We eat meat. We source local, high quality, low toxin, low cruelty meat.
When planned properly animals can be a healing aspect in landscape restoration and can be used in regenerative agriculture. Factory farming animals is a cruel and polluting industry, but it doesn’t have to be. I respect people who choose to stay away from this industry in whatever way they see fit.
I choose to use my money vote to encourage a different kind of animal husbandry.
I collect all the bones from the meat we eat, chicken, lamb, beef, and freeze them. When I have two small zip lock bags full I use them to make bone stock.
I feel this gives me two benefits: one is respecting the animal we chose to consume and not let any part of it go to waste. Another is the nutritional value we get from the broth.
Bone broth is rich in natural gelatin and is a source of amino acids such as Proline, Glycine, Arginine, Glutamine, that are created only in small amounts in our body and therefore beneficial to consume dietarily.
The broth is cooked for 24 hours and up (depending on the bones) and many of the minerals are leached into the water. When the broth is finished simmering the bones are so soft my kids can easily crumble them between their thumb and forefinger. After they crumble them we feel them to the chickens, a great source of calcium for the birds.
I usually use leftover bones, and therefore they are precooked. If I have no leftovers I use joint bones our butcher (who raises the cows himself) gives me freely, as there is no demand for them. When I use fresh bones I grill them first to improve the flavor of the bone broth.
I use the broth as a base for soups, sauces, to braise vegetables and I cook rice in it. When I make a batch I put it in jars and freeze them. I always keep one on hand in the refrigerator for use in our daily cooking. It can even be dehydrated to create bouillon powder for long term shelf stable storage.
Nourishing Bone Broth Recipe
Reserved bones from chicken/ lamb/ beef (or any other animal you eat/ process)Filtered water (or whichever water your family drinks or cooks with)Apple cider vinegarStock vegetables of your liking: carrot, onion, celery….Salt
Place bones in your pot and cover with water. The pot should be full of bones and then covered with water, not just a few bones in a lot of water.
Add 1-4 tablespoons of vinegar, depending on the size of your pot, and let the mixture sit for 20min to an hour.
Then add vegetables and salt, place on medium heat stove and allow the broth to reach a simmer.
Lower the heat and simmer for 24-72 hours. For chicken bones 24-36, lamb and beef 48-72.
When the bones are crumbly it is ready. You can also strain the broth at 24 hours,(with beef and lamb bones) and do another batch using the same bones. When the soup is done strain broth into jars, allow them to cool and put them in the freezer.
What do you do with broth? Did you notice a positive effect when you began consuming bone broth? Please share in the comment section below.