on the door knob with the hat on top of it and Clark just kept leaning over to look at them hanging there.  He wasn't happy till they were moved out of his sight!  

This is Dale, Lucy (Dale's mom) and Erin...all collaborating on supper!  

Sera likes to watch her movies on the computer...

And Ginger liked having a playmate...

Sorry that the pictures aren't the greatest quality, but I didn't take my regular camera because I wanted to try out the camera on my new phone...trying to pare down what I travel with, so thought the camera phone would suffice.  Hmmm...  

We returned home just hours before the first snowstorm of the season and the coldest temperatures so far this season.  I think winter has decided to arrive with a bang!  

Loretta