Super Easy Natural Homemade Butter!

Wow 3 posts in one week! That sure is a first for me…here's hoping I can stick to a more consistent posting schedule! Today I'm sharing a really neat 'recipe'. The reason I put a ' ' around the recipe is that it's not so much a recipe but an old method that has been used for centuries by humans – namely, butter. Most of us who have been born and raised in big cities have never been exposed to the process of making butter. Sure, we know it comes from milk, which comes from cows, but that’s about where most people's knowledge on the butter making process ends.

 Back when I was in third grade, our class had a 'live like a pioneer day', where we were supposed to dress up like pioneers and live as they would have. This included no electricity or paper, which meant working on mini chalkboards with the lights off! This was quite fun for a third grader and we really enjoyed the experience. But what made it even more fun was, the thing that makes everything more fun, the food! In class we made our own bread by mixing up the flour with the rest of the ingredients, and setting it out to poof. Then our teacher baked the bread during lunch break in the staff's kitchen. It was all really amazingly fun, and it’s a memory I still think back on and smile. But perhaps what was most fascinating to 8 year old Zahra was what we made in class to go 'on' the homemade bread – homemade butter! Our teacher poured some whipping cream into a jar, and screwed the lid really tight. She then asked us to sit in a circle and pass the jar around one by one, with each of us shaking the jar vigorously with our hands until we couldn’t shake anymore! I remember being both skeptical and in awe….could *we*, the young little children of room 3, truly, possibly, make… butter?! SO shake, and shake, and shake we did, each of us hoping that *we* would be the one who made the magical shake that turned the cream into butter. Finally, after a good 20 minutes of shaking the cream, EUREKA! We had butter! Of course it was a bit soft and liquidy, but we didn’t care! We made butter! We slathered it on some of our homemade bread, and boy was it a delicious snack on a dark (since the lights were off) afternoon.

Since then I have always wanted to go back and 'try' it myself – to recreate this homemade butter, but this time do it 'right'. You know. The adult way. However, every time I needed butter I would do the normal 'adult' thing to do – which was buy it from the grocery store. However, about a week ago I was helping my mom with the groceries when I noticed the whipping cream we usually get was on sale. I grabbed a package of it, with the plans of baking something (wasn’t quite sure what yet), and headed to the cash. However, at the cash I realized ' aww man, I forgot the butter!' Anyone who has walked alllll the way across a huge grocery store to the check-out cash, only to remember that they forgot to pick something up on the other end of the store, will know that you will come up with any excuse to NOT go back. At that moment while holding a 1L container of whipped cream, all I had to do was look down at the excuse I was so conveniently holding – I'm going to make some homemade butter! :D

So here it is - how to make butter. It's surprisingly easy and actually makes a delicious final result! It’s a very nice fluffy and SOFT butter that you just don't get in the store bough kind. Best of all, it's healthy, natural, and preservative fee! And if you like you can even buy organic whipping cream and make some organic butter! Yum! 

So lets begin, I've outlined the basic ingredients and steps needed, but this needs a bit more of a visual so I have some step by step photos / personal tips for you too. 

Homemade Butter

• Whipped cream – at least 35% (nothing less)
• Salt to taste (optional) – I make unsalted butter
• ICE COLD water
• Something to make it with. I made it in my kitchen aid mixer, but you can make it with a hand mixer or even a jar like I did in the third grade :) 

1.  Pour your cream (no measurement… however much you want. I used ¾ of a 1L container but you can use more or less depending on how much butter you want) into your stand mixer. Beat the cream at low-medium speed until it turns into whipped cream. Then beat at high speed until the cream curdles and makes chunks.

2. At a certain point it will start 'leaking liquids'. At this point you want to cover your mixer with a cloth or plastic wrap to prevent splashing. Keep beating until you have hard formed butter in your mixer (see pics below). At this point you want to drain that liquid out – but keep it! This is butter milk and can be used in lots of yummy recipes!

