Ghee Making

Happy Saturday! I've been working on a few weekend projects today. I may share more of them throughout the week, but for now, here is my easy tutorial on how to make ghee. You can always buy ghee already made, but it's gonna cost you! It runs about 8-12 bucks for a small jar in my neck of the woods. A package of butter costs about $2.50 and using only two of the sticks I get the same amount as if I bought it in a jar. $8 vs. $1.75+minimal work, that's an easy choice for me.

 First assemble your supplies.

All you will need is:

• A good pan (as in not one with bits of Teflon flaking off)
• Unsalted butter (really grass fed is ideal)
• A small strainer
• Cheese cloth
• A jar for storage

The steps are so ridiculously easy. You won't believe it!

First unwrap that butter and plop it in the pan.  Turn the heat to medium low and watch it melt. If you are a total dork like myself, you will want to arrange the butter into tetris shapes. This is optional. (wink, wink)

As the butter melts, you will see the milk solids bubble to the top of the pan. This is about 5 minutes in. It's still a creamy yellow color, and looks foamy.

 This is about ten minutes in. I haven't lifted a finger. The temperature is still the same and the butter is starting to brown, and is still bubbling.

 After about 20 minutes it will start to get golden brown, and will actually stop bubbling. When you get to this point, take it off the heat.

 Carefully strain it in the cheese cloth lined strainer. If you aren't careful you will spill the oil all over your pretty kitchen towel, like I did.

 And that's all there is to it. I told you it was easy! Now you have beautiful golden ghee. Discard the little bits left in the cheesecloth. Isn't it pretty...the royal oil!

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, visit SouleMama.

First Full Pattern! Sale!!!

After much work and much testing, I published my first full crochet pattern for sale yesterday! It's the nursing beanie redone! I've updated it, made it easier to follow, quicker to work up, and included sizes 0-3 months through child! 

The full pattern is now available on Ravelry and Etsy for $3.99 as a pdf download. Since I'm so excited to release my first full pattern, and can't wait to do more, I'm having a sale on this pattern on Ravelry through the weekend. Get it for $2.50 through Sunday June 3rd! Find it Here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-nursing-beanie-2.

I hope that this new venture of crochet pattern making is a success! I have a few more in the works, including my zebra hat!

After quite a bit of deliberation, I decided to remove my previous free nursing hat pattern from my blog. It was my first version of this hat, and it has been greatly improved upon. I don't want to offer a version that I feel is second best. I'm glad that some of my readers enjoyed it and were able to use it. I will continue to post free crochet patterns on my blog in the near future.

Sick of Being Sick!

After a double round of a stomach bug and a bad sinus infection that doesn't want to leave, I'm back to blog. It's been a terribly lazy couple of weeks and we've all spent a lot of time laying around, curled up in balls.

Now that the stomach bug is gone, I'm playing catch up in everything! Today, when the twins went down for their nap, B Bear and I went outside and picked some flowers from the yard. Fresh flowers on the mantle always cheer up a dreary house. B decided which ones to pick and arranged them for me in a vase. Didn't he do a good job?

If I can find some relief from this sinus infection, I hope to have a fun tot-school post tomorrow and a project lunch sometime this week. I also have a giveaway coming up soon, so stay tuned!

Project Lunch Week 3: Rice and Bean Wraps

This week, I have done a much better job at not only eating lunch every day, but also at making better choices. To save time, I made a big batch of Healthful Mamas rice and beans. Yesterday I ate just that, with a banana on the side. It was super simple and super yummy! Today, I used the rice and beans in a yummy wrap. It was super yummy and I'll have it again soon.

Ingredients:

• Healthful Mamas rice and beans
• Tortilla. Please use a fabulous whole grain, HFC free tortilla. I used a plain white tortilla because it's all I had. White flour is really not good for you, so opt for the whole wheat. 
•  Sliced cabbage. If you're me, just use a couple handfuls of coleslaw mix. (Yes, I am that lazy sometimes.)
• Cojita, crumbled. If you're not familiar with this cheese, it's time to get to know it. I'm convinced that cojita is indeed the cheese of the gods. It's saltiness resembles feta, with a mozzarella like flavor. Yum!
• Tapatio! (or whatever hot sauce you prefer)
• Lime

Warm your tortilla in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds. Top tortilla with cabbage and rice and beans. Sprinkle cojita over it and top with tapatio and lime juice to taste. Enjoy!

Easy-Peasy. Filling. Healthy. My kind of meal.

Thank-you to my friend Gretchen over at healthful mama for blogging your rice and beans recipe! It's going to be one of go-to recipes now too!

Tot School Tuesday: Sidewalk Paint

Yeah, I said tot school Tuesday. I'm fully aware it's Wednesday. As you may have assumed, it's been a busy week and I'm a day behind. Oh well! Better late than never, right?

This week B bear and I had some quiet time (didn't even know that could exist in our house!), so I pulled up a project that I pinned a while back and threw it together. I followed the instructions from Smashed Peas and Carrots, but it's so easy that you don't really need directions.

Just mix one cup of cornstarch with one cup of water, separate that into sections of a muffin tin and add a few drops of food coloring to each cup. I gave B bear an assortment of brushes and let him go to work. I like to offer more than one type of brush, so that he can experiment them. We started out with some really bright and pretty colors, but in the end we pretty much had swamp green in every section. He likes to mix colors.

For more fun Tot-School Ideas check out 1+1+1=1 and other participating blogs by clicking the image below.

Project Lunch Week 2: Honey Soy Tofu Stir Fry

I'm doing a little bit better at making sure I eat this week. Let's see, on Monday I had some brown rice with leftover chicken and asparagus. On Tuesday I skipped lunch and was in a hurry all day (For shame! For Shame!) Yesterday I had the best of intentions to make myself a fabulous lunch, but when I found out we were out of garbanzo beans, that fell through and I had a bagel with jam. Yeah...I need to keep working on this.

Today however, I was craving tofu, and just happened to have a bunch of veggies that needed to be used soon. I threw together a simple marinade for the tofu and used some left over brown rice from Mondays leftovers.

Easy Soy Honey Tofu Stir Fry
You'll Need:
Extra Firm Tofu (I use about a quarter of a package for just myself)
Veggies (whatever you have on hand)
Cooked Brown rice
For the sauce:
1/2 c soy sauce
1/2 c water
1 T sesame oil
2T honey
small squirt of sriracha
2 cloves garlic
1 inch chunk of ginger

1) Press your tofu. I wrap mine in a kitchen towel and place a cast iron skillet on top of it. Leave it for 15 minutes of so and a great deal of water will press out. This will change the texture of the finished tofu and make it a little less mushy.

 2) While your are waiting, mix together your sauce ingredients. Mince the garlic and ginger, or just push them both through a garlic press. (Oh yeah...I am that lazy). Use the sriracha to your liking. If you like a little more spice, crank it up.

3) Slice your tofu into triangles. I think it marinates better that way. Place your slices in a shallow dish and cover with the sauce.

4) Let the tofu sit for about 10 minutes while you chop your veggies. I used carrots, broccoli, spinach, and some peas that were left over from the boys' lunch.

5) Heat a pan over med-high heat with a Tablespoon or so of oil.

6) When the pan is hot, add the tofu in a single layer. Check frequently and turn as they brown. Be careful not to let it burn. I like mine light brown and a little crispy at the edges. It takes about 5 minutes, turning a couple times throughout. Remove them from the pan.

7) Add veggies to the hot pan and stir fry for a couple minutes. Add a couple T of the marinade to flavor it and continue to stir fry until the veggies are soft.

8) Assemble veggies and tofu on the rice and chow down.