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