Food stretching experiment

[Leah]

Found the thread on Vitamin C, including pine needle tea. I bumped it.

http://mrssurvival.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=22530

[caet]

I love red clover!

 

I feel silly asking this... but I've always thought that red clover was a weed. Is this the same thing?

 

What do you do with red clover?

 

 

[PureCajunSunshine]

Found the thread on Vitamin C, including pine needle tea. I bumped it.

http://mrssurvival.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=22530

 

Uh oh, now you have to suffer through my repost. (I didn't realize how much of a vitamin C twist this thread would take. lol)

[GirlNextDoor]

Just a quick note for anyone suffering from high blood pressure to take it easy on magnesium, including epsom salt baths.

[Violet]

Just a quick note for anyone suffering from high blood pressure to take it easy on magnesium, including epsom salt baths.

 

 

I have high blood pressure and take magnesium supplements for leg cramps. I had not been told that it was harmful. Maybe I better check it out some more. My doctor knows I take calcium and magnesium. I take blood pressure meds. too.

Thanks for letting me know. I will do some more research.

[GirlNextDoor]

OK, guess I should have researched instead of posting what a lady on a soap making group said. The evidence appears inconclusive. http://highbloodpressure.about.com/od/prev...a/magnesium.htm There is also a warning not to use epsom salts if you have HBP on the side of the package.

Edited March 15, 2009 by GirlNextDoor

[mimi]

While it is really interesting to know about pine needles etc. for vitamin C we need to also remember that tomatoes and green peppers provide us with more vitamin C than citrus does. It would be a good idea to see that we have a good supply of these things from our garden and we can go to pine needles if necessary. There aren't any pine trees around here. Dang it! Question--how do we know the difference between fir trees and pine trees? Or does it even matter?

[Tracy R]

Green pine needle tea is what the Natives gave early settlers and explorers who were dying (in droves) of scurvy. It's what used to get many of the natives through the winter when no fresh foods were available in northern climates.

 

I also boil my meat bones and make my own stock from them. If you add a chopped onion (I always roast an onion in with my roast chicken/beef/whatever) it strengthens the broth. I always add eggshells to my stock as it simmers, too, along with anything else I have, including the stale ends of bread that no one wants and the hard, dry corners off the cheese block. There is no sense in throwing away something that might be past it's prime when you can leech out the nutrients for stock.

 

We haven't used vitamin supplement tablets for years. There is no need to when you're eating a complete, balanced diet, IMHO. Taking your nutrition from natural, available, LOCAL sources is important. We are creatures of the environment we live in, and the food grown locally is, as far as I'm concerned, what is best suited to those who live there.

 

Some are shocked by the fact that I use bones that have been on a diner's plate at my table. Grilled bones from chops, etc make EXCELLENT stock. I figure, I'm boiling it, any germs aren't going to last through a couple hours of intense heat. There is too much good there to waste, sorry if that offends people, but my grocery budget doesn't stand for waste. My children are well fed, we seldom get ill, and we don't use supplemental vitamins, so I guess we're doing something right.

[Homemaker]

Don't worry Tracy, I'm not shocked about the bones from your plate. As they say... waste not, want not.

We may find ourselves discarding a lot of our modern, civilized notions as things get worse. We may find ourselves healthier because of it!

[Girl Next Door]

Need vitamin C?

 

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index...20171721AAr6JQd

 

Is it true that a jalapeno pepper contains more vitamin "c" than an orange?

 

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

I took this out of an online encyclopedia but it differently answers your question. Peppers have tons more vitamin "c". Read on:

 

 

"Moreover, peppers are high in vitamin C, which, in turn, may be effective in protecting against cancer. Vitamin C is an antioxidant, a chemical substance capable of removing the threat from free radicals, which can cause cells to mutate.... (p.141)."

 

"By weight, green bell peppers have twice as much vitamin C as citrus fruit; red peppers have three times as much. Hot peppers contain even more vitamin C, 357 percent more than an orange. And red peppers are quite a good source of beta carotene... (p.136)."

