Education

How to Make Ghee in the Oven

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Homemade ghee

Homemade ghee

What is Ghee and Why Should I Care?

Ghee, also known as “clarified butter”, “butter oil” or “drawn butter”, is delicious, healthful and fits in well with the Paleo diet. Many people have immune reactions to the milk solids (lactose and casein) in dairy products and may not even realize the source of the problem. This, among other reasons, is why the Paleo diet generally eliminates dairy. (I recommend trying a 30 day elimination period such as the one outlined in the Strictly Paleo Plan to help determine your tolerance of dairy products.)

Even if you find you need to avoid dairy, most likely you can still enjoy ghee. Ghee is butter that has had all the water and milk solids removed. It is somewhat different from clarified butter in that the process of making ghee involves toasting the milk solids resulting in a nutty, rich flavor. Unlike butter, ghee has a long shelf life and can be used for high temperature cooking. It is also not as difficult to make as you might think.

Make Ghee, Feel Like Wonder Woman
Make Ghee, Feel Like Wonder Woman

The Health Benefits of Ghee

A tablespoon of ghee contains 8g Saturated fatty acid (SFA), 3.7g Mono-unsaturated fatty acid (MFA) and 0.5g Poly-unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). Saturated fat, contrary to what you might have learned, is not an evil menace directly responsible for heart disease. (See this post and this abstract from “The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition”). Mono-unsaturated fats (also known as oleic acid) are the main structural fats of the body and are non-toxic even at high doses.

Ghee is also rich in fat soluble vitamins like A, D, and K2, as well as CLA (conjugated linoleic acid). CLA is an essential fatty acid found almost exclusively in grass-fed animals and may protect against cancer, heart disease, and type II diabetes. To get the benefit of CLA from butter and ghee, I strongly recommend you purchase varieties from pastured (grass-fed) animals. Using organic butter will also ensure you are avoiding hormones and pesticides that may find their way into your ghee.

Here are a couple of brands of pasture butter I use:

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A Rutabaga By Any Other Name…is Still a Rutabaga

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Rutabaga Hash Browns

Rutabaga Hash BrownsThe “Turnip Hash Browns” were so good I went to the grocery store again (a different one) searching for another turnip. The one I found looked similar – slightly larger and more yellow – and the sticker said “Rutabaga”. Having eaten both turnips and rutabagas, I knew rutabagas are typically more yellow than turnips. So the darker color of this one made sense to me. When I continued to look for turnips I only found some smallish, bright white and purple turnips that were not waxed. So I went ahead and bought the rutabaga thinking I could easily make the same hash browns recipe with it. Once it was shredded I noticed, even though it was slightly more yellow than what I thought was a turnip, it tasted EXACTLY the same. So I posed the question on the Paleo Spirit Facebook Page and was met with a link to an article called “Turnip or Rutabaga?” In spite of having Googled the question myself, this particular post mentioned that rutabagas are sometimes called “Waxed Turnips”. That answered my question. What I thought was a turnip was actually a rutabaga (also known as “Swedish Turnip”, “Swede”, “Yellow Turnip” and other terms.) Egads!

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The Strictly Paleo Plan

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When I first discovered the Paleo lifestyle in February of 2011 I dove in headfirst and completed a strict Paleo eating plan for the first 30 days. My motivation was to figure out if what I was eating might be contributing to my fibromyalgia, fatigue, chronic respiratory infections and depression. I was already fairly lean but not especially healthy and I was frustrated with doctors who could not explain my symptoms. All my tests were normal and yet I was NOT okay.

During my “experiment” I discovered certain food groups had been negatively impacting my health. The changes I have seen and felt since going Paleo have been pretty dramatic. If you have any unexplained aches and pains, inflammation, allergies, skin or digestive problems, or other ailments, or if you simply cannot manage to lose weight or keep it off you should seriously consider how the food you eat may be impacting your health. A Strictly Paleo elimination diet may be just what you need to change your life.Paleo Word in Food

What is Strictly Paleo©?

Most simply stated, Strictly Paleo means eating real food that excludes certain potentially problematic food groups for an experimental elimination period of at least 30 days.

What you DO eat:

  • Meat
  • Vegetables
  • Fruit
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Fats from nuts, seeds, and fruits

Here’s a handy guide to help with shopping.

What you DO NOT eat:

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The Love of Poetry in First Grade

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poetry in first grade
the love of poetry
Sweet Pea enjoys his after-school tea time and a poem.

A love of poetry is developed at a young age. Have you ever noticed most of the time when someone references a poem it is one they learned in school?  Sitting down and reading a book of poetry just for the joy of it is not something many of us do on a regular basis. That makes it all the more important for teachers and parents to not only expose children to good poetry but to encourage an appreciation of the art form. What better time to do that than in early childhood education?

I was reminded today of the importance of teaching children to appreciate poetry when I participated in Sweet Pea’s first grade “Fall Centers”. It was a morning of art and crafts and, happily for me, poetry. I was one of three moms who volunteered to help out with the Fall Centers by tending one of the stations. Having manned craft stations in the past I was excited to find there was a poetry center so I put dibs on it.  The simple fall poem was posted where the kids could see it and they were also given a piece of paper with the poem to decorate and take home. We read the poem together, learned some sign language and motions to go along with it, then recited the poem and acted it out together.

Here is the very simple poem:

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Kale: “The Queen of Greens” + Kale and Avocado Salad Recipe

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Kale is one of those really scary vegetables.  There cannot be more than a small percentage of the population that gets excited at the prospect of eating it.  But kale is such a nutritional powerhouse it deserves a second look…or taste.  Kale is a leafy green in the cruciferous vegetable category like broccoli, cabbage, collards … Read more