Bone Broth and Pho Ga(on a budget) and Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Sally Fallon from Nourishing Traditons  stresses the importance of bone broth for our health.  The nutrients from bone marrow are greatly lacking in our modern diet, but used to be a great source of nutrition..  You hear about how a good chicken soup can help cure the flu or a cold...Well, I believe it!! In our family, we usually buy a chicken a week..or every other week and we use ALL of it.. It makes at least 3-4 meals.  First the roasted chicken meal, then the left-over chicken for sandwhiches or stir-fry (or added to soup) and then the soup made from the broth from the bones which often makes enough broth for 2 soups or 1 very large soup.  If I don't buy chicken that week, I often have bones left in my freezer from making the pet food, or bones from lamb and beef (which we buy from a farmer) Once a year(or every 9-10 months), we buy 1/8 cow, and 1/2 lamb and from those orders we get our meat, our suet(for making soap), our bones for broth and for our dog.

In any case, here is how I make my broth (the crockpot way)

Bone Broth
1 chicken carcass
filtered water
about 2TB vinegar (it helps the water absorb the nutrients from bones, marrow)
garlic
celery
ginger
(vegetable scraps on hand)--stems from collard, brocolli, etc)
carrot
onion

I place all of this in the crockpot and let it cook all day (occasionally stirring)  This could be done the day before you make the soup if you want to skim any impurities off the top when it cools?  I often skip this part..(perhaps I shouldn't?) I usually make the broth and the soup on the same day.  I then take a measuring cup and strain it through a fine mesh strainer into the pot I wish to make soup out of.  It is absolutely wonderful..and everytime I feed it to my family, I feel like I am helping to protect them from bad illnesses...  Knock on wood, but our colds have been quite mild this year..  The ginger is great for digestion and for staying healty as well..(so I add it to my broth from the start)

So, from this broth, comes infinite possabilities!

I have really gotten into making soups this past couple of years and Pho Ga is one soup my children will eat a whole bowl of.

Pho Ga on a budget (much cheaper than take-out!)

this past week's version with lettuce and homemade sourdough bread

 The trick is that you can play around with the soup. I make it last week and I did not have all the "official ingredients" such as bean sprouts, so I improvised. This time I used lettuce instead, another time cabbage (and they both work)  You can also have pho ga without the added "treats"  and it is good as a very simple soup as well.

For your basic soup

Chicken Broth  (add cilantro stems, star anise, and cloves when making the broth for this soup) if you have them...

Chicken chopped up/cooked

rice noodles

2TB fish sauce

2TB sugar (or honey or whatever you'd like to add a little bit of sweet)

The  added stuff that makes it so much fun to eat!

bean sprouts (or cabbage or lettuce, etc)

lemon wedges

hot peppers

spriachia sauce

cilantro leaves

This soup can really knock the flu or cold on its back!! (esp with the jalepeno peppers)

Strawberry Rhubarb

Last night, to conclude Mother's Day (and to use up some of the rhubarb growing in our garden and CSA and use up some of the strawberries in our freezer) I made this recipe from Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  (a very very good book!)--and this recipe is absolutely delicious topped with some whipped cream. It is easier/quicker to make this than a pie (if you are feeling the desire to have pie, but don't have the time)

http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/Strawberry%20Rhubarb%20Crisp.pdf

Pet Food Day

Today I made the montly pet food for our 2 cats and 1 Papillon dog.  I don't really have a huge knowledge base for cat and dog nutrition so until I know more, I supplement with dry food (in case I'm off base) but I also don't want them eating too much processed foods considering all the pet food recalls. I also had a cat die, I think from complications due to soley eating processed pet food.  (scary stuff)

Pet food recipe for Cats/kittens/dogs:




Keep in mind that I am not totally knowledgeable about this…you need to do your own research on nutritional needs of your pets..When you do this, please keep me up to date too---because I am still gathering info, myself..