 

See link below to read more!

Source(s):

http://users.visi.net/~mandy/pepguide.ht...

[Tracy R]

My father told me once that, during the depression (my Dad was nearing forty when I was born, and remembers the Great Depression years well) my grandmother always had a big soup stock pot on the back of the wood stove. She would scrape the plates from dinner into that pot, and it was constantly kept simmering. Every meal started out with a bowl of soup from that pot . Occasionally, she'd fish out the bones from previous meals that were all but mush (they then went to the dog), or add a jug of water.

 

When she canned something and had a few spoonfuls extra, or trimmed something to cook, or picked some over-ripe vegetable from the garden, the leftover bits went in the pot. If she had an extra egg, it went in the pot. If she cleaned a chicken, the trim (wing tips, skinned feet and organs) went in the pot. If she snipped a few herbs from the garden of a morning, they went in the pot.

 

Sometimes, when there was nothing for dinner, they only had soup. But that soup pot was always on the back of the stove, and according to my Dad, the best soup in the world. To this day, he loves soup.

 

I agree, times are about to change, and priorities will change right along with it. I just hope that people really learn this time that over-consumption is going to ruin us if it keeps up. It might be worth it to go through a severe economic crisis if it teaches people to be a little less wasteful. I think it's already beginning, so hopefully, in this case, change will be for the good.

[Leah]

I always add eggshells to my stock as it simmers, too, along with anything else I have, including the stale ends of bread that no one wants and the hard, dry corners off the cheese block. There is no sense in throwing away something that might be past it's prime when you can leech out the nutrients for stock....

 

Some are shocked by the fact that I use bones that have been on a diner's plate at my table. Grilled bones from chops, etc make EXCELLENT stock. I figure, I'm boiling it, any germs aren't going to last through a couple hours of intense heat....

I'M SHOCKED, I'M SHOCKED!!!!

.

.

.

I do that too, have for decades.

Edited March 21, 2009 by Leah

[Cat]

[GirlNextDoor]

Mediterraneans, Greeks in particular consider sucking the marrow from bones and gnawing on them to be a treat. http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/bone-marrow.html

Bone Marrow

 

By Sally Fallon

 

Traditional peoples who consumed large animals did not ignore the marrow hidden away in the bones; in fact, they valued the marrow as an extremely nutritious food.

 

Weston Price provides us with a good example: "For the Indians living inside the Rocky Mountain Range in the far North of Canada, the successful nutrition for nine months of the year was largely limited to wild game, chiefly moose and caribou. During the summer months the Indians were able to use growing plants. During the winter some use was made of bark and buds of trees. I found the Indians putting great emphasis upon the eating of the organs of the animals, including the wall of parts of the digestive tract. Much of the muscle meat of the animals was fed to the dogs. It is important that skeletons are rarely found where large game animals have been slaughtered by the Indians of the North. The skeletal remains are found as piles of finely broken bone chips or splinters that have been cracked up to obtain as much as possible of the marrow and nutritive qualities of the bones. These Indians obtain their fat-soluble vitamins and also most of their minerals from the organs of the animals. An important part of the nutrition of the children consisted in various preparations of bone marrow, both as a substitute for milk and as a special dietary ration" (Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, 6th Edition, page 260).

 

When Price devised a nutrition plan for an orphanage, the meal included bone marrow. "About four ounces of tomato juice or orange juice and a teaspoonful of a mixture of equal parts of a very high vitamin natural cod liver oil and an especially high vitamin butter was given at the beginning of the meal. They then received a bowl containing approximately a pint of a very rich vegetable and meat stew, made largely from bone marrow and fine cuts of tender meat: the meat was usually broiled separately to retain its juice and then chopped very fine and added to the bone marrow meat soup which always contained finely chopped vegetables and plenty of very yellow carrots; for the next course they had cooked fruit, with very little sweetening, and rolls made from freshly ground whole wheat, which were spread with the high-vitamin butter. The wheat for the rolls was ground fresh every day in a motor driven coffee mill. Each child was also given two glasses of fresh whole milk. The menu was varied from day to day by substituting for the meat stew, fish chowder or organs of animals" (Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, 6th Edition, page 295).

