Liquid Gold! Ghee in all it's Glory

Butter, delicious butter. We love it because of it's creamy flavor and it makes so much of our cooking better. I've never heard anyone utter the phrase, this has too much butter. That's because butter makes everything better. BUT, butter is a no-no for some people - whether that be dietary, religious or choice.
Paleo has grey areas regarding butter. Some people use it as long as it's grassfed organic and others eschew it for avocado or coconut oils, but there's nothing quite like the taste of butter and we know it! Those that can't have butter because of religious or dietary reasons use the beautiful liquid gold that is known as Ghee aka clarified butter. Ghee? Gee whiz what's Ghee!

Well darlings, let me tell you. Ghee is butter with the milk fat boiled out of it. It's all the goodness of butter but without the milk. It's still great for toast and your favorite foods. And of course, it's perfect for cooking.
If you participate in the Whole30 this will help you immensely in your cooking and keeping butter in  your life.

It's not hard to make and hopefully you'll find it as fun as I did and will add this to your list of kitchen must haves!

I borrowed this recipe from EverydayMaven and highly recommend her site as she has the best step by step pictures which really made this super easy to follow along and make.

I followed the Maven's step by step instructions and was able to complete this in about 45 minutes and even though the color looked different from hers, when I woke up this morning, the pretty butter color came through after cooling! I've included some of my pics and I'm really happy with how it turned out! Enjoy!

What you'll need:

Unsalted high quality butter - I bought the organic butter from TJs
A skillet or 5 quart pot - high sides are key  here to avoid splashing/splatter so I used my 5 qt pot
2 long handled skimmers / sieve - one to skim the milk protein and one to strain off the ghee into the jar
A mason jar or glass container

*Definitely keep an eye on this and watch your temps closely, you don't want to scorch your butter!

Heat your skillet/5 quart pot over medium heat and add your butter when it's hot - be careful not to get your pan too hot as this will scorch your butter and change the flavor of your ghee in a way that is NOT recommended.

Stir the butter until its completely melted and starting to boil. Reduce the heat so that you keep it bubbling without causing it to splatter. For the next 25 minutes cook your butter until the milk protein completely separates and is a foamy layer on top - it'll have a sea foam look to it, this is where your hand skimmer will come into play! Skim off the foamy protein into a Pyrex dish, getting as much as possible out of your melted butter. Discard the skimmed protein once cooled.

After you've removed the milk protein, turn up the heat to medium low for another 5-10 minutes. Don't panic if your butter continues to boil, it will bubble some but eventually stop and the remaining milk protein will be on the bottom of the pan and appear brown, just don't burn them or you'll ruin the ghee flavor. Once the bubbling stops, the brown bits appear, turn off the stove and remove your ghee from the stove to cool.

When it's cool enough - about 10-20 minutes - strain your ghee through a fine sieve or skimmer into the jar you're going to store it in. Discard the bits in the sieve. You can store this at room temperature in your pantry or on your counter.

I found some pretty jars at Home Goods that worked beautifully.

I hope you enjoy making your ghee as much as I did!

After the boiling and skimming

A little more heat to caramelize what's left for easier sifting

The ghee after finally sieving - it's still warm so it's not that pretty yellow color yet

Done! Liquid gold!

Hummus lovers, fear not - Celery Root Hummus is here to save you!

Chickpeas aka garbanzo beans are a no-no in the paleo lifestyle. I love chickpeas and even more than that, I love the hummus they create when blended. I miss hummus SO much. If I can cheat, I'll cheat w/hummus. But rather than cheat, I figured there had to be a recipe out there that tasted good, was easy to make and would be a paleo friendly substitute for hummus. I am here to tell you, I've found it!
Over on Food52.com I discovered a recipe for celery root hummus that is everything it promises to be. Not only was it easy, it was quick and so incredibly tasty!

Now, I know what you're thinking, celery root?? What is that? Where do I find it? Fear not! Celery root is your friend!  You can find this in most grocery stores in the produce department. It is about the size of a softball and is a little gnarled looking. Don't let this fool you, with a potato peeler, you'll be able to peel this pretty easily and slice off any really rough parts w/a paring knife. It's softer than it looks and is easy to cut up into cubes once you're done. Here's an example of what you should look for in the store:

Celery Root

I am a big fan of celery root. I have a recipe for celeriac soup that is to die for - I'll share that one this fall when soup weather returns. The recipe was really simple and didn't require a laundry list of ingredients.The only thing I had to buy was the celery root, tahini and cumin. Simple Truth Organic makes Tahini and it was very reasonably priced compared to the others.