3.  Add some ICE COLD water to your butter (1/2 – 1 cup depending on how much butter your making). Beat the butter and ice cold water together (be careful of splashes!) for a few minutes. Then stop and drain the water (it will be a bit murkey). Then repeat the same steps again. I do it about 3 times or until the water is kind of clear. This is done to 'clean' your butter and draw out all the moisture. This allows your butter to last longer without going bad. If you are going to consume your butter in the next few days then you can skip step 3.

4.  And that’s it! Once you have beaten the ice water with the butter to the point that the water isn’t too murky, you can drain the remaining water and 'pat' the rest out with your spatula. And there you have it! Butter! You can put it in an airtight container and it lasts for a good month!

And heres a visual of the above, which is also pinnable! :)

My journey towards healthy eating and a Quick and Easy High Protein Low Carb Sauteed Mushrooms and Feta Spinach Recipe

So I have finally done it you guys.

I've taken the jump into the world of healthy eating, and healthy living. I'm officially a healthy eater!

Kinda.

Sorta.

Maybe....

Perhaps a more accurate description would be I have made the jump into the "I'm-actively-trying-to-make-healthier-food-choices-and-not-slowly-but-surely-killing-myself-with-the-immense-amounts-of-junk-food-and-calorie-laden-carbs-and-sugar-loaded-cakes-that-I-consumed-on-a-daily-basis-though-I-still-sometimes-cheat-and-stuff-my-fat-face-with-delicious-junk-food" bandwagon. But you see, to say I have become a "healthy eater" is just so much easier.

Perhaps an explanation is in order? You see I've never had the 'worst' diet in the world, due basically to the fact that I have a mother who has always emphasized using 'healthy' and 'whole' ingredients, and banned all forms of fast food and junk food in the house since I was a kid. She was able to successfully condition us as children to avoid junk food to the point where we would not even ask for it as we knew the answer was no. If 10 year old Zahra were to pick up a box of Dunk-a-roos in the grocery store, with the hopes of whining pleading my case enough for them (but MA! EVERYONE IS EATING THEM), I would then put it right back down without trying to argue because I knew the answer was not only "NO", but would also be followed up with a speech about how I would get cancer from eating these delicious cookies + dip combo. Chips? Nope. Coke? Don't even think about it. Fruit Roll ups? HAHAHA you mean chemically infused rubber that will give you cancer AND LITERALLY KILL YOU?

You get the idea.

It came to the point where the idea of "OMG LETS HAVE A YUMMY TREAT" was having an organic yogurt fruit cup.

So then fast forward to a few years ago when I finally became independent and in charge of what I ate in my university years. Having the cash and the opportunity, I started to eat whateverrrrr I wanted. And man. Did I make up for lost time. Pizza? Double cheese please! And a side of greasy fries please. And a Coke. XL. McDonald's? Superzie Me? SUPERSIZE YES!

And as a result....the weight started piling on.....Freshman 15? More like Freshman 20.

And things only got worse when I left school and joined the workforce. At least in school I had to *walk* to class. Not here friends, not here. My commute consisted of walking 10 meteres to the bus stop in the morning, sitting on the bus, getting off and walking 10 meteres to my building, sitting for 8 hours, and busing back home. Meanwhile my snack drawer at work (yes I had a snack drawer) consisted of a selection of cookies, brownies, poptarts, DUNKAROOS (FOR YOU 10 YEAR OLD ZAHRA! FOR YOOOOUUU!), chips, chocolate stuffed croissants (thanks Costco), and oatmeal. Cause, you know, oatmeal is healthy right?

As my weight crept up, and my energy levels fell, I was in denial. See the thing was, I was blessed with this wondrous rare gift that can be bestowed on any woman - a super high metabolism and good genetics. When I started University I weighed 100 pounds. 100 pounds! And at roughly 5'5' that put me at BELOW the average BMI! It was all thanks to great genetics - my sister was tiny, and even my mom had been teeny tiny when she was younger! It was the GREEN light I needed to stuff my face. And stuff my face I did friend. Stuff my face I did.