 

A search of the Internet reveals bone marrow recipes described with great affection by epicures in France, Ireland, the Philippines, and Korea. Cultures such as the Native American or Mongolian might have eaten the marrow raw—which can be extracted in one long, cohesive cylindrical piece with a well-placed tap on a femur bone. In gourmet cooking, marrow shows up as a garnish for beef tenderloin served with an intricate reduction sauce. Medieval recipes include meat pasties stuffed with sweetened bone marrow and quinces stuffed with marrow!

 

Very little information is available about the nutritive qualities of bone marrow. A lone nutrient analysis of raw caribou bone marrow posted at nutritiondata.com notes that bone marrow is 97 percent fat and recommends "Better Choice Substitutions" of native plant foods and fish for weight loss! The sketchy analysis showed small amounts of iron, phosphorus and vitamin A. Bone marrow is likely rich in vitamin K and other fat-soluble nutrients, but tests to determine a range of nutrients in bone marrow remain to be carried out.

 

Some commentators insist that bone marrow provided a rich source of polyunsaturated fatty acids in traditional diets but the explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson describes two types of marrow, one type from the lower leg which is soft "more like a particularly delicious cream in flavor" and another from the humerus and femur that is "hard and tallowy at room temperatures" (The Fat of the Land, page 27).

 

Leukemia and other bone marrow diseases are widespread today. The Life Extension Foundation website describes the work of a Dr. Brohult, a Swedish oncologist working with leukemia patients in a children's hospital. "In her effort to stimulate her patients' bone marrow to resume normal function, Dr. Brohult administered calves' marrow to the children in her care... Parents in Scandinavia have long served bone marrow soup to their children in winter, in the belief that it builds strength. Dr. Brohult reasoned that healthy bone marrow from calves might trigger a resumption of healthy function in humans.

 

"Her hope... paid off. Although the results were inconsistent, some of her patients quickly experienced remarkable improvements, including a normalization of white blood cell counts and a striking return of energy" (www.lef.org/magazine/mag2005/aug2005_report_shark_01.htm).

 

The article continues with a description of alkyglycerols, long-lasting lipids that have immune-stimulating qualities, which have been isolated from shark oil. But why separate out a single compound to sell in an expensive pill when you can just eat bone marrow?

 

Unfortunately, modern westerners are not used to eating bone marrow, and its dark color can be unappetizing to look at.

 

One solution is to simply spread marrow on toast and cover it up. If you are making beef broth using marrow bones, or beef shank stew or osso buco (Italian-style veal shanks), remove the marrow from the bones when the broth or stew is ready and spread on toasted sourdough bread—it spreads like butter; in fact, it is spreadable even when very hot (must be those alkyglycerols!). Then sprinkle generously with salt and cover with finely sliced onions and capers—you'll be eating something very delicious while feasting your eyes on white (or red) onions and green capers. This can be served as an hors d'oeuvre before the main course. (Note: to prepare capers, rinse off all vinegar and then thoroughly pat dry.)

 

Another wonderful garnish is chopped parsley mixed with capers, thinly sliced onion, olive oil and lemon juice.

 

European chefs recommend soaking the marrow bones (cut 2-3 inches in length) in cold water, changed several times, for 12-24 hours. This process makes the marrow turn a pale creamy pink color instead of the unappetizing grey. After the soaking, cover the bones with cold water, bring slowly to a boil and barely simmer for about 20 minutes. Scoop the cylinder of marrow out with the handle of a small spoon. You can then slice the marrow and use it as a garnish on meat, add it to blended soups, use in the recipes below... . or mash with a little salt and feed to your baby!

