One of my favorite things about being a wife and mother? Nourishing my family. It fills me up and leaves me happy and content. Such fulfillment I find in that simple task. Nourishing our five bodies and minds. I love food and learning! Yep, that about sums it up.
Today was a good day because I was able to do both. The boys and I hit the lessons hard today. We doubled up on our history because we are a bit behind schedule. We read about Akhenaten, the pharaoh who believed in one God. We started in on the second half of our math program. Copywork, reading and dictation, "The Adventurs of Reddy Fox." Check, check, check. Things went well today. I do have some things I need to rethink/rework for the rest of the year, however, but today went well and that feels good.
Anyhow, nourishment. For the tummy and the whole bod. I still haven't checked into the Paleo diet but from the bits and pieces I've picked lately, it does seem to have some wonderful ideas. I'm guessing it is basically a whole foods type of diet that I already like to stick with but with some added information that has probably been around for years but people are picking up on again. I'll have to do some reading soon. In the meantime, I very much like the idea of cooking with the bones left on the meat for long periods of time. Bone broths, soups and stews. All those great nutrients found in the bones (calcium, magnesium, glucosamine, etc). Anyhow, I don't want to bore you. I know I already mentioned some of these thoughts a while back.
I wanted to share this yummy, super simple stew I made today. Doug loved it! (that's my test of whether something is a keeper or not) It is super economical. I love that it is seasonal; I used winter veggies mostly. It was also quick and easy. I had it in the crock-pot by 9:30am and by dinner it was super tender. The longer you cook bone soups/stews, the more nutrients are cooked out from the bones.
I bought two beef soup bones from "The Meat Market" here in town. I browned them a bit in a fry pan and then stuck them in the bottom of my crock-pot.
Then I chopped up some winter veggies and tossed them in too.
First, some root vegetables. Turnips, carrots, parsnips.
Then some tuber vegetables. Sweet potatoes and red potatoes.
Then an onion and 5-6 cloves of garlic.
Then a few bay leaves, all the fresh thyme I had left, and some dry thyme too.
After that, I ground in some salt and pepper.
I added a can of diced tomatoes and 1.5 cups of water.
I cooked it on high for a couple hours and then on low for several more. Actually, I had to keep it on "warm" for a long time because my crock-pot cooks super hot.
At the end, I stirred it up and and generously ground in more pepper and salt.
Yum! Aahh, that wonderful feeling of wholesome nourishment. When my husband tells me five times that dinner was great, I know I'll do it again. But then again, he's a simple-soup-for-dinner kinda guy.
*Yep, and burnt tortillas in the background. Doug likes bread with his soup and with all that mind nourishment going on during the day, I didn't have time to make any. :) So Doug fried up some tortillas. He's a flexible guy.
**Idea found here.
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