Kittens need more fat and protein and fish oil..(from what I’ve read/heard)

I add some garlic, because I’ve heard that it can control fleas… however, garlic can also cause anemia..my cat’s blood was tested recently, however and she was fine.. I have to weigh the choice of “garlic toxicity” vs. “pesticicide toxicity” the garlic truly has kept the fleas away. They went off of the garlic for 2 months because I was worried after reading about the anemia…and all of our pets got fleas..(and they had never gotten fleas before…) I am back to using garlic…Onion is also supposed to be bad for pets. I don’t use onion..but I use a small amount of the garlic. So use garlic at your own risk..Time will tell on this one, I think… (I have also read some "officially published pet recipes that include garlic...so there is mixed info out there)



For cats/kittens: (this amount usually takes a month to use up for 2 cats)

I use a food processor to make this quicker/easier, but you don’t have to…

1. Boil one large chicken in a stock pot until mostly cooked. Take out of the water (make sure no bones are left in stock) and let cool. Keep stock.




(and also cook some organ meat: chicken,lamb liver, heart, etc..(you have to be careful not to add too much organ meat; I read too much can cause problems as well)

• also for cats you can add/cook 1-2lbs whitefish

2. In a food processor chop up:

1 carrot

½ bunch of kale

1 sweet potato

1 apple
1 egg

1-2 cloves of garlic

It is nice to have a little helper who likes to press the on on the food processor and mix things up.


3. Add to the stock along with:

¼ cup each of these grains: quinoa, pearl barley, oats/groats

I add grains…but I try to keep the grain ratio lower. Perhaps I shouldn’t add grains at all…I’m unsure of this.. but it soaks up the stock and makes it seem more like the canned cat food and adds nutrients.. (but don’t know the facts of the bioavaiability, etc.) In any case, it seems better than processed foods that have tons of grains, etc.. ?? this part needs more research on my part..

4. cook together…and chop up the chicken by hand/debone, etc..

5. add chicken and veggies, 1/2 cup of brewers yeast (also good for controlling fleas).

6. Fill jars that are appropriate size to be eaten by your pet within 3-5 days. I use a quart size because I have 2 cats. For one cat: probably use a pint size. Leave some good head room at top of jar for freezing expansion.

7. wash off the jars and refrigerate overnight before putting in freezer.  Imorportant to refrigerate before putting in freezer because jars could crack.  Make sure to leave adequate head room at top of jars because the contents expand.

8. I feed my cats a tablespoon or two or so twice a day in additon to leaving out hard food.

For Dogs: (I have a small Papillion dog) and this quantity last a month for this dog.

· The recipe is the same except:

For quantities of grain. And I don’t add fish:



· 1 bunch of kale

· and 1 full cup each of the grains.

Today, it took me about 3 hours to make it and get in the refrigerator.  (but that does not include clean-up. (-;  The dishes are still in the sink... 

I think you could also use a much simpler recipe…by simply feeding the pets the chicken/fish/organs on a regular basis….I also want to learn more about the raw food diet for pets.. I feed them hard food still so help with tarter..and because I can’t make the wet food more than 1x/month due to how long it takes and all the prep, etc..

Both the cats and dog really enjoy their food...Happy Pets.

(just kidding)

If you have any info on pet nutrition, please comment.  This recipe seems to change everytime I make it...it is an "organically changing recipe" because I'm still learning..  and I'd love to hear if anyone else out there is making pet food

Peanut Butter

Ok, I have discovered that making peanut butter is super super easy. And if you are like me, you want the better kind of peanut butter--Maranatha costs $$$  for a jar.  $7 or so, I think..  This PB is just as good if not better and much much cheaper.. I pay $11.90 for 5 pounds of  organic peanuts from Azure Standard.  To make about 1 quart, I think I used about 1 pound of peanuts...so my jar of peanuts cost me $2.50  and it was organic and of premium quality with no additives or preservatives, etc.. (not to mention easy!)

1. scoop up few couple cups of peanuts.
2. place in food processor
3. add salt if you wish
4. let it chop for quite awhile (sometimes you may need to stop it and scrape under the blade) until it is creamy
5. put in jar and enjoy!!!  (repeat depending on capacity of food processor and how much you want to make)

Asparagus and Pizza!

Crust

3 cups of flour (sometimes I mix whole wheat and some white together-I do it differently each time)

2 TB oil

2TB sugar

1tsp salt

1 TB dry active yeast

1 1/4-- 1 1/3 cups warm water (it depends on how soft you want your crust)

Add warm water to dry ingredients, then add oil.  mix  and work the dough with mixer or by hand until it is stretchy and a bit sticky.  cover bowl with a plate and let sit on counter to rise for an hour.  Then roll onto baking pan/pizza stone (whatever you have on hand)  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  Put aside.

