Monday, June 6, 2016

Bone Broth


Mom researched several Bone Broth recipes for us and finally decided to mix and match. All seemed to agree you needed to use joint bones for maximum mineral benefit. Many used turkey and chicken, but even though they suggested you could blend the bones to protect from the chocking hazard of small bones being stuck, Mom decided to go with beef bones. She put them in her crockpot and put water in until the bones were under an inch of water. Then she added 3 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Several recipes suggested lemon juice, but Mom hand squeezes hers for her water and she wasn't sharing. The acid helps break down the bones and puts the minerals into the water. Most of the crockpot recipes indicated you should put the bones on high for an hour and then turn on to low. The times after that varied anywhere from 24-48 hours. Mom decided on the 24 hours and man did that kitchen smell good while it was cooking.

After it cooled off Dog Dad let us taste test the product and it was amazing!!!

Our massage therapist suggested freezing the broth in ice cube trays and giving us an ice cube a day. It is the best treat ever. Katy never really liked ice cubes before, but now she lines up for her beefcycle every day. We started on this snack because it is supposed to be good for joint health. On further reading Mom also discovered it can be good for dogs with tummy issues, too. With all the tummy problems IBS has brought on she's always looking for something to help me with that.

As always you should check with your vet before trying anything new. We are not vets, nor do we play ones on TV. However, we had not thought to try bone broth before and Mom and Dad found it was easy to make and since we freeze it, easy to store and serve. We just thought we'd share our experiences in case someone else could benefit from it.

Friday, June 3, 2016

Friday Flowers: Bleeding Hearts


Bleeding Hearts were Mom's Dad's favorites so of course when she saw this one single broken down plant at a Garden Club sale, she had to bring it home, never thinking it would survive.

Now it is a bush and what she didn't know is you can't kill this thing. Really, you can't, even the City tried. They did some work on utilities and while they were repaving the street they thought it would be a good idea to pave over the corner of Mom's perennial garden. You know what grew through the asphalt the next year, the Bleeding Heart. It was the only plant that survived and continues to thrive. The rest lie dormant under the asphalt.