Lazy people worship a bone idol

I’m one of those snow lovers, so when we got a nice helping of snow, I was happy to break out the snow gear for us to jump around in it.  Mini-ion #1 missed breakfast so he could go out and “help” dear husband clear the driveway and walk.

When I asked dear husband what help he wanted from me, he said, just keep Mini-ion #2 busy, so off she and I went to try out the new sleds the mini-ions gave each other for Christmas.

I had tried sledding down one area that just wasn’t steep enough, so I found the steepest area in our yard and went down one time by myself.  I ended up in some bushes, but it wasn’t too bad, so I climbed back up to the top to see if Mini-ion #2 wanted to join.

She jumped in my lap and we went sliding down again.  Only this time, we (by we, I mean me) hit a tree and I ended up with a bum full of snow.  But Mini-ion #2 took her mitten off and put her hand in snow, which made her cry, so we needed to go in.  Immediately.

Inside was the delicious smell of bone broth, my newest tactic to fight the winter sickness (next will apparently be duct-taping her glove on so her precious digits don’t touch the snow).  This might replace my chicken stock recipe because it seems sooo much easier.

There are about 200 hundred recipes for bone broth (here’s my favorite), so let me add one more.  I rough chopped two celery stalks and three carrots.  I cut an onion and garlic bulb in half.  I put all those in the bottom of my crockpot.  I added two bay leaves and a couple of stalks of fresh thyme.  I took the short rib bones from the short ribs we just ate, put them on top of the vegetables.  I poured about two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar on top of the bones.  I filled the crockpot with water.  I sprinkled about two teaspoons of kosher salt on top.  I cooked on low for about 24 hours.  Maybe longer.

It was great.  I think the only real difference between bone broth and beef or chicken stock is the addition of apple cider vinegar.    I was concerned that dear husband (who HATES vinegar) would taste it, but he thought the soup stock of the Italian Wedding Soup I made was delicious.  The vinegar apparently helps bring out the “good stuff” from the bones that helps your immune system (and helps you in general)

What I like about this method over the chicken stock I was making was the loss of the chicken.  Instead, what I think I’ll do now is roast chicken thighs, eat them, then save the bones, throw them in the crockpot with veggies and vinegar and the next day have some delicious stock ready!

I’m also starting to compile how I’m using the bone broth.  While some people will drink it straight, or even wait until it gels and eat it like jelly, that turns my stomach.  Soup is an obvious choice, but I have a few more ideas, because we cannot live on soup alone.