The link to the recipe is above but I've also included it here. I'm so happy to have found this. Thanks to Aliya Leekong  for her fabulous recipe that will now become an amazing addition to my weekly recipe list.

I hope you all enjoy this as much as I do!

Ready for tasting!

I used a mason jar from Home Goods that worked perfect for storing, not that it'll last long!

This one is for my Paleo partner at work! 

*** The only prep note I'd really like to include is that my blender had a bit of a hard time w/this as the celery root was piled nearly up to the top. It churned a bit in processing even with the root water. I would recommend perhaps doing this in 2 batches so it's more manageable and then blending together in a bowl w/a stick blender. 

Makes 2 1/2 cups

• 2baseball sized celery roots, peeled and cut into a 3/4” dice (approximately 3 ½ cups)
• 1tablespoon butter
• 3garlic cloves
• 1 1/2tablespoon tahini
• 1/2teaspoon cumin
• 1/4teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2teaspoon salt
• juice of half a lemon
• extra virgin olive oil
• paprika

1. Place celery root dice in a stock pot and cover with cold water. Bring up to a boil uncovered and boil 13-15 minutes until the celery root is very tender.
2. Using a slotted spoon, transfer celery root into a blender, reserving the cooking liquid. Add butter and let melt. Add garlic cloves, tahini, cumin, cayenne, salt, and lemon juice.
3. Ladle in a bit of the cooking liquid and blend. Continue adding cooking liquid a little bit at a time until desired texture is achieved. It took about 2 full ladles (of a 4 oz. ladle) to get to the puree I desired.
4. Transfer to a bowl and make a well in the center. Pour a little extra virgin olive oil in the well and sprinkle hummus with paprika. I love to eat this warm or cold, so serve as you like!

Happy Survivor Day to Me!

Today is my 25th anniversary of surviving my suicide. And I am just as thankful for today as I am for the past 25 years. 

Every July 11th, I reflect on the gift of living and I'm thankful I'm still here. Some of you know all too well what happened because you were there and some don't. From the outside looking in, I'm a pretty happy person and many people are often shocked when I tell them what happened. For a long time I didn't talk about it except with my closest friends because of the stigma surrounding suicide. I feel that my experience can serve others who suffer or know someone suffering, to feel like they too, can speak up and seek help. If by speaking out I am able to help one person, than it's worth whatever criticism I might receive from people who choose to judge others.

Twenty five years ago today I made a life-altering choice to try to end my life. Not only did this change the course of my life, it affected the lives of those around me. Long before suicide was brought into the sunlight and the "It Gets Better" campaign became a national headline, my actions were considered shameful and I was made to feel that what I did was something to be hidden and only whispered about. I am no longer ashamed of what I did because I was broken inside. I am no longer broken. I got better. I healed. I do have constant reminders of what happened, I live with the pain every day. I still limp from the damage done to my body and I live w/the scars but I wear them knowing that I survived. I am so happy I lived. I am so happy that my attempts on my life were unsuccessful. I am happy to be walking, alive, and thriving. All the things I've accomplished, I've seen, I've experienced, the lives I've touched, the people I've met, the love I've had the privilege of having, prove to me that it DOES get better. My life was saved for something greater than I could imagine when I was 15 and for that I am eternally grateful.

Every time I read a headline about someone taking their life my heart breaks. Especially young people, it makes me want to cry because I've been there and I would tell them that the pain will pass, there is hope and there is another option besides destroying your life and leaving those around you to pick up the pieces in the aftermath. I thank God everyday for sparing me from my self destructive actions. Today is my 25th anniversary of surviving suicide and I will always be thankful to those friends and family that have loved me and supported me through it all. A lot of people in my tiny little town were very cruel during my recovery, hurling horrible abuses at me, making fun of me and even telling me I should try again. I got called Geronimo frequently (I was a jumper) and there was very little kindness or understanding shown to me. It was very hard and sometimes felt like I'd never escape the shadow of that town and what happened. Luckily, I had some incredible friends & family, (and my Catholic school) around me who were kind, supportive, who fiercely protected and defended me and saw me through the storm. Because of them I'm making every day count. I take nothing and no one for granted. Thank you for your endless kindness and love, I can never repay you. You all know who you are and you will always have a special place in my life and my heart.

If you know someone in crisis, someone hurting themselves, please help them. Please reach out to them. You have no idea how your actions can change the course of their life. If you need someone to talk to please call: 800.273.8255 or visit http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

Life is a gift and you'll find support in the most unlikely places. Help is out there, so please don't ever give up. Ever. 

I know this is a bit long, so if you've made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read my story.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – Suicide Prevention Crisis Hotline

www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255): Suicide hotline, 24/7 free and confidential, nationwide network of crisis centers