As the weight started to pile on I ignored it. Honestly I never even weighed myself. I noticed my clothes getting a tad tighter....but I figured I outgrew my high school clothes and that this was a chance to buy a new Uni wardrobe! wee! then I realized one day I was 115 pounds, and I wasn't even remotely worried. I was all "PSSH!! This is a GOOD thing. I need some extra meat on my bones. In fact...I need even MORE meat on my bones!" Before I knew it I went from a size XS to a M. "Pshh. Thats fine...."I would say, rather defensively. "I, uh, as a Medium, I am NORMAL, sized individual. I'm still a HEALTHY size!"  :D Then....it just kept coming....in the first year out of school I gained another 15 pounds. FIFTEEN POUNDS. In less than 8 months. Thats when it slowly started to hit me that eating junk every day may not be so 'ok' as I had previously convinced myself. Maybe my beloved mother was on to something when she said NO to the sugar packed junk foods I so deeply desired? I evaluated my diet and realized I was making some pretty poor choices. So I figured, huh.....maybe I should cut out having a coke every day with my meals? Maybe that will stop me from gaining all these pounds. Maybe I should make some healthier choices, like instead of heading to McDonalds for lunch, I will make a Subway Trip. Instead of having a chocolate chip muffin (or two) for breakfast I'll have a FRUIT muffin. Then I will go right back to the weight I was. Yeah. That will do it!

It didn't do it.

It kept coming on. Now those of you who are healthy eaters may be rolling your eyes at me like "NO? Really? You thought stopping having a coke a day and opting for a processed fruit muffins over chocolate flavoured ones would make you skinnier? Oh no. I wonder why it didn't work??" *eye roll* Well heed your sarcasm - I know NOW how wrong I was! But alas I had to wait until that winter to hit rock bottom before slapping myself awake into reality.

Oh God. So sometime this past January I had pulled out some winter clothes I had in storage. I had bought them BRAND NEW the previous year after some major sales in the early spring. Since it was the end of winter at that point I had packed them up, tags still attached, and put them in storage.  Keep in mind that when I had purchased them the previous year they were a tad large (that's the way I like my clothes - I prefer baggy rather than skin tight). So I take them out of storage, and put on these brand new clothes, with their tags still attached, and it.....wouldn't fit. IT JUST WOULDN'T FIT ME. Like sure, I could squeeze into them but it was really tight and uncomfortable and looked like I was wearing the completely wrong size of clothing . That was my slap-in-the-face-wake-up- call. In less than a year I had ballooned in size, and clothing that was very comfortable one year, simply  WOULDN'T FIT less than a year later.

That's when I decided I needed a change. I started googling. Started learning. Started understanding WHAT I was putting into my body and what it was doing. Turns out half the 'healthy choices' I thought I was making? WERE HORRIBLE for me! It soon became apparent why I was gaining so much weight in such a short duration of time.

So I decided, that starting January 2015, I would start *trying* to eat a healthier diet. I educated myself on what sorts of foods were good choices, and what were bad. And trust me, me and my sweet tooth cheated plenty. But despite this, I still managed to stop gaining weight, and even lose some of it too!

My experience these past 10 months has shown me that the biggest obstacle to healthy eating is the availability of it. If you come home for dinner and you're starving, chances are you will reach for unhealthy snacks to fill you up, rather than wait 2 hours to make a healthy meal. Since then I have come up with several different recipes that are fairly quick and easy to make (without complex ingredients) but are high in protein and fibre (the good stuff) and low in carbs (the bad stuff). I hope to be sharing more of them with you on the blog soon! :)

Now on to this recipe. I have found that the best type of diet to adapt is one that is high in protein and fibre and low in carbs. The reason for this is that protein and fibre tends to keep you full and satisfied much longer than carbs, and in turn leads to less feelings of wanting to stuff your face. :) Carbs, though good in moderation, can lead to problems in the long term including weight gain.

This is a really quick and easy recipe that comes together within minutes. Its a great side to a main meal or can even be the main attraction as a light lunch or dinner.