Bone Marrow Custard

 

Serves 4

 

1 cup heavy cream

2 ounces bone marrow

2 egg yolks

1 whole egg

sea salt and pepper to taste

 

Prepare the marrow as above, so it is a pale color, not grey. Blend cream, marrow and eggs and season to taste. Pour into four small buttered ramekins, place in hot water and bake at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the custard is set. Let cool and unmold. Serve as an accompaniment to meat.

Steak Tartare with Bone Marrow

 

Serves 8

 

about 4 ounces bone marrow, prepared as above, cut into 1/2-inch slices

1 pound ground fatty beef

2 teaspoons capers, drained, dried and chopped

2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped

1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon Asian fish sauce

1 egg

sea salt and pepper to taste

dash cayenne pepper

8 thin slices sourdough bread, crusts removed

about 6 tablespoons olive oil or lard

 

This delicious recipe is adapted from a recipe by Richard Corrigan posted at www.bbc.co.uk/food./recipes.

Mix beef, capers, shallots, parsley, egg and fish sauce and season to taste. Sauté bread slices on both sides in lard or olive oil over medium heat. Remove from pan and quickly sauté marrow slices. Spread sautéed bread with steak tartare and top with marrow slice.

Tomato Marrow Soup

 

Serves 8

 

4 ounces bone marrow

6 fresh tomatoes, seeded, peeled and chopped

3 tablespoons butter or ghee

2 medium onions, sliced

1/2 cup white wine or vermouth

6-8 cups beef stock

sea salt and pepper to taste

pinch cayenne pepper

about 1 cup cultured cream

 

Use the marrow from the bones used to make stock for this delicious soup—the red of the tomatoes will cover up any grey.

 

Sauté onions gently in melted butter until very limp and golden brown. Add the tomatoes and sauté over medium heat, stirring occasionally until all liquid has evaporated. Add wine or vermouth and boil down slightly. Add beef broth and marrow and bring to a simmer. Skim off any scum that may rise to the surface and simmer about 15 minutes. Blend with a handheld blender. Season to taste and serve with cultured cream.

Marrow Pasties

 

Makes 6

 

3 ounces bone marrow

1/2 cup Rapadura or maple sugar

2 tablespoons currants

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 egg yolks

about 1 cup yoghurt dough (page 485 in Nourishing Traditions)

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 tablespoon Rapadura or maple sugar

 

This unusual recipe comes from a medieval Dutch cookbook. The pasties—called by the wonderful name of sluberkens—were typically served as a first course; modern tastes might prefer them for dessert.

 

Combine marrow with Rapadura or maple sugar, egg yolks and cinnamon. Stir in currants. Roll dough into six thin 5-inch rounds and place a spoonful of filling into each. Fold over and pinch edges. Brush each with butter and sprinkle with Rapadura or maple sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

 

About the Author

 

Sally FallonSally Fallon is the author of Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats (with Mary G. Enig, PhD), a well-researched, thought-provoking guide to traditional foods with a startling message: Animal fats and cholesterol are not villains but vital factors in the diet, necessary for normal growth, proper function of the brain and nervous system, protection from disease and optimum energy levels. She joined forces with Enig again to write Eat Fat, Lose Fat, and has authored numerous articles on the subject of diet and health. The President of the Weston A. Price Foundation and founder of A Campaign for Real Milk, Sally is also a journalist, chef, nutrition researcher, homemaker, and community activist. Her four healthy children were raised on whole foods including butter, cream, eggs and meat.

 

This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts,

the quarterly magazine of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Summer 2007.

 

Click here to become a member of the Foundation and receive our quarterly journal, full of informative articles as well as sources of healthy food.

[GirlNextDoor]

OK, is this the right time to introduce "head cheese"?

[Homemaker]

Go for it!!

 

(Not that I'd ever be able to find any in my clean sterile modern grocery store. I 've never seen any at my natural foods co-op either.)

[Cat]

OK, is this the right time to introduce "head cheese"?

