We are facing challenging times ahead. As you work out the new normal of your daily lives, I’d like to offer a few helpful ideas for managing stress. Taking care of ourselves and giving to others are going to be important in the days to come. Four ways to do just that are:
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Building your immune system
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Making your own broth,
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Savings for folks hit financially
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Helping people in our community now
BONE BROTH AND THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
70% of your immune system is in your gut, so eating a whole-food diet is vital to building the ability to fight infection. Bone broth has specific amino acids that help your gut microbiome. And, yes, Grandma was right: chicken soup (made with real bone broth) helps relieve symptoms of upper respiratory infections. If you are sick, follow your doctor’s orders and add bone broth to help with the recovery. Learn more here.
HOW TO MAKE BONE BROTH
My distributors are still delivering to stores. You can find Mountain Meadow Bone Broth is in stores across Montana (list is at the bottom of the page). But many of you are now spending lots of time at home, and can make your own, too. Scroll to the bottom of this post to find an easy recipe. Start saving bones in your freezer from any type of meat and when you have about five pounds, you can make a gallon of broth. It might taste differently from Mountain Meadow Bone Broth because we only use one type of animal for each of our broths. But it will be tasty and nutritious.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS OF COVID-19
If you have lost income because of the Covid-19 pandemic and you purchase Mountain Meadow Bone Broth after March 16, contact me (:eileen@mountainmeadowbonebroth.com ) for a 25% refund. As a small business, I can’t offer coupons to use in retail stores, so I’ll have to do it after the purchase. Also, the next delivery of monthly subscriptions in the Missoula area is on Saturday, April 4. I will drop off the orders at the front door, so it will keep contact to a minimum. If you have lost income as a result of the pandemic, contact me for a coupon code to use for the online monthly subscription form.
GIVING WHEN WE CAN
Mountain Meadow Bone Broth has made a donation to the Montana Food Bank. Lots of people are going to be struggling to put food on the table. If you have the means, consider making a donation, as well. Not only will it help Montanans in need, but research shows that giving to others can improve your health.
We are just at the beginning of an uncertain time. Please take care of yourself: eat well, sleep at least 7 hours a night, get lots of fresh air (away from people), and give and receive love from family and friends.
Combo Bone Broth
Ingredients:
- 5 pounds of left over bones (Keep a bag in the freezer to store leftovers from meals with boned-in meat. It doesn't matter what it is - chicken, beef, pork, or lamb. Best not to include fish. )
- 6 quarts of water
- 1 large carrot - cut in half
- 1 stalk celery - cut in half
- 1 onion - cut in half
- 2 teaspoons black peppercorn (optional)
Instructions:
How to cook Combo Bone Broth
- Put the thawed bones, carrot, celery, onion, and peppercorns (if using) in a large stock pot.
- Fill with water so that the water line is about 1 to 2 inches above the bones. This should be about 5 to 6 quarts of water.
- Cover the pot and bring to a boil. As it begins to boil, you will notice a foamy film begins to form on the top. Skim the foam off. Do this several times as the water comes to the boiling point.
- Once you have a rolling boil, immediately turn the pot to the lowest temperature possible on your stove. You may want to move it to a back burner.
- For the first few hours, check the temperature of the broth. It should be between 200 - 210 degrees. If you don't have a thermometer, you can look for a gentle simmer. There should be bubbles here and there, but not rolling boil. Depending on your burner, you may have to move the pot so that it is not in the center of the heat in order for it to simmer and not boil.
- Depending on the types and size of bones, keep the pot simmering for 12 to 18 hours. Chicken bones will be done in 12 hours. Larger bones will take longer.
- Strain the broth into a bowl and discard the bones. You should have about a gallon of broth. It should look like "meat jello." Cool overnight in the refrigerator.
- Skim the fat off the top of the broth. Place the broth in containers to freeze or store in the refrigerator up to 5 days.