The Cheese Barn

 

I have been searching for a source of organic cow’s ghee to use in cooking instead of oil.  Ghee, an ultra-clarified form of butter, has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years.

It contains medium chain fatty acids which aid in the faster digestion and absorption of food.  It also helps to stimulate the satiety centre of the brain, helping to control appetite (and promote weight loss!).

As with my butter rationing, I don’t intend to go overboard in using this.  Just sometimes, though, it is nice to make a pie crust or a fruit crumble pudding (I don’t make cakes etc any more, unless for a really special occasion), or I may want to grease my non-stick skillet. 

The ghee will be better to use than butter (I dislike using oil for these things as it always seems to go sticky and thick and yukky).

I found a place called Milkio, that claimed to be based here in Hamilton itself – only every avenue on their webpage that I explored came to a dead end.  When I discovered a different brand with an almost identical webpage (called Gold Leaf), I decided the whole lot was probably a scam.

Then I discovered a source at Matatoki, near Thames, called The Cheese Barn.  They were quite open about who stocked their product and also that they had their own shop (with address and hours) inside their cafe.

It was quite pleasant to drive over there this morning (even though it took 90 minutes each way) and enjoy the green countryside.  There was still some evidence of the recent floods, but nothing to hinder my travels.

I purchased my ghee with glee, and am looking forward to using it to grease the pan tonight when I cook up my Bean Burgers.

May your smile always be the right way up 😊

Margaret.

 

Butter Rationing

 

Ever so slowly, I feel I am creeping towards working out a new lifestyle of eating for me.  Because we are all unique individuals, with different needs and desires, it has been confusing sifting through piles of nutritional advice to work out what will work for me as an individual.

One food item with contentious connotations is good old butter.  Yes, it contains saturated fat and a fair share of calories, and an excess is certainly bad for you.  But it also contains vitamins A, D and E, as well as being a good source of calcium. 

For good health we need to have fat-soluble vitamins in our diet, and it seems to be generally recommended that a person has 1-2 servings of fat each day (most people have much more than that).  

My conclusion is that butter, in moderation, can be a healthy part of my dietary plan.

(photo taken from Mainland web page)

Being a great fan of butter (and eating far too much of it!), it is not something I wish to give up completely. 

There seems to be two alternatives open to me: severely limit how much I eat and/or mix it half and half with a cold pressed vegetable oil.  I may try the latter during winter, but for now I will restrict the volume I eat.

A standard serve of butter is 1 Tbsp (14g or about ½ oz).  By cutting the block of butter into six portions, then each portion into six pieces, I can get 36 serves of butter out of one 500g packet – it will last me longer than a month!

This afternoon I divided up the butter and wrapped each portion in tinfoil before freezing it.

There is one thing I think I will change next time, and that is to use unsalted butter.  Salt consumption is something I also need to keep an eye on and I would rather add my own salt as needed, so I can better control exactly how much I eat.

As an aside, I was nearly thrown out of bed at 2am this morning when we had a reasonably strong earthquake (4.8).  It must have lasted nearly a minute, and everything in my room rattled loudly – it was rather unnerving!

Stay happy 😊

Margaret.

 

I Bought A Fitbit

 

I am beginning to think that losing weight is a bit like giving up smoking – you have to really want to do it. 

It is all very well saying you would like to slim down or give up tobacco, but it isn’t until you really really want to that the motivation kicks in.

Finally, I have arrived at that point.  I’ve known for ages (like, years) that I need to lose weight but my efforts have always been airy-fairy attempts that result in my giving up before anything is achieved.

This time I am determined it will be different. 

Hence, the purchase of a Fitbit Charge 5.  I researched the different ones, and this one appeared to be the best on offer for the use of Seniors.  It will track my heartbeat, count my steps, and check on my sleep patterns.

It does heaps of other things as well, but those are the ones that are most important to me.

I have been wearing it for a couple of days now and finding my way around how it works.  It’s fun!  And I really love the little message it sends me when it tracks that I haven’t been moving much – “time to move!” is a great message.

After steady rain yesterday, today we have had some sunshine.  It has now (as I am writing this, in the early evening) turned to rain.  It was forecast to arrive twelve hours ago, along with severe thunderstorms, so we will see what the night brings.

Auckland, the  largest city in New Zealand, was declared a State of Emergency last night because of the torrential rain and flooding they experienced.  Rainfall for the 24 hours there (245-400mm depending on where you live, which is nearly10-16 inches), broke all previous records.  

Unfortunately, three people have also died as a result of the weather, and another person is still missing.

Other areas are also experiencing severe rain issues.  Many roads are closed because of flooding or land-slips, and several communities are completely isolated.  It is going to be a big clean-up.

Take care and be safe, wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

Margaret 😊