I have a big move coming up in my life, and I have learned a couple Ayurveda habits to keep me grounded during the transition and well-fed in airports during long layovers. The first food I prepare is baked sweet potatoes the morning of my trip. They are satiating, warm, and dry, so they get through TSA every time when I store them in a thermos. They stay hot all day, giving me a fresh meal in a completely new city in the afternoon. My last trip when I did this, I felt they were a bit dry, so I made sure to prepare fresh ghee and my favorite snack for the plane: ghee-soaked dates. Even when not traveling, this is my favorite and basically only snack I go to between meals. I strain my ghee into little jars so I can carry them onto the plane, and the bigger jars I store in my checked luggage for when I arrive. Ghee makes travel much easier and more enjoyable because the airy and spacey feelings from a lot of travel get canceled out from the nourishing grounding of the ghee. This recipe is for 2-3 small pots of ghee.
Ingredients
- 1-4 sticks organic, unsalted butter
- Whole dates, pitted
- 2-4 jars, cleaned
- Strainer
- Cheesecloth
Method
- In an appropriately-sized saucepan, add butter
- Set saucepan on low to low-medium heat to gently melt butter and bring to a bubble
- Once bubbling, there should be a white foam on top of the liquid, which are the milk solids
- Let butter boil on gentle heat until the bubbles stop forming (about 15-20 minutes for small quantities of butter)
- While the butter is boiling, place pitted dates into a jar
- Gently press them down to lesson space between dates and fit more into the jar
- Take ghee off heat and let sit with lid on for 10 minutes
- Cut cheesecloth into a square and place in strainer
- Strain ghee through cheesecloth into jars
- Let ghee sit with lids on until solidified (if you are not in a cold climate, the ghee may stay liquid at room temperature, which is perfectly normal)
- Enjoy as a snack or additions to dry airport food
Kaitlyn Anne Thomas 