Sauce

1 can of tomato sauce ( or your own canned tomato sauce)  

1 small can of tomato paste

garlic salt (or real garlic)

basil and/ or your spices of choice 

warm up and simmer so the flavor is cooked into it.

Toppings

Mozzerella cheese or a mix of cheeses

I like to use seasonal vegetables.  Right now asparagus is in season.  Zucinni and eggplant are wonderful on pizza, in my opinion.  My kids really like pepperoni.  Garlic is also WONDERFUL on pizza too..  Basically whatever you like...  When fresh basil is in season, I put tons of it..  or spinnach.. Pizza can be very creative and can be done "on a budget"  and "in season"

Bake your pizza at 350 for 15 minutes. 

Pumpkin Season

Making Pumpkin From Scratch including cooking the pumpkin, etc.. : : http://pickyourown.org/pumpkinpie.php This is a great site, chock full of information!

Pumpkin Spice Latte

http://www.foodbuzz.com/blogs/us/california/san_francisco/1477560-pumpkin-spiced-latte

Pumpkin Spiced LatteServes 2
Ingredients
2 cups whole milk (or whatever)5 Tbsp canned pumpkin5 Tbsp granulated sugar1/2 tsp cinnamon1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg1/8 tsp ground cloves1 Tbsp vanilla extract1 shot of strong coffee1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (optional)
Method
1. Start boiling water to make the French press coffee. Meanwhile, gently heat the milk in a small saucepan. Be careful not to scald the milk or bring it to a boil. Whisk in pumpkin and mix thoroughly. Stir in sugar and blend until dissolved. Add spices and blend. Add vanilla and stir. Keep milk on the heat as long as it is not starting to boil or scald.
2. Make the coffee in the French press, stronger than usual.
3. Use a hand-held egg beater (or an immersion blender if you have one) to froth up the warm milk mixture.

4. Use a whisk, or an egg beater, or a hand held mixer to whip the cream.
4. Pour about 1/4 cup of coffee into a tall mug. Pour the milk mixture on top until the cup is nearly full. Add a large dollop of whipped cream and grate a little bit of nutmeg on top. This recipe makes two tall cups.

Crock Pot Recipes: Tomato Sauce, Yogurt, Refried Beans, Roast

I love my crockpot. I use it at least 2-3x a week. Today, for the second time I am making tomato sauce with all the tomatoes from our garden. I thought I'd share a couple of recipes.

Tomato Sauce:

Need: crockpot. Food mill: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_mill


all times are approximate. I've only done this once before today, so do what works for you.

• Cut up tomatoes into quarters (approximately) and add to crockpot



• Add a little oil to the mix and set on high for 4 hours. Mix every couple of hours.



• Then put on medium or lo for about 6 more hours.



• Run the tomatoes through the fine setting through a food mill.



• Then put remaining sauce back in the crock and continue on low until the sauce reaches the consistency you desire.



• Put sauce in jars for immediate use, for freezing or for canning. (canning requires some more steps)

Yogurt-whole milk

• Add 1/2 gallon whole milk to crockpot
• Set on low for 2 hours 45 minutes
• Turn off for 3 hours with cover on.
• Mix milk and Remove 1 cup of milk into bowl
• Add 1/2 cup of yogurt starter(or yogurt with live and active cultures) to the 1 cup of milk.
• Mix together and add back to the crockpot
• Re-cover crockpot and wrap it in 2 bath towels. Leave for 8-12 hours depending on how strong you want it to taste.
• Mix and put into jars and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

Refried Beans

• soak dry beans overnight with added 1 tb whey or lemon juice
• rinse and add to crock with some water
• Also add some olive oil, cumin and garlic
• Cook on high or whatever setting you wish until beans are soft.
• drain most of water off, but leave some in so they aren't too dry.
• Mash and add butter or oil or whatever you wish for texture and flavor.

Roast Beef

• Add roast to water in the crock
• Add: garlic, worchester sauce, onions, stewed tomatoes, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper (or whatever seasoning you like)
• Cook on high for 2-4 hours depending on the size. Or if you have time cook it at a lower setting for optimal texture/flavor. I have not experimented with lower setting because I am usually in a hurry..