Sautéed Mushroom and Feta Spinach Side

(note that this recipe is more of a general guideline - that means the measurements for the ingridents REALLY doesn't matter! :) you can adjust based on the amount you have on hand or how much you want to make, or simply what you prefer to have more/less of. If you want more spinach, add more. If you don't like mushrooms, add less. Its very flexible :) )

* 1 pound of spinach
* 2 cup of chopped mushrooms
* 2-3 tablespoons of chopped feta cheese
* 1-2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
* 1 medium onion + oil to fry with
* Garlic powder to taste
 

1. Slice your garlic cloves and onion up, and sauté it over medium heat with whichever oil you want to use (I prefer coconut) until the onions are slightly brown.

2. Add your chopped mushrooms and cook until slightly brown. When they are about 1-2 minutes to being cooked, throw in your spinach. It may seem like 'too much' spinach as you're throwing it in and it may seem to be overflowing but its OK! When spinach cooks it looses a LOT of volume!

3. Continue to fry until the mushrooms are cooked an the spinach has turned a dark green. Add some Garlic to taste. I like it garlicy so I tend to add a lot! (and add  salt and pepper if you wish).

4. Remove from heat and empty contents of pan into a bowl. Throw in your chopped feta cheese and combine.

5. That's it! You've made a really quick and easy (and HEALTHY) side (or meal) in minutes! Yay You :)

And heres a video I made of the quick process :)

Quick and Easy Homemade Guacamole Recipe

Well then….its been a while hasn’t it? ;)

Seasons have changed, and have so many other things in my life, ranging from my ever changing career to crazy family life, to finally changing my diet and lifestyle to a much more healthy one (yeah I still can't believe it either!). And though the experiences of the past few months have been really great life experiences, it has caused me to have to put this little wee blog on the backburner. But never fear I am back, and with this newly found concept called ' a little free time' and a whole lotta passion and ideas to get back to making some lovely things!

So without further ado, lets dive right into some good stuff. And believe you me….this is some good stuff! Riding along on the tails of the whole 'I'm going to eat healthy' thing, here's a super yummy, super healthy, and most importantly, super easy guacamole recipe to get us going. Before recently I had never had any 'fresh' or homemade guacamole. I lived a meaningless life filled with store brand, sat-in-a-grocery-store-refrigerator-for-weeks-before-I-bought-it, and preservative packed guacamole. However once you have some homemade guac there is really no going back. The best part about homemade guacamole is that you can control all the different flavours. Want more of a sour taste? Squeeze a bit more lime. Want more chunk in your guac? Add more tomatoes! More heat? Up your garlic and onion. It's all up to you baby. You're in control here.

But what's the best part about homemade guacamole? It's just how EASY it is. I never use a 'recipe' and usually just eyeball it – you can't really get it wrong. But just for you very special people, I have devised a set proportion of ingredients to help you get going – but by all means feel free to add or subtract to taste.

Easy Homemade Guacamole

(this recipe makes a small bowl portion (approx.. 2 cups) as I usually make it with, say, 2 avocados, but you can make more or less depending on how many avocados you have on hand)

* 2 avocados

* 1 lime

* 1 tomato (if you want it to be less chunky then probably ½ tomato)

* 2 tablespoons chopped onion

* 2 garlic cloves

* 1.5 tablespoons of cilantro

* Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Begin by pitting your avocados and scooping out all of the flesh. Place in a bowl and start mashing with the back of a fork. (Or do what I did and enlist your younger brother to mash the avocados for you :) )

2. Finely chop your garlic, onion, and cilantro. Chop up your tomatoes to desired consistency – I like my guacamole to be nice and chunky so I tend to cut tomatoes into slightly larger chunks.

3. Then throw everything in together and mix! Add in your lime juice, starting with half a lime first, and adding more as needed. I find that sometimes, some limes have a lot more kick, and other times they are a bit more watered down. This time I used only half. Add salt and pepper to taste.

* One thing to keep note of is that once you scoop out avocados they turn brown pretty quickly. Despite the added lime juice (which usually preserves cut fruits and veggies longer), the avocado part of the guacamole can go brown pretty fast so be sure to consume it within 24 hrs. And this fun fact is another reason why I will never buy store bought guacamole again. WHAT HAVE THEY ADDED TO IT THAT IT STAYS GREEN FOR WEEKS?!?!

And that’s it! You have some delicious and nutritious guacamole!