 

 

 

 

Do you make it, or just eat it?

 

 

Growing up, we had it most often warmed into spreadable consistency, on bread spread with (of all things!) apple butter. That's the way my Dad's family had it at home (they were Amish).

 

I've never made it... I doubt I'd be able to get past the *looks* of the process. But we can still buy it in our little country butcher shop.

 

 

~~~~

 

I was searching in the "Wayback Machine" and found the old Walton Foods site. *SIGH* I love those pages!

 

In a section called "Mama's Recipes", they have this:

 

HEAD CHEESE

 

20 lbs pork

5 lbs beef

1 oz pepper

1/2 lb salt

1/4 oz Allspice

1/2 oz cloves

1/2 oz caraway seed (if you like it)

4 lbs meat stock

 

The pork used for this usually consists of heads, hearts, tongues, and if using beef, should be shanks and necks.

Put the meat in a large kettle and cover with water then cook at a simmering temperature for 2 or 3 hours until the meat is very tender. The meat is then taken from the liquid and separated from the bones. Cut the meat into about 1/2 inch cubes. Add the seasonings and measure 4 lbs. of the liquid in which the meat was cooked (meat stock) and add this. Mix the whole thing thoroughly with your hands until the seasonings are properly worked into the meat. The meat is then put into hog paunches or beef straight and laid out to cool. They may be pressed by laying a weighted board over them. If you prefer you may place the headcheese in bowls or bread pans.

 

This has to be eaten fairly soon as it is a fresh meat product. It would keep several months frozen.

 

http://web.archive.org/web/20010110235200/...a/hdcheese.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GirlNextDoor]

I've never made it, but seen it made and eaten it as a child. We ate it sliced and coated with egg and crumbs, fried. You have to fry it on a hot, quick skillet or it melts into a gross mess.

[Prickle]

Traditional peoples who consumed large animals did not ignore the marrow hidden away in the bones; in fact, they valued the marrow as an extremely nutritious food.

 

 

When I was little my Grandmother would make a pot roast from an O-bone roast. My grandfather and I would fight over the "ganoush" bone, that little round marrow bone from the roast. We even had tiny little spoons that were made for scooping marrow from bones.

[ayleeann]

I completely understand using bones to flavor and add nutrition to soup stock. But, beyond that, is it worth the energy costs to boil from 8 hours to 3 days?

[Homemaker]

It's just barely on a simmer...you could even use a crockpot if you wanted.

 

I think it's worth it in order to get a natural, complete form of minerals that the body can easily absorb and use. The synthetic minerals in most multivitamins are very difficult for the body to deal with.

 

Does it cost to keep your stove or crockpot running several days? Sure, but I think about how expensive medical bills will be later when my body is suffering from the pain of weakened bones. Pay a little now, or pay a whole lot more, along with the suffering, later.

[Ambergris]

Consider also using solar cooking for the bones. Heat a cast-iron pot with a glass or iron lid, put the bones and liquid in, and stick it in the windshield of a vehicle parked in the sun. Put in an oven thermometer with a nice big gauge. Peek at the thermometer once in a while to make sure it's staying well above 160 degrees. When the sun's slanting too much to keep up the temp, either put what's left on the fire to finish cooking or refrigerate it and start over in the morning.

[Homemaker]

Great idea! I've been wanting one of those.

[GirlNextDoor]

Consider also using solar cooking for the bones. Heat a cast-iron pot with a glass or iron lid, put the bones and liquid in, and stick it in the windshield of a vehicle parked in the sun. Put in an oven thermometer with a nice big gauge. Peek at the thermometer once in a while to make sure it's staying well above 160 degrees. When the sun's slanting too much to keep up the temp, either put what's left on the fire to finish cooking or refrigerate it and start over in the morning.

 

Or here in Texas just repark the car!

[GirlNextDoor]

I'm boiling chicken bones, skin and fat to make stock, so, i decided to see how long it takes the bones to soften if I cook them on 25% power on my electric range.